JP7190117B2 - Deposition mask and deposition mask intermediate - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a deposition mask and a deposition mask intermediate for depositing a deposition material on a substrate.

In recent years, display devices used in portable devices such as smartphones and tablet PCs are required to have high definition, for example, a pixel density of 400 ppi or more. Also, there is an increasing demand for portable devices to support ultra-full high-definition, and in this case, display devices are required to have a pixel density of, for example, 800 ppi or more.

Among display devices, an organic EL display device has attracted attention because of its good responsiveness, low power consumption, and high contrast. 2. Description of the Related Art As a method of forming pixels of an organic EL display device, a method of forming pixels in a desired pattern using a vapor deposition mask including through holes arranged in a desired pattern is known. Specifically, first, a vapor deposition mask is adhered to an organic EL substrate (substrate) for an organic EL display device, and then the vapor deposition mask and the organic EL substrate that are adhered together are put into a vapor deposition device, and an organic material is deposited. is deposited on the organic EL substrate. In this case, in order to precisely manufacture an organic EL display device having a high pixel density, it is necessary to precisely reproduce the position and shape of the through holes of the vapor deposition mask according to the design and to reduce the thickness of the vapor deposition mask. is required.

As a method for manufacturing a vapor deposition mask, for example, a method of forming through-holes in a metal plate by etching using a photolithographic technique is known, as disclosed in Patent Document 1. For example, first, a first resist pattern is formed on the first surface of the metal plate, and a second resist pattern is formed on the second surface of the metal plate. Next, a region of the first surface of the metal plate that is not covered with the first resist pattern is etched to form a first opening in the first surface of the metal plate. After that, the area of the second surface of the metal plate that is not covered with the second resist pattern is etched to form a second opening in the second surface of the metal plate. At this time, by performing etching so that the first opening and the second opening communicate with each other, a through hole penetrating the metal plate can be formed. A metal plate for producing a vapor deposition mask is obtained, for example, by rolling a base material such as an iron alloy.

In addition, as a method of manufacturing a vapor deposition mask, a method of manufacturing a vapor deposition mask using a plating process is known, as disclosed in Patent Document 2, for example. For example, in the method described in Patent Document 2, first, a substrate having conductivity is prepared. Next, a resist pattern is formed on the substrate with a predetermined gap left therebetween. This resist pattern is provided at positions where the through holes of the vapor deposition mask are to be formed. After that, a plating solution is supplied into the gaps of the resist pattern to deposit a metal layer on the substrate by electroplating. After that, by separating the metal layer from the substrate, a vapor deposition mask having a plurality of through holes can be obtained.

Japanese Patent No. 5382259 JP-A-2001-234385

When a vapor deposition material is deposited on a substrate using a vapor deposition mask, the vapor deposition material adheres not only to the substrate but also to the vapor deposition mask. For example, some of the vapor deposition material may travel toward the substrate along a direction that is significantly inclined with respect to the normal direction of the vapor deposition mask. It reaches and adheres to the walls of the through holes of the mask. In this case, it is difficult for the vapor deposition material to adhere to the region of the substrate located near the wall surface of the through hole of the vapor deposition mask, and as a result, the thickness of the deposited vapor deposition material becomes smaller than that of other portions. , it is conceivable that there may be a portion where the vapor deposition material does not adhere. That is, it is conceivable that the vapor deposition in the vicinity of the walls of the through holes of the vapor deposition mask becomes unstable. Therefore, when a vapor deposition mask is used to form pixels of an organic EL display device, the dimensional accuracy and positional accuracy of the pixels are degraded, and as a result, the luminous efficiency of the organic EL display device is degraded. Become.

In order to solve such problems, it is conceivable to reduce the thickness of the metal plate used for manufacturing the vapor deposition mask. This is because by reducing the thickness of the metal plate, the height of the walls of the through holes of the vapor deposition mask can be reduced, thereby reducing the proportion of the vapor deposition material adhering to the walls of the through holes. This is because

A rolled material obtained by rolling a base material to a predetermined thickness is sometimes used as a metal plate used for producing a vapor deposition mask. In order to reduce the thickness of such a metal plate, it is necessary to increase the rolling reduction of the metal plate. Here, the rolling reduction is a value calculated by (thickness of base material−thickness of metal plate)/(thickness of base material). However, the elongation rate of the metal plate differs depending on the position in the width direction (the direction orthogonal to the conveying direction of the base material). And, the greater the rolling reduction, the greater the degree of non-uniformity in deformation due to rolling. For this reason, it is known that a metal sheet rolled at a large reduction rate has a wavy shape. Specifically, there is a wavy shape formed on the side edge in the width direction of the metal plate, which is called edge extension.
Even when heat treatment such as annealing is performed after rolling, such a wavy shape may appear.

In some cases, a metal plate having a predetermined thickness is produced by a foil manufacturing process using plating. However, if the current density is non-uniform in the foil manufacturing process, the thickness of the manufactured metal plate may become non-uniform. As a result, a similar wavy shape may appear on the side edge in the width direction of the metal plate.

When exposing a metal plate having a wavy shape on its side edge, the exposure mask is vacuum-bonded to the metal plate. At this time, the side edges where the wavy shape is formed are corrected so that wrinkles do not exist, and are brought into close contact with the exposure mask. The metal plate is exposed to light in order to form the through-holes in such a close contact state. That is, the metal plate is exposed so as to obtain through-holes of regular dimensions while the metal plate is stretched without wrinkles. After exposure, when the exposure mask is removed from the metal plate, the side edges of the metal plate reappear with the wavy shape, and the side edges are in a contracted state.

By the way, in order to reduce the manufacturing cost of the vapor deposition mask, first, a plurality of effective regions including a plurality of through holes corresponding to one organic EL display device are formed on a metal plate, and then the metal plate is cut into a plurality of pieces, It is known to manufacture a plurality of elongated vapor deposition masks at once by this method. For this reason, when a wavy shape appears at the side edge in the width direction of the metal plate, the wavy shape formed at one side edge in the width direction may overlap with the other side edge in the cut vapor deposition mask. There may be a vapor deposition mask that is larger than the undulations formed in the . In such a vapor deposition mask, one side edge having a wavy shape shrinks when not stretched, so that the vapor deposition mask is curved when viewed along the normal direction of the vapor deposition mask. In this case, one side edge of the vapor deposition mask is recessed and the other side edge is convex.

When manufacturing a vapor deposition mask using plating, if the current density during the plating is non-uniform, the thickness of the vapor deposition mask manufactured by the plating becomes non-uniform. For this reason, the metal layer is deposited so as to obtain through-holes of regular dimensions during the plating process. As a result, the side edges of the metal layer may appear wavy, and the side edges may become crimped. For this reason, a vapor deposition mask manufactured using a plating process can be curved in the same manner as the above-described vapor deposition mask manufactured by an etching process.

When such a vapor deposition mask is stretched, the elongation of the vapor deposition mask differs in the width direction, which may cause the position of the through hole to shift. More specifically, even if tension is applied to the vapor deposition mask in the longitudinal direction, the recessed portion is in a shrunk and slack state, so that the portion is less likely to be tensioned and stretched. This can result in less stretch on the concave side than on the convex side. For this reason, in the portion on the recessed side, the through-hole may not extend to the proper position, and the position of the through-hole may be shifted during vapor deposition. In addition, even if the recessed side and the convex side stretched almost equally, the recessed side was slack before the tension was applied, so the recessed side stretched to some extent. However, it is still in a slack state, and it is considered difficult for the through hole to extend to the proper position. For this reason, there is a possibility that the positions of the through-holes are shifted during the stretching.

If the positions of the through-holes are shifted when the vapor deposition mask is stretched in this way, the position of the vapor deposition material vapor-deposited on the substrate through the through-holes is shifted. may decrease.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a vapor deposition mask and a vapor deposition mask intermediate that can improve the positional accuracy of through holes during stretching.

The present invention
A deposition mask including a first surface and a second surface located on the opposite side of the first surface,
an effective area in which a plurality of through holes are formed;
a pair of ear portions provided on both sides of the effective region in the first direction of the vapor deposition mask; a dummy region in which at least one of a first surface dummy opening provided on the first surface and a second surface dummy opening provided on the second surface is formed;
The dummy region includes a first region side edge portion provided on one side of the vapor deposition mask in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction and a second region side edge portion provided on the other side; has
When V is the volume per unit area, t _u is the thickness, and V/t _u is the remaining material amount of the material forming the vapor deposition mask, the remaining material amount at the side edge of the first area of the dummy area is , a deposition mask characterized by being larger than the remaining amount of material at the side edge of the second region,
is.

In the vapor deposition mask according to the present invention,
The dummy region further has a region central portion provided between the side edge of the first region and the side edge of the second region,
The remaining material amount at the central portion of the region is smaller than the remaining material amount at the side edge portion of the first region and larger than the remaining material amount at the side edge portion of the second region;
You may do so.

In the vapor deposition mask according to the present invention,
In the dummy region, the first surface dummy opening is provided on the first surface and the second surface dummy opening is provided on the second surface,
a dummy hole defined by the first-surface dummy opening and the second-surface dummy opening and passing through the dummy area is provided in the dummy area;
You may do so.

In the vapor deposition mask according to the present invention,
In the dummy region, the first surface dummy opening is provided on the first surface,
the dummy region is provided with a first dummy recess defined by the first surface dummy opening;
You may do so.

In the vapor deposition mask according to the present invention,
In the dummy region, the second surface dummy opening is provided on the second surface,
the dummy region is provided with a second dummy recess defined by the second surface dummy opening;
You may do so.

In the vapor deposition mask according to the present invention,
In the dummy region, the first surface dummy opening is provided on the first surface and the second surface dummy opening is provided on the second surface,
a first dummy recess defined by the first surface dummy opening and a second dummy recess defined by the second surface dummy opening provided in the dummy region;
The first-surface dummy openings and the second-surface dummy openings are alternately arranged when viewed along the normal direction of the vapor deposition mask.
You may do so.

In addition, the present invention
A deposition mask including a first surface and a second surface located on the opposite side of the first surface,
a first effective area in which a plurality of through holes are formed;
A second effective area provided at a position different from the first effective area in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction of the vapor deposition mask, the second effective area having a plurality of through holes. When,
a pair of ears provided on both sides of the first effective area and the second effective area in the first direction of the vapor deposition mask;
A first surface dummy opening provided on the first surface of the deposition mask and a second dummy opening provided on the second surface of the vapor deposition mask are interposed between at least one of the pair of ear portions and the first effective region. a first dummy region in which at least one of the plane dummy openings is formed;
A first surface dummy opening provided on the first surface of the deposition mask and a second dummy opening provided on the second surface of the vapor deposition mask are interposed between at least one of the pair of ear portions and the second effective region. a second dummy region in which at least one of the plane dummy openings is formed;
Let V be the volume per unit area, t _u be the thickness, and V/t _u be the remaining material amount of the material forming the vapor deposition mask. A vapor deposition mask characterized by being larger than the remaining amount of material in
is.

In the vapor deposition mask according to the present invention,
The second effective area is provided closer to the center of the vapor deposition mask in the second direction than the first effective area,
You may do so.

In addition, the present invention
A vapor deposition mask intermediate for producing a first vapor deposition mask and a second vapor deposition mask,
an elongated metal plate including a first surface and a second surface located on the opposite side of the first surface;
a first effective region provided on the metal plate, the first effective region forming the first vapor deposition mask and having a plurality of through holes;
a second effective region provided closer to the center in the width direction of the metal plate than the first effective region, the second effective region forming the second vapor deposition mask and having a plurality of through holes formed therein; ,
a dummy region provided on at least one of both sides of the first effective region in the longitudinal direction of the metal plate, constituting the first vapor deposition mask, and provided on the first surface of the metal plate; a dummy region in which at least one of a first surface dummy opening provided on the second surface and a second surface dummy opening provided on the second surface is formed;
The dummy region includes a first region side edge provided on the side opposite to the second deposition mask side and a second region side edge provided on the second deposition mask side,
Where V is the volume per unit area, t _u is the thickness, and V/t _u is the remaining material amount of the material forming the first vapor deposition mask, the remaining material at the side edge of the first region of the dummy region. A deposition mask intermediate, wherein the amount is larger than the remaining amount of material at the side edge of the second region;
is.

Furthermore, the present invention provides
A vapor deposition mask intermediate for producing a vapor deposition mask,
an elongated metal plate including a first surface and a second surface located on the opposite side of the first surface;
a first effective area provided in the metal plate, the first effective area having a plurality of through holes;
a second effective area provided closer to the center side in the width direction of the metal plate than the first effective area, the second effective area having a plurality of through holes;
provided on at least one of both sides of the first effective area in the longitudinal direction of the metal plate, and provided on the first surface dummy opening provided on the first surface of the metal plate and on the second surface; a first dummy region in which at least one of second surface dummy openings is formed; a second dummy region in which at least one of a first surface dummy opening provided on the first surface and a second surface dummy opening provided on the second surface is formed;
Let V be the volume per unit area, t _u be the thickness, and V/t _u be the remaining material amount of the material forming the vapor deposition mask. A vapor deposition mask intermediate, characterized in that it is larger than the remaining amount of material in
is.

According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the positional accuracy of the through-holes during stretching.

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an example of a vapor deposition mask device including a vapor deposition mask in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a method of vapor deposition using the vapor deposition mask apparatus shown in FIG. 3 is a partial plan view showing the effective area of the vapor deposition mask shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VV of FIG. 3. FIG. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing an enlarged through-hole and its vicinity shown in FIG. 8A is a partially enlarged plan view schematically showing an example of the dummy area in FIG. 1. FIG. 8B is a partially enlarged plan view schematically showing another example of the dummy area in FIG. 1. FIG. 9A is a partially enlarged plan view showing an example of a top portion in the dummy area of FIG. 1. FIG. 9B is a partially enlarged plan view showing another example of the top portion in the dummy area of FIG. 1. FIG. 10A and 10B are diagrams for explaining a method of obtaining the amount of material remaining in the dummy region shown in FIG. 8A or 8B. FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing an example of a vapor deposition mask intermediate for producing the vapor deposition mask shown in FIG. 1 by etching. FIG. 12 is a plan view showing the vapor deposition mask obtained from the vapor deposition mask intermediate of FIG. 11 in a state of being laid out on a long metal substrate. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a process of rolling a base material to obtain a metal plate having a desired thickness. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a step of annealing a metal plate obtained by rolling. 15A and 15B are schematic diagrams for generally explaining an example of a method for manufacturing the vapor deposition mask shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 16A and 16B are diagrams for explaining an example of a method of manufacturing the vapor deposition mask shown in FIG. 1, and are cross-sectional views showing a step of forming a resist film on a metal plate. 17A and 17B are diagrams for explaining an example of the manufacturing method of the vapor deposition mask shown in FIG. 1, and are cross-sectional views showing a step of bringing the exposure mask into close contact with the resist film. 18A and 18B are diagrams for explaining an example of a method for manufacturing the vapor deposition mask shown in FIG. 1, and are diagrams showing a process of developing a resist film. 19A and 19B are diagrams for explaining an example of the manufacturing method of the vapor deposition mask shown in FIG. 1, and are diagrams showing the second surface etching step. FIG. 20 is a diagram for explaining an example of a method of manufacturing the vapor deposition mask shown in FIG. 1, and is a diagram showing a step of coating the second recesses with resin. FIG. 21 is a diagram for explaining an example of a method for manufacturing the vapor deposition mask shown in FIG. 1, and is a diagram showing a first surface etching process. FIG. 22 is a diagram for explaining an example of the manufacturing method of the vapor deposition mask shown in FIG. 1, and is a diagram showing the first surface etching process following FIG. FIG. 23 is a diagram for explaining an example of the method of manufacturing the vapor deposition mask shown in FIG. 1, and is a diagram showing a step of removing resin from the elongated metal plate. FIG. 24 is a plan view showing a modification of the arrangement of a plurality of through-holes of a vapor deposition mask. FIG. 25 is a partially enlarged plan view schematically showing a modification of the dummy area. FIG. 26 is a sectional view corresponding to line IV-IV of FIG. 3, showing a modification of the vapor deposition mask of FIG. 27 is a partially enlarged plan view schematically showing the dummy area shown in FIG. 26. FIG. FIG. 28 is a plan view showing an enlarged effective region of a vapor deposition mask produced by plating. FIG. 29 is a cross-sectional view of the effective area of FIG. 28 viewed from the XX direction. 30 is a cross-sectional view showing an enlarged effective region of FIG. 29. FIG. FIG. 31 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method for manufacturing a vapor deposition mask. FIG. 32 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method for manufacturing a vapor deposition mask. FIG. 33 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method for manufacturing a vapor deposition mask. 34A and 34B are diagrams for explaining an example of a method for manufacturing a vapor deposition mask. FIG. 35 is a perspective view showing a vapor deposition mask intermediate for producing the vapor deposition mask shown in FIG. 1 by plating. 36A and 36B are diagrams for explaining a modified example of the method for manufacturing a vapor deposition mask. 37A and 37B are diagrams for explaining a modified example of the manufacturing method of the vapor deposition mask. FIG. 38 is a cross-sectional view showing a modification of the vapor deposition mask. FIG. 39 is a plan view showing an example of a vapor deposition mask having effective regions arranged in a lattice. FIG. 40 is a perspective view showing an example of a vapor deposition mask intermediate for manufacturing the vapor deposition mask shown in FIG. 39 by etching. FIG. 41 is a perspective view showing an example of a vapor deposition mask intermediate for manufacturing a vapor deposition mask having effective regions arranged in a grid pattern by etching.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the drawings attached to this specification, for the convenience of illustration and ease of understanding, the scale and the ratio of vertical and horizontal dimensions are changed and exaggerated from those of the real thing.

1 to 41 are diagrams for explaining an embodiment and modifications thereof according to the present invention. In the following embodiments and modifications thereof, a vapor deposition mask and a vapor deposition mask intermediate used for patterning an organic material on a substrate in a desired pattern when manufacturing an organic EL display device will be described as examples. . However, without being limited to such applications, the present invention can be applied to vapor deposition masks and vapor deposition mask intermediates used for various purposes.

In this specification, the terms "plate", "sheet" and "film" are not to be distinguished from each other based only on the difference of names. For example, "plate" is a concept that includes members that can be called sheets and films. can't be

In addition, "plate surface (sheet surface, film surface)" refers to the target plate-shaped member (sheet-shaped member) when viewed from the whole and perspective. member, film-like member). Further, the normal direction used for a plate-like (sheet-like, film-like) member refers to the normal direction to the plate surface (sheet surface, film surface) of the member.

In addition, terms such as "parallel", "perpendicular", "identical", "equivalent", etc., and lengths and angles are used herein to specify shapes and geometric conditions and physical properties and degrees thereof. In addition, the values of physical properties are not bound by strict meanings, and should be interpreted to include the range in which similar functions can be expected.

(Evaporation mask device)
First, an example of a vapor deposition mask device including a vapor deposition mask will be described mainly with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. FIG. Here, FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an example of a vapor deposition mask device including a vapor deposition mask, and FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining how to use the vapor deposition mask device shown in FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the vapor deposition mask from the side of the first surface, and FIGS. 4 to 6 are cross-sectional views at respective positions in FIG. FIG. 4 shows a later-described dummy hole 86 of the dummy region 80 in addition to the IV-IV line cross section of FIG.

The vapor deposition mask device 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 includes a plurality of vapor deposition masks 20 each made of a substantially rectangular metal plate 21 and a frame 15 attached to the periphery of the plurality of vapor deposition masks 20. there is In each vapor deposition mask 20, the metal plate 21 including the first surface 21a and the second surface 21b located on the opposite side of the first surface 21a is etched on both the first surface 21a side and the second surface 21b side. A large number of through holes 25 are provided. As shown in FIG. 2, the vapor deposition mask apparatus 10 is supported in the vapor deposition apparatus 90 so that the vapor deposition mask 20 faces the lower surface of a substrate 92, which is an object to be vapor deposited, such as a glass substrate. Used for deposition of material 98 .

In the vapor deposition device 90, the vapor deposition mask 20 and the substrate 92 come into close contact with each other due to the magnetic force from the magnet (not shown). A crucible 94 containing a vapor deposition material (eg, an organic light-emitting material) 98 and a heater 96 for heating the crucible 94 are arranged below the vapor deposition mask device 10 in the vapor deposition apparatus 90 . The deposition material 98 in the crucible 94 is vaporized or sublimated by heating from the heater 96 and adheres to the surface of the substrate 92 . As described above, the vapor deposition mask 20 is formed with a large number of through holes 25 , and the vapor deposition material 98 adheres to the substrate 92 through the through holes 25 . As a result, the vapor deposition material 98 is deposited on the surface of the substrate 92 in a desired pattern corresponding to the positions of the through holes 25 of the vapor deposition mask 20 .

As described above, in this embodiment, the through holes 25 are arranged in a predetermined pattern in each effective area 22 to be described later. When color display is desired, the evaporation mask 20 (evaporation mask device 10) and the substrate 92 are relatively moved little by little along the arrangement direction of the through-holes 25 (the one direction described above), and the red organic film is displayed. A luminescent material, an organic luminescent material for green, and an organic luminescent material for blue may be deposited in order. Alternatively, the vapor deposition material 98 may be deposited on the surface of the substrate 92 using different vapor deposition masks 20 depending on the color of the organic light emitting material.

The frame 15 of the vapor deposition mask device 10 is attached to the periphery of the rectangular vapor deposition mask 20 . The frame 15 holds the vapor deposition mask 20 in a stretched state so that the vapor deposition mask 20 is not warped. The vapor deposition mask 20 and the frame 15 are fixed to each other, for example by spot welding.

A vapor deposition process is performed inside the vapor deposition apparatus 90 used as a high temperature atmosphere. Therefore, the vapor deposition mask 20, the frame 15 and the substrate 92 held inside the vapor deposition apparatus 90 are also heated during the vapor deposition process. At this time, the vapor deposition mask 20, the frame 15 and the substrate 92 exhibit dimensional change behavior based on their thermal expansion coefficients. In this case, if the vapor deposition mask 20 or the frame 15 and the substrate 92 have significantly different coefficients of thermal expansion, a positional shift occurs due to the difference in their dimensional changes. Dimensional accuracy and positional accuracy are degraded. In order to solve such a problem, it is preferable that the coefficient of thermal expansion of the vapor deposition mask 20 and the frame 15 be equal to the coefficient of thermal expansion of the substrate 92 . For example, when a glass substrate is used as the substrate 92, an iron alloy containing nickel can be used as the main material of the vapor deposition mask 20 and the frame 15. FIG. For example, an iron alloy containing 30 to 54% by mass of nickel can be used as the material of the metal plate forming the vapor deposition mask 20 .
Specific examples of iron alloys containing nickel include Invar materials containing 34 to 38% by mass of nickel, Super Invar materials containing 30 to 34% by mass of nickel and cobalt, and 48 to 54% by mass of nickel. A low thermal expansion Fe—Ni system plated alloy and the like can be mentioned. In this specification, the numerical range represented by the symbol "~" includes the numerical values placed before and after the symbol "~". For example, a numerical range defined by the expression "34 to 38% by mass" is the same as a numerical range defined by the expression "34% by mass or more and 38% by mass or less".

If the temperatures of the vapor deposition mask 20, the frame 15 and the organic EL substrate 92 do not reach a high temperature during the vapor deposition process, the thermal expansion coefficients of the vapor deposition mask 20 and the frame 15 are equal to the thermal expansion coefficient of the organic EL substrate 92. There is no particular need to set the value of In this case, a material other than the iron alloy described above may be used as the material of the metal plate 21, which constitutes the vapor deposition mask 20 and will be described later. For example, iron alloys other than the above nickel-containing iron alloys, such as chromium-containing iron alloys, may be used.
As an iron alloy containing chromium, for example, an iron alloy called so-called stainless steel can be used. Alloys other than iron alloys, such as nickel and nickel-cobalt alloys, may also be used.

First, the case where the vapor deposition mask 20 shown in FIG. 1 is produced by an etching process will be described.

(Evaporation mask)
As shown in FIG. 1, in the present embodiment, the vapor deposition mask 20 is made of a metal plate 21 and has a substantially quadrangular shape in plan view, more precisely, a substantially rectangular contour in plan view. The vapor deposition mask 20 includes an effective area 22 in which through holes 25 are formed in a regular arrangement, and a surrounding area 23 positioned around the effective area 22 . Perimeter area 23 is an area intended to support active area 22 and not an area through which deposition material 98 intended to be deposited onto substrate 92 passes. For example, in a deposition mask 20 used for deposition of organic light-emitting materials for an organic EL display device, the effective area 22 is the area on the substrate 92 where the organic light-emitting material is deposited to form pixels, i.e., the fabrication area. The area within the vapor deposition mask 20 facing the area on the substrate 92 that will form the display surface of the organic EL display device substrate. However, for various purposes, through holes or recesses may be formed in the peripheral region 23 . In the example shown in FIG. 1, each effective area 22 has a substantially rectangular contour in plan view, more precisely, a substantially rectangular contour in plan view.

In the illustrated example, the plurality of effective regions 22 of the vapor deposition mask 20 are arranged in a row at predetermined intervals along one direction parallel to the longitudinal direction of the vapor deposition mask 20 . Such a vapor deposition mask 20 is sometimes called a so-called stick-shaped vapor deposition mask. In the illustrated example, one effective area 22 corresponds to one organic EL display device. That is, according to the vapor deposition mask device 10 (deposition mask 20) shown in FIG. 1, multi-surface vapor deposition is possible.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the illustrated example, the plurality of through-holes 25 formed in each effective area 22 are arranged at a predetermined pitch along two mutually orthogonal directions in the effective area 22. there is An example of the through holes 25 formed in the metal plate 21 will be described in more detail mainly with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6. FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the plurality of through holes 25 are formed along the normal direction N of the vapor deposition mask 20 from the first surface 20a, which is one side along the normal direction N of the vapor deposition mask 20. It penetrates to the second surface 20b on the other side. In the illustrated example, the first recess 30 is formed by etching in the first surface 21a of the metal plate 21, which is one side of the vapor deposition mask 20 in the normal direction N, as will be described in detail later. A second concave portion 35 is formed on the second surface 21b of the metal plate 21, which is the other side in the normal direction N. As shown in FIG. The first recess 30 is connected to the second recess 35 so that the second recess 35 and the first recess 30 communicate with each other. The through hole 25 is composed of a second recess 35 and a first recess 30 connected to the second recess 35 .

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, from the second surface 20b side of the vapor deposition mask 20 toward the first surface 20a side, the plate of the vapor deposition mask 20 at each position along the normal direction N of the vapor deposition mask 20 The opening area of each second concave portion 35 in the cross section along the surface gradually decreases. Similarly, the opening area of each first concave portion 30 in the cross section along the plate surface of the vapor deposition mask 20 at each position along the normal direction N of the vapor deposition mask 20 is It gradually becomes smaller toward the second surface 20b side.

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the wall surface 31 of the first recess 30 and the wall surface 36 of the second recess 35 are connected via a circumferential connecting portion 41. As shown in FIGS. In the connecting portion 41, the wall surface 31 of the first concave portion 30 inclined with respect to the normal direction N of the vapor deposition mask 20 and the wall surface 36 of the second concave portion 35 inclined with respect to the normal direction N of the vapor deposition mask 20 join. defined by the ridges of the overhanging portion.
The connecting portion 41 defines a penetrating portion 42 in which the opening area of the through hole 25 is minimized in plan view of the vapor deposition mask 20 .

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, on the other side of the vapor deposition mask 20 along the normal direction N, that is, on the first surface 20a of the vapor deposition mask 20, two adjacent through holes 25 are formed by vapor deposition. They are spaced apart from each other along the plate surface of the mask 20 . That is, when the metal plate 21 is etched from the first surface 21a side of the metal plate 21 corresponding to the first surface 20a of the vapor deposition mask 20 to form the first concave portion 30, as in the manufacturing method described later. , the first surface 21a of the metal plate 21 remains between the two adjacent first recesses 30. As shown in FIG.

Similarly, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, on one side of the vapor deposition mask 20 along the normal direction N, that is, on the side of the second surface 20b of the vapor deposition mask 20, two adjacent second concave portions 35 may be spaced apart from each other along the plate surface of the vapor deposition mask 20 . That is, the second surface 21b of the metal plate 21 may remain between two adjacent second recesses 35 . In the following description, the portion of the effective area 22 of the second surface 21b of the metal plate 21 that remains without being etched is also referred to as a top portion 43. As shown in FIG. By fabricating the vapor deposition mask 20 so that such a top portion 43 remains, the vapor deposition mask 20 can be given sufficient strength.
As a result, it is possible to prevent the vapor deposition mask 20 from being damaged during transportation, for example. If the width β of the top portion 43 is too large, shadows may occur in the vapor deposition process, which may reduce the utilization efficiency of the vapor deposition material 98 . Therefore, the vapor deposition mask 20 is preferably manufactured so that the width β of the top portion 43 does not become excessively large. For example, it is preferable that the width β of the top portion 43 is 2 μm or less. Note that the width β of the top portion 43 generally changes according to the direction in which the vapor deposition mask 20 is cut. For example, the width β of the top portion 43 shown in FIGS. 4 and 6 may differ from each other. In this case, the vapor deposition mask 20 may be configured such that the width β of the top portion 43 is 2 μm or less when the vapor deposition mask 20 is cut in any direction.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, depending on the location, etching may be performed such that two adjacent second recesses 35 are connected. That is, there may be a place where the second surface 21b of the metal plate 21 does not remain between two adjacent second recesses 35 .

When the vapor deposition mask device 10 is housed in the vapor deposition device 90 as shown in FIG. 2, the second surface 20b of the vapor deposition mask 20 faces the crucible 94 holding the vapor deposition material 98, as indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. , and the first surface 20 a of the vapor deposition mask 20 faces the substrate 92 . Therefore, the deposition material 98 adheres to the substrate 92 through the second recesses 35 whose opening area is gradually reduced. As indicated by the arrow pointing from the second surface 20b side to the first surface 20a in FIG. It may move in a direction greatly inclined with respect to the normal direction N of the substrate 92 . At this time, if the thickness of the vapor deposition mask 20 is large, most of the obliquely moving vapor deposition material 98 reaches the wall surfaces 36 of the second recesses 35 before reaching the substrate 92 through the through holes 25 . Adhere to. Therefore, in order to increase the utilization efficiency of the vapor deposition material 98, it is possible to reduce the thickness t of the vapor deposition mask 20, thereby reducing the height of the wall surface 36 of the second recess 35 and the wall surface 31 of the first recess 30. considered preferable. That is, it can be said that it is preferable to use a metal plate 21 having a thickness t as small as possible within a range in which the strength of the vapor deposition mask 20 can be secured as the metal plate 21 for forming the vapor deposition mask 20 . Considering this point, in the present embodiment, the thickness t of the vapor deposition mask 20 is preferably set to 85 μm or less, for example, within the range of 5 to 85 μm. Note that the thickness t is the thickness of the peripheral region 23, that is, the thickness of the portion of the vapor deposition mask 20 where the first concave portion 30 and the second concave portion 35 are not formed. Therefore, it can also be said that the thickness t is the thickness of the metal plate 21 .

In FIG. 4, a straight line L1 passing through the connection portion 41, which is the portion having the minimum opening area of the through-hole 25, and another arbitrary position on the wall surface 36 of the second recess 35 is the normal direction of the vapor deposition mask 20. The minimum angle to be made with N is labeled θ1. It is advantageous to increase the angle θ1 in order to allow the obliquely moving vapor deposition material 98 to reach the substrate 92 as much as possible without reaching the wall surface 36 . In addition to reducing the thickness t of the vapor deposition mask 20, reducing the width β of the top portion 43 is also effective in increasing the angle θ1.

In FIG. 6, symbol α represents the width of a portion (hereinafter also referred to as a rib) of the effective region 22 of the first surface 21a of the metal plate 21 that remains without being etched. The width α of the rib portion and the dimension r2 of the penetrating portion 42 _are appropriately determined according to the dimensions and the number of display pixels of the organic EL display device. Table ₁ shows an example of values of the number of display pixels and the width α of the rib portion and the dimension r2 of the penetrating portion 42 obtained according to the number of display pixels in a 5-inch organic EL display device.

Although not limited, the vapor deposition mask 20 according to this embodiment is particularly effective when manufacturing an organic EL display device with a pixel density of 450 ppi or more. Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 7, an example of the dimensions of the vapor deposition mask 20 required for manufacturing such a high pixel density organic EL display device will be described. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing an enlarged through-hole 25 of the vapor deposition mask 20 shown in FIG. 4 and a region in the vicinity thereof.

In FIG. 7, as a parameter related to the shape of the through hole 25, the distance in the direction along the normal direction N of the vapor deposition mask 20 from the first surface 20a of the vapor deposition mask 20 to the connecting portion 41, that is, the first concave portion _The height of the wall 31 of 30 is denoted r1. Furthermore, the dimension of the first recessed portion 30 at the portion where the first recessed portion 30 connects to the _second recessed portion 35, that is, the dimension of the through portion 42 is represented by symbol r2. Further, in FIG. 7, the angle formed by the straight line L2 connecting the connecting portion 41 and the leading end edge of the first concave portion 30 on the first surface 21a of the metal plate 21 with respect to the normal direction N of the metal plate 21 is It is represented by the symbol θ2.

When manufacturing an organic EL display device with a pixel density of 450 ppi or more, the dimension r ₂ of the through portion 42 is preferably set within the range of 10 to 60 μm. As a result, it is possible to provide the vapor deposition mask 20 with which an organic EL display device with a high pixel density can be manufactured. Preferably, the height r1 of the wall surface 31 of the _first recess 30 is set to 6 μm or less.

Next, the aforementioned angle θ2 shown in FIG. 7 will be described. The angle θ2 is inclined with respect to the normal direction N of the metal plate 21 , and among the vapor deposition materials 98 flying so as to pass through the through portion 42 in the vicinity of the connection portion 41 , the vapor deposition material 98 that can reach the substrate 92 corresponds to the maximum value of the tilt angle of This is because the deposition material 98 flying at an inclination angle larger than the angle θ2 adheres to the wall surface 31 of the first recess 30 before reaching the substrate 92 . Therefore, by making the angle θ2 small, it is possible to suppress the vapor deposition material 98 that has flown at a large angle of inclination and passed through the through portion 42 from adhering to the substrate 92 . It is possible to prevent the vapor deposition material 98 from adhering to the portion outside the portion overlapping the . That is, reducing the angle θ2 leads to suppression of variations in the area and thickness of the deposition material 98 adhering to the substrate 92 . From this point of view, for example, the through hole 25 is formed so that the angle θ2 is 45 degrees or less. 7, the dimension of the first recess 30 on the first surface 21a, that is, the opening dimension of the through hole 25 on the first surface 21a, is larger than the dimension r2 of the first recess 30 on the connecting portion 41. I gave an example. That is, an example is shown in which the value of the angle θ2 is a positive value. However, although not shown, the dimension r2 of the first recess 30 in the connection portion 41 may be larger than the dimension of the first recess 30 in the first surface 21a. That is, the value of the angle θ2 may be a negative value.

As shown in FIG. 1, a pair of ears 24 are provided on both sides of the effective region 22 in the longitudinal direction (first direction) of the vapor deposition mask 20 . The ear portions 24 are positioned at both ends 20 e of the vapor deposition mask 20 in the longitudinal direction. Here, the ears 24 are portions of the vapor deposition mask 20 that are attached to the frame 15 . In FIG. 1, the entire longitudinal length of the vapor deposition mask 20 and the length of the ears 24 are indicated by symbols A and A1, respectively. The overall length A of the vapor deposition mask 20 is, for example, within the range of 850 mm to 1350 mm, and the length A1 of the ear portion 24 is within the range of 50 mm to 250 mm. 1, the pair of ear portions 24 are arranged in the longitudinal direction of the vapor deposition mask 20, and the first direction in which the pair of ear portions 24 are arranged is the longitudinal direction. there is In addition, when the entire length A (see FIG. 1) of the vapor deposition mask 20 is smaller than the width dimension of the vapor deposition mask 20 (the dimension in the direction perpendicular to the direction indicated by the length A), the pair of ear portions 24 The first direction in which the are arranged is not the longitudinal direction of the vapor deposition mask 20 but the lateral direction, but even in this case, it is within the scope of the present invention.

A dummy area 80 is interposed between each of the ears 24 and the effective area 22 . In other words, the dummy regions 80 are provided on both sides of the plurality of effective regions 22 in the longitudinal direction of the vapor deposition mask 20 . If the vapor deposition mask 20 has only one effective area 22 , the dummy areas 80 may be provided on both sides of this single effective area 22 .

The tension applied to the vapor deposition mask 20 during tensioning of the dummy region 80 is applied to the effective region 22 in the width direction of the vapor deposition mask 20 (second direction, a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the vapor deposition mask 20). This is the area intended to be adjusted according to the position of the That is, the dummy region 80 is a region configured such that when stretched on the frame 15 , the extension of the dummy region 80 itself is different in the width direction. In FIG. 1, each dummy area 80 has a substantially rectangular shape in plan view, more precisely, has a substantially rectangular contour in plan view. An example is shown. Moreover, in the example shown in FIG. 1, the dummy regions 80 are arranged along the arrangement direction of the effective regions 22 (along the longitudinal direction of the vapor deposition mask 20), and the dummy regions 80 and the dummy regions 80 are adjacent to each other. The spacing between the effective areas 22 is the same as the spacing between adjacent effective areas 22 . The above-described surrounding area 23 is an area located around not only the effective area 22 but also both the effective area 22 and the dummy area 80 .

As shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the dummy region 80 has a first region side edge portion 81 provided on one side in the width direction of the vapor deposition mask 20 and the other side (with respect to the first region side edge portion 81). a second region side edge portion 82 provided on the opposite side in the width direction, and a region central portion 83 provided between the first region side edge portion 81 and the second region side edge portion 82; is doing. Of these, the first region side edge portion 81 is a portion arranged on the side of the first side edge 20f of the vapor deposition mask 20, and the second region side edge portion 82 is arranged on the side of the second side edge 20g. This is the part where The region center portion 83 is a region arranged on the center side of the first region side edge portion 81 and on the center side of the second region side edge portion 82 . Here, the region central portion 83 is a portion arranged at the central position in the width direction of the vapor deposition mask 20 .

As shown in FIG. 4 , the dummy region 80 is provided with a plurality of first-surface dummy openings 84 and a plurality of second-surface dummy openings 85 . Among these, the first surface dummy openings 84 are provided on the first surface 20 a of the vapor deposition mask 20 , and the second surface dummy openings 85 are provided on the second surface 20 b of the vapor deposition mask 20 . In the present embodiment, the dummy region 80 is provided with a dummy hole 86 defined by the first-surface dummy opening 84 and the second-surface dummy opening 85 described above. passes through. In other words, the dummy holes 86 are defined by the first surface dummy openings 84 on the first surface 20a, and the dummy holes 86 are defined by the second surface dummy openings 85 on the second surface 20b. The opening shape of the first surface dummy opening 84 and the opening shape of the second surface dummy opening 85 are the same or similar. The opening shape of the dummy hole 86 in the cross section along the plate surface of the vapor deposition mask 20 at each position along the normal direction N of the vapor deposition mask 20 is the planar shape of the first surface dummy opening 84 and the second surface. It is the same as or similar to the planar shape of the dummy opening 85 . A large number of such dummy holes 86 are provided in each of the first region side edge portion 81 , the second region side edge portion 82 and the region central portion 83 .

The remaining amount of the material forming the vapor deposition mask 20 (here, the material forming the metal plate 21 ) in the dummy region 80 varies in the width direction of the vapor deposition mask 20 . Here, the remaining amount of material is the amount of remaining material constituting the metal plate 21 in the dummy region 80 in which the plurality of dummy holes 86 are formed. More specifically, in the vapor deposition mask 20 produced by the etching process, the residual amount of material means the amount of the material of the metal plate 21 that remains without being removed by the etching process.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the remaining material amount at the first region side edge portion 81 of the dummy region 80 is larger than the remaining material amount at the second region side edge portion 82. there is In addition, the remaining material amount in the region central portion 83 is smaller than the remaining material amount in the first region side edge portion 81 and larger than the material remaining amount in the second region side edge portion 82 . When the region central portion 83 is arranged at the center position in the width direction of the vapor deposition mask 20, the remaining material amount in the region central portion 83 is the same as the remaining material amount in the first region side edge portion 81 and the second region side edge portion. It is preferable that it is approximately the average value of the remaining amount of material in the portion 82 . In other words, the residual amount of material in the dummy region 80 is divided not only into the first region side edge portion 81, the second region side edge portion 82, and the region central portion 83, but also into smaller portions in the width direction. The remaining amount of material in the portion may be gradually increased from the second region side edge portion 82 toward the first region side edge portion 81 .

Next, specific examples of the dummy region 80 will be described with reference to FIGS. 8A and 8B. 8A and 8B are plan views schematically showing the first surface 20a of the vapor deposition mask 20. FIG. Here, as an example, an example in which the first surface dummy opening 84 is formed in a rectangular shape is shown. The center of the second surface dummy opening 85 (see FIG. 4) overlaps the center of the first surface dummy opening 84 in plan view. The first-surface dummy openings 84 (and the second-surface dummy openings 85) are arranged in a grid pattern. In addition, in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the illustration of the second-surface dummy openings 85 is omitted for the sake of clarity.

In the form shown in FIG. 8A, a large number of first-surface dummy openings 84 having the same opening area are formed on the first surface 20a of the vapor deposition mask 20 . Here, the arrangement pitch of the first surface dummy openings 84 in the width direction of the vapor deposition mask 20 differs depending on the position in the width direction. More specifically, the arrangement pitch P1 in the width direction of the first area side edges 81 is set larger than the arrangement pitch P2 in the width direction of the second area side edges 82 (P1>P2). As a result, the remaining amount of material at the side edge portion 81 of the first region can be made larger than the amount of material remaining at the side edge portion 82 of the second region. The arrangement pitch P3 in the width direction of the mask 20 is set to be smaller than the arrangement pitch P1 in the first region side edge portion 81 and larger than the arrangement pitch P2 in the second region side edge portion 82 (P1>P3>P2 ). As a result, the remaining material amount in the region central portion 83 can be made smaller than the remaining material amount in the first region side edge portion 81 and larger than the material remaining amount in the second region side edge portion 82 . Note that the arrangement pitches P1, P2, and P3 described above may be arranged pitches in the longitudinal direction of the vapor deposition mask 20 instead of in the width direction of the vapor deposition mask 20 .

In the form shown in FIG. 8B, a large number of first-surface dummy openings 84 having the same arrangement pitch are formed on the first surface 20a of the vapor deposition mask 20 . Here, the opening area of the first surface dummy opening 84 differs according to the position of the vapor deposition mask 20 in the width direction. More specifically, the longitudinal dimension B1 of the vapor deposition mask 20 in the first surface dummy openings 84 in the first region side edge 81 is set to It is smaller than the dimension B2 in the longitudinal direction (B1<B2). As a result, the remaining material amount at the first region side edge portion 81 can be made larger than the material remaining amount at the second region side edge portion 82 . Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the longitudinal dimension B3 of the first surface dummy opening 84 in the region central portion 83 is larger than the dimension B1 of the first surface dummy opening 84 in the first region side edge 81, Moreover, it is smaller than the dimension B2 of the first surface dummy opening 84 at the second area side edge 82 (B1<B3<B2). As a result, the remaining material amount in the region central portion 83 can be made smaller than the remaining material amount in the first region side edge portion 81 and larger than the material remaining amount in the second region side edge portion 82 . In addition, it is not limited to changing the dimension of the first surface dummy opening 84 in the longitudinal direction. The opening area of the dummy opening 84 may be changed.

Such dummy holes 86 are formed by etching from the first surface 21a side of the metal plate 21 and etching from the second surface 21b side in the same manner as the through holes 25 described above so as to penetrate the metal plate 21. can be formed. The cross-sectional shape of the dummy hole 86 is not particularly limited.

As shown in FIG. 4 , the first surface 21 a of the metal plate 21 remains between two adjacent first surface dummy openings 84 . In addition, the second surface 21b of the metal plate 21 remains between two adjacent second surface dummy openings 85, and a top portion 89 (see FIGS. 9A and 9B) similar to the top portion 43 of the effective area 22 is formed. ) is formed. By forming the top portion 89, the vapor deposition mask 20 can be given sufficient strength, and the vapor deposition mask 20 can be prevented from being damaged during transportation, for example.

The shape of the top portion 89 of the dummy region 80 varies depending on the arrangement pitch of the second surface dummy openings 85, the opening area, and the like. For example, when the arrangement pitch of the second-surface dummy openings 85 is increased, two adjacent second-surface dummy openings 85 are separated from each other as shown in FIG. 9A. It will be formed around the portion 85 . On the other hand, when the arrangement pitch of the two adjacent second-surface dummy openings 85 becomes smaller, the two adjacent second-surface dummy openings 85 come closer to each other as shown in FIG. 9B. are formed in a substantially diamond shape between the second surface dummy openings 85 adjacent to each other. However, the top portion 89 is not formed between two second-surface dummy openings 85 that are adjacent in the longitudinal direction and the width direction (horizontal direction and vertical direction in FIG. 9B) of the vapor deposition mask 20. The second surface dummy openings 85 become connected to each other. Although not shown, when the opening area of the second surface dummy opening 85 is reduced, a top portion 89 as shown in FIG. 9A tends to be formed. On the other hand, when the opening area of the second surface dummy opening 85 is reduced, there is a tendency to form a top portion 89 as shown in FIG. 9B. Further, if the arrangement pitch of the second surface dummy openings 85 is excessively small or the opening area is excessively large, the above-mentioned top portions 89 tend not to be formed, but the strength of the vapor deposition mask 20 is ensured. For this purpose, it is preferable to set the arrangement pitch and opening area of the second surface dummy openings 85 so that such top portions 89 are formed.

8A and 8B show an example in which the planar shape of the first surface dummy opening 84 and the planar shape of the second surface dummy opening 85 are rectangular. However, the planar shape of the dummy hole 86 is not limited to this, and may be any shape such as a slit shape or a circular shape.

Here, the remaining amount of material will be described in more detail. The residual amount of the material forming the vapor deposition mask 20 (here, the material forming the metal plate 21) is defined as V/ _tu , where V is the volume per unit area and _tu is the thickness. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, a predetermined reference region _U is defined within the dummy region 80, and the volume V per unit area is obtained from the area SU and volume VU of this reference region _U , and the thickness t _u can obtain the remaining amount of material as the thickness of the reference region U. Here, the reference area U can be an arbitrary area within the dummy area 80, and can be an area having a circular planar shape as shown in FIG. 10, for example.

The thickness tu may be, for example, the thickness at the central position Ou of the reference area _U or at a position near the central position Ou. More specifically, the thickness t _u is the thickness of the first surface 20a and the second surface 20b (here, the metal plate 21 can be the distance between the first surface 21a and the second surface 21b). Note that the thickness tu means the local thickness at each position in the width direction of the vapor deposition mask 20, and the thickness _t of the vapor deposition mask 20 described above means the average thickness of the entire vapor deposition mask 20. is doing.

The remaining amount of material defined as described above is an amount that excludes the influence of the thickness of the dummy region 80 . That is, when the thickness of the vapor deposition mask 20 differs in the width direction, it is considered that the remaining amount of material also changes due to the difference in thickness. However, in the present embodiment, the aperture ratio of the dummy holes 86 in the width direction of the vapor deposition mask 20 is changed depending on the arrangement pitch and size of the first-surface dummy openings 84 and the second-surface dummy openings 85. The stretch rate of the dummy region 80 is made different in the width direction. Therefore, by defining the remaining material amount as described above, the effect of the difference in the thickness of the dummy area 80 is eliminated, and the remaining material amount of the dummy area 80 that can affect the elongation rate of the dummy area 80 is defined. can do.

Next, a method for obtaining the remaining amount of material will be described.

First, as shown in FIG. 10, a reference region U is cut out as a metal piece from the first region side edge portion 81, the second region side edge portion 82, and the region central portion 83 of the dummy region 80. As shown in FIG. In this case, it is preferable that all the reference areas U cut out from the parts 81 to 83 have the same area. Here, an example is shown in which the reference area U to be cut has a circular planar shape. The diameter of the reference area U should be large enough to allow the volume to be measured with high accuracy and to include the number of dummy holes 86 that can eliminate the influence of the arrangement of the dummy holes 86 . is not particularly limited. For example, when the width of the dummy area 80 is 80 mm, it is preferable to set the diameter of the reference area U to 20 mm. The method for cutting out the reference region U is not particularly limited, but for example, a method such as punching using a mold, machining using a cutting tool, or cutting with a laser can be used. In particular, by punching using a die, the sizes and shapes of the reference regions U cut out from the respective portions 81 to 83 can be made identical with high accuracy. Note that the reference regions U cut out from the portions 81 to 83 are not necessarily limited to having the same shape as long as they have the same area. If U has the same shape as each other, the reference area U can be cut out from each of the parts 81 to 83 by punching using the above-described metal mold or the like, and the cutting accuracy can be improved and the cutting process can be simplified. can.

Subsequently, the area S _U and the volume V _U of the clipped reference region U are determined. Among them, the area SU of the reference region _U is obtained as the planar area of the reference region U when viewed along the normal direction N of the vapor deposition mask 20 as shown in FIG. The volume VU of the reference region _U can be measured using, for example, a helium (He) gas replacement method. In this case, since the volume is measured by gas phase replacement, even in the reference region U in which many minute dummy holes 86 are formed, the measurement accuracy of the volume of the reference region U can be improved. For volume measurement, for example, a pycnometer density measuring device (AccuPyc II 1340) manufactured by Micromeritics can be used.

Another method for obtaining the volume VU of the reference region _U is to obtain the volume VU of the reference region _U from the weight W and the density ρ. In this method, the weight W of the reference region U is measured and chemical analysis of the reference region U is performed to determine the composition. The density of the alloy that matches the determined composition is determined from values described in literature, etc., and the density of the reference region U is obtained. The volume VU of the reference region _U can be obtained from the weight and density thus obtained. Regarding the density ρ, for example, from the flat portion (generally considered to have the same composition as the reference region U) in the peripheral region 23 of the vapor deposition mask 20 where no holes or recesses are formed, a predetermined It is also possible to cut out a region as a metal piece, measure the weight of the region and measure the volume in the same manner as described above, and determine the density from these weights and volumes.

Next, the thickness t _u at the central position Ou of the cut reference region U or at a position near the central position Ou is measured. A method of measuring the thickness includes, for example, a method of measuring using a micrometer. In addition to this method, for example, a method of measurement using fluorescent X-rays can be used. In this method, the top portion 89 of the reference region U is irradiated with X-rays, and the fluorescent X-rays emitted from the top portion 89 are measured. This is based on the fact that the intensity of the fluorescent X-rays to be measured depends on the amount of the elements forming the top portion 89 (that is, the elements forming the metal plate 21 ) and the thickness of the top portion 89 .

After that, by dividing the obtained volume VU of the reference region _U by the area SU of the reference region _U , the volume V per unit area is obtained, and this volume V per unit area is converted to the measured reference By dividing by the thickness tu of the top portion 89 of the region _U , the remaining amount of material in the reference region U is obtained.

(Vapor deposition mask intermediate)
By the way, in the vapor deposition mask 20 according to the present embodiment described above, a plurality of effective regions 22 including a plurality of through holes 25 corresponding to one organic EL display device are formed in a long metal plate 64 described later, and then a long metal plate 64 is formed. It is obtained by cutting the length metal plate 64 into a plurality of pieces. As a result, a plurality of elongated vapor deposition masks 20 are manufactured at once. In this case, as shown in FIG. 11, a vapor deposition mask intermediate 100 having a plurality of effective regions 22A and 22B formed on a long metal plate 64 is manufactured so that a plurality of vapor deposition masks 20 can be laid out. The length metal plate 64 is cut to obtain individual vapor deposition masks 20A and 20B.

Next, the deposition mask intermediate 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12. FIG. The vapor deposition mask intermediate 100 is for manufacturing a plurality of vapor deposition masks (here, the first vapor deposition mask 20A and the second vapor deposition mask 20B). This vapor deposition mask intermediate 100 can also be said to be a semi-finished product that exists in the middle of the process of manufacturing the sheet-like vapor deposition masks 20A and 20B from the long metal plate 64 .

As shown in FIG. 11 , the vapor deposition mask intermediate 100 includes a long metal plate 64 and a first effective region 22A and a second effective region 22B provided on the long metal plate 64 . In the present embodiment, the elongated metal plate 64 has a plurality of first effective regions 22A and a plurality of second effective regions 22B arranged along the longitudinal direction D1 of the elongated metal plate 64, respectively. Among them, the first effective area 22A constitutes the first vapor deposition mask 20A, and the second effective area 22B constitutes the second vapor deposition mask 20B. The second effective area 22B is arranged closer to the center of the long metal plate 64 in the width direction D2 than the first effective area 22A. In the form shown in FIG. 11, the first effective area 22A is formed on one side edge 64e side and the other side edge 64e side of the pair of side edges 64e that define the width of the long metal plate 64. The second effective area 22B is arranged at the center position of the long metal plate 64 in the width direction D2. That is, the second effective areas 22B are arranged between two columns of the first effective areas 22A. The above-described through holes 25 are formed in the first effective area 22A and the second effective area 22B.

The arrangement direction of the first effective area 22A and the second effective area 22B is along the longitudinal direction D1 of the elongated metal plate 64. As shown in FIG. When obtaining the first vapor deposition mask 20A and the second vapor deposition mask 20B from the vapor deposition mask intermediate 100, the long metal plate 64 is held in a stretched state and corresponds to the first effective area 22A and the second effective area 22B. The long metal plate 64 is cut so as to do. As a result, the first vapor deposition mask 20A and the second vapor deposition mask 20B are cut along the longitudinal direction D1 of the elongated metal plate 64 to form elongated rectangular shapes. That is, the vapor deposition masks 20 (20A, 20B) according to the present embodiment are laid out on the long metal plate 64 so that the longitudinal direction of the vapor deposition mask 20 (20A, 20B) is along the longitudinal direction D1 of the long metal plate 64. are cut individually from the

However, when viewed in detail, the planar shape of the first vapor deposition mask 20A obtained as described above is curved as a whole in the unstretched state, as shown in FIG. Here, FIG. 12 shows the first vapor deposition mask 20A and the second vapor deposition mask 20B obtained from the vapor deposition mask intermediate 100 shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 12, the first vapor deposition mask 20A protrudes toward the second vapor deposition mask 20B side (the central side in the width direction D2 of the elongated metal plate 64), and is different from the second vapor deposition mask 20B side. The opposite side, that is, the side edge 64e of the elongated metal plate 64 is formed to be recessed. This is considered to be caused by the above-described wavy shape (edge extension) appearing on the side edge 64e in the width direction D2 of the elongated metal plate 64 obtained by rolling. That is, when the long metal plate 64 having the wavy side edges 64e is exposed, the long metal plate 64 is vacuum-bonded to exposure masks 68a and 68b (see FIG. 17), which will be described later. At this time, the wavy side edges 64e are extended so as not to have wrinkles and are brought into close contact with the exposure masks 68a and 68b. In this close contact state, the long metal plate 64 is exposed to form the through holes 25 of the effective areas 22A and 22B. That is, the elongated metal plate 64 is exposed so that the through holes 25 of regular dimensions can be obtained while the elongated metal plate 64 is stretched without wrinkles. After the exposure, when the exposure masks 68a and 68b are removed from the elongated metal plate 64, the side edge 64e of the elongated metal plate 64 reappears in a wavy shape, and the side edge 64e contracts.

The first side edge 20f of the first vapor deposition mask 20A corresponds to one side edge 64e of the pair of side edges 64e of the long metal plate 64. As shown in FIG. The second side edge 20g corresponds to the side opposite to the side edge 64e, that is, the center side of the long metal plate 64 in the width direction D2. Therefore, the first side edge 20f appears to be more wavy than the second side edge 20g, and when the long metal plate 64 is viewed along the normal direction, the first deposition mask 20A is curved. It comes to have a planar shape like this. In this manner, the first side edge 20f of the first vapor deposition mask 20A is formed to be concave in plan view, and the second side edge 20g is formed to be convex in plan view.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the first vapor deposition mask 20A shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 is configured by the above-described vapor deposition mask 20 shown in FIG. 1 and the like. That is, in the longitudinal direction D1 of the elongated metal plate 64, the dummy regions 80 are provided on both sides of the first effective region 22A forming the first vapor deposition mask 20A. The dummy region 80 includes a first region side edge portion 81 (see FIGS. 8A and 8B) provided on the side opposite to the second vapor deposition mask 20B side, and a first region side edge portion 81 (see FIGS. 8A and 8B) provided on the side of the second vapor deposition mask 20B. and a two-zone side edge 82 . Among these, the first region side edge portion 81 is arranged on the side of one side edge 64 e of the elongated metal plate 64 . The second region side edge portion 82 is arranged on the side opposite to the side edge 64e, that is, on the center side of the long metal plate 64 in the width direction D2.

11 and 12 show an example in which two first vapor deposition masks 20A and one second vapor deposition mask 20B are obtained from the vapor deposition mask intermediate 100. FIG. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the first vapor deposition mask 20A having the dummy region 80 extends from the portion of the elongated metal plate 64 that is relatively greatly affected by the wavy shape (the portion on the side of the side edge 64e). is obtained, the number of the first vapor deposition masks 20A and the number of the second vapor deposition masks 20B obtained from the vapor deposition mask intermediate 100 are arbitrary. For example, when five vapor deposition masks are allocated in the width direction D2 of the elongated metal plate 64 in which the wavy shape appears, the two outermost vapor deposition masks adjacent to the side edge 64e are the first vapor deposition masks 20A, and the centralmost is preferably used as the second vapor deposition mask 20B. In this case, for the remaining two vapor deposition masks between the first vapor deposition mask 20A and the second vapor deposition mask 20B, the vapor deposition mask is changed to the first vapor deposition mask according to the degree of waviness in the portion to which the vapor deposition mask is allocated. It may be the vapor deposition mask 20A or may be the second vapor deposition mask 20B. Further, for example, when four vapor deposition masks are allocated in the width direction D2 of the long metal plate 64 in which the wavy shape appears, the outermost two vapor deposition masks adjacent to the side edge 64e are the first vapor deposition masks 20A, It is preferable to use the two vapor deposition masks on the central side as the second vapor deposition masks 20B.

Next, the present embodiment having such a configuration and its action and effect will be described.
Here, first, a method for manufacturing a metal plate used for manufacturing a vapor deposition mask will be described. Next, a method for manufacturing a vapor deposition mask using the obtained metal plate will be described.
After that, a method of evaporating a vapor deposition material onto a substrate using the obtained vapor deposition mask will be described.

(Method for manufacturing metal plate)
First, a method for manufacturing a metal plate will be described with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14. FIG. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a process of rolling a base material to obtain a metal plate having a desired thickness, and FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a process of annealing the metal plate obtained by rolling.

[Rolling process]
First, as shown in FIG. 13, a base material 55 made of an iron alloy containing nickel is prepared, and this base material 55 is directed toward a rolling device 56 including a pair of rolling rolls 56a and 56b as indicated by an arrow D1. Convey along the conveying direction. The base material 55 that reaches between the pair of rolling rolls 56a and 56b is rolled by the pair of rolling rolls 56a and 56b. As a result, the base material 55 is reduced in thickness and elongated along the conveying direction. be Thereby, the plate member 64X having a thickness _t0 can be obtained. As shown in FIG. 13 , the wound body 62 may be formed by winding the plate material 64X around the core 61 . A specific value for the thickness t ₀ is preferably within the range of 5 to 85 μm as described above.

Note that FIG. 13 merely shows the outline of the rolling process, and the specific configuration and procedure for carrying out the rolling process are not particularly limited. For example, the rolling process includes a hot rolling process in which the base material is processed at a temperature higher than the temperature at which the crystal arrangement of the invar material constituting the base material 55 is changed, and a hot rolling process in which the base material is processed at a temperature lower than the temperature at which the crystal arrangement of the invar material is changed. It may include a cold rolling step for processing. Moreover, the direction in which the base material 55 and the plate material 64X are passed between the pair of rolling rolls 56a and 56b is not limited to one direction. For example, in FIGS. 13 and 14, the base material 55 and the plate material 64X are repeatedly passed between the pair of rolling rolls 56a and 56b from the left side to the right side of the paper surface and from the right side to the left side of the paper surface to obtain the base material. The material 55 and the plate material 64X may be gradually rolled.

[Slitting process]
After that, a slitting step may be performed in which both ends in the width direction of the plate material 64X obtained by the rolling step are cut off over a range of 3 mm or more and 5 mm or less. This slitting process is performed to remove cracks that may occur at both ends of the plate material 64X due to rolling. By performing such a slitting process, it is possible to prevent a phenomenon in which the plate material 64X is broken, that is, a so-called plate breakage, from occurring with a crack as a starting point.

[Annealing process]
After that, in order to remove the residual stress accumulated in the plate material 64X by rolling, the plate material 64X is annealed using an annealing device 57 as shown in FIG. The annealing step may be performed while pulling the plate material 64X or the elongated metal plate 64 in the transport direction (longitudinal direction D1), as shown in FIG. That is, the annealing step may be performed as continuous annealing while being conveyed, instead of so-called batch annealing. The period during which the annealing process is performed is appropriately set according to the thickness and rolling rate of the long metal plate 64. For example, the annealing process is performed at 200° C. to 600° C. for 30 seconds to 30 minutes. The above "60 seconds" means that the time required for the plate material 64X to pass through the space heated to 500° C. in the annealing device 57 is 60 seconds.

Preferably, the annealing step described above is performed in a non-reducing or inert gas atmosphere. Here, the non-reducing atmosphere is an atmosphere that does not contain a reducing gas such as hydrogen. By "free of reducing gas" is meant that the concentration of reducing gas such as hydrogen is 10% or less. An inert gas atmosphere is an atmosphere in which 90% or more of an inert gas such as argon gas, helium gas, or nitrogen gas is present. By performing the annealing process in a non-reducing atmosphere or an inert gas atmosphere, it is possible to suppress the formation of the nickel hydroxide described above on the first surface 64a and the second surface 64b of the elongated metal plate 64. .

By performing the annealing step, it is possible to obtain the elongated metal plate 64 having a thickness of t ₀ from which residual strain has been removed to some extent. Note that the thickness t ₀ is usually equal to the thickness t of the vapor deposition mask 20 .

The long metal plate 64 having a thickness of _t0 may be produced by repeating the rolling process, the slitting process, and the annealing process described above a plurality of times. In addition, although FIG. 14 shows an example in which the annealing process is performed while the long metal plate 64 is pulled in the longitudinal direction D1, the annealing process is not limited to this. 61 may be wound up. Batch annealing may thus be carried out. When the annealing process is performed while the long metal plate 64 is wound around the core 61 , the long metal plate 64 may be warped according to the winding diameter of the wound body 62 . . Therefore, depending on the winding diameter of the wound body 62 and the material forming the base material 55, it is advantageous to perform the annealing process while pulling the long metal plate 64 in the longitudinal direction D1.

[Cutting process]
After that, a cutting step is performed in which both ends of the long metal plate 64 in the width direction D2 are cut off over a predetermined range, thereby adjusting the width of the long metal plate 64 to a desired width.
Thus, a long metal plate 64 having desired thickness and width can be obtained.

(Manufacturing method of vapor deposition mask)
Next, a method of manufacturing the vapor deposition mask 20 using the elongated metal plate 64 selected as described above will be described mainly with reference to FIGS. 15 to 23. FIG. In the method for manufacturing the vapor deposition mask 20 described below, as shown in FIG. 15, a long metal plate 64 is supplied, and through holes 25 and dummy holes 86 are formed in the long metal plate 64 to form a vapor deposition mask intermediate. 100 is obtained, and furthermore, by cutting the elongated metal plate 64, the vapor deposition mask 20 made of the sheet metal plate 21 is obtained.

More specifically, the manufacturing method of the vapor deposition mask 20, the step of supplying a long metal plate 64 extending in a belt shape, and the etching using the photolithography technique are applied to the long metal plate 64 to obtain the long metal plate. 64 from the side of the first surface 64a to form the first recesses 30 and the first dummy hole recesses 86a; and forming the second recesses 35 and the second dummy hole recesses 86b from the second surface 64b side. The first recess 30 and the second recess 35 formed in the elongated metal plate 64 communicate with each other, thereby forming the through hole 25 in the elongated metal plate 64 and forming the first dummy hole recess 86a. The dummy holes 86 are formed in the elongated metal plate 64 by communicating with the second dummy hole concave portions 86b. 16 to 23, the step of forming the first recess 30 is performed before the step of forming the second recess 35, and the step of forming the first recess 30 and the step of forming the second recess 35 are performed before the step of forming the second recess 35. Between the steps, a step of sealing the produced first recess 30 is further provided. The details of each step will be described below.

FIG. 15 shows a manufacturing apparatus 60 for manufacturing the vapor deposition mask 20. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 15, first, a wound body 62 is prepared by winding a long metal plate 64 around a core 61 . By rotating the core 61 and unwinding the wound body 62, a long metal plate 64 extending in a strip shape is supplied as shown in FIG. The elongated metal plate 64 is formed with the through holes 25 to form the sheet metal plate 21 and the vapor deposition mask 20 .

The supplied long metal plate 64 is transported to an etching device (etching means) 70 by transport rollers 72 . 16 to 23 are performed by the etching device 70. FIG. In this embodiment, as described above, a plurality of vapor deposition masks 20 are laid out in the width direction D2 of the elongated metal plate 64 (see FIGS. 11 and 12).
That is, a plurality of vapor deposition masks 20 are produced from regions occupying predetermined positions of the elongated metal plate 64 in the longitudinal direction D1 of the elongated metal plate 64 . In this case, preferably, a plurality of vapor deposition masks 20 are laid out on the elongated metal plate 64 such that the longitudinal direction of the vapor deposition mask 20 coincides with the rolling direction (longitudinal direction D1) of the elongated metal plate 64 .

First, as shown in FIG. 16, resist films 65c and 65d containing a negative photosensitive resist material are formed on the first surface 64a and the second surface 64b of the long metal plate 64. As shown in FIG. As a method of forming the resist films 65c and 65d, a film in which a layer containing a photosensitive resist material such as an acrylic photocurable resin is formed, that is, a so-called dry film is placed on the first surface 64a of the long metal plate 64 and on the second surface. A method of sticking on the second surface 64b is adopted.

Next, exposure masks 68a and 68b are prepared so as not to transmit light to areas to be removed of the resist films 65c and 65d. to be placed. As the exposure masks 68a and 68b, for example, a glass dry plate is used which does not allow light to pass through the areas to be removed of the resist films 65c and 65d. After that, the exposure masks 68a and 68b are sufficiently adhered to the resist films 65c and 65d by vacuum adhesion. A positive resist material may be used as the photosensitive resist material. In this case, as the exposure mask, an exposure mask is used that allows light to pass through the area of the resist film that is to be removed.

After that, the resist films 65c and 65d are exposed through exposure masks 68a and 68b. Further, the resist films 65c and 65d are developed to form images on the exposed resist films 65c and 65d (development step). As described above, as shown in FIG. 18, a first resist pattern 65a is formed on the first surface 64a of the long metal plate 64, and a second resist pattern is formed on the second surface 64b of the long metal plate 64. 65b can be formed. The development process may include a resist heat treatment process for increasing the hardness of the resist films 65c and 65d or for making the resist films 65c and 65d more firmly adhere to the elongated metal plate 64. FIG. The resist heat treatment process is performed in an inert gas atmosphere such as argon gas, helium gas, nitrogen gas, etc., at a temperature within a range of 100 to 400° C., for example.

Next, as shown in FIG. 19, a first surface etching step is performed to etch a region of the first surface 64a of the long metal plate 64 not covered with the first resist pattern 65a using a first etchant. implement. For example, the first etchant is applied to the first surface 64a of the long metal plate 64 through the first resist pattern 65a from a nozzle arranged on the side facing the first surface 64a of the long metal plate 64 to be transported. sprayed towards. As a result, as shown in FIG. 19, erosion by the first etchant progresses in areas of the long metal plate 64 that are not covered with the first resist pattern 65a. As a result, a large number of first recesses 30 and a large number of first dummy hole recesses 86a are formed in the first surface 64a of the elongated metal plate 64. As shown in FIG. As the first etchant, for example, one containing a ferric chloride solution and hydrochloric acid is used.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 20, the first recesses 30 and the first dummy hole recesses 86a are covered with a resin 69 having resistance to the second etchant used later in the second surface etching step. That is, the resin 69 having resistance to the second etchant seals the first concave portion 30 and the first dummy hole concave portion 86a. In the example shown in FIG. 20, the film of resin 69 is formed so as to cover not only the formed first concave portion 30 and first dummy hole concave portion 86a, but also the first surface 64a (first resist pattern 65a). .

Next, as shown in FIG. 21, a region of the second surface 64b of the long metal plate 64 that is not covered with the second resist pattern 65b is etched to form the second recess 35 and the second dummy on the second surface 64b. A second surface etching step is performed to form the hole recess 86b. The second surface etching step is performed until the first recesses 30 and the second recesses 35 communicate with each other, thereby forming the through holes 25 . At this time, the dummy hole 86 is formed by connecting the first dummy hole recess 86a and the second dummy hole recess 86b. As the second etchant, one containing, for example, a ferric chloride solution and hydrochloric acid is used, like the above-described first etchant.

Erosion by the second etchant is carried out on portions of the elongated metal plate 64 that are in contact with the second etchant. Therefore, the corrosion progresses not only in the normal direction N (thickness direction) of the long metal plate 64 but also in the direction along the plate surface of the long metal plate 64 . Here, preferably, in the second surface etching step, two second recesses 35 respectively formed at positions facing two adjacent holes 66a of the second resist pattern 65b are positioned between the two holes 66a. It ends before joining on the back side of the bridge portion 67a. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 22, the above-described top portion 43 can be left on the second surface 64b of the elongated metal plate 64. Next, as shown in FIG.

After that, as shown in FIG. 23, the resin 69 is removed from the long metal plate 64 . The resin 69 can be removed by using, for example, an alkaline remover. When an alkaline stripping solution is used, as shown in FIG. 23, the resin 69 and the resist patterns 65a and 65b are removed at the same time. After the resin 69 is removed, the resist patterns 65a and 65b may be removed separately from the resin 69 using a stripping solution different from the stripping solution for stripping the resin 69. FIG.

In this way, a vapor deposition mask intermediate 100 is obtained in which a large number of through holes 25 and a large number of dummy holes 86 are formed in the elongated metal plate 64 .

As shown in FIG. 15, the vapor deposition mask intermediate 100 is conveyed to a cutting device (cutting means) 73 by conveying rollers 72, 72 rotating while holding the long metal plate 64 therebetween. The supply core 61 is rotated through the tension (tensile stress) acting on the long metal plate 64 due to the rotation of the conveying rollers 72, 72, and the long metal plate 64 is supplied from the winding body 62. It's like

After that, the long metal plate 64 having a large number of through holes 25 and a large number of dummy holes 86 formed therein is cut into predetermined lengths and widths by a cutting device (cutting means) 73, whereby the long metal plate 64 is A sheet-shaped metal plate 21 is obtained which is separated into pieces and in which a large number of through holes 25 and a large number of dummy holes 86 are formed.

As described above, vapor deposition mask 20 made of metal plate 21 in which a large number of through holes 25 and a large number of dummy holes 86 are formed is obtained.

(Vapor deposition process)
Next, a method of depositing the deposition material 98 on the substrate 92 using the obtained deposition mask 20 will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 2, the first surface 20a of the vapor deposition mask 20 is brought into close contact with the surface of the substrate 92. Then, as shown in FIG. At this time, the first surface 20a of the vapor deposition mask 20 may be brought into close contact with the surface of the substrate 92 using a magnet (not shown) or the like. Also, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of vapor deposition masks 20 are stretched on the frame 15 . More specifically, tension is applied to the vapor deposition mask 20 in the longitudinal direction of the vapor deposition mask 20 , and the ears 24 of the vapor deposition mask 20 are attached to the frame 15 while the tension is applied. The ears 24 are fixed to the frame 15 by spot welding, for example. In this way, the plane of the vapor deposition mask 20 is parallel to the plane of the substrate 92 . Although FIG. 1 shows an example in which all the deposition masks 20 stretched over the frame 15 have the dummy regions 80, the present invention is not limited to this, and the deposition masks having the dummy regions 80 can be used. 20 (first vapor deposition mask 20A) and a vapor deposition mask (second vapor deposition mask 20B) having no dummy region 80 may be mixed.

While the vapor deposition mask 20 is stretched, the dummy region 80 of the vapor deposition mask 20 extends, but the extension differs in the width direction of the vapor deposition mask 20 . Accordingly, the elongation of the effective area 22 is different in the width direction.

Here, the case where the vapor deposition mask 20 having a planar shape curved as shown in FIG. 12 and having no dummy region 80 described above is stretched will be described. When tension is applied to the vapor deposition mask 20 in the longitudinal direction, the portion of the vapor deposition mask 20 on the side of the first side edge 20f of the effective region 22, which is recessed in plan view, shrinks and loosens. Therefore, it is difficult to apply tension to the portion and it is difficult to stretch. Thereby, the elongation of the portion on the side of the first side edge 20f can be smaller than the elongation of the portion on the side of the second side edge 20g. Therefore, in the portion of the effective region 22 on the side of the first side edge 20f, the through-hole 25 cannot extend to the normal position, and the position of the through-hole 25 may be shifted during vapor deposition. . Further, even if the portion on the side of the first side edge 20f and the portion on the side of the second side edge 20g are stretched substantially equally, the portion on the side of the first side edge 20f is loosened before the tension is applied. Therefore, even if the portion on the side of the first side edge 20f is stretched to some extent, it is still in a slack state, and it is difficult for the through-hole 25 to be stretched to the proper position. Therefore, the position of the through-hole 25 may shift.

Further, when stretched, the central portion of the deposition mask 20 in the width direction of the effective region 22 expands more than the portion on the side of the first side edge 20f, but the portion on the side of the second side edge 20g expands. It can be less than elongation. Therefore, even in the center portion in the width direction, the through-holes 25 cannot extend to the regular positions, and the positions of the through-holes 25 may shift during vapor deposition.

On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, the remaining material amount at the first region side edge portion 81 of the dummy region 80 is larger than the material remaining amount at the second region side edge portion 82 . In this case, the aperture ratio of the plurality of dummy holes 86 provided in the first region side edge portion 81 can be made smaller than the aperture ratio of the plurality of dummy holes 86 provided in the second region side edge portion 82 . . As a result, the elongation rate of the first region side edge portion 81 of the dummy region 80 during stretching can be made smaller than the elongation rate of the second region side edge portion 82 .

In this case, the tension applied to the portion of the effective area 22 on the side of the first side edge 20f can be made larger than the tension applied to the portion of the effective area 22 on the side of the second side edge 20g. As a result, the extension of the portion of the effective area 22 on the side of the first side edge 20f can be made greater than the extension of the portion on the side of the second side edge 20g. Therefore, it is possible to effectively increase the elongation of the portion of the effective area 22 on the side of the first side edge 20f when stretched. On the other hand, it is possible to effectively reduce the elongation of the portion of the effective area 22 on the side of the second side edge 20g when stretched. As a result, the position of the through hole 25 formed in the effective area 22 can be positioned (or brought closer) to the normal position, and the displacement of the through hole 25 can be prevented.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the remaining amount of material in the region central portion 83 provided between the first region side edge portion 81 and the second region side edge portion 82 of the dummy region 80 is It is smaller than the remaining material amount in the portion 81 and larger than the remaining material amount in the second region side edge portion 82 . In this case, the aperture ratio of the plurality of dummy holes 86 provided in the region central portion 83 can be made larger than the aperture ratio of the plurality of dummy holes 86 provided in the first region side edge portion 81. It can be made smaller than the aperture ratio of the plurality of dummy holes 86 provided in the two-region side edge portion 82 . As a result, the elongation rate of the region central portion 83 of the dummy region 80 during stretching can be made greater than the elongation rate of the first region side edge portion 81, and the elongation rate of the second region side edge portion 82 can be increased. can be smaller than

In this case, the tension applied to the central portion of the vapor deposition mask 20 in the width direction of the effective region 22 can be made larger than the tension applied to the portion on the side of the second side edge 20g, and the tension on the side of the first side edge 20f can be increased. can be less than the tension applied to the As a result, the elongation of the central portion of the effective region 22 can be made greater than the elongation of the portion on the side of the second side edge 20g and smaller than the elongation of the portion on the side of the first side edge 20f. can do. Therefore, the elongation of the effective area 22 can be increased stepwise from the second side edge 20g toward the first side edge 20f. As a result, the position of the through hole 25 formed in the central portion of the effective area 22 can be positioned (or brought closer) to the normal position during stretching, and the position of the through hole 25 can be prevented from being shifted.

After the deposition mask 20 is stretched, the deposition material 98 in the crucible 94 is heated to vaporize or sublime the deposition material 98 . Vaporized or sublimated vapor deposition material 98 adheres to substrate 92 through through holes 25 of vapor deposition mask 20 . As a result, the vapor deposition material 98 is deposited on the surface of the substrate 92 in a desired pattern corresponding to the positions of the through holes 25 of the vapor deposition mask 20 .

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the remaining amount of material in the first region side edge portion 81 of the dummy region 80 provided between the ear portion 24 and the effective region 22 of the vapor deposition mask 20 is It is larger than the remaining amount of material at the edge 82 . As a result, it is possible to effectively increase the extension of the portion of the effective region 22 on the side of the first side edge 20f (see FIG. 12) of the vapor deposition mask 20 which is recessed in plan view. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the position of the through hole 25 formed in the effective area 22 from shifting, and to improve the positional accuracy of the through hole 25 during stretching.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the remaining amount of material in the region central portion 83 provided between the first region side edge portion 81 and the second region side edge portion 82 of the dummy region 80 is It is smaller than the remaining material amount in the portion 81 and larger than the remaining material amount in the second region side edge portion 82 . As a result, in the effective region 22, the central portion in the width direction of the vapor deposition mask 20 can be stretched more than the stretch of the portion on the side of the second side edge 20g, and the side of the first side edge 20f can be expanded. can be smaller than the elongation of the part of Therefore, it is possible to further prevent the position of the through hole 25 formed in the effective area 22 from being shifted, and to further improve the positional accuracy of the through hole 25 during stretching.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the vapor deposition mask and the vapor deposition mask intermediate according to the present invention are not limited to the above embodiments, and are within the scope of the present invention. Various modifications are possible.

(Modified example of metal plate)
In the present embodiment described above, an example is shown in which a plate material having a desired thickness is obtained by rolling a base material to produce a metal plate and then annealing the metal plate. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a metal plate having a desired thickness may be produced by a foil manufacturing process using plating. In the foil manufacturing process, for example, a stainless steel drum that is partially immersed in a plating solution is rotated to form a plating film on the surface of the drum. A strip-shaped metal plate can be produced by roll-to-roll. When producing a metal plate made of an iron alloy containing nickel, a mixed solution of a solution containing a nickel compound and a solution containing an iron compound can be used as the plating solution. For example, a mixed solution of a solution containing nickel sulfamate and a solution containing iron sulfamate can be used. The plating solution may contain additives such as malonic acid and saccharin.

The metal plate thus obtained may then be subjected to the annealing step described above. Further, after the annealing step, the above-described cutting step of cutting off both ends of the metal plate may be performed in order to adjust the width of the metal plate to a desired width.

When the metal plate is manufactured using plating, as in the case of the above-described present embodiment, a step of forming resist patterns 65a and 65b and a step of forming the first surface and the second surface of the metal plate are then performed. By performing the etching step, the vapor deposition mask 20 in which a plurality of through holes 25 are formed can be obtained.

(Modified example of arrangement of through-holes)
In the present embodiment described above, an example in which a plurality of through-holes 25 are arranged in a grid pattern when vapor deposition mask 20 is viewed along normal direction N of vapor deposition mask 20 is shown. However, the arrangement of the through holes 25 is not particularly limited. For example, as shown in FIG. 24 , a plurality of through-holes 25 may be arranged in a staggered manner when viewing the vapor deposition mask 20 along the normal direction N of the vapor deposition mask 20 .

(Modified example of arrangement of dummy holes)
In the present embodiment described above, as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, when the vapor deposition mask 20 is viewed along the normal direction N of the vapor deposition mask 20, the first surface dummy opening 84 and the second surface dummy An example in which the openings 85 are arranged in a grid pattern is shown. However, the arrangement of the first-surface dummy openings 84 and the second-surface dummy openings 85 is not particularly limited. For example, as shown in FIG. may be In this case also, the tension applied to the effective area 22 during stretching can be adjusted according to the position of the vapor deposition mask 20 in the width direction. 25 shows an arrangement example of the first surface dummy openings 84 in an arbitrary portion of the dummy region 80. As shown in FIG.

(Modified example of dummy area)
In the present embodiment described above, the dummy region 80 is provided with the dummy holes 86 defined by the first-surface dummy openings 84 and the second-surface dummy openings 85 . However, such dummy holes 86 may not be provided. For example, as shown in FIG. 26, in the dummy region 80, the first surface 20a of the vapor deposition mask 20 is provided with a first dummy concave portion 87 defined by a first surface dummy opening 84, and the second surface 20b is provided with a A second dummy recess 88 defined by a second surface dummy opening 85 may be provided. In this case also, the tension applied to the effective area 22 during stretching can be adjusted according to the position of the vapor deposition mask 20 in the width direction.

26 and 27, when viewed along the normal direction N of the vapor deposition mask 20, the center of the first-surface dummy opening 84 and the center of the second-surface dummy opening 85 are aligned. , may be alternately arranged instead of overlapping. In this case, the rigidity of dummy region 80 can be effectively reduced even if dummy hole 86 penetrating dummy region 80 is not provided. That is, the cross-sectional area along the normal direction N and the width direction of the vapor deposition mask 20 in the dummy region 80 can be reduced, and the rigidity of the dummy region 80 can be effectively reduced. In addition, in the form shown in FIG. 26, the cross-sectional shape of the dummy region 80 along the normal direction N and the longitudinal direction of the vapor deposition mask 20 can be formed into a roughly bellows shape. can contribute to effective reduction of the stiffness of Note that FIG. 27 shows an arrangement example of the first-surface dummy openings 84 and the second-surface dummy openings 85 in arbitrary portions of the dummy region 80 .

Such a first dummy concave portion 87 can be formed by etching from the first surface 21a side, and the second dummy concave portion 88 can be formed by etching from the second surface 21b side. That is, the first dummy concave portion 87 can be formed by etching in the same manner as the first concave portion 30 described above. In this case, the holes for the first dummy recesses 87 formed in the first resist pattern 65a are made to have approximately the same size as the holes for the first recesses 30, so that the depth of the first dummy recesses 87 is equal to that of the first recesses. 30, but is not limited to this as long as the first dummy recess 87 and the second dummy recess 88 do not communicate with each other. On the other hand, by making the hole for the second dummy recess 88 formed in the second resist pattern 65b smaller than the hole 66a for the second recess 35, the depth is shallower than the second recess 35 as shown in FIG. A second dummy recess 88 may be formed. In this case, the second dummy concave portion 88 can be prevented from communicating with the first dummy concave portion 87 and the first surface 20a. Although FIG. 26 shows an example in which the cross sections of the first dummy recess 87 and the second dummy recess 88 are formed in a semicircular shape, they are not limited to this. Further, an example is shown in which the planar shape of the first surface dummy opening 84 defining the first dummy recess 87 and the second surface dummy opening 85 defining the second dummy recess 88 is rectangular. The shape is not limited, and may be any shape such as a slit shape or a circular shape.

The terms first dummy concave portion 87 and second dummy concave portion 88 described above are used to mean concave portions having a depth that can contribute to reducing the rigidity of the dummy region 80 . That is, the first dummy concave portion 87 and the second dummy concave portion 88 are intentionally formed in the long metal plate 64 by etching or the like, and are The concave portion does not include an undesirably formed concave portion having an extremely shallow depth.

26 shows an example in which the first dummy recessed portion 87 is provided on the first surface 20a and the second dummy recessed portion 88 is provided on the second surface 20b. will not be For example, only one of the first dummy concave portion 87 and the second dummy concave portion 88 may be provided in the dummy region 80 . In this case also, the tension applied to the effective area 22 during stretching can be adjusted according to the position of the vapor deposition mask 20 in the width direction.

(Modified example of dummy area)
In the above-described embodiment, the dummy regions 80 are interposed between each of the ear portions 24 and the effective region 22, and provided on both sides of the effective region 22 in the longitudinal direction of the vapor deposition mask 20. explained. However, the dummy area 80 is not limited to this. , the dummy region 80 may not be interposed between them. In other words, it may be provided on one side of the effective region 22 in the longitudinal direction of the vapor deposition mask 20 and not provided on the other side. For example, in FIG. 1, the dummy areas 80 above or below the three effective areas 22 (upper or lower when the reference numerals shown in FIG. 1 specify the vertical direction) may not be provided. In this case as well, one of the above-described dummy regions 80 extends the first side edge 20 f (see FIG. 12) side portion of the vapor deposition mask 20 , which is formed to be recessed in plan view, in the effective region 22 . can be effectively increased. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the position of the through hole 25 formed in the effective area 22 from shifting, and to improve the positional accuracy of the through hole 25 during stretching.

(First Modified Example of Manufacturing Method of Vapor Deposition Mask)
In the present embodiment described above, an example in which the vapor deposition mask 20 is manufactured by an etching process has been shown. However, the vapor deposition mask 20 may be manufactured by plating. The vapor deposition mask 20 in this case will be described in detail below.

As shown in FIGS. 28 and 29, the deposition mask 20 includes a first metal layer 32 forming the first surface 20a and a second metal layer 37 forming the second surface 20b. The first metal layer 32 is provided with first openings 30 in a predetermined pattern, and the second metal layer 37 is provided with second openings 35 in a predetermined pattern. In the effective region 22 , the first opening 30 and the second opening 35 communicate with each other to form a through hole 25 extending from the first surface 20 a to the second surface 20 b of the vapor deposition mask 20 . Note that FIG. 29 shows the dummy hole 86 of the dummy region 80 in addition to the cross section seen from the XX direction of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 28, the first opening 30 and the second opening 35 forming the through-hole 25 may be substantially polygonal in plan view. Here, an example is shown in which the first opening 30 and the second opening 35 are substantially rectangular, more specifically, substantially square. Also, although not shown, the first opening 30 and the second opening 35 may have other substantially polygonal shapes such as substantially hexagonal and substantially octagonal shapes. Note that the term “substantially polygonal shape” is a concept including polygonal shapes with rounded corners. Although not shown, the first opening 30 and the second opening 35 may be circular. Also, as long as the second opening 35 has a contour surrounding the first opening 30 in plan view, the shape of the first opening 30 and the shape of the second opening 35 do not need to be similar.

In FIG. 29, reference numeral 41 denotes a connecting portion where the first metal layer 32 and the second metal layer 37 are connected. Reference symbol S0 represents the dimension of the through hole 25 in the connecting portion 41 between the first metal layer 32 and the second metal layer 37. As shown in FIG. Although FIG. 29 shows an example in which the first metal layer 32 and the second metal layer 37 are in contact with each other, the present invention is not limited to this. Other layers may be interposed in the layer. For example, a catalyst layer may be provided between the first metal layer 32 and the second metal layer 37 to promote deposition of the second metal layer 37 on the first metal layer 32 .

FIG. 30 is an enlarged view showing a part of the first metal layer 32 and the second metal layer 37 of FIG. As shown in FIG. 30 , the width M2 of the second metal layer 37 on the second surface 20b of the vapor deposition mask 20 is smaller than the width M1 of the first metal layer 32 on the first surface 20a of the vapor deposition mask 20 . In other words, the opening size S2 of the through hole 25 (second opening 35) on the second surface 20b is larger than the opening size S1 of the through hole 25 (first opening 30) on the first surface 20a. Advantages of configuring the first metal layer 32 and the second metal layer 37 in this way will be described below.

Vapor deposition material 98 flying from the second surface 20 b side of vapor deposition mask 20 passes through second opening 35 and first opening 30 of through hole 25 in order and adheres to organic EL substrate 92 . The area of the organic EL substrate 92 to which the vapor deposition material 98 adheres is mainly determined by the opening size S1 and opening shape of the through hole 25 on the first surface 20a. By the way, as indicated by an arrow L1 directed from the second surface 20b side to the first surface 20a in FIG. Not only does it move, but it may also move in a direction greatly inclined with respect to the normal direction N of the vapor deposition mask 20 . Here, assuming that the opening size S2 of the through-hole 25 on the second surface 20b is the same as the opening size S1 of the through-hole 25 on the first surface 20a, it is greatly inclined with respect to the normal direction N of the vapor deposition mask 20. Most of the evaporation material 98 moving in the direction reaches the wall surface 36 of the second opening 35 of the through-hole 25 and adheres to it before reaching the organic EL substrate 92 through the through-hole 25 . Therefore, it can be said that it is preferable to increase the opening size S2 of the second opening 35, that is, to decrease the width M2 of the second metal layer 37 in order to increase the utilization efficiency of the vapor deposition material 98. FIG.

In FIG. 29, the minimum angle formed by the straight line L1 (passing through the end portion 38) contacting the wall surface 36 of the second metal layer 37 and the wall surface 31 of the second metal layer 37 with respect to the normal direction N of the vapor deposition mask 20 is It is represented by the symbol θ1. It is advantageous to increase the angle θ1 in order to allow the obliquely moving vapor deposition material 98 to reach the organic EL substrate 92 as much as possible. For example, it is preferable to set the angle θ1 to 45° or more.

In order to increase the angle θ1, it is effective to make the width M2 of the second metal layer 37 smaller than the width M1 of the first metal layer 32 . As is clear from the figure, it is also effective to reduce the thickness T1 of the first metal layer 32 and the thickness T2 of the second metal layer 37 in order to increase the angle θ1. Note that if the width M2 of the second metal layer 37, the thickness T1 of the first metal layer 32, or the thickness T2 of the second metal layer 37 are excessively reduced, the strength of the vapor deposition mask 20 is lowered. Otherwise, the vapor deposition mask 20 may be damaged during use. For example, it is conceivable that the deposition mask 20 is damaged due to tensile stress applied to the deposition mask 20 when the deposition mask 20 is stretched on the frame 15 . Considering these points, it can be said that the dimensions of the first metal layer 32 and the second metal layer 37 are preferably set within the following ranges. Thereby, the angle θ1 described above can be set to, for example, 45° or more.

Width M1 of the first metal layer 32: 5 μm or more and 25 μm or less Width M2 of the second metal layer 37: 2 μm or more and 20 μm or less Thickness T0 of the vapor deposition mask 20: 5 μm or more and 50 μm or less, more preferably 3 μm or more and 50 μm or less, more preferably 3 μm or more and 30 μm or less, more preferably 3 μm or more and 25 μm or less ・Thickness T1 of the first metal layer 32: 5 μm or less ・Thickness T2 of the second metal layer 37: 2 μm or more and 50 μm or less, more preferably is 3 μm or more and 50 μm or less, more preferably 3 μm or more and 30 μm or less, further preferably 3 μm or more and 25 μm or less. are also the same.

The above-described aperture dimensions S0, S1, and S2 are appropriately set in consideration of the pixel density of the organic EL display device, the desired value of the above-described angle θ1, and the like. For example, when manufacturing an organic EL display device with a pixel density of 400 ppi or more, the opening size S0 of the through hole 25 in the connection portion 41 can be set to 15 μm or more and 60 μm or less. The opening dimension S1 of the first opening 30 on the first surface 20a is set to 10 μm or more and 50 μm or less, and the opening dimension S2 of the second opening 35 on the second surface 20b is set to 15 μm or more to 60 μm or less. can be

As shown in FIG. 30 , a depression 34 may be formed in the first surface 20 a of the vapor deposition mask 20 made of the first metal layer 32 . The depressions 34 are formed corresponding to the conductive patterns 152 of the pattern substrate 150, which will be described later, when the vapor deposition mask 20 is manufactured by plating. A depth D of the recessed portion 34 is, for example, 50 nm or more and 500 nm or less. Preferably, the outer edge 34 e of the recessed portion 34 formed in the first metal layer 32 is located between the end portion 33 of the first metal layer 32 and the connecting portion 41 .

The vapor deposition mask 20 described above is also provided with dummy regions 80 in the same manner as the vapor deposition mask 20 created by etching, and a plurality of first surface dummy openings 84 are provided in the first surface 20a of the vapor deposition mask 20. In addition, a plurality of second surface dummy openings 85 are provided on the second surface 20b. Here, a dummy hole 86 defined by a first-surface dummy opening 84 and a second-surface dummy opening 85 is provided in the dummy region 80 , and the dummy hole 86 penetrates through the dummy region 80 . The dummy hole 86 can be formed in the same manner as the through hole 25. For example, the cross-sectional shape of the dummy hole 86 can be the same shape as the through hole 25 formed in the effective area 22. It is not limited to this.

In the vapor deposition mask 20 produced by plating, the remaining amount of material specifically means the amount of material forming the first metal layer 32 and the second metal layer 37 formed by plating. . The amount of material remaining in such a vapor deposition mask 20 can be obtained in the same manner as the amount of material remaining in the vapor deposition mask 20 produced by the etching process described above.
If the thickness tu is the distance between the first surface 20a and the second surface 20b of the vapor deposition mask 20 at the central position Ou of the reference region _U or a position near the central position Ou (see FIG. 10), then good.

Next, a method of manufacturing the vapor deposition mask 20 by plating will be described.

(Manufacturing method of vapor deposition mask)
31 to 34 are diagrams for explaining the manufacturing method of the vapor deposition mask 20. FIG.

[Pattern board preparation process]
First, a pattern substrate 150 shown in FIG. 31 is prepared. The patterned substrate 150 has an insulating substrate 151 and a conductive pattern 152 formed on the substrate 151 . The conductive pattern 152 has a pattern corresponding to the first metal layer 32 .

As long as it has insulating properties and appropriate strength, the material constituting the base material 151 and the thickness of the base material 151 are not particularly limited. For example, glass, synthetic resin, or the like can be used as a material forming the base material 151 .

As a material forming the conductive pattern 152, a material having conductivity such as a metal material or a conductive oxide material is appropriately used. Examples of metal materials include chromium and copper. The thickness of the conductive pattern 152 is, for example, 50 nm or more and 500 nm or less.

Note that the pattern substrate 150 may be subjected to mold release treatment in order to facilitate the later-described separation step of separating the vapor deposition mask 20 from the pattern substrate 150 .

For example, first, a degreasing process is performed to remove oil from the surface of the pattern substrate 150 . For example, an acidic degreasing liquid is used to remove oil on the surface of the conductive pattern 152 of the pattern substrate 150 .

Next, an activation process for activating the surface of the conductive pattern 152 is performed. For example, the surface of the conductive pattern 152 is brought into contact with the same acid solution as the acid solution contained in the first plating solution used in the first plating process described later. For example, if the first plating solution contains nickel sulfamate, sulfamic acid is brought into contact with the surface of the conductive pattern 152 .

Next, an organic film forming process is performed to form an organic film on the surface of the conductive pattern 152 . For example, a release agent containing an organic substance is brought into contact with the surface of the conductive pattern 152 . At this time, the thickness of the organic film is set so thin that the electric resistance of the organic film does not interfere with the deposition of the first metal layer 32 by electroplating. The release agent may contain a sulfur component.

After the degreasing treatment, the activation treatment, and the organic film formation treatment, a water washing treatment for washing the patterned substrate 150 with water is performed.

[First plating process]
Next, a first plating process is performed to deposit a first metal layer 32 on the conductive pattern 152 by supplying a first plating solution onto the substrate 151 on which the conductive pattern 152 is formed. For example, the substrate 151 with the conductive pattern 152 formed thereon is immersed in a plating tank filled with the first plating solution. As a result, as shown in FIG. 32, the first metal layer 32 provided with the first openings 30 and the first surface dummy openings 84 in a predetermined pattern can be obtained on the patterned substrate 150 .

Due to the characteristics of the plating process, as shown in FIG. 32, the first metal layer 32 overlaps not only the conductive pattern 152 when viewed along the normal direction of the substrate 151, but also the conductive pattern. It can also be formed in a portion that does not overlap with 152 . This is because the first metal layer 32 is further deposited on the surface of the first metal layer 32 deposited on the portion overlapping the end portion 154 of the conductive pattern 152 . As a result, as shown in FIG. 32, the end portion 33 of the first opening 30 can be located at a portion that does not overlap the conductive pattern 152 when viewed along the normal direction of the base material 151. (The same applies to the end of the first surface dummy opening 84). In addition, the recessed portion 34 corresponding to the thickness of the conductive pattern 152 is formed on the surface of the first metal layer 32 that is in contact with the conductive pattern 152 .

In FIG. 32, the width of the portion of the first metal layer 32 that does not overlap the conductive pattern 152 (that is, the portion where the recessed portion 34 is not formed) is represented by w. The width w is, for example, 0.5 μm or more and 5.0 μm or less. The dimensions of the conductive pattern 152 are set in consideration of this width w.

As long as the first metal layer 32 can be deposited on the conductive pattern 152, the specific method of the first plating process is not particularly limited. For example, the first plating process may be performed as a so-called electroplating process in which the first metal layer 32 is deposited on the conductive pattern 152 by applying an electric current to the conductive pattern 152 . Alternatively, the first plating process may be an electroless plating process. In addition, when the first plating process is an electroless plating process, a suitable catalyst layer may be provided on the conductive pattern 152 . Alternatively, the conductive pattern 152 may be configured to function as a catalyst layer. A catalyst layer may be provided on the conductive pattern 152 also when the electroplating process is performed.

The components of the first plating solution used are appropriately determined according to the properties required for the first metal layer 32 . For example, when the first metal layer 32 is composed of an iron alloy containing nickel, a mixed solution of a solution containing a nickel compound and a solution containing an iron compound can be used as the first plating solution. For example, a mixed solution of a solution containing nickel sulfamate or nickel bromide and a solution containing ferrous sulfamate can be used. The plating solution may contain various additives. Examples of additives include pH buffers such as boric acid, primary brighteners such as saccharin sodium, secondary brighteners such as butynediol, propargyl alcohol, coumarin, formalin, and thiourea, and antioxidants. . The primary brightener may contain a sulfur component.

[Resist forming process]
Next, a resist forming step is performed to form a resist pattern 155 on the base material 151 and the first metal layer 32 with a predetermined gap 156 therebetween. FIG. 33 is a cross-sectional view showing a resist pattern 155 formed on base material 151. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 33, in the resist formation step, the first opening 30 and the first surface dummy opening 84 of the first metal layer 32 are covered with the resist pattern 155, and the gap 156 of the resist pattern 155 is filled with the first metal. It is implemented so as to lie on layer 32 .

An example of the resist forming process will be described below. First, a negative resist film is formed by sticking a dry film on the substrate 151 and the first metal layer 32 . A dry film is a film attached to an object such as the substrate 151 to form a resist film on the object. The dry film includes at least a base film made of PET or the like, and a photosensitive layer laminated on the base film and having photosensitivity. The photosensitive layer contains photosensitive materials such as acrylic photocurable resins, epoxy resins, polyimide resins, and styrene resins. A resist film may be formed by applying a material for the resist pattern 155 onto the base material 151 and then performing baking as necessary.

Next, an exposure mask is prepared so as not to allow light to pass through a region of the resist film that is to become the gap 156, and the exposure mask is placed on the resist film. After that, the exposure mask is sufficiently adhered to the resist film by vacuum adhesion. After that, the resist film is exposed through an exposure mask. Further, the resist film is developed to form an image in the exposed resist film. As described above, as shown in FIG. 33, the gap 156 located on the first metal layer 32 is provided, and the resist covering the first opening 30 of the first metal layer 32 and the first surface dummy opening 84 is formed. A pattern 155 can be formed. In order to adhere the resist pattern 155 to the base material 151 and the first metal layer 32 more firmly, a heat treatment process for heating the resist pattern 155 may be performed after the development process.

A positive resist film may be used as the resist film. In this case, as the exposure mask, an exposure mask is used that allows light to pass through the area of the resist film that is to be removed.

[Second plating process]
Next, a second plating process is performed to deposit a second metal layer 37 on the first metal layer 32 by supplying a second plating solution to the gaps 156 of the resist pattern 155 . For example, the substrate 151 with the first metal layer 32 formed thereon is immersed in a plating bath filled with the second plating solution. Thereby, the second metal layer 37 can be formed on the first metal layer 32 as shown in FIG.

As long as the second metal layer 37 can be deposited on the first metal layer 32, the specific method of the second plating process is not particularly limited. For example, the second plating process may be implemented as a so-called electroplating process in which the second metal layer 37 is deposited on the first metal layer 32 by applying an electric current to the first metal layer 32 . Alternatively, the second plating process may be an electroless plating process. When the second plating process is an electroless plating process, a suitable catalyst layer may be provided on the first metal layer 32 . A catalyst layer may be provided on the first metal layer 32 also when the electrolytic plating process is performed.

As the second plating solution, the same plating solution as the first plating solution may be used. Alternatively, a plating solution different from the first plating solution may be used as the second plating solution. When the composition of the first plating solution and the composition of the second plating solution are the same, the composition of the metals forming the first metal layer 32 and the composition of the metals forming the second metal layer 37 are also the same.

Although FIG. 34 shows an example in which the second plating process is continued until the upper surface of the resist pattern 155 and the upper surface of the second metal layer 37 are aligned, the present invention is not limited to this. . The second plating process may be stopped while the upper surface of the second metal layer 37 is positioned below the upper surface of the resist pattern 155 .

[Removal process]
After that, a removal step for removing the resist pattern 155 is performed. For example, the resist pattern 155 can be removed from the base material 151, the first metal layer 32, and the second metal layer 37 by using an alkaline remover.

[Separation process]
Next, a separation step is performed to separate the combination of the first metal layer 32 and the second metal layer 37 from the substrate 151 . As a result, the first metal layer 32 provided with the first openings 30 and the first-surface dummy openings 84 in a predetermined pattern, the second openings 35 communicating with the first openings 30, and the first-surface dummy openings are formed. and the second metal layer 37 provided with the second surface dummy openings 85 communicating with the portions 84 .

An example of the separation process will be described in detail below. First, a film coated with an adhesive substance is attached to the combination of the first metal layer 32 and the second metal layer 37 formed on the substrate 151 . The film is then pulled away from the substrate 151 by pulling or winding the film, thereby separating the combination of the first metal layer 32 and the second metal layer 37 from the substrate 151 of the patterned substrate 150 . . The film is then peeled off from the combination of first metal layer 32 and second metal layer 37 .

In addition, in the separation step, first, a gap that triggers separation is formed between the combination of the first metal layer 32 and the second metal layer 37 and the base material 151, and then the gap is filled with Air may be blown in, thereby facilitating the separation process.

As the sticky substance, a substance that loses its stickiness by being irradiated with light such as UV or by being heated may be used. In this case, after separating the combination of the first metal layer 32 and the second metal layer 37 from the base material 151, the process of irradiating the film with light and the process of heating the film are performed. This facilitates the process of peeling the film from the combination of the first metal layer 32 and the second metal layer 37 . For example, the film can be peeled away while keeping the film and the combination of the first metal layer 32 and the second metal layer 37 as parallel to each other as possible. As a result, it is possible to suppress the combination of the first metal layer 32 and the second metal layer 37 from being curved when the film is peeled off, and as a result, the vapor deposition mask 20 tends to be deformed such as curved. can be suppressed.

The vapor deposition mask 20 thus manufactured is manufactured from a vapor deposition mask intermediate 110 as shown in FIG. 35 from which a plurality of vapor deposition masks 20 are manufactured at once, similarly to the vapor deposition mask intermediate 100 shown in FIG. may be This vapor deposition mask intermediate 110 is not elongated like the vapor deposition mask intermediate 110 shown in FIG. On the other hand, there is a case where the vapor deposition mask 20 is individually manufactured in a sheet shape without being manufactured as such a vapor deposition mask intermediate 110 .
In any case, due to non-uniformity of current density, etc., it may be formed so as to be recessed in plan view, like the vapor deposition mask 20 produced by etching. Even in this case, since the dummy region 80 as described above is provided, it is possible to prevent the position of the through hole 25 formed in the effective region 22 from being shifted during stretching, and the position of the through hole 25 can be prevented. Accuracy can be improved.

28 to 35 show examples in which the cross-sectional shape of the dummy holes 86 is the same as the cross-sectional shape of the through holes 25 . However, the cross-sectional shape of the dummy hole 86 can be arbitrary as long as it can be formed by plating. Furthermore, a second dummy concave portion 88 as shown in FIG. 26 can also be formed by plating. In this case, for example, in the resist formation step shown in FIG. 33, the second metal layer 37 is not formed by the resist pattern 155 by forming the resist pattern 155 on the first metal layer 32 and performing the second plating process. A second dummy recess 88 can be formed in the portion.

(Second Modification of Method for Manufacturing Vapor Deposition Mask)
In the present embodiment described above, an example in which vapor deposition mask 20 is configured by stacking at least two metal layers, first metal layer 32 and second metal layer 37, is shown.
However, the vapor deposition mask 20 may be composed of one metal layer 27 in which a plurality of through holes 25 are formed in a predetermined pattern. An example in which the vapor deposition mask 20 includes one metal layer 27 will be described below with reference to FIGS. 36 to 38. FIG. In addition, in this modification, a portion of the through-hole 25 extending from the first surface 20a to the second surface 20b of the vapor deposition mask 20 and located on the first surface 20a is referred to as a first opening 30. A portion located on the second surface 20 b is referred to as a second opening 35 .

In the vapor deposition mask 20 shown in FIG. 38, the remaining amount of material specifically means the amount of material that constitutes the metal layer 27 formed by plating. Since the remaining amount of material in such a vapor deposition mask 20 can also be obtained in the same manner as the remaining amount of material in the vapor deposition mask 20 produced by the etching process described above, detailed description thereof will be omitted here. If the thickness tu is the distance between the first surface 20a and the second surface 20b of the vapor deposition mask 20 at the central position Ou of the reference region _U or a position near the central position Ou (see FIG. 10), then good.

A method of manufacturing the vapor deposition mask 20 according to this modified example will be described.

First, a substrate 151 having a predetermined conductive pattern 152 formed thereon is prepared. Next, as shown in FIG. 36, a resist forming step is performed to form a resist pattern 155 on the substrate 151 with a predetermined gap 156 therebetween. Preferably, the spacing between side surfaces 157 of resist pattern 155 that define gaps 156 in resist pattern 155 decreases with distance from substrate 151 . That is, the resist pattern 155 has a shape in which the width of the resist pattern 155 increases as the distance from the base material 151 increases, that is, a so-called reverse tapered shape.

An example of a method of forming such a resist pattern 155 will be described. For example, first, a resist film containing a photocurable resin is provided on the surface of the substrate 151 on which the conductive pattern 152 is formed. Next, the resist film is exposed by irradiating the resist film with exposure light incident on the base material 151 from the opposite side of the base material 151 to the side where the resist film is provided. After that, the resist film is developed. In this case, a resist pattern 155 having an inversely tapered shape as shown in FIG. 36 can be obtained based on wraparound (diffraction) of exposure light.

Next, as shown in FIG. 37, a plating solution is supplied to the gaps 156 of the resist pattern 155 to deposit the metal layer 27 on the conductive pattern 152, thereby carrying out a plating process. After that, by performing the above-described removal step and separation step, as shown in FIG. 38, a vapor deposition mask 20 having a metal layer 27 provided with through holes 25 in a predetermined pattern can be obtained.

(Modified example of vapor deposition mask)
In the present embodiment described above, as shown in FIG. 1, an example in which the effective regions 22 of the deposition mask 20 are arranged in a row in the longitudinal direction of the deposition mask 20 is described. did. However, it is also possible to improve the positional accuracy of the through-holes 25 at the time of stretching, for example, by providing dummy regions in the vapor deposition mask 20 in which the effective regions are arranged in a lattice as shown in FIG.

The vapor deposition mask 20 shown in FIG. 39 includes a plurality of first effective regions 22A arranged in the longitudinal direction (first direction) of the vapor deposition mask 20, a plurality of second effective regions 22B arranged in the longitudinal direction, It has Among them, the second effective area 22B is provided at a position different from that of the first effective area 22A in the width direction (second direction) perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the vapor deposition mask 20 .
In particular, in the form shown in FIG. 39, the second effective area 22B is provided closer to the central side in the width direction of the vapor deposition mask 20 than the first effective area 22A. The above-described through holes 25 are formed in the first effective area 22A and the second effective area 22B, respectively. In the form shown in FIG. 39, the first effective area 22A is arranged on one side edge 20h side and the other side edge 20h side of the pair of side edges 20h that determine the width of the vapor deposition mask 20, respectively. , and the second effective area 22B is arranged at the center position of the deposition mask 20 in the width direction. That is, the second effective areas 22B are arranged between two lines of the first effective areas 22A, forming a total of three lines of the effective areas 22A and 22B.

In the deposition mask 20 shown in FIG. 39, the pair of ear portions 24 are provided on both sides of the first effective region 22A and the second effective region 22B in the longitudinal direction of the deposition mask 20 . The ear portions 24 are positioned at both ends 20 e of the vapor deposition mask 20 in the longitudinal direction. In other words, two rows of the first effective regions 22A and one row of the second effective regions 22B are provided between the pair of ear portions 24. As shown in FIG. 39, the pair of ear portions 24 are arranged in the longitudinal direction of the vapor deposition mask 20, and the first direction in which the pair of ear portions 24 are arranged is the longitudinal direction. there is In addition, when the entire length A (see FIG. 1) of the vapor deposition mask 20 is smaller than the width dimension of the vapor deposition mask 20 (the dimension in the direction perpendicular to the direction indicated by the length A), the pair of ear portions 24 The first direction in which the are arranged is not the longitudinal direction of the vapor deposition mask 20 but the lateral direction, but even in this case, it is within the scope of the present invention.

A first dummy region 80A is interposed between each of the ear portions 24 and the first effective region 22A. In other words, the first dummy regions 80A are provided on both sides of the plurality of first effective regions 22A in the longitudinal direction of the vapor deposition mask 20 . Similarly, a second dummy region 80B is interposed between each of the ear portions 24 and the second effective region 22B. In other words, the second dummy regions 80B are provided on both sides of the plurality of second effective regions 22B in the longitudinal direction of the vapor deposition mask 20 .

The first dummy area 80A and the second dummy area 80B are areas intended to adjust the tension applied to the effective areas 22A and 22B by the tension applied to the vapor deposition mask 20 during stretching. That is, when the first dummy region 80A and the second dummy region 80B are stretched over the frame 15 (see FIG. 1), the extension of the first dummy region 80A itself differs from the extension of the second dummy region 80B itself. This area is configured as follows. The first dummy region 80A and the second dummy region 80B differ from the dummy region 80 shown in FIG. , has the same configuration as the dummy region 80 . As an example, dummy holes 86 as shown in FIG. 4 are provided in the first dummy region 80A and the second dummy region 80B.

The residual amount of the material forming the vapor deposition mask 20 in the first dummy region 80A and the residual amount of the material forming the vapor deposition mask 20 in the second dummy region 80B are different from each other. In the form shown in FIG. 39, the remaining material amount of the first dummy region 80A is larger than the remaining material amount of the second dummy region 80B. For example, by making the arrangement pitch (see FIG. 8A) of the first surface dummy openings 84 in the width direction larger in the first dummy region 80A than in the second dummy region 80B, the residual amount of material in the first dummy region 80A is reduced. , the remaining amount of material in the second dummy region 80B. Further, for example, by making the longitudinal dimension of the first surface dummy opening 84 (of the vapor deposition mask 20) (see FIG. 8B) smaller in the first dummy region 80A than in the second dummy region 80B, the first dummy The amount of material remaining in the region 80A can be made larger than the amount of material remaining in the second dummy region 80B.

In the first dummy region 80A, the remaining material amount is the same across the width direction of the vapor deposition mask 20, and inside the second dummy region 80B, the remaining material amount is the same across the width direction. In such first dummy regions 80A and second dummy regions 80B, for example, the arrangement pitch and shape of the first surface dummy openings 84, the second surface dummy openings 85 and the dummy holes 86 are different from each other. In 80B, it is the same across the width direction.

Here, a method for obtaining the remaining amount of material will be described. The reference area U can be an arbitrary area within each of the dummy areas 80A and 80B, and can be an area having a circular planar shape as shown in FIG. 10, for example. As an example, if the width of each dummy area 80A, 80B is 80 mm, it is preferable to set the diameter of the reference area U to 20 mm.

The remaining material amount defined as described above is an amount that excludes the influence of the thickness of each of the dummy regions 80A and 80B. In other words, if the first dummy region 80A and the second dummy region 80B have different thicknesses, it is considered that the difference in thickness will also change the remaining amount of material. However, in the vapor deposition mask 20 shown in FIG. 39, the arrangement pitch and size of the first surface dummy openings 84 and the second surface dummy openings 85 in the first dummy region 80A and the first surface dummy openings in the second dummy region 80B are different. By varying the arrangement pitch and size of the portions 84 and the second surface dummy openings 85, the opening ratio of the dummy holes 86 in the first dummy region 80A and the opening ratio of the dummy holes 86 in the second dummy region 80B are made different. ing. Thereby, the elongation rate of the first dummy region 80A and the elongation rate of the second dummy region 80B are made different. Therefore, by defining the remaining material amount as described above, the effect of the difference in thickness of each dummy region 80A, 80B is eliminated, and each dummy region that can affect the elongation rate of each dummy region 80A, 80B. A material remaining amount of 80A and 80B can be defined.

Note that a more specific method for obtaining the remaining material amount in each of the dummy regions 80A and 80B of the vapor deposition mask 20 shown in FIG. 39 is the same as the method for obtaining the remaining material amount described with reference to FIG. , detailed description is omitted.

By the way, the vapor deposition mask 20 shown in FIG. 39 can be produced from, for example, the elongated metal plate 64 shown in FIG. In this case, the first effective area 22A is arranged on one side edge 64e side and the other side edge 64e side of the pair of side edges 64e of the long metal plate 64, and the second effective area 22B is arranged. are arranged closer to the center of the long metal plate 64 in the width direction D2 than the first effective area 22A (here, at the center position of the long metal plate 64 in the width direction). As shown in FIG. 11, a side edge 64e of the elongated metal plate 64 has an undulating shape similar to the undulating shape (edge extension) described above. For this reason, the first effective area 22A may have a larger wavy shape than the second effective area 22B.

Therefore, in the vapor deposition mask 20 shown in FIG. 39, as described above, the first dummy regions 80A are provided on both sides of the first effective region 22A in the longitudinal direction of the vapor deposition mask 20, and the second dummy regions 80A are provided on both sides of the second effective region 22B. 2 dummy regions 80B are provided. The remaining material amount of the first dummy region 80A is larger than the remaining material amount of the second dummy region 80B.

This makes it possible to make the extension of the first dummy region 80A smaller than the extension of the second dummy region 80B when the vapor deposition mask 20 is stretched. In this case, the tension applied to the first effective region 22A having a relatively large wavy shape can be made larger than the tension applied to the second effective region 22B having a relatively small wavy shape, and the elongation of the first effective region 22A can be effectively increased. can be significantly larger. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the position of the through hole 25 formed in the first effective area 22A from being shifted, and to improve the positional accuracy of the through hole 25 during stretching.

In the vapor deposition mask 20 shown in FIG. 39, an example in which one row of the second effective regions 22B is formed between two rows of the first effective regions 22A in the width direction of the vapor deposition mask 20 is taken. Indicated. However, the number of columns formed by the first effective area 22A and the number of columns formed by the second effective area 22B are arbitrary. For example, although not shown, a row formed by another effective region is interposed between a row formed by the first effective region 22A and a row formed by the second effective region 22B. Five columns may be formed. Other dummy areas may be provided on both longitudinal sides of this other effective area. As for the other dummy areas, it is preferable to set the remaining amount of material according to the degree of wavy shape in the other effective area. For example, the remaining material amount in the other dummy regions may be smaller than the remaining material amount in the first dummy region 80A and larger than the remaining material amount in the second dummy region 80B. In addition, for example, two columns of the first effective regions 22A are interposed between two columns of the first effective regions 22A, and a total of four columns of effective regions are formed in the vapor deposition mask 20. may

(Another modified example of vapor deposition mask)
In the present embodiment described above, as shown in FIG. 11, two stick-shaped first deposition masks 20A and one stick-shaped second deposition mask 20B are manufactured from the deposition mask intermediate 100. An example was described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 41, a vapor deposition mask 20 having effective regions arranged in a lattice may be manufactured from a vapor deposition mask intermediate 100. FIG.

The vapor deposition mask 20 shown in FIG. 41 includes a plurality of first effective regions 22A arranged in a row in the longitudinal direction of the vapor deposition mask 20, a plurality of second effective regions 22B arranged in a row in the longitudinal direction, , forming a total of two columns of active area. The vapor deposition mask intermediate 100 includes two such vapor deposition masks 20 .

A vapor deposition mask intermediate 100 shown in FIG. 41 includes a long metal plate 64 and a first effective region 22A and a second effective region 22B provided on the long metal plate 64 . Of these, the first effective area 22A is arranged on one side edge 64e of the pair of side edges 64e of the long metal plate 64. As shown in FIG. The second effective area 22B is arranged closer to the center of the long metal plate 64 in the width direction D2 than the first effective area 22A. That is, in the vapor deposition mask intermediate 100 shown in FIG. 41, the outline of the first effective area 22A and the outline of the second effective area 22B of the two vapor deposition masks 20 pass through the center of the long metal plate 64 in the width direction D2. are arranged line-symmetrically with respect to a center line 64CL extending in the longitudinal direction D1 of the elongated metal plate 64. As shown in FIG. Here, the contours of the effective areas 22A and 22B are the outer tangent line extending in the longitudinal direction of the vapor deposition mask 20 circumscribing the through-hole 25 located on the outermost side among the many through-holes 25 and the outer tangent line extending in the width direction. It means the contour simulated by the extending outer tangent line. Further, when the contours of the effective areas 22A and 22B are arranged line-symmetrically, the patterns of the through holes 25 formed in the effective areas 22A and 22B are not limited to being line-symmetrically formed. That is, even when the contours of the effective areas 22A and 22B are arranged line-symmetrically, for example, when the patterns of the through holes 25 formed in the effective areas 22A and 22B are the same (in other words, each The patterns of the through holes 25 in the effective areas 22A and 22B are in a parallel displacement relationship), and the patterns of the through holes 25 are different in the effective areas 22A and 22B.

Each vapor deposition mask 20 obtained from such a vapor deposition mask intermediate 100 includes a plurality of first effective regions 22A arranged in the longitudinal direction of the vapor deposition mask 20 and a plurality of second effective regions 22A arranged in the longitudinal direction of the vapor deposition mask 20. and an effective area 22B. Among them, the second effective area 22B is provided at a position different from the first effective area 22A in the width direction of the vapor deposition mask 20 . More specifically, the first effective area 22A is arranged on one side edge 20h of the pair of side edges 20h of the deposition mask 20, and the second effective area 22B is arranged on the other side edge 20h side. are arranged in The outline of the first effective area 22A and the outline of the second effective area 22B are arranged line-symmetrically with respect to a center line 20CL extending in the longitudinal direction of the vapor deposition mask 20 through the center in the width direction of the vapor deposition mask 20. It is One side edge 20h corresponding to the first effective area 22A corresponds to one side edge 64 side of the long metal plate 64, and the other side edge 20h corresponding to the second effective area 22B is the long side edge 20h. It corresponds to the central side in the width direction of the length metal plate 64 . For this reason, one side edge 20h corresponding to the first effective area 22A may have a larger wavy shape than the other side edge 20h corresponding to the second effective area 22B.

In the vapor deposition mask 20 shown in FIG. 41, similarly to the vapor deposition mask 20 shown in FIG. 39, first dummy regions 80A are provided on both sides of the first effective region 22A, and second dummy regions are provided on both sides of the second effective region 22B. 80B is provided. The remaining material amount of the first dummy region 80A is larger than the remaining material amount of the second dummy region 80B. Therefore, even if the first effective area 22A has a wavy shape larger than that of the second effective area 22B, the tension applied to the first effective area 22A having a relatively large wavy shape can be compared with the wavy shape. can be greater than the tension applied to the second effective area 22B, which is relatively small. As a result, the elongation of the first effective area 22A can be effectively increased. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the position of the through hole 25 formed in the first effective area 22A from being shifted, and to improve the positional accuracy of the through hole 25 during stretching.

In the vapor deposition mask intermediate 100 shown in FIG. 41, an example in which two vapor deposition masks 20 in which two columns of effective regions are formed in total is provided has been described. However, it is not limited to this, and the number of vapor deposition masks 20 included in the vapor deposition mask intermediate 100 is arbitrary as long as the undulating shape in the first effective region 22A is larger than the undulating shape in the second effective region 22B. Moreover, the number of columns of effective regions formed on the vapor deposition mask 20 is arbitrary.

20 vapor deposition mask 20A first vapor deposition mask 20B second vapor deposition mask 20CL center line 21 metal plate 22 effective area 22A first effective area 22B second effective area 24 ear 25 through hole 64 long metal plate 80 dummy area 80A first dummy Region 80B Second dummy region 81 First region side edge 82 Second region side edge 83 Region central portion 84 First surface dummy opening 85 Second surface dummy opening 86 Dummy hole 87 First dummy concave portion 88 Second dummy Recesses 100, 110 Vapor deposition mask intermediate

Claims (4)

A deposition mask including a first surface and a second surface located on the opposite side of the first surface,
a first effective area in which a plurality of through holes are formed;
A second effective area provided at a position different from the first effective area in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction of the vapor deposition mask, the second effective area having a plurality of through holes. When,
a pair of ears provided on both sides of the first effective area and the second effective area in the first direction of the vapor deposition mask;
A first surface dummy opening provided on the first surface of the deposition mask and a second dummy opening provided on the second surface of the vapor deposition mask are interposed between at least one of the pair of ear portions and the first effective region. a first dummy region in which a plane dummy opening is formed;
A first surface dummy opening provided on the first surface of the deposition mask and a second dummy opening provided on the second surface of the vapor deposition mask are interposed between at least one of the pair of ear portions and the second effective region. a second dummy region in which a plane dummy opening is formed;
Let V be the volume per unit area, t _u be the thickness, and V/t _u be the remaining material amount of the material forming the vapor deposition mask. larger than the remaining amount of material in
the second effective area is provided closer to the center of the vapor deposition mask in the second direction than the first effective area;
a plurality of first dummy holes defined by the first-surface dummy openings and the second-surface dummy openings and penetrating the first dummy areas are provided in the first dummy area;
a plurality of second dummy holes defined by the first-surface dummy openings and the second-surface dummy openings and penetrating through the second dummy areas are provided in the second dummy area;
The through hole, the first surface dummy opening and the second surface dummy opening are formed in a rectangular shape along the first direction and the second direction in a plan view,
In the first effective region adjacent to the first dummy region in the first direction, the through hole located closest to the first dummy region is defined as a first through hole, and the first through hole and the first The through-holes that are adjacent in the direction of are second through-holes,
The second surface dummy opening located closest to the first effective area in the first dummy area and the first through hole are separated from each other on the second surface. A dimension along the first direction of the second surface remaining between the first through hole is defined as a first dimension, the first through hole and the second through hole are spaced apart on the second surface, and the When a dimension along the first direction of the second surface remaining between the first through hole and the second through hole is defined as a second dimension, the first dimension is larger than the second dimension,
In the second effective area adjacent to the second dummy area in the first direction, the through hole positioned closest to the second dummy area is defined as a third through hole, and the third through hole and the first through hole. The through-holes adjacent in the direction of are set as fourth through-holes,
The second surface dummy opening located closest to the second effective area in the second dummy area and the third through hole are separated from each other on the second surface. A dimension along the first direction of the second surface remaining between the third through hole and the third through hole is defined as a third dimension, and the third through hole and the fourth through hole are separated from each other on the second surface, and the When a dimension along the first direction of the second surface remaining between the third through-hole and the fourth through-hole is defined as a fourth dimension, the third dimension is larger than the fourth dimension. ,
the first dummy holes are arranged in the second direction, and the arrangement pitch of the first dummy holes is the same throughout the second direction;
The vapor deposition mask , wherein the second dummy holes are arranged in the second direction, and the arrangement pitch of the second dummy holes is the same over the second direction . The vapor deposition mask includes a pair of side edges defining a width of the vapor deposition mask in the second direction,
2. The vapor deposition mask according to claim 1, wherein said first effective area positioned closer to said one side edge than said second effective area in said second direction is adjacent to said side edge. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said first effective area is provided on both sides of said second effective area in said second direction, and said first dummy area is provided on both sides of said second dummy area. deposition mask. The vapor deposition mask includes a pair of side edges defining a width of the vapor deposition mask in the second direction,
the first effective area located closer to one of the side edges than the second effective area in the second direction is adjacent to the side edge;
4. The vapor deposition mask according to claim 3, wherein said first effective area positioned closer to said other side edge than said second effective area in said second direction is adjacent to said side edge.

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