Patent DE-102010061631-A1 (DE)
Title: Delivery system for feeding a source material to a vapor phase deposition device, comprises a bulk material container, an upper dosing cup arranged to receive source material from the bulk material container, and a lower dosing cup
Inventor: LITTLE EDWIN JACKSON
IPC: C23C14/56
Filed: 2010-12-30
Abstract: The delivery system for continuously feeding a source material to a vapor phase deposition device (10), where the source material is sublimated and separated as a thin film on a substrate (14), comprises: a bulk material container; an upper dosing cup arranged to receive source material from the bulk material container; a lower dosing cup arranged in a vacuum lock chamber (12) to receive a measured out dose of the source material from the upper dosing cup; and a transfer mechanism arranged under the vacuum lock chamber to receive the measured dose of the source material. The delivery system for continuously feeding a source material to a vapor phase deposition device (10), where the source material is sublimated and separated as a thin film on a substrate (14), comprises: a bulk material container; an upper dosing cup arranged to receive source material from the bulk material container; a lower dosing cup arranged in a vacuum lock chamber (12) to receive a measured out dose of the source material from the upper dosing cup; a transfer mechanism arranged under the vacuum lock chamber to receive the measured dose of the source material from the lower dosing cup; a transport mechanism; and a release mechanism on points. The transfer mechanism is established around the source material to transfer a downstream deposition head, where the deposition conditions are isolated within the deposition head, and a diffusion of the sublimated source material is blocked to the delivery system in the downstream direction. The vacuum lock chamber is defined between an upstream vacuum shutoff valve and a downstream vacuum shutoff valve. The transport mechanism is arranged between the bulk material container and the upper dosing cup, where the transport mechanism is operated to provide repeated metered amounts of the source material to the upper dosing cup. The transfer mechanism comprises a body having an inlet and an outlet, a first cylinder coupled to the inlet, and a second cylinder aligned with the outlet, where the first and second cylinders are defined in arc-shaped cut-out recesses. The first and second cylinders are sequentially rotatable in such a manner that the source material received by the inlet with a rotation of the first cylinder is transferred by the recess of the first cylinder and by the recess of the second cylinder. The second cylinder rotates to provide the source material in the recess of the second cylinder to the outlet. The recesses are rotationally offset such that the cylinder has a diffusion of the sublimed source material between the outlet and the inlet in all rotated positions of the cylinder lock. The release mechanism is arranged at the upper dosing cup and is operated after the upper dosing cup is filled with the measured out amount of the source material to pass the source material into the lower dosing cup in the vacuum lock chamber. Independent claims are included for: (1) a vapor phase deposition device; and (2) a method for continuously supplying a source material to a vapor phase deposition device.