WO2020155357A1

WO2020155357A1 - Metal mask device

Info

Publication number: WO2020155357A1
Application number: PCT/CN2019/080193
Authority: WO
Inventors: 姜亮
Original assignee: 深圳市华星光电半导体显示技术有限公司
Priority date: 2019-01-31
Filing date: 2019-03-28
Publication date: 2020-08-06
Also published as: CN109735801A

Abstract

Disclosed is a metal mask device, comprising an outer frame (10), which outer frame (10) comprises a hollow area (110); and comprising a metal mask layer (20) located in the hollow area (110). The metal mask layer comprises a metal pattern layer (210) and a heat insulation layer (220) located on the metal pattern layer (210), wherein the metal pattern layer comprises at least one first opening (211), and the shape of the first opening (211) is the same as that of pixel units in a target substrate (40).

Description

Metal mask device

Technical field

This application relates to the display field, and in particular to a metal mask device.

Background technique

In the manufacturing process of an Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) display panel, an evaporation process is usually used to form the organic light-emitting layer of the OLED device in the OLED display panel. When the film layer in the display panel is manufactured by the vapor deposition process, usually a mask with a pattern corresponding to the film layer is attached to the side to be vaporized on the substrate of the display panel and placed above the vapor deposition source. The vapor deposition material in the source is heated to form a vapor that is dispersed on the substrate and is deposited on the substrate to form a film on the substrate.

The existing mask usually uses a metal mask, and the vapor deposition material is a high-temperature gas. Therefore, in the evaporation process, the mask is affected by the high-temperature gas and thermally expands, causing the opening of the mask to be misaligned with the position of the pixel unit of the target substrate, causing the target display panel to produce color mixing defects and reducing the resolution of the display panel. Rate and yield.

technical problem

The present application provides a metal mask device to solve the technical problem of the color mixing of the target display panel caused by the thermal expansion of the existing metal mask device.

Technical solutions

This application proposes a metal mask device, which includes:

An outer frame, the outer frame including a hollow area;

The metal mask layer located in the hollow area includes:

The metal pattern layer includes at least one first opening, the shape of the first opening is the same as the shape of the pixel unit in the target substrate,

Wherein, the metal pattern layer further includes a first protrusion located in the first opening, and the orthographic projection surface of the first protrusion on the target substrate does not overlap the pixel unit; and

A heat insulation layer on the metal pattern layer;

When the target substrate is processed, the metal pattern layer is close to the target substrate, and the heat insulation layer is away from the target substrate.

In the metal mask device of the present application,

The material of the heat insulation layer is silica.

In the metal mask device of the present application,

The heat insulation layer further includes a second opening;

The second opening has the same shape as the first opening.

In the metal mask device of the present application,

The distance between the outer boundary of the pixel unit and the outer boundary of the first opening on the orthographic projection surface of the target substrate is a, and a is greater than zero.

In the metal mask device of the present application,

The metal mask device further includes at least two support bars in a slat shape;

A part of the support bars straddle the hollow area of the outer frame along the first direction;

The remaining part of the support bars are arranged across the hollow area of the outer frame along the second direction to form a support net;

Both ends of the support bar are respectively connected with the outer frame;

The first direction crosses the second direction.

In the metal mask device of the present application,

The outer frame also includes a first groove on the first surface;

The support bar is embedded in the first groove and supports the metal pattern layer on the hollow area.

In the metal mask device of the present application,

The outer frame further includes a second groove on the side of the hollow cavity;

The metal pattern layer is embedded in the second groove.

In the metal mask device of the present application,

The metal pattern layer further includes a continuous hollow cavity;

The hollow cavity is filled with cooling fluid.

In the metal mask device of the present application,

The metal pattern layer further includes a first inlet and a first outlet;

The cooling liquid flows into the hollow cavity through the first inlet, and flows out of the hollow cavity through the first outlet, to cool the metal pattern layer.

In the metal mask device of the present application,

The first inlet and the first outlet are located on the same side or different sides of the metal pattern layer.

This application also proposes a metal mask device, which includes:

An outer frame, the outer frame including a hollow area;

The metal mask layer located in the hollow area includes:

The metal pattern layer includes at least one first opening, the shape of the first opening is the same as the shape of the pixel unit in the target substrate; and

A heat insulation layer on the metal pattern layer;

In the metal mask device of the present application,

The material of the heat insulation layer is silica.

In the metal mask device of the present application,

The heat insulation layer further includes a second opening;

The second opening has the same shape as the first opening.

In the metal mask device of the present application,

Both ends of the support bar are respectively connected with the outer frame;

The first direction crosses the second direction.

In the metal mask device of the present application,

The outer frame also includes a first groove on the first surface;

In the metal mask device of the present application,

The metal pattern layer is embedded in the second groove.

In the metal mask device of the present application,

The metal pattern layer further includes a continuous hollow cavity;

The hollow cavity is filled with cooling fluid.

In the metal mask device of the present application,

The metal pattern layer further includes a first inlet and a first outlet;

In the metal mask device of the present application,

Beneficial effect

In this application, a heat insulation layer is provided on the surface of the existing metal mask device to avoid the color mixing of the target display panel due to thermal expansion of the metal mask device.

Description of the drawings

In order to explain the embodiments or the technical solutions in the prior art more clearly, the following will briefly introduce the drawings that need to be used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are merely inventions For some embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art can obtain other drawings based on these drawings without creative work.

Figure 1 is a structural diagram of the metal mask device of this application;

Figure 2 is the first structure diagram of the metal mask layer of this application;

FIG. 3 is a second structure diagram of the metal mask layer of this application.

Embodiments of the invention

The description of the following embodiments refers to the attached drawings to illustrate specific embodiments that can be implemented in this application. The directional terms mentioned in this application, such as [Top], [Bottom], [Front], [Back], [Left], [Right], [Inner], [Outer], [Side], etc., are for reference only The direction of the additional schema. Therefore, the directional terms used are used to illustrate and understand the application, rather than to limit the application. In the figure, units with similar structures are indicated by the same reference numerals.

Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a structural diagram of a metal mask device of the present application.

The metal mask device includes an outer frame 10 and a metal mask layer 20 located in the outer frame 10.

The outer frame 10 includes a hollow area 110.

In an embodiment, the outer frame 10 has a back shape. The outer frame 10 includes a first side wall 101, a second side wall 102, a third side wall 103 and a fourth side wall 104 connected vertically.

The metal mask device may also include at least two support bars 30 in the shape of slats.

Part of the support bar 30 is arranged across the hollow area 110 of the outer frame 10 in the first direction, and the remaining part of the support bar 30 is arranged across the hollow area 110 of the outer frame 10 in the second direction to form a support network.

In an embodiment, both ends of the support bar 30 are connected to the first side wall 101, the second side wall 102, the third side wall 103, and the first side wall of the outer frame 10, respectively. The four side walls 104 are connected.

In an embodiment, the first direction crosses the second direction.

In an embodiment, the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction.

The outer frame 10 also includes a first groove 120 on the first surface.

The first surface is the side of the outer frame 10 close to the target substrate 40.

The first groove 120 is located on the first side wall 101, the second side wall 102, the third side wall 103 and the fourth side wall 104 and is close to the hollow area 110.

The metal mask device includes a first support bar 301 arranged along a first direction and a second support bar 302 arranged along a second direction.

In one embodiment, the first support bar 301 is embedded in the first groove 120 on the first side wall 101 and the third side wall 103. The first direction is parallel to the second side wall 102 and the fourth side wall 104.

In one embodiment, the second support bar 302 is embedded in the first groove 120 on the second side wall 102 and the fourth side wall 104. The second direction is parallel to the first side wall 101 and the third side wall 103.

In an embodiment, the depth of the first groove 120 is less than the thickness of the outer frame 10.

The metal mask layer 20 is located in the hollow area 110.

In an embodiment, the metal mask layer 20 is located on the support bar 30. The elastic deformation of the support bar 30 is greater than the elastic deformation of the metal mask layer 20. The supporting net formed by the cross-arrangement of the supporting bars 30 can alleviate the excessive deformation of the metal mask layer 20, which may cause errors in the processing of the target substrate 40.

In an embodiment, the metal mask layer 20 may be fixedly connected to the outer frame 10 by welding. In this embodiment, the area of the metal mask layer 20 is not larger than the

The outer frame 10 further includes a second groove 130 located on the side of the hollow cavity. The metal pattern layer is embedded in the second groove 130.

In an embodiment, the second groove 130 is located on the support bar 30.

The second groove 130 may be provided on any opposite sidewalls, such as the first sidewall 101 and the third sidewall 103, or the second sidewall 102 and the fourth sidewall 104. or

The second groove 130 may be provided on the first side wall 101, the second side wall 102, the third side wall 103, and the fourth side wall 104. The depth of the second groove 130 may be designed according to the area size of the metal mask layer 20, which is not described in detail in this application.

In an embodiment, the support bar 30 can be fixedly connected to the outer frame 10 through the second groove 130 and welding at the same time.

In this application, the arrangement of the second groove 130 may be determined according to specific conditions.

Please refer to FIG. 2, which is a first structure diagram of the metal mask layer 20 of this application.

The metal mask layer 20 provided in the present application can be applied to an evaporation device to manufacture a functional film layer in a display panel by an evaporation process, for example, an organic light-emitting layer of an OLED device in an OLED display panel.

The metal mask layer 20 includes a metal pattern layer 210.

The metal pattern layer 210 includes at least one first opening 211, and the first opening 211 corresponds to the pixel unit of the target substrate 40.

In an embodiment, the shape of the first opening 211 is the same as the shape of the pixel unit 410 in the target substrate 40.

In the vapor deposition process, the vapor deposition material is generally a high-temperature gas, and the metal pattern layer 210 is a metal material, so the metal expands when heated, causing the area of the first opening 211 to shrink. When designing the first opening 211, it is often necessary to consider the expansion amount of the metal pattern layer 210. The specific expansion amount of the metal pattern layer 210 is related to the metal material and the heating temperature. The specific expansion amount of the metal pattern layer 210 can be calculated according to numerical simulation software, such as Ansys.

The metal pattern layer 210 further includes a first protrusion 212 located in the first opening 211.

In an embodiment, the orthographic projection surface of the first protrusion 212 on the target substrate 40 does not overlap with the pixel unit 410.

Due to process limitations, when the metal pattern layer 210 is processed, the pattern in the first opening 211 cannot be completely removed. Therefore, the first protrusion 212 needs to be considered when performing the vapor deposition process.

The metal mask layer 20 further includes a heat insulation layer 220.

The heat insulation layer 220 is located on the metal pattern layer 210. That is, the heat insulation layer 220 is located on the side of the metal pattern layer 210 away from the target substrate 40.

In an embodiment, the heat insulation layer 220 is located between the support bar 30 and the metal pattern layer 210.

Please refer to FIG. 2, when the target substrate 40 is processed, the metal pattern layer 210 is close to the target substrate 40, and the heat insulation layer 220 is far away from the target substrate 40.

In an embodiment, the material of the thermal insulation layer 220 may be silica

In the heat insulation layer 220 of the present application, the heat insulation layer 220 further includes at least one second opening 221. The second opening 221 corresponds to the first opening 211.

In an embodiment, the shape of the second opening 221 may be the same as the shape of the first opening 211.

In the vapor deposition process, the vapor deposition material at a higher temperature will cause the metal pattern layer 210 to expand, and the area of the first opening 211 becomes smaller, leading to the risk of color mixing on the target substrate 40. A heat insulation layer 220 is provided on the surface of the metal pattern layer 210 of the present application to prevent the heat of high temperature gas from being transferred to the metal pattern layer 210 to expand, avoid the defects of color mixing during the evaporation process of the target substrate 40, and improve The resolution and yield of the display panel.

Please refer to FIG. 3, which is a second structure diagram of the metal mask layer 20 of this application.

The metal pattern layer 210 also includes a continuous hollow cavity 230.

In an embodiment, the hollow cavity 230 is filled with a cooling fluid.

In an embodiment, the cooling fluid may be cryogenic liquid or cryogenic air.

The metal pattern layer 210 further includes a first inlet and a first outlet.

The cooling liquid flows into the hollow cavity 230 through the first inlet, and flows out of the hollow cavity 230 through the first outlet, so that the metal pattern layer 210 is cooled.

In an embodiment, the first inlet and the first outlet may be located on the same side or different sides of the metal pattern layer 210.

In the evaporation process, the cooling liquid can form a circulating cooling system in the hollow cavity 230 to take away the high temperature in the metal pattern layer 210 and keep the metal pattern layer 210 at a certain temperature. No expansion occurs, and the defect of color mixing during the evaporation process of the target substrate 40 is avoided.

In an embodiment, the distance between the outer boundary of the pixel unit 410 and the outer boundary of the first opening 211 in the metal pattern layer 210 on the orthographic projection surface of the target substrate 40 is a, and a is greater than zero.

Although the installation of the heat insulation layer and the cooling liquid in the present application reduces the temperature of the metal pattern layer to a certain extent, there are also certain errors in the process, so a certain margin should be left when designing the first opening.

The present application proposes a metal mask device, including an outer frame, the outer frame includes a hollow area; the metal mask layer in the hollow area includes: a metal pattern layer, including at least one first opening, The shape of the first opening is the same as the shape of the pixel unit in the target substrate; and the heat insulation layer on the metal pattern layer; when the target substrate is processed, the metal pattern layer is close to the target substrate, so The heat insulation layer is far away from the target substrate. In this application, a heat insulation layer is provided on the surface of the existing metal mask device to avoid the color mixing of the target display panel due to thermal expansion of the metal mask device.

In summary, although the application has been disclosed as above in preferred embodiments, the above-mentioned preferred embodiments are not intended to limit the application, and those of ordinary skill in the art can make various decisions without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. Such changes and modifications, so the protection scope of this application is subject to the scope defined by the claims.

Claims

A metal mask device, which includes:

An outer frame, the outer frame including a hollow area;

The metal mask layer located in the hollow area includes:

The metal pattern layer includes at least one first opening, the shape of the first opening is the same as the shape of the pixel unit in the target substrate,

Wherein, the metal pattern layer further includes a first protrusion located in the first opening, and the orthographic projection surface of the first protrusion on the target substrate does not overlap the pixel unit; and

A heat insulation layer on the metal pattern layer;

When the target substrate is processed, the metal pattern layer is close to the target substrate, and the heat insulation layer is away from the target substrate.
The metal mask device according to claim 1, wherein:

The material of the heat insulation layer is silica.
The metal mask device according to claim 1, wherein:

The heat insulation layer further includes a second opening;

The second opening has the same shape as the first opening.
The metal mask device according to claim 1, wherein:

The distance between the outer boundary of the pixel unit and the outer boundary of the first opening on the orthographic projection surface of the target substrate is a, and a is greater than zero.
The metal mask device according to claim 1, wherein:

The metal mask device further includes at least two support bars in a slat shape;

A part of the support bars straddle the hollow area of the outer frame along the first direction;

The remaining part of the support bars are arranged across the hollow area of the outer frame along the second direction to form a support net;

Both ends of the support bar are respectively connected with the outer frame;

The first direction crosses the second direction.
The metal mask device according to claim 5, wherein:

The outer frame also includes a first groove on the first surface;

The support bar is embedded in the first groove and supports the metal pattern layer on the hollow area.
The metal mask device according to claim 1, wherein:

The outer frame further includes a second groove on the side of the hollow cavity;

The metal pattern layer is embedded in the second groove.
The metal mask device according to claim 7, wherein:

The metal pattern layer further includes a continuous hollow cavity;

The hollow cavity is filled with cooling fluid.
The metal mask device according to claim 8, wherein:

The metal pattern layer further includes a first inlet and a first outlet;

The cooling liquid flows into the hollow cavity through the first inlet, and flows out of the hollow cavity through the first outlet, to cool the metal pattern layer.
The metal mask device according to claim 9, wherein:

The first inlet and the first outlet are located on the same side or different sides of the metal pattern layer.
A metal mask device, which includes:

An outer frame, the outer frame including a hollow area;

The metal mask layer located in the hollow area includes:

The metal pattern layer includes at least one first opening, the shape of the first opening is the same as the shape of the pixel unit in the target substrate; and

A heat insulation layer on the metal pattern layer;

When the target substrate is processed, the metal pattern layer is close to the target substrate, and the heat insulation layer is away from the target substrate.
The metal mask device according to claim 11, wherein:

The material of the heat insulation layer is silica.
The metal mask device according to claim 11, wherein:

The heat insulation layer further includes a second opening;

The second opening has the same shape as the first opening.
The metal mask device according to claim 11, wherein:

The distance between the outer boundary of the pixel unit and the outer boundary of the first opening on the orthographic projection surface of the target substrate is a, and a is greater than zero.
The metal mask device according to claim 11, wherein:

The metal mask device further includes at least two support bars in a slat shape;

A part of the support bars straddle the hollow area of the outer frame along the first direction;

The remaining part of the support bars are arranged across the hollow area of the outer frame along the second direction to form a support net;

Both ends of the support bar are respectively connected with the outer frame;

The first direction crosses the second direction.
The metal mask device according to claim 15, wherein:

The outer frame also includes a first groove on the first surface;

The support bar is embedded in the first groove and supports the metal pattern layer on the hollow area.
The metal mask device according to claim 11, wherein:

The outer frame further includes a second groove on the side of the hollow cavity;

The metal pattern layer is embedded in the second groove.
The metal mask device according to claim 17, wherein:

The metal pattern layer further includes a continuous hollow cavity;

The hollow cavity is filled with cooling fluid.
The metal mask device according to claim 18, wherein:

The metal pattern layer further includes a first inlet and a first outlet;

The cooling liquid flows into the hollow cavity through the first inlet, and flows out of the hollow cavity through the first outlet, to cool the metal pattern layer.
The metal mask device according to claim 19, wherein:

The first inlet and the first outlet are located on the same side or different sides of the metal pattern layer.