Deposition of patterned organic thin films

• US 9,178,184 B2
• Filed: 05/17/2013
• Issued: 11/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/21/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Universal Display Corporation
• Original Assignee: Universal Display Corporation
• Inventors: McGraw, Gregory, Burrows, Paul E., Harikrishna Mohan, Siddharth
• Primary Examiner(s): TADESSE, YEWEBDAR T
• Application Number:
  US13/896,744
• Publication Number:
  US 20140235012A1
• Time in Patent Office: 900 Days
• Field of Search: 118/300, 118313-315, 118/321, 118/323, 118/326, 118410-412, 422/63, 422/65, 436/180, 436/174, 436/43, 436/49, 738/640.1, 738/640.2, 738/641.4, 401137-138, 401/145, 401/253, 295/58
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/12 Organic material
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/22 characterised by the process of coating
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/228 Gas flow assisted PVD deposition
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 71/00 Manufacture or treatment specially adapted for the organic devices covered by this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 71/13 using printing techniques, e.g. ink-jet printing or screen printing
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 71/231 by etching of existing layers
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/549 Organic PV cells

Abstract

Embodiments disclosed herein provide devices having a nozzle die with one or more nozzles, each of which has one or more integrated skimmers. The use of an integrated nozzle/skimmer structure allows for higher-resolution printing in OVJP-type deposition techniques without requiring the use of a shadow mask by allowing for a relatively narrow organic material beam that can be placed at relatively high distances away from the substrate.

Claims

1. A device comprising:

at least one inlet via;

a plurality of nozzles, each nozzle in fluid communication with at least one inlet via and each nozzle having an aperture width a;

a first plurality of skimmers, each skimmer of the first plurality of skimmers aligned with an associated nozzle of the plurality of nozzles and having an orifice width s and an output width w, the orifice disposed a distance D from an outer edge of the associated nozzle; and

a plurality of exhaust cavities, each exhaust cavity is in fluid communication with at least one of the plurality of nozzles, wherein each exhaust cavity is disposed between one of the plurality of nozzles and one of the plurality of skimmers and wherein the plurality of nozzles and the plurality of skimmers are monolithically integrated within a single nozzle die.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the first nozzle die comprises two portions diffusion-welded together to form the first nozzle die.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the first die is replaceable portion of the device.

4. The device of claim 1, further comprising a housing configured to receive the first nozzle die.

5. The device of claim 4, wherein the first single nozzle die is a replaceable portion of the device, and the housing is configured to receive any of a plurality of nozzle dies.

6. The device of claim 4, said housing further comprising a substrate holder, wherein the substrate holder is disposed below the plurality of skimmers when the first single nozzle die is disposed within the housing.

7. The device of claim 4, said housing further configured to receive an organic material source.

8. The device of claim 1, further comprising a second plurality of skimmers, each skimmer of the second plurality of skimmers disposed below one of the first plurality of skimmers and aligned with the one of the first plurality of skimmers and aligned with the nozzle associated with the one of the first plurality of skimmers.

9. The device of claim 1, further comprising at least one exhaust via in fluid communication with at least one of the plurality of exhaust cavities.

10. The device of claim 9, further comprising a vacuum source in fluid communication with the at least one exhaust via.

11. The device of claim 1, wherein a is in the range of 5-50 μ

m.

12. The device of claim 1, wherein D is in the range of 100-800 μ

m.

13. The device of claim 1, wherein s is in the range of 5-100 μ

m.

14. The device of claim 1, wherein the skimmer has a sweep angle θ

in the range of 0-60°

.

15. The device of claim 14, wherein the skimmer has a sweep angle θ

in the range of 30-50°

.

16. The device of claim 1, wherein the skimmer has a non-uniform sweep angle.

17. The device of claim 16, wherein the skimmer has a sweep angle that varies continuously from a first angle at a portion near the output of the skimmer, to a second angle at a portion near the nozzle.

18. The device of claim 17, wherein the first angle is in the range 0-50°

and the second angle is in the range 70-90°

.

19. The device of claim 16, wherein the skimmer comprises a plurality of segments, each segment having a different sweep angle.

20. The device of claim 19, wherein a first segment has a sweep angle in the range 0-50°

and a second segment has a sweep angle in the range 70-90°

.

21. The device of claim 1, further comprising a substrate support disposed at a distance d_g below the output of the skimmer.

22. The device of claim 21, wherein d_g is in the range 10-1500 μ

m.

23. The device of claim 1, wherein the device comprises a semiconductor.

24. The device of claim 1, wherein the device comprises a metal.

25. The device of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of nozzles and each of the first plurality of skimmers is fabricated separately, and subsequently integrated into the device in a desired output pattern.

26. The device of claim 1, further comprising an inlet carrier gas source in fluid communication with the inlet via.

27. The device of claim 26, wherein the inlet carrier gas source is configured to provide an inlet pressure in the range 8-64 kPa.

28. The device of claim 1, wherein the nozzle aperture is rectangular.

29. The device of claim 28, wherein the skimmer orifice is rectangular.

30. The device of claim 1, wherein the skimmer orifice is rectangular.

31. The device of claim 1, further comprising a rastering mechanism configured to move the device in a direction approximately parallel to a substrate holder placed below the plurality of skimmers.

32. The device of claim 31, wherein the rastering mechanism is configured to move the device at a constant height from a substrate placed on the holder.

33. The device of claim 31, wherein the rastering mechanism is configured to move the first die in a direction parallel to the longest direction of the nozzle aperture.

34. The device of claim 1, wherein at least one skimmer of the plurality of skimmers is a stepped skimmer.