Patent ID: 7335604

Claim:
A thin-film forming device for forming a thin film, which applies a coating solution containing a film-forming material dissolved or dispersed in a solvent onto a substrate, the device comprising: an ejection mechanism having a droplet ejection head that ejects the coating solution onto the substrate; a moving mechanism capable of relatively moving positions of the droplet ejection head and the substrate; a control unit that controls at least one of the ejection mechanism and the moving mechanism; a solvent vapor supply mechanism that generates and supplies a solvent vapor to the vicinity of the coating solution applied onto a top surface of the substrate, the solvent vapor being supplied on the top surface of the substrate, the solvent vapor mechanism including: a cover that covers at least the top surface of the substrate and having a double-wall structure, the cover including at least a top plate, a right plate, and a side plate, the top plate of the cover being directly above the droplet ejection head, each plate of the cover having a wall along a length that is longest, and the wall of each plate including an inner subwall and an outer subwall along the length, the cover being configured to move down toward the substrate so that an end portion of the cover is in the vicinity of the top surface of the substrate; and a supply device that supplies the solvent vapor through the wall of each plate, the vapor being provided between the inner subwall and the outer subwall of the wall of each plate along the length, and the solvent vapor passing through the wall of each plate along the length onto the top surface of the substrate.