SBIR PHASE I: Closed-Field Magnetron Sputtering with RF Plasma Enhancement for Large Flat Panel Displays

本小型企业创新研究（SBIR）旨在建立和诊断一种新型的磁控管阴极系统，该系统将特别应用于平板显示器的制造。包括氧化铟锡（ITO）在内的透明导电氧化物（tco）为许多显示技术提供了从根本上增强的能力。包括有机发光二极管（oled）在内的新技术，如果生产产量可以提高，将非常有希望取代现有产品（基于白炽灯泡技术）。OLED制造的一个关键目标是在塑料薄膜等柔性基板上制造器件。大面积沉积系统难以共同定位所需的沉积过程，导致难以控制和利用过程之间的相互作用。提出的磁控管目标与辅助离子源的独特安排将允许对迄今为止独立运行的过程进行可调控制。与目前使用的TCO沉积技术相比，所提出的技术将允许在制造过程中显著降低工艺温度，从而提高工艺产量以及设备中的缺陷，并且还允许使用温度敏感基板，如塑料薄膜。如果这项技术获得成功，其更广泛的影响将是显著改善目前平板显示器的制造工艺。新设备的设计将促进大面积基板的其他薄膜沉积技术的发展，甚至允许制造特定应用的交钥匙系统。微电子中使用的各种工业技术，例如柔性和薄面板电视，手机和其他便携式电子设备，用于隔热而不影响可视性的大面积窗户的薄膜等，都是由该技术实现的一些先进应用。该公司已建立的营销渠道将确保新技术快速应用于工业生产系统，并将为美国在全球市场上提供重要的领导地位。一位大学专家和他的团队的参与将确保未来的年轻科学家和工程师能够参与将他们的课堂学习与基本原理的实际应用联系起来的前沿研究。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) proposes to build and diagnose a new type of Magnetron cathode system which will be particular application in the manufacture of flat panel displays. Transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) including the Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) provide a fundamentally enhanced capability for a number of display technologies. Newer technologies, including Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) are highly promising replacements for existing products (based on the incandescent light bulb technology) if the manufacturing yield can be improved. A key goal of OLED manufacture is to create devices on flexible substrates like plastic films. Large area deposition systems suffer from difficulties in co-locating the required deposition processes, leading to difficulties in controlling and taking advantage of the interactions between processes. The proposed unique arrangement of magnetron targets with the auxiliary ion source will allow tunable control of processes that till now have operated independently. The proposed technology will allow significant reduction in the process temperatures in the fabrication process, thereby improving process yield as well as defects in the devices over the currently used TCO deposition techniques, and also permit use of temperature-sensitive substrates such as plastic films.The broader impacts of the proposed technology, if successful, will be to significantly improve the current manufacturing processes for flat panel displays. The new equipment design will enable development of other thin film deposition technologies for large-area substrates, and even allow manufacture of application-specific turnkey systems. The various industrial technologies used in microelectronics, such as flexible and thin panel television, cell phones and other portable electronic devices, films for large-area windows designed for thermal insulation without impairing visibility, etc. are some of the advanced applications which be enabled by this technology. The company's established marketing channels will ensure rapid implementation of the new technology into the industrial production systems, and will provide the U.S. with a significant leadership position in the global marketplace. The involvement of a university expert and his team will ensure that the the young scientists and engineers of tomorrow will be able to participate in the cutting-edge research that ties their classroom studies with practical applications of the findamental principles.