ALIGNMENT MASK, METAL MASK ASSEMBLY, AND PREPARATION METHOD THEREFOR
20220013396 · 2022-01-13
Inventors
- Ju MEI (Chengdu, CN)
- Peng Xu (Chengdu, CN)
- Jianbo YE (Chengdu, CN)
- Guoqiang MA (Chengdu, CN)
- Leifang XIAO (Chengdu, CN)
Cpc classification
International classification
C23C14/04
CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
Abstract
Disclosed are an alignment mask, a metal mask assembly, and a preparation method therefor. The alignment mask includes a mask body. The mask body includes: multiple alignment holes; and, separating parts surrounding at least some alignment holes and used for separating the areas at where the at least some alignment holes are located from other areas, where the separation parts include at least one semi-etched line.
Claims
1.-18. (canceled)
19. An align mask, comprising a mask body, wherein the mask body comprises: a plurality of align holes; and an isolation part, enclosing at least part of the align holes and isolating an area, where the at least part of the align holes are arranged, from other areas; wherein the isolation part comprises one or more half-etch lines.
20. The align mask according to claim 19, wherein the mask body is strip-shaped, the mask body comprises: a retention area, two cut-out areas arranged at two ends of the retention area; and two cut-out half-etch lines respectively arranged at junctions between the two cut-out areas and the retention area; and the two cut-out half-etch lines extend in a first direction which is the same as an extending direction of short edges of the mask body.
21. The align mask according to claim 20, wherein the plurality of align holes are arranged in the retention area, are close to a first long edge of the mask body and are arrayed along the first long edge.
22. The align mask according to claim 21, wherein the plurality of align holes comprise: two fine align holes close to the two cut-out half-etch lines respectively, and coarse align holes arranged between the two fine align holes; each of the two cut-out half-etch lines is provided with a first part, and a projection of one of the two fine align holes close to the each cut-out half-etch line, on the each cut-out half-etch line, is arranged in the first part; and the first long edge is provided with two second parts corresponding to the two fine align holes respectively, and a projection of each of the two fine align holes, on the first long edge, is arranged in a corresponding second part.
23. The align mask according to claim 22, wherein the isolation part comprises two first isolation parts respectively corresponding to the two fine align holes; each of the two first isolation parts encloses a corresponding fine align hole; the each of the two first isolation parts comprises: a corresponding first part of a cut-out half-etch line, a first half-etch line arranged on one side, away from the corresponding first part, of the fine align hole, and a second half-etch line arranged on one side, away from a second part of the first long edge, of the fine align hole; the first half-etch line extends in the first direction, and the second half-etch line extends in a second direction which is the same as an extending direction of long edges of the mask body; and the corresponding first part of the cut-out half-etch line, the second part of the first long edge, the first half-etch line and the second half-etch line are connected end to end to form a loop around the fine align hole.
24. The align mask according to claim 23, wherein the mask body further comprises at least two test openings; the at least two test openings are close to a second long edge of the mask body and are arrayed along the second long edge; and the second long edge is a long edge opposite to the first long edge of the mask body; and the isolation part further comprises a third half-etch line arranged between the plurality of align holes and the at least two test openings, the third half-etch line extends in the second direction, and two ends of the third half-etch line are connected with second half-etch lines of the two first isolation parts respectively.
25. The align mask according to claim 21, wherein the two cut-out half-etch lines are provided with first parts respectively; and projections of the plurality of align holes, on the two cut-out half-etch lines, are arranged in the first parts; the mask body further comprises at least two test openings, wherein the at least two test openings are close to a second long edge of the mask body and are arrayed along the second long edge, and the second long edge is a long edge opposite to the first long edge of the mask body; the isolation part comprises a second isolation part enclosing the plurality of align holes, wherein the second isolation part comprises: the first parts of the two cut-out half-etch lines, and a fourth half-etch line arranged on one sides, away from the first long edge, of the plurality of align holes, and the fourth half-etch line extends in a second direction which is the same as an extending direction of long edges of the mask body; and the first parts of the two cut-out half-etch lines, the first long edge and the fourth half-etch line are connected end to end to form a loop around the plurality of align holes.
26. A preparation method of a metal mask assembly, comprising: respectively welding a fine metal mask and the align mask according to claim 19 onto a mask frame; and cutting a mask body of the align mask along an isolation part, for partitioning an area where at least part of align holes are arranged from other areas.
27. The preparation method according to claim 26, wherein the mask body comprises two cut-out areas and two cut-out half-etch lines, and the method further comprises: cutting the mask body of the align mask along the two cut-out half-etch lines, for cutting out the two cut-out areas of the mask body.
28. A metal mask assembly, comprising a mask frame, a fine metal mask and an align mask; wherein the fine metal mask and the align mask are respectively welded onto the mask frame; the align mask comprises a body of a retention area; the body of the retention area comprises: a plurality of align holes, and a partitioning part, partitioning an area where at least part of the plurality of align holes are arranged from other areas; and the partitioning part comprises one or more cutting lines.
29. The metal mask assembly according to claim 28, further comprising a first welding spot part between the align mask and the mask frame; wherein the first welding spot part is arranged in the area where the at least part of plurality of the align holes are arranged.
30. The metal mask assembly according to claim 29, wherein the body of the retention area is strip-shaped; the plurality of align holes are close to a first long edge of the body of the retention area, and are arrayed along the first long edge; the plurality of align holes comprise: two fine align holes respectively close to two short edges of the body of the retention area, and coarse align holes arranged between the two fine align holes; wherein each of the short edges is provided with a first part, and a projections of one of the fine align holes close to the each short edge, on the each short edge is arranged in the first part; and the first long edge is provided with two second parts corresponding to the two fine align holes respectively, and a projection of each of the two fine align holes, on the first long edge, is arranged in a corresponding second part.
31. The metal mask assembly according to claim 30, wherein the partitioning part comprises two first partitioning parts respectively corresponding to the two fine align holes; each of the two first partitioning parts encloses a corresponding fine align hole; the each of the two first partitioning parts comprises: a first cutting line arranged on one side, away from a first part of a corresponding short edge, of the fine align hole; and a second cutting line arranged on one side, away from a second part of the first long edge, of the fine align hole; the first cutting line extends in a first direction, and the second cutting line extends in a second direction; the first direction is the same as an extending direction of the short edges of the body of the retention area, and the second direction is the same as an extending direction of long edges of the body of the retention area; and the first part, the second part of the first long edge, the first cutting line and the second cutting line are connected end to end to form a loop around the fine align hole.
32. The metal mask assembly according to claim 31, comprising two first welding spot parts respectively corresponding to the two first partitioning parts; wherein each of the two first welding spot parts is arranged in an area enclosed by a corresponding first partitioning part, is arranged around the fine align hole, and is configured to fix an area where the fine align hole is arranged on the mask frame.
33. The metal mask assembly according to claim 32, further comprising two second welding spot parts; wherein the two second welding spot parts are arranged between the align mask and the mask frame, and respectively correspond to the two first partitioning parts; wherein each second welding spot part is close to a corresponding first partitioning part; is arranged on one side, away from a corresponding first part, of a corresponding first cutting line; and extends in the first direction.
34. The metal mask assembly according to claim 31, wherein the body of the retention area further comprises at least two test openings; the at least two test openings are close to a second long edge of the body of the retention area and are arrayed along the second long edge; and the second long edge is a long edge opposite to the first long edge of the body of the retention area; and the partitioning part further comprises a third cutting line arranged between the plurality of align holes and the at least two test openings, the third cutting line extends in the second direction, and two ends of the third cutting line are connected with second cutting lines of the two first partitioning parts respectively.
35. The metal mask assembly according to claim 29, wherein the body of the retention area is strip-shaped; the plurality of align holes are close to a first long edge of the body of the retention area and are arrayed along the first long edge; short edges of the body of the retention area are provided with first parts respectively; and projections of the plurality of align holes, on the short edges, are arranged in the first parts; the body of the retention area further comprises at least two test openings, the at least two test openings are close to a second long edge of the body of the retention area and are arrayed along the second long edge, and the second long edge is a long edge opposite to the first long edge of the body of the retention area; the partitioning part comprises a fourth cutting line arranged on one sides, away from the first long edge, of the plurality of align holes; and the fourth cutting line extends in a second direction which is the same as an extending direction of long edges of the body of the retention area; and the first parts of the two short edges, the first long edge and the fourth cutting line are connected end to end to form a loop around the plurality of align holes.
36. The metal mask assembly according to claim 35, wherein the plurality of align holes comprise two fine align holes and coarse align holes arranged between the two fine align holes; the metal mask assembly comprises two first welding spot parts; the two first welding spot parts are arranged in an area of a side, facing the plurality of align holes, of the fourth cutting line, and are respectively arranged around the two fine align holes.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0041]
[0042]
[0043]
[0044]
[0045]
[0046]
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
[0049] The technical solutions in embodiments of the present disclosure will be clearly and fully described in combination with the accompanying drawings in embodiments of the present disclosure, and it will be apparent that the described embodiments are only some but not all embodiments of the present disclosure. Based on the embodiments in the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skilled in the art without making inventive effort are within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.
[0050] Both a fine metal mask (FMM) and an align mask are welded onto a mask frame in a manner of a tensioning mesh, and the align mask is provided with evaporation align holes and test square holes with high fabrication accuracy. In existing evaporation manners, an evaporation assembly includes a magnet, a touch plate, a glass and the metal mask assembly (MFA); alignment (including coarse alignment and fine alignment) of the glass and MFA is performed by an align mark on the glass and the align holes on the align mask prior to evaporation, after fine alignment, the touch plate and the glass are subjected to pressing, and besides, the MFA is drawn up and attached to the glass by magnetic attraction of the magnet. In evaporation, a light-emitting material is evaporated onto a designated film layer through the fine metal mask (FMM) with many fine openings, and a pixel structure is formed. To ensure that the pattern position accuracy (PPA) of the evaporation can reach 8 um or above, the accuracy of the fine alignment needs to be controlled within 5 um, and the position accuracy of the magnet after attachment needs to be within 3 um. The align holes of the align mask serve as references for evaporation alignment, and the position accuracy and the position stability of the align holes play a crucial role for the accuracy of the whole evaporation process, but in reality, as the number of evaporation times increases, the repeated action of magnetic force causes the align holes to be pulled and drift up to 10 um or more, so that the position accuracy of the align holes cannot be guaranteed.
[0051] The embodiments of the present disclosure disclose an align mask, a metal mask assembly and a preparation method of the metal mask assembly, so as to increase the evaporation position accuracy of the mask assembly.
[0052] As shown in
[0053] The align mask can be cut along the isolation part after being welded onto the mask frame 6, to partition the area where the at least part of the align holes 2 are located from other areas, so that drift of the align holes 2 caused by magnetic attraction in multiple alignment processes can be blocked, further, the problem of reduced position accuracy of the align holes 2 after multiple alignment operations is solved, evaporation pattern position accuracy (PPA) can be increased, evaporation pixel color mixing yield of the OLED can be improved, in addition, the number of evaporation times of the align mask can be increased, and the replacement cost of the mask assembly is reduced.
[0054] In addition, the isolation part is formed on the align mask in the manner of half-etch lines, so that the difficulty of a cutting technology can be reduced, the cutting efficiency and accuracy can be improved, the separation process can be simplified, and the tensioning mesh of the align mask cannot be influenced.
[0055] As shown in
[0056] Specifically, the mask body 10 is long, and can be convenient to subject to mesh tensioning and welded onto the mask frame 6. As shown in
[0057] Exemplarily, as shown in
[0058] Exemplarily, as shown in
[0059] Exemplarily, as shown in
[0060] As shown in
[0061] Specifically, in the embodiments, the isolation part includes the two first isolation parts for isolating the two fine align holes 21 from other parts; and each first isolation part includes the first part “a” of the cut-out half-etch line 30, the first half-etch line 31 and the second half-etch line 32. As shown in
[0062] As shown in
[0063] Specifically, the isolation part in the embodiments, on the basis of including the two first isolation parts, further includes the third half-etch line 33. Thus, cutting can be performed along the two first isolation parts to partition the two fine align holes 21 individually, and cutting can be further performed along the third half-etch line 33 to partition the area of the coarse align holes 22 from the area of the test openings 4; alternatively, cutting can also be selectively performed along an enclosed line formed by the first parts “a” of the two cut-out half-etch lines 30, the two second half-etch lines 32 and the third half-etch line 33 to partition the areas (the areas where the two fine align holes 21 and the coarse align holes 22 are located) of all the align holes 2 from the area of the test openings 4. In conclusion, according to the isolation part in the embodiments, part of the half-etch lines can be selected for partitioning, i.e., the area where the part of the align holes 2 are located is selectively partitioned from the other areas, thereby avoiding drift of the align holes 2 due to magnetic attraction.
[0064] As shown in
[0065] In the embodiments, the isolation part includes a second isolation part, wherein the second isolation part includes the first parts “a” of the two cut-out half-etch lines 30 and the fourth half-etch line 34. As shown in the
[0066] It should be noted that according to the align masks provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, the isolation parts are not limited to the design in the embodiments; and specifically, the half-etch lines included in the isolation parts of the embodiments of the present disclosure may further include other forms, as long as the half-etch lines can be used for isolating the areas where at least part of the align holes are located from the other areas.
[0067] On the basis of the align mask provided by any embodiment of the present disclosure, the embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a preparation method of a metal mask assembly, as shown in
[0068] Step 101, a fine metal mask and the align masks are respectively welded onto a mask frame: specifically, the align masks are firstly welded onto the mask frame, and then the fine metal mask are welded by taking the positions of the align masks as references.
[0069] Step 102, a mask body of each align mask is cut along a corresponding isolation part for partitioning an area where at least part of the align holes are located from other areas.
[0070] In a specific embodiment, as shown in
[0072] In a specific embodiment, the step of welding the align masks onto the mask frame specifically includes: forming welding spot parts in at least part of the align hole area enclosed by the partitioning part of the mask body, and through the welding spot parts, partially welding the align hole area enclosed by the partitioning part onto the mask frame. Exemplarily, as shown in
[0073] Further, the step of welding the align masks on the mask frame 6 further includes:
[0074] forming welding spot parts (second welding spot parts 52 and part of third welding spot parts 53 as shown in
[0075] In addition, on the basis of the align masks provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, an embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a metal mask assembly. As shown in
[0076] Specifically, in the metal mask assembly provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, the body of the align mask is a cut body, cut-out areas 102 at two ends are cut out, and therefore, only the body of the retention area 101 remains. Besides, the cutting lines are line-type cutting patterns obtained in a manner that cutting is performed along half-etch lines so that parts which are not etched through in half-etch line patterns are thoroughly partitioned.
[0077] In the fine mask assembly, the partitioning part arranged on the body of the retention area 101 of each align mask can partition the area, where at least part of the align holes 2 are located in the body of the retention area 101, from the other areas, so that drift of the align holes 2 caused by magnetic attraction in multiple alignment processes can be blocked, further, the problem of reduced position accuracy of the align holes 2 after multiple alignment operations is avoided, the evaporation pattern position accuracy (PPA) can be increased, evaporation pixel color mixing yield of the OLED can be improved, in addition, the number of evaporation uses of each align mask can be increased, and the replacement cost of the mask assembly is reduced.
[0078] As shown in
[0079] The area where at least part of the align holes 2 are located (the area enclosed by the partitioning part) is fixed to the mask frame 6 through the first welding spot parts 51, so that after the area where at least part of the align holes 2 are located is partitioned from other areas, relative positions are not changed. Besides, the area where at least part of the align holes 2 are located (the area enclosed by the partitioning part) is subjected to reinforced welding by the first welding spot parts 51, so that drift of the align holes 2 can be further blocked, and the position accuracy of the align holes 2 can be guaranteed.
[0080] As shown in
[0081] Further, the align holes 2 include: two fine align holes 21 close to the two short edges 300 of the body of each retention area 101, and coarse align holes 22 located between the two fine align holes 21. Each short edge 300 is provided with a first part “a” opposite to the close fine align hole 21; and the projection of each fine align hole 21, on the close short edge 300 is located in the corresponding first part “a”. Each first long edge is provided with two second parts “b” opposite to the two fine align holes 21 respectively; and the projection of each fine align hole 21, on the first long edge is located in the corresponding second part “b”.
[0082] As shown in
[0083] According to the align masks in the embodiments, before cutting, as shown in
[0084] Specifically, after cutting, as shown in
[0085] Exemplarily, as shown in
[0086] Exemplarily, as shown in
[0087] Further, as shown in
[0088] Specifically, in the process of preparing the metal mask assembly disclosed by the embodiments of the present disclosure, as shown in
[0089] Further, as shown in
[0090] Exemplarily, as shown in
[0091] In the embodiments, on the basis of including the two first partitioning parts, each partitioning part further includes the third cutting line 330 (corresponding to the third half-etch line 33 before being cut). Hence, in the embodiment, the area where the fine align holes 21 are located can be individually partitioned, and the areas where all the align holes 2 are located can also be partitioned from the area where the test openings 4 are located, so that shift of the align holes 2 during the alignment operations can be avoided to the maximum extent.
[0092] Certainly, according to the metal mask assembly provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, the body of the retention area 101 of each align mask 1 may further include half-etch lines; for example, before cutting, each mask body 10 is provided with a plurality of half-etch lines, during cutting, cutting can be selectively performed along part of the half-etch lines. Exemplarily, as shown in
[0093] As shown in
[0094] In the embodiment, each partitioning part only includes the fourth cutting line 340 (corresponding to the fourth half-etch line 34 before being cut), and the fourth cutting line 340 can partition the areas where all the align holes 2 are located from the area where test openings 4 are located, so that shift of the align holes 2 due to influence of magnetism on the alignment operations can be avoided.
[0095] Exemplarily, as shown in
[0096] It should to be noted that according to the metal mask assemblies provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, the partitioning parts of the align masks and the welding spot parts are not limited to design in the embodiments, and other design forms can also be included; and specifically, the partitioning parts only need to partition the areas where at least part of the align holes are located from other areas, and the welding spot parts only need to ensure that the partitioned parts are welded to the mask frames.
[0097] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the embodiments of the present disclosure without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. In this way, under the condition that these modifications and variations of the present disclosure belong to the scope of the claims of the present disclosure and their equivalent technology, the present disclosure is also intended to include these modifications and variations.