CN112899613B

CN112899613B - Metal mask plate and using method thereof

Info

Publication number: CN112899613B
Application number: CN202110055597.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 段廷原
Original assignee: TCL China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: TCL China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-01-15
Filing date: 2021-01-15
Publication date: 2022-07-29
Anticipated expiration: 2041-01-15
Also published as: CN112899613A

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a metal mask plate and a using method thereof, the metal mask plate comprises a metal frame and a mask screen plate fixed on the metal frame, the mask screen plate is provided with a groove, a photoinduced deformation layer is arranged in the groove, the photoinduced deformation layer deforms and protrudes out of the groove under the illumination of a light source, the distance between a substrate to be evaporated and the metal mask plate is changed, the area of an organic material and a metal material film forming area is indirectly changed, two film layers are successively evaporated and plated on one metal mask plate, more alignment/separation devices are avoided, the length of an evaporation cavity and the equipment cost are greatly saved, and the preparation cost of an OLED device is reduced.

Description

Metal mask plate and using method thereof

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of display device manufacturing, in particular to a metal mask plate and a using method thereof.

Background

The organic electroluminescence technology is a novel display technology, and the implementation mode is as follows: the OLED device layer is prepared by adopting a vacuum evaporation technology, an organic/metal material is heated in a vacuum environment within a range of 10Pa to 5Pa, the material is heated and sublimated, an organic/metal thin film with a certain shape is formed on the surface of a substrate through a metal mask plate with a pattern, and the OLED device with multiple layers of thin films is formed through continuous deposition of multiple materials.

In the evaporation process, because various functional layers such as an organic layer light-emitting layer, an inorganic layer, a cathode, a reflective layer, a buffer layer and the like in the OLED device need to be evaporated, generally speaking, the problem of metal cathode overlap joint is considered, and the organic layer and the inorganic layer can not share one metal mask plate with a metal layer, so that the metal mask plate more than twice needs to be replaced in the whole evaporation process, the evaporation process is complex, more alignment/separation equipment is needed, the cost is high, and the preparation cost of the OLED device is increased. As shown in fig. 1, an organic layer 15 is prepared by using an opening 11 of a first metal mask plate, a cathode layer 15 is prepared by using an opening 12 of a second metal mask plate, and two sides of the cathode layer 15 are respectively electrically connected with a power trace 13 and a power trace 14 along two sides of the organic layer 15, so that normal connection of electrical signals of the cathode layer 15 is realized. Manufacturers also use a metal mask plate to complete the preparation of the OLED device layer, and the metal layer in the OLED device is in electric lap joint with defects in the preparation process. As shown in fig. 2, the organic layer 24 and the cathode layer 25 are sequentially prepared by using the opening 21 of the third metal mask, and since the areas of the openings corresponding to the organic layer 24 and the cathode layer 25 are the same, two sides of the cathode layer 25 cannot be normally connected to the power trace 22 and the power trace 23.

To sum up, need design a new metal mask plate to solve OLED device preparation among the prior art and need multiple mask plate, preparation cost is higher, if use a metal mask plate can't ensure the metal level and the problem of the normal connection of power line.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a metal mask plate and a using method thereof, which can solve the problems that in the prior art, multiple mask plates are needed for preparing an OLED device, the preparation cost is high, and if one metal mask plate is used, the normal connection between a metal layer and a power supply wire cannot be ensured.

In order to solve the problems, the technical scheme provided by the invention is as follows:

the embodiment of the invention provides a metal mask plate, which comprises a metal frame and a mask screen plate fixed on the metal frame, wherein a groove is formed in one side of the mask screen plate, which is back to an evaporation source, a photoinduced deformation layer is arranged in the groove, and the photoinduced deformation layer protrudes towards the opening of the groove after being subjected to illumination deformation.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the material of the light-induced deformation layer is one or more of triphenylmethane derivatives, cinnamic acid-propylene ester copolymers and azobenzene compounds.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the mask stencil includes a transmissive region and a blocking region surrounding the transmissive region, and the recess is disposed in the blocking region.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the groove has a two-dimensional pattern to form an enclosed area, at least one row or column of the transmissive areas is disposed in the enclosed area, a branch groove is disposed between two adjacent transmissive areas, and the branch groove is connected to the enclosed area to form a sub-area.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the photo-deformable layer includes a main portion and a branch portion overlapping the main portion, the main portion is disposed in the enclosing region, the branch portion is disposed in the branch groove, and at least one end of the branch portion extends out of the enclosing region.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the main portion is annular, the branch portions are linear or curved, and the line width of the main portion is greater than the line width of the branch portions.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, at least two parallel branch grooves are disposed between two adjacent transmissive regions, one of the branch grooves extends out of one side of the enclosed region, and the other branch groove extends out of the other side of the enclosed region.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the mask screen is one of stainless steel of SUS stainless steel 630, SUS stainless steel 431, SUS stainless steel 303 or SUS stainless steel 304, the mask screen has a thickness of 100um to 200um, and the depth of the groove is 10um to 50 um.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the metal mask further includes a blue light source or an ultraviolet light source located above the photo-deformable layer, and the blue light source or the ultraviolet light source provides light for the photo-deformable layer, wherein a wavelength of the blue light source is within a range of 380nm to 460nm, and a wavelength of the ultraviolet light source is within a range of 172nm to 190 nm.

According to the metal mask plate, the embodiment of the invention also provides a using method of the metal mask plate, which comprises the following steps:

step S10, providing the metal mask plate and the substrate to be evaporated according to the above embodiment.

And step S20, attaching the evaporation side of the substrate to be evaporated to the metal mask plate, and spraying a first evaporation material on the substrate to be evaporated to form a first material pattern layer.

And step S30, performing illumination treatment on the light-induced deformation layer in the metal mask plate to enable a mask screen plate in the metal mask plate and the substrate to be evaporated to generate a preset gap.

Step S40, continuing to spray a second evaporation material onto the substrate to be evaporated to form a second material pattern layer, where the second material pattern layer covers the first material pattern layer.

The invention has the beneficial effects that: the embodiment of the invention provides a metal mask plate and a using method thereof, the metal mask plate comprises a metal frame and a mask screen plate fixed on the metal frame, the mask screen plate is provided with a groove, a photoinduced deformation layer is arranged in the groove, and the photoinduced deformation layer deforms and protrudes out of the groove under the illumination of a light source, so that a gap is generated between a substrate to be evaporated and the metal mask plate, the area of an organic material and metal material film forming area is indirectly changed, two film layers are successively evaporated and coated on one metal mask plate, more alignment/separation devices are avoided, the length of an evaporation cavity and the equipment cost are greatly saved, and the preparation cost of an OLED device is reduced.

Drawings

In order to illustrate the embodiments or the technical solutions in the prior art more clearly, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the invention, and it is obvious for a person skilled in the art that other drawings can be obtained according to these drawings without creative efforts.

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a process for evaporating an OLED device by two metal mask plates in the prior art.

Fig. 2 is a schematic view of a process for evaporating an OLED device by using a metal mask in the prior art.

Fig. 3a is a schematic structural diagram of a metal mask according to the present invention.

Fig. 3b is an enlarged view of a portion a in fig. 3 a.

Fig. 4 is a schematic view of a mask plate in a metal mask plate according to the present invention.

Fig. 5 to 7 show reversible chemical reaction equations of the molecular structure of the material of the light-induced deformation layer provided by the present invention under illumination.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of the change of the appearance structure of the light induced deformation layer provided by the present invention under illumination.

Fig. 9a to 9c are schematic views illustrating a process structure of vapor deposition of a first material pattern layer according to the present invention.

Fig. 10a to 10c are schematic views illustrating a process structure of the second material pattern layer evaporation provided by the present invention.

Detailed Description

The following description of the various embodiments refers to the accompanying drawings that illustrate specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. The directional terms mentioned in the present invention, such as [ upper ], [ lower ], [ front ], [ rear ], [ left ], [ right ], [ inner ], [ outer ], [ side ], are only referring to the directions of the attached drawings. Accordingly, the directional terms used are used for explanation and understanding of the present invention, and are not used for limiting the present invention. In the drawings, elements having similar structures are denoted by the same reference numerals, and broken lines in the drawings indicate that the elements do not exist in the structures, and only the shapes and positions of the structures are explained.

The invention aims at the problems that in the prior art, multiple mask plates are needed for preparing an OLED device, the preparation cost is high, and if one metal mask plate is used, the normal connection between a metal layer and a power supply wire cannot be ensured.

The embodiment of the invention provides a metal mask plate, which comprises a metal frame and a mask screen plate fixed on the metal frame, wherein a groove is formed in one side of the mask screen plate, which is back to an evaporation source, a photoinduced deformation layer is arranged in the groove, and the photoinduced deformation layer protrudes along the opening of the groove after being subjected to illumination deformation, so that a gap is formed between a substrate to be evaporated and the metal mask plate, the area of an organic material and metal material film forming area is indirectly changed, and two film layers are successively evaporated on one metal mask plate.

The material of the light deformation layer is one or more of triphenylmethane derivatives, cinnamic acid-propylene ester copolymers and azobenzene compounds. The mask otter board includes and permeates the district and the shelters from the district that sets up around permeating the district, and the recess sets up in sheltering from the district. The groove is provided with a two-dimensional graph to form a surrounding area, at least one row or column of through holes are arranged in the surrounding area, a branch groove is arranged between every two adjacent through holes, and the branch groove is connected with the surrounding area to form a sub-area. The photoinduced deformation layer comprises a main part and a branch part overlapped on the main part, the main part is arranged in the enclosing region, the branch part is arranged in the branch groove, and at least one end of the branch part extends out of the enclosing region. The metal mask plate further comprises a blue light source or an ultraviolet light source which is located above the photoinduced deformation layer and provides illumination for the photoinduced deformation layer, wherein the wavelength of the blue light source is 380nm to 460nm, and the wavelength of the ultraviolet light source is 172nm to 190 nm.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 3a and fig. 4, the invention provides a top view structure diagram of a metal mask plate 100, the metal mask plate 100 includes a metal frame 101, a mask screen plate 102 fixed on the metal frame 101, a light source (not shown in the figure) located above the light deformation layer 103, wherein the mask screen plate 102 is provided with a groove 104, the light deformation layer 103 is located in the groove 104, under the illumination of the light source, the light deformation layer 103 deforms and protrudes out of the groove 104, the light deformation layer 103 can support a substrate to be evaporated on the mask screen plate 102, so that a gap is generated between the mask screen plate 102 and the substrate to be evaporated, the evaporation material is sputtered onto the substrate to be evaporated through the gap, a film forming area is indirectly increased, in this example, the film forming area of the evaporation organic material and the metal material is controlled to change by the light deformation layer 103, the method has the advantages that two film layers are sequentially evaporated on one metal mask plate 100, more alignment/separation devices are avoided, the length of an evaporation cavity and the equipment cost are greatly saved, and the preparation cost of the OLED device is reduced.

The material of the metal frame 101 is preferably iron-nickel alloy or stainless steel, the mask mesh plate 102 includes a transmissive region and a shielding region 1021 arranged around the transmissive region, the mask mesh plate 102 in this embodiment is provided with a transmissive region 1022, a transmissive region 1023 and a transmissive region 1024, the transmissive region 1022, the transmissive region 1023 and the transmissive region 1024 are arranged in a row, the photo-deformable layer 103 is located in the shielding region 1021, and the photo-deformable layer 103 includes a main portion 1031 and

branch portions

1032, 1033, 1034 and 1035 overlapping the main portion 1031. The branching

portions

1032 and 1033 are located between the

transmissive regions

1022 and 1023, and the branching

portions

1034 and 1035 are located between the

transmissive regions

1023 and 1024.

The material of the mask mesh plate 102 is preferably one stainless steel of SUS stainless steel 630, SUS stainless steel 431, SUS stainless steel 303 or SUS stainless steel 304, the thickness of the mask mesh plate is 100um to 200um, and the depth of the groove 104 is preferably in the range of 10um to 50 um. The grooves 104 are disposed in the shielding region 1021, the grooves 104 have two-dimensional patterns to form a surrounding region 1041 (see fig. 4), at least one row or column of transmission regions is disposed in the surrounding region 1041, a branch groove is disposed between two adjacent transmission regions, and the branch groove is connected to the surrounding region to form a sub-region. For example, in the enclosed area 1041 of this embodiment, a transparent area 1022, a transparent area 1023 and a transparent area 1024 are disposed, a branch recess 1042 and a branch recess 1043 are disposed between the transparent area 1022 and the transparent area 1023, a branch recess 1044 and a branch recess 1045 are disposed between the transparent area 1023 and the transparent area 1024, the branch recess 1042, the branch recess 1043, the branch recess 1044 and the branch recess 1045 are connected to the enclosed area 1041 to form 3 sub-areas, wherein at least one end of the branch recess extends outside the enclosed area 1041, the enclosed area 1041 and the branch recess 1042 form a first sub-area, the enclosed area 1041, the branch recess 1043 and the branch recess 1044 form a second sub-area, and the enclosed area 1041 and the branch recess 1045 form a third sub-area.

The photo-deformable layer 103 includes a main portion 1031 and a branch portion overlapping the main portion 1031, the main portion 1031 is disposed in the enclosing region 1041, the branch portion is disposed in the branch groove, and at least one end of the branch portion extends to the outside of the enclosing region 1041. The

branch portions

1032, 1033, 1034 and 1035 are respectively disposed in the

branch recesses

1042, 1043, 1044 and 1045. The main portion 1031 is ring-shaped, the branch portions are linear or curved, and the line width of the main portion 1031 is greater than the line width of the branch portions.

At least two parallel branch grooves are arranged between two adjacent permeation areas, wherein one branch groove extends out of one side of the enclosure area 1041, and the other branch groove extends out of the other side of the enclosure area. For example, the

branched recesses

1042 and 1043 are disposed between the transmissive region 1022 and the transmissive region 1023, and the opposite sides of the branched

recesses

1042 and 1043 extend outside the enclosed region 1041.

As shown in fig. 3b and 4, the main portion 1031 includes a first main portion 10311 in the transverse direction and a second main portion 10312 in the longitudinal direction, in the overlapping position, the first main portion 10311 is located on the second main portion 10312, the first main portion 10311 and the second main portion 10312 are both provided with an extension portion, and the first main portion 10311 and the second main portion 10312 are both located in the enclosing region 1041.

After the light irradiation treatment, the trunk 1031, the branch 1032, the branch 1033, the branch 1034 and the branch 1035 all protrude from the groove and support the substrate to be evaporated on the mask screen plate 102, so that a gap is generated between the mask screen plate 102 and the substrate to be evaporated. Among them, trunk 1031 plays a main supporting role, and branch 1032, branch 1033, branch 1034 and branch 1035 play an auxiliary supporting role.

The material of the light deformation layer 103 is preferably one or more of triphenylmethane derivatives, cinnamic acid-propylene ester copolymers and azobenzene compounds. Under the irradiation of a light source, fig. 5 shows that the molecular structure of the triphenylmethane derivative is reversibly changed, fig. 6 shows that the molecular structure of the azobenzene compound is reversibly changed, and fig. 7 shows that the molecular structure of the cinnamic acid-propylene ester copolymer is reversibly changed, and the change of the molecular structure causes the macroscopic structure of the light deformation layer 103 to be changed, so that the light deformation layer 103 expands and the volume is increased. As shown in fig. 8, the first and

second stem portions

10311 and 10312 are schematically changed in structure, and under light irradiation, the first and

second stem portions

10311 and 10312 expand to protrude outward and increase in volume.

According to the metal mask plate, the invention also provides a using method of the metal mask plate, which comprises the following steps:

Preferably, the step S20 of spraying a first evaporation material onto the substrate to be evaporated to form a first material pattern layer further includes:

the metal mask plate is far away from one side of the substrate to be evaporated is provided with an evaporation device in an array mode, and the substrate to be evaporated is a transparent substrate.

Specifically, fig. 9a to 9c are schematic views of a process structure for vapor deposition of a first material pattern layer according to the present invention. As shown in fig. 9a, the metal mask plate 100 includes a metal frame 101, a mask screen plate 102 fixed on the metal frame 101, and a light induced deformation layer 103 located in a groove 104 of the mask screen plate 102, a substrate 105 to be vapor-deposited is attached to the mask screen plate 102, a vapor deposition device S1 is disposed on one side of the metal mask plate 100 away from the substrate 105 to be vapor-deposited, and the vapor deposition device S1 is aligned with a vapor deposition opening formed by the metal mask plate 100. As shown in fig. 9b, the present invention provides a top view of a metal mask plate 100 and a position of a substrate 105 to be evaporated, a photo-deformable layer 103 includes a first stem portion 10311 and a second stem portion 10312, the first stem portion 10311 and the second stem portion 10312 are located in a groove, and an evaporation opening is formed between the substrate 105 to be evaporated and the mask screen plate 102. As shown in fig. 9c, the evaporation apparatus S1 sprays a first evaporation material on the substrate 105 to be evaporated to form a first material pattern layer 1063, and the first material pattern layer 1063 is preferably an organic light emitting layer.

Fig. 10a to 10c are schematic views of the evaporation process structure of the second material pattern layer provided by the present invention. As shown in fig. 10a, the present invention provides another front view of the metal mask plate 100 and the substrate 105 to be evaporated, after the photo-deformation layer 103 is irradiated with light 1052, the photo-deformation layer 103 deforms, protrudes out of the groove 104 along the opening direction of the groove 104, and supports the substrate 105 to be evaporated, so that a predetermined gap 1051 is formed between the mask plate 102 and the substrate 105 to be evaporated. As shown in fig. 10b, the present invention provides another top view of the metal mask plate 100 and the position of the substrate 105 to be evaporated, the photo-deformable layer 103 includes a first main portion 10311 and a second main portion 10312, the first main portion 10311 and the second main portion 10312 deform under light irradiation and expand to the outside of the groove 104, so that the evaporation area in fig. 10b is larger than the evaporation area in fig. 9b, the light source of the light irradiation 1052 in this embodiment is a blue light source or an ultraviolet light source, the wavelength of the blue light source is within a range of 380nm to 460nm, and the wavelength of the ultraviolet light source is within a range of 172nm to 190 nm. As shown in fig. 10c, the evaporation apparatus S2 sprays a second evaporation material onto the substrate 105 to be evaporated to form a second material pattern layer 1064, the second material pattern layer 1064 covers the first material pattern layer 1063, the second material pattern layer 1064 is preferably a metal layer, and the second material pattern layer 1064 is electrically connected to the power traces 1061 and 1062 on two sides respectively.

The embodiment of the invention provides a metal mask plate and a using method thereof, the metal mask plate comprises a metal frame and a mask screen plate fixed on the metal frame, the mask screen plate is provided with a groove, a photoinduced deformation layer is arranged in the groove, the photoinduced deformation layer deforms and protrudes out of the groove under the illumination of a light source, the distance between a substrate to be evaporated and the metal mask plate is changed, the area of an organic material and metal material film forming area is indirectly changed, two film layers are successively evaporated on one metal mask plate, more alignment/separation devices are avoided, the length of an evaporation cavity and the equipment cost are greatly saved, and the preparation cost of an OLED device is reduced.

In summary, although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments, the above-described preferred embodiments are not intended to limit the present invention, and those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, therefore, the scope of the present invention shall be determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. The utility model provides a metal mask plate, its characterized in that includes metal crate and is fixed in mask otter board on the metal crate, one side in the coating by vaporization source dorsad of mask otter board is provided with the recess, be provided with the photoinduced deformation layer in the recess, the illumination of photoinduced deformation layer is followed the recess opening orientation is outstanding.

2. The metal mask plate according to claim 1, wherein the material of the photodeformable layer is more than one of triphenylmethane derivatives, cinnamic acid-acrylic ester copolymers and azobenzene compounds.

3. The metal mask plate according to claim 1, wherein the mask screen plate includes a transmissive region and a blocking region disposed around the transmissive region, and the groove is disposed in the blocking region.

4. A metal mask according to claim 3, wherein the grooves have a two-dimensional pattern to form a surrounding region, at least one row or column of the transmission regions is provided in the surrounding region, and a branch groove is provided between two adjacent transmission regions, and the branch groove is connected to the surrounding region to form a sub-region.

5. The metal mask according to claim 4, wherein the photo-deformable layer comprises a trunk portion and a branch portion overlapping the trunk portion, the trunk portion is disposed in the enclosure region, the branch portion is disposed in the branch groove, and at least one end of the branch portion extends out of the enclosure region.

6. A metal mask according to claim 5, wherein the trunk portion is annular, the branch portions are linear or curved, and the line width of the trunk portion is greater than the line width of the branch portions.

7. A metal mask plate according to claim 4, wherein at least two parallel branch grooves are provided between two adjacent transmission regions, one of the branch grooves extends out of one side of the enclosure region, and the other branch groove extends out of the other side of the enclosure region.

8. A metal mask according to claim 1, wherein the mask screen plate is one of SUS stainless steel 630, SUS stainless steel 431, SUS stainless steel 303 or SUS stainless steel 304, the mask screen plate has a thickness of 100um to 200um, and the depth of the groove is 10um to 50 um.

9. The metal mask plate according to claim 1, further comprising a blue light source or an ultraviolet light source located above the photodeformable layer, wherein the blue light source or the ultraviolet light source provides light for the photodeformable layer, the wavelength of the blue light source is 380nm to 460nm, and the wavelength of the ultraviolet light source is 172nm to 190 nm.

10. A use method of a metal mask plate is characterized by comprising the following steps:

step S10, providing the metal mask plate and the substrate to be vapor-deposited according to any one of claims 1 to 9;

Step S20, attaching the evaporation side of the substrate to be evaporated to the metal mask plate, and spraying a first evaporation material on the substrate to be evaporated to form a first material pattern layer;

step S30, carrying out illumination treatment on the light-induced deformation layer in the metal mask plate so as to enable a mask screen plate in the metal mask plate and the substrate to be evaporated to generate a preset gap;