OLED Masks, Mask holders and Cleaning

We make OLED deposition systems, glovebox and otherwise.  Most are very simple and either deposit the organics or the interconnect.  Because of the fragility of the devices, patterning is sometimes done by deposition through stencil masks – that is, lithographic masks with holes, placed in proximity to the OLED substrate.  This ancient, low-resolution technique is sufficient for test devices, although production might be a different matter.

Anyway, to make a multi-layer device, users want an in-situ mask changing mechanism, and they also need some means of cleaning the masks.  As with everything else in life and vacuum, there are easy ways and hard ways.   To make it possible to change masks under vacuum with the absolute minimum of gear, we came up with a very simple carousel device operating from a single feedthrough.   Of course, every user seems to have a different mask size and substrate size, so we’re not exactly going to mass-produce this item.   We are, however, beginning to run into mask cleaning and handling questions, so here are a few ideas.

The Death of Brooklyn Poly

We all know how badly technology is decaying in the US, and we also know how very little most people care about it. But you do, if you’ve got any reason at all to look at this blog. Here’s another road sign on the route to perdition: the demise of an historic technological university.

The Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, lately going by several other names as it underwent structural changes leading to its forthcoming dissolution, was one of several specialized colleges in the New York City area that arose from the industrialization of the 19th century, and the enormous need for education in the sciences and engineering. For many years it also served the particularly urban need for night school as working people tried to improve themselves and get better jobs, or ones relevant to new industries.

The very focused, and often down and dirty role of Poly and similar institutions was a necessary component to the growth of science and technology. These schools did not transition, like MIT or Stanford, to eminence through strong government or industrial linkages; in effect they missed the boat, over and over again, through mismanagement, wrong locations, or simple lack of resources. However, the story of the poor immigrant, or the kid from the projects, who cobbled up a career the hard way, taking the subway to a better life , is a good story, and an American wonder.

Now, this school, that I attended more because of full support than anything else, is headed for history, as another institution, also having failed to subsist on technology, has grasped the opportunity to, in brief, trash Poly in order to get its newly valuable urban real estate.