Method and apparatus for load-locked printing
AssigneeKateeva, Inc.
InventorsSass Somekh, Eliyahu Vronsky, Conor F. Madigan
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for preventing oxidation or contamination during a circuit printing operation. The circuit printing operation can be directed to OLED-type printing. In an exemplary embodiment, the printing process is conducted at a load-locked printer housing having one or more of chambers. Each chamber is partitioned from the other chambers by physical gates or fluidic curtains. A controller coordinates transportation of a substrate through the system and purges the system by timely opening appropriate gates. The controller may also control the printing operation by energizing the print-head at a time when the substrate is positioned substantially thereunder.
Claims20
A method for forming a film on a substrate, the method comprising:
- floating a substrate on a flotation system in a substrate-printing region having an inert gas environment, the floatation system comprising at least one gas inlet port and at least one gas outlet port;
- while floating the substrate in the substrate-printing region:
- moving the substrate in a first direction and moving at least one print-head in a second direction, the first and second directions being substantially orthogonal to each other,
- controlling a float height of the substrate using gas flow through the at least one gas inlet port and the at least one gas outlet port, and
- printing a material on a surface of the substrate with the at least one print-head having at least one nozzle,
- wherein each of the first and second directions is substantially orthogonal to a direction normal to the surface of the substrate the material is printed on;
- transporting the substrate to a substrate-outlet region;
- and
- removing the substrate from the substrate-outlet region.
A method for forming a film on a substrate, the method comprising:
- floating a substrate on a flotation system in a substrate-printing region having an inert gas environment comprising nitrogen gas, the floatation system comprising at least one gas inlet port and at least one gas outlet port;
- while floating the substrate in the substrate-printing region:
- moving the substrate in a first direction and moving at least one print-head in a second direction, the first and second directions being substantially orthogonal to each other,
- controlling a float height of the substrate using gas flow through the at least one gas inlet port and the at least one gas outlet port, the gas flow comprising an inert gas, and
- printing a material on a surface of the substrate with the at least one print-head having at least one nozzle,
- wherein each of the first and second directions is substantially orthogonal to a direction normal to the surface of the substrate the material is printed on;
- transporting the substrate to a substrate-outlet region;
- and
- removing the substrate from the substrate-outlet region.
A method for forming a film on a substrate, the method comprising:
- receiving a substrate in a substrate-inlet region of a printing system enclosure;
- isolating the substrate-inlet region;
- establishing an inert gas environment in the substrate-inlet region;
- transporting the substrate from the substrate-inlet region to a substrate-printing region of the printing system enclosure;
- floating the substrate on a flotation system in the substrate-printing region, the floatation system comprising at least one gas inlet port and at least one gas outlet port;
- establishing an inert gas environment in the substrate-printing region;
- while floating the substrate in the substrate-printing region:
- moving the substrate in a first direction and moving at least one print-head in a second direction, the first and second directions being substantially orthogonal to each other,
- controlling a float height of the substrate using gas flow through the at least one gas inlet port and the at least one gas outlet port, the gas flow comprising an inert gas, and
- printing a material on a surface of the substrate with the at least one print-head having at least one nozzle,
- wherein each of the first and second directions is substantially orthogonal to a direction normal to the surface of the substrate the material is printed on;
- transporting the substrate to a substrate-outlet region of the printing system enclosure;
- and
- removing the substrate from the substrate-outlet region.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.