ENVIRONMENTALLY CONTROLLED COATING SYSTEMS
Embodiments of an enclosed coating system according to the present teachings can be useful for patterned area coating of substrates in the manufacture of a variety of apparatuses and devices in a wide range of technology areas, for example, but not limited by, OLED displays, OLED lighting, organic photovoltaics, Perovskite solar cells, and organic semiconductor circuits. Enclosed and environmentally controlled coating systems of the present teachings can provide several advantages, such as: 1) Elimination of a range of vacuum processing operations such coating-based fabrication can be performed at atmospheric pressure. 2) Controlled patterned coating eliminates material waste, as well as eliminating additional processing typically required to achieve patterning of an organic layer. 3) Various formulations used for patterned coating with various embodiments of an enclosed coating apparatus of the present teachings can have a wide range of physical properties, such as viscosity and surface tension. Various embodiments of an enclosed coating system can be integrated with various components that provide a gas circulation and filtration system, a particle control system, a gas purification system, and a thermal regulation system and the like to form various embodiments of an enclosed coating system that can sustain an inert gas environment that is substantially low-particle for various coating processes of the present teachings that require such an environment.
1 . A system comprising:
a gas enclosure defining an interior to maintain a controlled environment;
a coating system housed within the interior of the gas enclosure, the coating system comprising:
a slot die coating assembly;
a substrate support system to support a substrate to be coated; and
a motion system configured to position the substrate and the slot die coating assembly relative to one another;
a gas circulation and filtration system in flow communication with the interior of the gas enclosure; and
a gas purification system in flow communication with the interior of the gas enclosure.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the slot die coating assembly is configured to deposit a material in a pattern on the substrate.
3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the controlled environment is an inert gas environment.
4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the inert gas selected from nitrogen, any of the noble gases, and combinations thereof.
5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the gas purification system is configured to maintain a reactive species in the interior at 100 ppm or less.
6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the reactive species is selected from at least one of water vapor, oxygen, ozone, and organic solvent vapor.
7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the substrate support system comprises a floatation table.
8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the gas circulation and filtration system is configured to provide a substantially laminar flow of gas through the interior.
9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the volume of the gas enclosure ranges from about 6 m 3 to about 95 m 3 .
10 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a position sensor arranged to determine a position of the slot die coating assembly relative to the substrate.
11 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the slot die coating assembly further comprises a slot die having a slot die outlet to flow a coating material to be deposited on the substrate.
12 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the slot die outlet is configured to be placed in flow communication with a coating material supply.
13 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the motion system comprises:
a Y-axis motion system to convey the substrate along the substrate support system in a Y-axis direction; and
an X-axis carriage assembly to move the slot die coating assembly along an X-axis direction.
14 . The system of claim 13 , further comprising a linear air bearing system operably coupled to the X-axis carriage assembly.
15 . The system of claim 13 , further comprising a Z-axis moving plate mounted to the X-axis carriage assembly, wherein the slot die coating assembly is mounted to the Z-axis moving plate.
16 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising an auxiliary enclosure housing a maintenance system, wherein the auxiliary enclosure defines an interior to maintain a controlled environment.
17 . The system of claim 16 , wherein:
the gas enclosure comprises the auxiliary enclosure and a coating system enclosure housing the coating apparatus, and
the coating system enclosure and the auxiliary enclosure are configured to be selectively placed in flow communication with each other or isolated from each other.
18 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the maintenance system comprises one or more maintenance modules to store or receive a part for maintaining the coating apparatus.
19 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the gas purification system comprises one or more molecular sieves.
20 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising an auxiliary enclosure housing an optical curing system.