Methods and Apparatus for Depositing Material Using a Dynamic Pressure

Abstract

A method of depositing organic material is provided. A carrier gas carrying organic material is ejected from a nozzle at a flow velocity that is at least 10% of the thermal velocity of the carrier gas, such that the organic material is deposited onto a substrate. In some embodiments, the dynamic pressure in a region between the nozzle and the substrate surrounding the carrier gas is at least 1 Torr, and more preferably 10 Torr, during the ejection. In some embodiments, a guard flow is provided around the carrier gas.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of depositing an organic material, comprising:
 ejecting a carrier gas carrying an organic material from a nozzle at a flow velocity that is at least 10% of the thermal velocity of the carrier gas, to form a layer of organic material on a substrate, the layer comprising a plurality of separate films;   wherein a dynamic pressure in a region between the nozzle and the substrate surrounding the carrier gas is at least 1 Torr.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the dynamic pressure is at least 10 Torr. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the background atmosphere is at least 5 Torr. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 providing a guard flow surrounding the organic material ejected from the nozzle.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the background atmosphere is ambient atmosphere at about 760 Torr. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the dynamic pressure of at least 10 Torr is affected by a guard flow ejected from the nozzle. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the background pressure is the base pressure of a vacuum chamber, and is less than about 0.1 Torr. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the molecular weight of the organic material is greater than the molecular weight of the carrier gas. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the guard flow comprises a first gas, the carrier gas comprises a second gas, and the molecular weight of the first gas is greater than the molecular weight of the second gas. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the dynamic pressure is at least about 760 Torr. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the dynamic pressure is not greater than about 2 times the background pressure. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the dynamic pressure is not greater than about 10 times the background pressure. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of separate films comprises a plurality of pixels. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the nozzle diameter, the nozzle length, and the nozzle-to-substrate separation is about equal to the gas mean free path length. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the dynamic pressure is at least 0.5 Torr greater than the background pressure.