CN118007068A - Metal mask and method for manufacturing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a metal mask, which comprises a substrate. The substrate is provided with a pattern area and a dummy area, the pattern area comprises a plurality of through holes, the through holes extend from the vapor deposition surface of the substrate to the back surface opposite to the vapor deposition surface, and the dummy area is positioned on one side of the pattern area and comprises blind holes on the vapor deposition surface or the back surface. The blind hole has a bottom and an opening, the opening is located on the plating surface or the back surface, and the bottom has a convex portion protruding toward the opening. A method of manufacturing the metal mask is also provided.

Description

Metal mask and method for manufacturing the same

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a metal mask and a manufacturing method thereof, and in particular to a metal mask used in manufacturing a display panel and a manufacturing method thereof.

Background technique

OLED panels produced using organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology are the main components of mobile phone display panels on the market. They have many advantages, such as self-luminescence, wide viewing angle, power saving, high efficiency, fast response time and thinness.

The structure of the OLED panel includes a glass substrate and an organic light-emitting material layer on the glass substrate. The organic light-emitting material layer is mainly composed of multiple light-emitting patterns. The common method of manufacturing the light-emitting pattern is to deposit the organic material with a fine metal mask (FMM) with through holes on the glass substrate by evaporation and arrange it into a light-emitting pattern. Therefore, the shape and distribution of the through holes on the FMM not only affect the shape, size and distribution of the light-emitting pattern on the glass substrate, but also affect the fineness of the light-emitting pattern, thereby affecting the display quality of the OLED panel.

During actual processing, FMM will be fixed on the screen frame, and wrinkles are likely to occur at the parts where the through holes are located during the fixing process, thus affecting the distribution of the through holes. Therefore, there is considerable room for development in how to fix FMM flatly on the screen frame without wrinkles.

Summary of the invention

The invention provides a metal mask which can avoid the occurrence of wrinkles in the through hole area of the metal mask during manufacturing. Since the manufactured half-opening is not prone to over-etching or perforation, it has a higher manufacturing yield.

The present invention also provides a variety of methods for manufacturing metal masks, which are used to manufacture the aforementioned metal masks and have the advantage of high manufacturing yield.

To achieve the above advantages, an embodiment of the present invention provides a metal mask, including: a substrate. The substrate has a pattern area and a dummy area, the pattern area includes a plurality of through holes, the through holes extend from the evaporation surface of the substrate to the back side relative to the evaporation surface, the dummy area is located on one side of the pattern area, and includes a blind hole on the evaporation surface or the back side. The blind hole has a bottom and an opening, the opening is located on the evaporation surface or the back side, and the bottom has a protrusion protruding toward the opening.

In one embodiment, the depth of the blind hole is greater than the height from the top to the bottom of the protrusion.

In one embodiment, the ratio of the depth of the blind hole to the thickness of the substrate is less than 66%.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a method for manufacturing a metal mask, comprising the following steps:

Providing a metal plate body, the metal plate body having a vapor deposition surface and an opposite back surface;

A first mask and a second mask are respectively arranged on the vapor deposition surface and the back surface, the first mask is provided with a plurality of first mask openings, and a plurality of second mask openings are arranged at positions of the second mask corresponding to the first mask openings, and a plurality of third mask openings are further arranged on the first mask or the second mask;

A plurality of through holes and blind holes are formed on the metal plate body provided with the first mask and the second mask, wherein the through holes correspond to the positions of the first mask opening and the second mask opening, and the blind holes correspond to the positions of at least two third mask openings; and

Remove the first mask and the second mask.

In one embodiment, in the step of forming the through hole and the blind hole on the metal plate, the metal plate and the first mask or the second mask together form a cavity, and the cavity is connected to a portion of the opening of the third mask.

In one embodiment, in the step of forming through holes and blind holes on the metal plate, a protrusion protruding toward the third mask opening is formed at the bottom of the blind hole, and the opening of the blind hole connects at least two third mask openings.

In one embodiment, the third mask openings are a plurality of linear openings parallel to each other.

In one embodiment, the third mask openings are a plurality of dot-shaped openings.

In one embodiment, the ratio of the depth of the blind hole to the thickness of the metal plate is less than 66%.

Another method for manufacturing a metal mask provided by an embodiment of the present invention includes the following steps:

Providing a metal plate body, the metal plate body having a vapor deposition surface and an opposite back surface;

A first mask and a second mask are respectively arranged on the vapor deposition surface and the back surface, the first mask is provided with a plurality of first mask openings, and a second mask opening is provided on the second mask corresponding to the position of the first mask opening, and a third mask opening in a continuous curve shape is further provided on the first mask or the second mask;

A plurality of through holes and blind holes are formed on the metal plate body provided with the first mask and the second mask, wherein the through holes correspond to the positions of the first mask opening and the second mask opening, and the blind holes correspond to the positions of the third mask opening; and

Remove the first mask and the second mask.

In one embodiment, in the step of forming the through hole and the blind hole on the metal plate, a protrusion protruding toward the third mask opening is formed at the bottom of the blind hole, and the opening of the blind hole is connected to the third mask opening.

In one embodiment, the ratio of the depth of the blind hole to the thickness of the metal plate is less than 66%.

Another method for manufacturing a metal mask provided by an embodiment of the present invention includes the following steps:

Providing a metal plate body, the metal plate body having a vapor deposition surface and an opposite back surface;

A first mask and a second mask are respectively arranged on the vapor deposition surface and the back surface, the first mask is provided with a plurality of first mask openings, and a second mask opening is provided on the second mask corresponding to the position of the first mask opening, and a third mask opening is further provided on the first mask or the second mask;

A plurality of through holes and blind holes are formed on the metal plate body provided with the first mask and the second mask, the through holes correspond to the positions of the openings of the first mask and the second mask, the blind holes correspond to the positions of the openings of the third mask, and the bottoms of the blind holes form a partially protruding protrusion toward the side where the opening of the third mask is located, and the openings of the blind holes correspond to the positions of the openings of the third mask; and

Remove the first mask and the second mask.

In one embodiment, the third mask opening is a plurality of third mask openings.

In one embodiment, in the step of forming the through hole and the blind hole on the metal plate, the metal plate and the first mask or the second mask together form a cavity, and the cavity is connected to the opening of the third mask.

In one embodiment, the third mask openings are a plurality of linear openings parallel to each other.

In one embodiment, the third mask openings are a plurality of dot-shaped openings.

In one embodiment, the third mask opening is a continuous curved opening.

In one embodiment, the ratio of the depth of the blind hole to the thickness of the metal plate is less than 66%.

Based on the above description, the metal mask and manufacturing method of the present invention are characterized in that the third mask opening used for manufacturing the blind hole (half-opening) is designed to be a single opening or a combination of multiple openings in a continuous curved shape on the mask used for manufacturing the half-opening, and the side etching phenomenon is used during the manufacturing process to allow the smaller openings on the mask to be combined into larger half-openings. The manufactured half-opening is not prone to over-etching or perforation, and has the advantage of a higher manufacturing yield.

In order to make the above and other purposes, features and advantages of the present invention more clearly understood, embodiments are given below and described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG1 is a perspective schematic diagram of a metal mask according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of the A-A section line in the embodiment of Fig. 1;

3A to 3C are schematic diagrams of relative positions of pattern areas and dummy areas in different embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a process of manufacturing through holes and blind holes in a method of manufacturing the metal mask of FIG. 1 in one embodiment;

FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a detailed process of manufacturing a blind hole in the manufacturing method of FIG4 ;

FIG6A is a schematic diagram of a third mask opening used in manufacturing a blind hole in one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG6B is a schematic diagram of a dummy area created by using the third mask opening of FIG6A under a microscope;

FIG7 is a schematic diagram of a third mask opening used in manufacturing a blind hole in another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG8A is a schematic diagram of a third mask opening used in manufacturing a blind hole in yet another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG8B is a schematic diagram of a virtual pattern produced by using the third mask opening shown in FIG8A under a microscope;

FIG9A is a schematic cross-sectional view of the blind hole taken along the line B-B shown in FIG8B ;

FIG9B is a schematic cross-sectional view of the blind hole taken along line C--C shown in FIG8B ;

FIG9C is a schematic cross-sectional view of the blind hole taken along the line D-D shown in FIG8B .

Wherein, the reference numerals are:

100:Metal mask

10: Substrate

10a: Metal plate

11: Pattern area

11a: Sub-area

12, 121, 122, 123: dummy areas

12a, 12b, 12c, 12d, 12e: Sub-areas

121: Fake pattern

13: Clamping area

10:Metal plate

2:Through hole

21: Evaporation opening

22: Back opening

23: Neck opening

3: Blind hole

30: Opening

31: Bottom

311: Raised part

311:a raised part

32: Wall

4: Photoresist

4A: First Mask

4B: Second Mask

41: First mask opening

42: Second mask opening

43: Third mask opening

43A: Third mask opening

43B: Third mask opening

43C: Third mask opening

5: Protective layer

51: protrusion

52: protrusion

61: First transition opening

62: Second transition opening

63: The third transition opening

7: Small groove

71: Bottom

72: Arc groove

73: Raised part

81: First paragraph

82: Second paragraph

9: Cavity

G1: Group

G2: Group

K: Steps

T: Wall thickness

S1: Evaporation surface

S2: Back

D1: Thickness

D2: First distance

D3: Second distance

D4: Spacing

D5: Spacing

D6: Direction

D7: Direction

D8: Depth W1: Thickness direction

W2: horizontal direction

W3: Long axis direction

A-A:Hatch Line

B-B: hatch line

C-C: hatch line

D-D: hatch line

Detailed ways

The present invention is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments, but is not intended to limit the present invention.

In the following articles, the terms used in the description of the embodiments of the present invention, such as the description of the directions or positional relationships indicated by "upper", "lower", etc., are described according to the directions or positional relationships shown in the drawings used. The above terms are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention, i.e., they do not indicate or imply that the elements mentioned must have a specific direction or be constructed in a specific direction. In addition, the terms "first", "second", etc. mentioned in this specification or the scope of the patent application are only used to name the element or distinguish different embodiments or scopes, and are not used to limit the upper or lower limit of the number of elements.

FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of a metal mask according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the A-A section line in the embodiment of FIG. 1 . FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are only schematic diagrams and are not drawn according to the actual scale. As shown in FIG. 1 , the metal mask 100 of the present invention includes: a substrate 10. The substrate 10 has a pattern area 11 and a dummy area 12. As shown in FIG. 2 , the pattern area 11 includes a plurality of through holes 2, and the through holes 2 extend from the evaporation surface S1 of the substrate 10 to the back side S2 relative to the evaporation surface S1. The dummy area 12 is located on one side of the pattern area 11, and includes a blind hole 3 on the evaporation surface S1, for example. The blind hole 3 has a bottom 31 and an opening 30, the opening 30 is located on the evaporation surface S1, and the bottom 31 has a protrusion 311 protruding toward the opening 30.

Specifically, as shown in FIG1 , in this embodiment, the metal mask 100 (substrate 10) is, for example, rectangular and includes a pattern region 11 located in the center, a clamping region 13 located at both ends, and a dummy region 12 located between the pattern region 11 and the clamping region 13, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The pattern region 11 is a region used to form a light-emitting pattern on a glass substrate (not shown) during the evaporation process, and the clamping region 13 is a region used for fixing the substrate 10 with a fixture before evaporation.

The dummy area 12 is, for example, provided with a dummy pattern 121 formed by the blind hole 3. There is no limitation on the number and shape of the dummy patterns 121 in each dummy area 12, or the number and shape of the blind holes 3 in each dummy pattern 121. In other words, in some embodiments, each dummy area 12 may be composed of one dummy pattern 121, and in other embodiments, each dummy area 12 may be composed of a plurality of dummy patterns 121. The dummy pattern 121 is used to prevent wrinkles from being generated in the pattern area 11 when the metal mask 100 is clamped and pulled. The metal mask 100 is, for example but not limited to, made of nickel-iron alloy, and the thickness D1 of the metal mask 100 is, for example, between 10 and 150 μm, but not limited thereto.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the evaporation surface S1 referred to in the preceding paragraph refers to the surface on the side that will be close to the evaporation source (not shown) during the manufacturing process. The back side S2 refers to the surface on the side that will be close to the glass substrate (not shown) during the manufacturing process. The through hole 2, for example, includes an evaporation opening 21 located on the evaporation surface S1, a back side opening 22 located on the back side S2, and a neck opening 23 located between the evaporation opening 21 and the back side opening 22 in the thickness direction W1 of the substrate 10. In terms of size, the opening area of the neck opening 23 is, for example, smaller than the opening areas of the evaporation opening 21 and the back side opening 22. In the thickness direction W1 of the substrate 10, the first distance D2 between the neck opening 23 and the evaporation opening 21 is, for example, greater than the second distance D3 between the neck opening 23 and the back side opening 22, but is not limited thereto.

As shown in FIG. 1 , in the present embodiment, the dummy area 12 has a plurality of dummy patterns 121, and each dummy pattern 121 is, for example, constituted by a blind hole 3, but not limited thereto. The size of the opening 30 of the blind hole 3 is, for example, at least 50 μm in any direction of the evaporation surface S1 or the back surface S2, but not limited thereto. As shown in FIG. 2 , the distance D4 between the top of the protrusion 311 and the opening 30 of the blind hole 3 is greater than the distance D5 between the top of the protrusion 311 and the bottom 3. Specifically, in the thickness direction W1, the ratio of the depth D8 of the blind hole 3 to the thickness D1 of the substrate 10 is, for example, less than 66%. In terms of position, in an embodiment not shown in the figure, the blind hole 3 (dummy pattern 121) can be changed to the evaporation surface S1, or can also be provided on both the evaporation surface S1 and the back surface S2.

There is no limitation on the number and detailed shape of the raised portions 311. The raised portions 311 may be convex dots, ridges (lines) or other patterns. The shape and position of the raised portions 311 are mainly affected by the manufacturing method (described in detail later).

3A to 3C are schematic diagrams of the relative positions of the pattern area and the dummy area in different embodiments of the present invention. In the embodiments of FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C, the pattern area, for example, has two sub-areas 11a, and the two sub-areas 11a are arranged along the long axis direction W3 of the metal mask 100. In the embodiment of FIG. 3A, the dummy area 121, for example, has three sub-areas, wherein two sub-areas 12a, for example, are located between the two sub-areas 11a of the pattern area and the clamping areas 13 at both ends, and the sub-area 12b of the remaining dummy area 121 is located between the two sub-areas 11a, and the shapes of the sub-areas 12a and 12b at different positions can be different. In the embodiments of FIG. 3B and FIG. 3C, the sub-area 11a of each pattern area, for example, is surrounded by the sub-area 12c and the sub-area 12d (see FIG. 3B), or the sub-area 12e (see FIG. 3C) of the dummy area, and the pattern of the dummy area formed by different sub-areas 12a can be changed as shown in FIG. 3B and FIG. 3C. From the above, it should be understood that the present invention has no particular limitation on the number and relative position of the dummy areas and the pattern areas, and they can be set according to the requirements of the actual product or manufacturing method.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of the process of manufacturing through holes and blind holes in one embodiment of the method of manufacturing the metal mask of Fig. 1. To explain how to manufacture the aforementioned metal mask 100 and explain the related advantages, please first refer to the schematic diagram of the process of manufacturing the metal mask in Fig. 4.

As shown in FIG. 4 , in one embodiment, a method for manufacturing the metal mask 100 includes the following steps:

A metal plate 10a is provided, wherein the metal plate 10a has a vapor deposition surface S1 and an opposite back surface S2;

A first mask 4A and a second mask 4B are respectively disposed on the vapor deposition surface S1 and the back surface S2. The first mask 4A is provided with a plurality of first mask openings 41, and the second mask 4B is provided with a plurality of second mask openings 42 at positions corresponding to the first mask openings 41, and the second mask 4B is further provided with a plurality of third mask openings 43;

A plurality of through holes 2 and blind holes 3 are formed on the metal plate 10a provided with the first mask 4A and the second mask 4B, wherein the through holes 2 correspond to the positions of the first mask opening 41 and the second mask opening 42, and the blind holes 3 correspond to the positions of the third mask opening 43; and

The first mask 4A and the second mask 4B are removed.

Specifically, as shown in FIG4 , the manufacturing method described in the above paragraphs is, for example, to use wet etching to process the metal plate 10a and to manufacture the through hole 2 and the blind hole 3. The thickness and length of the metal plate 10a, for example, correspond to the substrate 10 in FIG1 in the above paragraph. Referring to the schematic diagram on the leftmost side of the top row in FIG4 , first, a metal plate 10a is provided, and a photoresist material 4 is coated on the vapor deposition surface S1 (the surface of the metal plate 10a facing the lower side in FIG4 ) and the back surface S2. The photoresist material 4 is, for example, a negative photoresist, but not limited thereto. Afterwards, the photoresist material 4 is exposed and developed to remove the unexposed photoresist material 4, and a first mask 4A is formed on the vapor deposition surface S1 by the photoresist material 4, and a second mask 4B is formed on the back surface S2 by the photoresist material 4. Among them, the above-mentioned exposure method is not limited, for example, two masks (also a mask) not shown in the figure are used to determine the exposure position on the photoresist material 4 on different surfaces, but not limited thereto.

As shown in FIG. 4 , in this embodiment, the first mask 4A has a first mask opening 41, and the second mask 4B has a second mask opening 42 and a third mask opening 43. Although not clearly shown in the figure, in this embodiment, the distance between the third mask openings 43 is, for example, smaller than the distance between the first mask openings 41 or the distance between the second mask openings 42, and the opening area of each third mask opening 43 is, for example but not limited to, smaller than the opening area of each first mask opening 41, and also smaller than the opening area of each second mask opening 42. In the thickness direction W1, the position of the first mask opening 41 corresponds to the position of the second mask opening 42, and the positions of both are located in the pattern area 11 on the substrate 10 after the completion, and the position of the third mask opening 43 is located in the dummy area 12 on the substrate 10 (see FIG. 1 ) after the completion.

Next, please refer to the rightmost schematic diagram in the middle row of FIG. 4 (hereinafter referred to as step K), and perform the first etching operation on the metal plate 10a. Since the metal plate 10a is not covered by the photoresist material 4 at the first mask opening 41, the second mask opening 42 and the third mask opening 43, the evaporation surface S1 and the back surface S2 of the metal plate 10a will be etched to form a first transition opening 61 on the evaporation surface S1, and at the same time form a second transition opening 62 and a third transition opening 63 on the back surface S2. In this embodiment, after etching, the bottom 71 of the third transition opening 63 is formed with a plurality of protrusions 73 and a plurality of arc grooves 72 that protrude toward the back surface S2, and the reason for its formation will be described in detail later.

Afterwards, a protective material is coated on the back side S2 of the metal plate 10a to form a protective layer 5. A portion of the protective layer 5 forms a protrusion 51 and a protrusion 52 protruding toward the evaporation surface S1 in the second transition opening 62 and the third transition opening 63, respectively. The protective material can be, for example but not limited to, a photoresist material or a resin, and can be selected according to needs.

Then, the metal plate 10a is etched for the second time. In this process, the metal plate 10a is not protected at the first mask opening 41 and is etched for the second time, so that the first transition opening 61 continues to expand toward the back side S2 and contacts the protrusion 51 in the second transition opening 62 .

Afterwards, referring to the bottom row of schematic diagrams in FIG4 , the first mask 4A, the second mask 4B and the protective layer 5 (including the protrusion 51 and the protrusion 52) are removed, and the through hole 2 and the blind hole 3 are formed on the metal plate 10a. As can be seen from FIG4 , the position of the through hole 2 corresponds to the position of the first mask opening 41 and the second mask opening 42, and the blind hole 3 corresponds to the position of the third mask opening 43.

As can be seen from the above, the formation position of the blind hole 3 in the manufacturing method of this embodiment is mainly determined by the position of the group formed by multiple third mask openings 43. The manufacturer can change the position of the group formed by the third mask openings 43 according to the needs, so that the blind hole 3 is formed on the evaporation surface S1, the back surface S2 or both of the metal plate body 10a. In addition, the present invention does not limit the formation and completion time of the blind hole 3. In the embodiment of Figure 4, through the provision of the protective layer 5, the blind hole 3 can be completed in the first etching step without additional manufacturing steps. In other embodiments not shown in the figure, depending on the different process details, the blind hole 3 can be changed to be completed in the second etching step together with the through hole 2, or independently manufactured in another step. It should be understood that the characteristics of the above manufacturing method also include the ability to manufacture blind holes with the same depth but different areas on the surface of the metal plate body 10a in the same processing process by designing the total number or distribution area of the third mask openings 43 in the group of the third mask openings 43 that constitute the same blind hole 3.

Fig. 5 is a detailed schematic diagram of the process of manufacturing a blind hole in step K in the manufacturing method of Fig. 4. As shown in Fig. 5, during the etching process, first, the metal plate 10a forms small grooves 7 corresponding to the positions of the third mask openings 43 and separated from each other at the portion adjacent to each third mask opening 43, and the individual opening shapes (i.e., the third transition openings 63) of these small grooves 7 on the surface of the metal plate 10a correspond to the shapes of the individual third mask openings 43, and the bottoms 71 of these small grooves 7 will be arc-shaped.

As the etching proceeds, the depth of these small grooves 7 gradually increases, and the wall thickness (wall thickness T) between each other also becomes thinner and thinner. As the wall surfaces between the small grooves 7 are etched away, these small grooves 7 will be combined with each other to form a cavity 9 (i.e., a blind hole 3) formed below the second mask 4B in FIG. 5 and connected to multiple third mask openings 43 at the same time. The bottoms 71 of these small grooves 7 together constitute the bottom 31 of the blind hole 3, and the aforementioned convex portion 73 is formed at the junction of these small grooves 7. After the etching is completed, this convex portion 73 will become the convex portion 311 of the substrate 10 in FIG. 2, and the bottom 71 will become the bottom 31 of the substrate 10 in FIG. 2 after the etching is completed. It can be understood from FIG. 5 that based on the phenomenon of lateral etching (or over-etching, Overlap), the cross-sectional area of the opening 30 of the blind hole 3 manufactured by the above method will be larger than the sum of the cross-sectional areas of each third mask opening 43 in the group of multiple third mask openings 43 used to make the blind hole 3. In FIG. 5 , since the etching depths of the small grooves 7 are the same, the position of the protrusion 311 in the transverse direction W2 is, for example, between the two third mask openings 43 , but not limited thereto.

For the detailed shapes of the third mask openings in different embodiments, please refer to the following description. FIG. 6A is a schematic diagram of the third mask opening used in manufacturing a blind hole in one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6B is a schematic diagram of a dummy area manufactured using the third mask opening of FIG. 6A under a microscope. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6B , the dummy area 12 has a plurality of dummy patterns 121, and each dummy pattern 121 is manufactured using a group G1 consisting of four third mask openings 43A shown in FIG. 6A .

As shown in FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B , the group of the third mask openings 43A used to make a dummy pattern 121 can be composed of, for example, four parallel straight line openings, or slits, but is not limited to this form. The pattern of the blind hole 3 made by the group G1 of FIG. 6A under a microscope is shown in FIG. 6B . As shown in FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B , in FIG. 6B , each quadrilateral on the substrate 10 is a blind hole 3 (dummy pattern 121), and each quadrilateral is made by the group G1 of four parallel third mask openings 43A that are in the form of slits.

Please refer to FIG. 2 and FIG. 6B. In FIG. 6B, the dark framed portion of the blind hole 3 is the wall surface 32 of the blind hole 3, which is dark due to the wall surface angle when photographed. The lightest portion of the blind hole 3 is the portion where the bottom 31 of the blind hole 3 is located. As described above, the bottom 31 is formed with a protrusion 311. Since the third mask opening 43A in this embodiment is four parallel straight line openings, these protrusions 311 appear as three parallel ridges in FIG. 6B (see the slightly darker gray portion in FIG. 6B).

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a group G2 of third mask openings B used in manufacturing a blind hole in another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7 , the present invention does not limit the form of the third mask openings. In one embodiment, the group G2 of the third mask openings 43B is, for example, a plurality of dot-shaped openings arranged in parallel along the horizontal and vertical directions, or can be called slots. Each blind hole 3 (see FIG. 2 ) is, for example, composed of four dot-shaped openings adjacent to each other, but not limited thereto. The opening shape of each dot-shaped opening is not limited, and can be a square as shown in FIG. 7 or other shapes or combinations thereof. The relative positions of each dot-shaped opening are also not limited, and can be designed with equal spacing or a gradual repeated arrangement design. In an embodiment not shown in the figure, by making the opening areas of different third mask openings in the group of third mask openings used to manufacture the same blind hole different, the etching amount of the small grooves at different positions in the same blind hole can be changed, so that the heights of the protrusions in different parts of the blind hole are different, and the depths of different parts of the blind hole can also be changed.

As shown in FIG. 1 , FIG. 2 , FIG. 6A and FIG. 7 , because the length, width and extension direction of the opening 30 of the blind hole 3 on the surface of the substrate 10 (not limited to the evaporation surface S1 or the back surface S2 or a combination thereof) are affected by the size of the group of third mask openings that make the same dummy pattern (blind hole), the user can modify the length and number of the slits (straight openings) in the same group, or modify the number or size of the grooves (point-shaped openings) according to needs, so as to change the aspect ratio of the blind hole. The position and extension direction of the blind hole can be changed by changing the distribution position and extension direction of the group.

Please refer to FIG. 4 and FIG. 8A . In addition to the aforementioned method, the present invention further provides a method for manufacturing the metal mask 100 , comprising the following steps:

A metal plate 10a is provided, wherein the metal plate 10a has a vapor deposition surface S1 and an opposite back surface S2;

A first mask 4A and a second mask 4B are respectively disposed on the vapor deposition surface S1 and the back surface S2, the first mask 4A is provided with a plurality of first mask openings 41, and the second mask 4B is provided with second mask openings 42 respectively corresponding to the positions of the first mask openings 41, and the first mask 4A or the second mask 4B is further provided with a third mask opening 43C in a continuous curve shape (based on the relationship between the cross-sectional positions, such as the position of the C-C cross-sectional line in FIG. 8A, the single third mask opening 43C in FIG. 8A may present a state similar to the plurality of third mask openings 43 in FIG. 4 at the cross-sectional position);

A plurality of through holes 2 and a blind hole 3 are formed on the metal plate 10a provided with the first mask 4A and the second mask 4B. The through holes 2 correspond to the positions of the first mask openings 41 and the second mask openings 42, and the blind hole 3 corresponds to the position of the third mask opening 43C; and

The first mask 4A and the second mask 4B are removed.

The difference between the above manufacturing method and the manufacturing method in FIG. 4 is that each blind hole 3 (dummy pattern 121) can be made by a third mask opening 43C presenting a continuous curve. Specifically, in the embodiment of FIG. 4, a plurality of third mask openings 43 are used in conjunction with the lateral etching phenomenon to manufacture a blind hole 3 whose opening cross-sectional area is greater than the sum of the opening cross-sectional areas of each third mask opening 43. In the manufacturing method described in this paragraph, a single third mask opening 43C is used in conjunction with the lateral etching phenomenon to manufacture a blind hole 3 whose opening cross-sectional area 30 is greater than the sum of the opening cross-sectional areas of the third mask opening 43C. Please refer to the following description for details.

FIG8A is a schematic diagram of a third mask opening used in manufacturing a blind hole in another embodiment of the present invention. FIG8B is a schematic diagram of a virtual pattern manufactured using the third mask opening shown in FIG8A under a microscope. The aspect ratio of the third mask opening 43C in FIG8A is only for illustration, and therefore does not correspond to the aspect ratio of the virtual pattern 121 in FIG8B. In FIG8B, two virtual patterns 121 manufactured by different third mask openings (not numbered) are simultaneously shown.

As shown in FIG8A , in this embodiment, the third mask opening 43C presenting a continuous curve shape, for example, includes: first segments 81 arranged in parallel with each other along the direction D6 and second segments 82 arranged in an interlaced manner along the direction D7, each second segment 82 being connected between two adjacent first segments 81. The virtual pattern produced by such a third mask opening 43C can refer to the virtual pattern 121 in FIG8B . In this embodiment, the blind hole 3 (virtual pattern 121) is in the shape of a long strip, and the shape of its bottom 31 presents a continuous curve shape along the direction of the opening 30 of the blind hole 3. The wall 32 of the blind hole 3 in FIG8B presents a dark color due to the shooting reflection angle. The bottom 31 will present a light color. The raised portion 311 presents a darker gray color due to the same angle, and is located between the two parallel first segments 81 in the curve corresponding to the shape of the third mask opening 43C.

It should be understood from FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B that in the present embodiment, because the length, width and extension direction of the opening of the blind hole 3 on the surface of the substrate 10 are affected by the length and extension direction of the first section 81 and the second section 82, the user can modify the length of the first section 81 and the total length of the second section 82 as required to change the aspect ratio of the blind hole 3, or change the extension direction of the blind hole 3 on the surface of the substrate 10 by modifying the extension direction of the first section 81 and the second section 82. In an embodiment not shown in the figure, a virtual pattern (blind hole) can also be formed by a group (not shown) consisting of a plurality of third mask openings 43C in a continuous curved shape.

Please refer to Figures 8A to 9C. Since the shape of the protrusion 311 in the blind hole 3 is affected by the shape of the third mask opening 43C, the blind hole 3 corresponding to the different section lines of Figure 8A will present different appearances, wherein Figure 9A corresponds to the position of the B-B section line in Figure 8A, Figure 9B corresponds to the position of the C-C section line in Figure 8A, and Figure 9C corresponds to the position of the D-D section line in Figure 8A.

As shown in Fig. 8A and Fig. 9A, in Fig. 8A, the position of the second segment 82 on the B-B section line corresponds to the position of the bottom 31 of the blind hole 3 in Fig. 9A, and the position and number of the lines L1 between the second segments 82 correspond to the position of the protrusions 311 of the blind hole 3 in Fig. 9A. Since the number of the bottoms 31 and the number of the protrusions 311 of the blind holes 3 shown in Fig. 9B and Fig. 9C also correspond to the number and position of the first segment 81, the second segment 82 and the lines L1 at the section, and the size of the bottom 31 also roughly corresponds to the length relationship of the first segment 81 or the second segment 82 at the section, they will not be described in detail here.

It can be seen from the description of the above two manufacturing methods that no matter how the opening of the third mask changes, the above two manufacturing methods will generate a cavity 9 (see FIG. 5, surrounded by the blind hole 3 being etched and the second mask 4B in FIG. 5) during the processing, and the blind hole 3 generated after etching will have a protrusion 311. Therefore, the present invention actually further provides a manufacturing method, which includes the following steps (see FIG. 4):

A metal plate 10a is provided, wherein the metal plate 10a has a vapor deposition surface S1 and an opposite back surface S2;

A first mask 4A and a second mask 4B are respectively disposed on the vapor deposition surface S1 and the back surface S2. The first mask 4A is provided with a plurality of first mask openings 41, and the second mask openings 42 corresponding to the positions of the first mask openings 41 are disposed on the second mask 4B. A third mask opening 43 is further disposed on the first mask 4A or the second mask 4B.

A plurality of through holes 2 and blind holes 3 are formed on the metal plate 10a provided with the first mask 4A and the second mask 4B, wherein the through holes 2 correspond to the positions of the first mask opening 41 and the second mask opening 42, and the blind holes 3 correspond to the positions of the third mask opening 43, and the bottom 71 of the blind hole 3 forms a partially protruding protrusion 311 toward the side where the third mask opening 43 is located, and the opening 30 of the blind hole 3 corresponds to the position of the third mask opening 43; and

The first mask 4A and the second mask 4B are removed.

Based on the above description, the metal mask and manufacturing method of the present invention are characterized in that the third mask opening used for manufacturing the blind hole (half-opening) is designed to be a single opening or a combination of multiple openings in a continuous curved shape on the mask used for manufacturing the half-opening, and the side etching phenomenon is used during the manufacturing process to allow the smaller openings on the mask to be combined into larger half-openings. The manufactured half-opening is not prone to over-etching or perforation, and has the advantage of a higher manufacturing yield.

Although the present invention has been disclosed as above by way of embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. A person having ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention belongs may make some changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be determined by the scope of the attached patent application.

Claims (19)

1. A metal mask, comprising: A substrate having a pattern area and a dummy area, wherein the pattern area includes a plurality of through holes extending from a vapor deposition surface of the substrate to a back surface opposite to the vapor deposition surface, and the dummy area is located on one side of the pattern area and includes at least one blind hole on the vapor deposition surface or the back surface; The blind hole has a bottom and an opening, the opening is located on the evaporation surface or the back surface, and the bottom has a protrusion protruding toward the opening. 2 . The metal mask as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a depth of the blind hole is greater than a height from a top of the protrusion to the bottom. 3 . The metal mask as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a ratio of a depth of the blind hole to a thickness of the substrate is less than 66%. 4. A method for manufacturing a metal mask, comprising: Providing a metal plate body, the metal plate body having a vapor deposition surface and an opposite back surface; A first mask and a second mask are respectively arranged on the vapor deposition surface and the back surface, the first mask is provided with a plurality of first mask openings, and the second mask is provided with a plurality of second mask openings at positions corresponding to the first mask openings, and the first mask or the second mask is further provided with a plurality of third mask openings; A plurality of through holes and a blind hole are formed on the metal plate body provided with the first mask and the second mask, wherein the through holes correspond to the positions of the first mask openings and the second mask openings, and the blind hole corresponds to the positions of at least two of the third mask openings; The first mask and the second mask are removed. 5. The method for manufacturing a metal mask as described in claim 4, characterized in that in the step of forming the through holes and the at least one blind hole on the metal plate, the metal plate and the first mask or the second mask together form a cavity, and the cavity is connected to part of the third mask openings. 6. The method for manufacturing a metal mask as described in claim 4 is characterized in that, in the step of forming the through holes and the at least one blind hole on the metal plate, a bottom of the blind hole forms a protrusion protruding toward the direction where the third mask openings are located, and an opening of the blind hole connects at least two of the third mask openings. 7 . The method for manufacturing a metal mask as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the third mask openings are a plurality of linear openings parallel to each other. 8 . The method for manufacturing a metal mask as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the third mask openings are a plurality of dot-shaped openings. 9 . The method for manufacturing the metal mask as claimed in claim 4 , wherein a ratio of a depth of the blind hole to a thickness of the metal plate is less than 66%. 10. A method for manufacturing a metal mask, comprising: Providing a metal plate body, the metal plate body having a vapor deposition surface and an opposite back surface; A first mask and a second mask are respectively disposed on the vapor deposition surface and the back surface, the first mask is provided with a plurality of first mask openings, and second mask openings are provided on the second mask corresponding to the positions of the first mask openings, and a third mask opening in a continuous curve shape is further provided on the first mask or the second mask; A plurality of through holes and a blind hole are formed on the metal plate body provided with the first mask and the second mask, wherein the through holes correspond to the positions of the first mask openings and the second mask openings, and the blind hole corresponds to the position of the third mask opening; The first mask and the second mask are removed. 11. The method for manufacturing a metal mask as described in claim 10 is characterized in that, in the step of forming the through holes and the at least one blind hole on the metal plate, a bottom of the blind hole forms a protrusion protruding toward the direction where the third mask opening is located, and an opening of the blind hole is connected to the third mask opening. 12 . The method for manufacturing the metal mask as claimed in claim 10 , wherein a ratio of a depth of the blind hole to a thickness of the metal plate is less than 66%. 13. A method for manufacturing a metal mask, comprising: Providing a metal plate body, the metal plate body having a vapor deposition surface and an opposite back surface; A first mask and a second mask are respectively disposed on the vapor deposition surface and the back surface, the first mask is provided with a plurality of first mask openings, and second mask openings are provided on the second mask corresponding to the positions of the first mask openings, and at least one third mask opening is further provided on the first mask or the second mask; A plurality of through holes and a blind hole are formed on the metal plate body provided with the first mask and the second mask, the through holes correspond to the positions of the first mask openings and the second mask openings, the blind hole corresponds to the position of at least one third mask opening, and a convex portion protruding toward a portion of a side where the third mask opening is located is formed at the bottom of the blind hole, and an opening of the blind hole corresponds to the position of the third mask opening; The first mask and the second mask are removed. 14 . The method for manufacturing a metal mask as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the at least one third mask opening is a plurality of third mask openings. 15. The method for manufacturing a metal mask as claimed in claim 14, wherein in the step of forming the through holes and the blind hole on the metal plate, the metal plate and the first mask or the second mask together form a cavity, and the cavity is connected to the third mask openings. 16 . The method for manufacturing a metal mask as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the third mask openings are a plurality of linear openings parallel to each other. 17 . The method for manufacturing a metal mask as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the third mask openings are a plurality of dot-shaped openings. 18 . The method for manufacturing a metal mask as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the at least one third mask opening is a continuous curved opening. 19 . The method for manufacturing a metal mask as claimed in claim 14 , wherein a ratio of a depth of the blind hole to a thickness of the metal plate is less than 66%.