1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thin film deposition apparatus for depositing a deposition source vapor onto a surface of a structure on which deposition is to be performed, and in particular, the present invention relates to a thin film deposition apparatus that is suitable for an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process in which a precursor and a reactant are sequentially provided to form a thin film, and a thin film deposition method using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a thin film formation process, such as (for example) a thin film encapsulation process of an organic light-emitting display apparatus, for example, a deposition process in which a deposition source vapor is formed, and then the deposition source vapor is attached to the surface of a substrate, is often used.
Recently, an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process which enables accurate formation of a uniform thin film is preferably used. Regarding the ALD process, a precursor is adsorbed onto the surface of a substrate, and then, a reactant is supplied thereto, and due to the reaction between the precursor and the reactant, an atomic layer is formed
However, if the reactant is supplied when the precursor is incompletely chemically adsorbed onto the surface of the substrate, a precursor which is not adsorbed also reacts with the reactant, thereby generating a plurality of microparticles. In this case, due to mixing with the microparticles, it is difficult to accurately form a thin film. Accordingly, measures for resolving this problem are required.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds