[0064] In order to simplify the manufacturing process of the OLED display panel, save the manufacturing cost, and improve the product yield, an embodiment of the present invention provides a manufacturing method of a mask plate and an array substrate. In order to make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention clearer, the present invention will be further described in detail with reference to the following examples.
[0065] like image 3 and Figure 4As shown, the mask provided by the embodiment of the present invention includes a mask body 1 and a support structure 10. The mask body 1 has a first side surface facing the substrate 2 and a second side surface facing away from the substrate 2 during the evaporation process. On the side surface, the support structure 10 includes a plurality of support protrusions 11 disposed on the first side surface of the mask body 1 , and the surfaces of the support protrusions 11 are smooth transition surfaces.
[0066] The first side surface of the mask provided by the embodiment of the present invention is provided with a plurality of supporting protrusions 11. When the organic light-emitting layer of the substrate 2 is fabricated by vapor deposition, the first side surface of the mask faces the substrate 2, and a plurality of supporting protrusions 11 are provided. The protrusions 11 are supported between the mask and the substrate 2, so that the mask body 1 and the substrate 2 do not come into contact, so that the friction between the mask and the substrate 2 is reduced, thereby reducing the scratches on the surface of the substrate 2 , It can also reduce the particulate matter generated by friction and improve the quality of the OLED display panel. The surface of the support protrusion 11 is a smooth transition surface, which can further reduce the friction between the support protrusion 11 of the mask and the surface of the substrate 2, reduce scratches on the surface of the substrate 2, and improve product yield. In this solution, the height of the support protrusion 11 can be designed to be smaller, which can reduce the distance between the substrate 2 and the mask plate, thereby reducing the shadow portion generated during the evaporation process.
[0067] In the embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of supporting protrusions 11 are disposed on the mask body 1 and can be reused. Compared with the figure 2 As shown in the existing vapor deposition process, there is no need to make support protrusions 0021 on the substrate, which reduces the manufacturing process of the OLED display panel and saves the manufacturing cost; figure 2 The mask shown needs to be provided with support protrusions 0021 on the substrate, while the flexible OLED display panel is usually packaged in thin films. The support protrusions 0021 will cause the inorganic layer in the thin film package to break, which will affect the packaging effect and even produce dark spots. . By using the mask provided in the present application, it is not necessary to make the support protrusions 0211 on the surface of the substrate, which is beneficial to improve the encapsulation effect after the thin film encapsulates the substrate.
[0068] In a preferred embodiment, the roughness of the surface of the support protrusion is Ra, where Ra≤200nm. The smoothness of the surface of the support protrusion is good, and the surface in contact therewith is not easily scratched, which can further reduce the occurrence of scratches on the surface of the substrate.
[0069] In the embodiment of the present invention, the specific shape of the support protrusion 11 is not limited, and may be a cylindrical support protrusion, a hemispherical support protrusion, or a spherical cap-shaped support protrusion. The surface of the support protrusion is a smooth transition surface without sharp parts, which is not easy to scratch the surface of the substrate, and the shape of the support protrusion is relatively regular and easy to process.
[0070] like Figure 4 As shown, in the specific embodiment, the support protrusion 11 is integrally formed with the mask body 1 . During specific fabrication, on the mask body 1 , the support protrusions 11 may be formed by an etching process. Preferably, the protective film 12 is provided on the surface of the support protrusion 11, which can make the surface of the support protrusion 11 soft and smooth, further reduce the friction between the support protrusion 11 and the surface of the substrate 2, and further improve the product yield.
[0071] In a specific embodiment, the protective film 12 is an atomic layer deposition film. The atomic layer deposition film is a film layer formed by successive deposition of single atomic layers, the thickness of the atomic layer deposition film is uniform and the consistency is good, and the process is simple. Specifically, the protective film may be a dense inorganic layer film such as a zirconia protective film or a silicon nitride protective film. Of course, the protective film supporting the protrusions may be an inorganic protective film or an organic protective film.
[0072] like Figure 5 As shown, in another embodiment, the support protrusion 11 is an organic material support protrusion. To make organic material support protrusions on the surface of the mask body 1 , the organic material can be coated, exposed and developed on the surface of the mask body 1 to form organic material support protrusions, and then a mask plate can be made on the mask body 1 Or, first make the opening of the mask plate on the mask plate body 1, and then apply the organic material on the surface of the mask plate body 1 to expose and develop to form organic material support protrusions, which can be selected according to their own production conditions. With a suitable manufacturing method, the manufacturing process of the organic material supporting protrusions is relatively simple. Specifically, the organic material support protrusions may be polyimide support protrusions or polymethyl methacrylate support protrusions.
[0073] Of course, the support protrusions can also be inorganic material support protrusions. To make inorganic material support protrusions on the surface of the mask body, it is necessary to etch the inorganic material on the surface of the mask body 1 after forming a film to form inorganic material support protrusions. rise. The film-forming and etching process of inorganic materials is more complicated and the process is more difficult. In particular, when the height of the support protrusion is small, the thickness of the inorganic film layer needs to be small, and the requirements for process accuracy are higher, which further increases the Process difficulty.
[0074] In an optional embodiment, the height of the support protrusion is 0.1 μm˜10 μm. Within this height range, the height of the support protrusions can be designed according to actual requirements. For example, in a specific embodiment, the height of the support protrusions is 1 μm; in another specific embodiment, the height of the support protrusions is 5 μm; In yet another specific embodiment, the height of the support protrusion is 8 μm. In the existing packaging process of flexible display panels, thin-film packaging generally can only cover particles below 3 μm, and particles exceeding 3 μm will cause defects in the film packaging failure, resulting in progressive dark spot defects, resulting in defects. on the other hand, figure 2 In the evaporation process shown, if the height of the designed support protrusions 0021 exceeds 3 μm, it is equivalent to several particles exceeding 3 μm. In the existing packaging process, such support protrusions 0021 will cause dark spot defects on the display panel. , resulting in bad. Therefore, in the existing design, the designed height of the support protrusion 0021 cannot exceed 3 μm, which greatly reduces the designable range. However, in the embodiment of the present invention, the support protrusions 11 are disposed on the mask body. In the flexible display panel, the height of the support protrusions does not affect the packaging effect. Therefore, when designing the height of the support protrusions, it is not necessary to consider the impact of the support protrusions. The impact of packaging conditions. On the one hand, in order to prevent the mask from contacting the substrate, we can set the height of the support protrusions to be relatively high, such as 10 μm; on the other hand, during the evaporation process, the evaporation material may pass from the edge of the opening area of the mask to the edge of the mask. The gap between the substrates enters and adheres to the non-open area of the substrate opposite to the shielding area of the mask, thereby forming a shadow portion of the organic material. In this solution, the height of the support protrusion is in the range of 0.1 μm to 10 μm, so that the area of the shadow portion can be made smaller. Of course, within the above range, the smaller the height of the support protrusion is, the smaller the area of the shadow portion is. For example, when the height of the support protrusion 11 is set to 0.1 μm, the area of the shaded portion is small. In the present invention, the height of the support protrusion can be designed in the range of 0.1 μm to 10 μm, which can be determined according to the requirements of the display panel.
[0075] like Image 6 and Figure 7 As shown, in the specific embodiment, the mask is a full-evaporation mask, the mask body 1 has an opening area 13 corresponding to the display area 21 of the substrate 2, and a plurality of support protrusions 11 are arranged on the mask The area of the body 1 except for the opening area 13 . Specifically, the plurality of supporting protrusions 11 are disposed at the positions where the mask body 1 is opposite to the peripheral circuit area 22 of the substrate 2 . Preferably, the plurality of support protrusions 11 are arranged at the positions opposite to the pixel definition layer of the mask body 1 and the peripheral circuit area 22 of the substrate 2, and the surface of the pixel definition layer has good flatness and uniform height. The support protrusions 11 and The contact between the pixel definition layers of the substrate can improve the alignment stability of the mask plate and the substrate, which is beneficial to keep the distance between the substrate and the mask plate consistent. In addition, the plurality of supporting protrusions 11 avoid the display area, so that the display area can reduce the scratch defects caused by friction with the supporting protrusions, and improve the quality of the display area.
[0076] like Figure 8 and Figure 9 As shown, in another embodiment, the mask is a single-pixel vapor deposition mask, and the mask body 1 has a plurality of opening units 14 corresponding to the plurality of pixel units 23 of the substrate 2, and a plurality of supporting protrusions. 11 is provided in the area of the mask body 1 except for the opening unit 14 . The support protrusion 11 is kept away from the position where the pixel unit 23 is not opposite to the opening unit 14 , so as to prevent scratches on the evaporated film layer and improve the quality of the pixel unit 23 .
[0077] In a specific embodiment, the plurality of support protrusions 11 disposed on the mask body 1 are positioned opposite to the pixel definition layer 24 of the substrate 2 . The pixel definition layer 24 includes a pixel definition layer 24 located in the peripheral circuit region 22 and a pixel definition layer 24 located between the plurality of opening units 14 , and the supporting protrusions 11 and the pixels are opposite to the positions between the plurality of opening units 14 . The definition layer 24 is in contact. Therefore, the support protrusions 11 opposite to the peripheral circuit area 22 are also preferably in contact with the pixel definition layer 24, so that a plurality of support protrusions of the mask can be in contact with the structures located on the same plane, and the mask is improved. The stability of the alignment between the body 1 and the substrate 2 is beneficial to keep the distance between the substrate 2 and the mask body 1 consistent.
[0078] In a preferred embodiment, the ratio of the number of the opening units to the number of the support protrusions is 1/5-20. In a specific embodiment, the number of supporting protrusions corresponding to the opening unit can be designed according to actual requirements. The force is uniform, which is conducive to the stable alignment of the mask plate and the substrate.
[0079] In practical applications, a group of substrates are usually evaporated at the same time. Therefore, the mask usually includes a mask frame and a set of mask splicing units fixed to the mask frame. like Figure 10 Shown is a schematic diagram of a full-evaporation mask. During vapor deposition, the mask plate 100 is aligned with a group of substrates, and the substrates are vapor-deposited, so that a group of substrates can be vapor-deposited at the same time, and the vapor deposition efficiency is high. In addition, the use of the mask 100 can reduce the friction between the mask and the substrate, thereby reducing the scratches on the surface of the substrate, and reducing the particles generated due to friction, thereby improving the quality of the OLED display panel.
[0080] In a specific embodiment, the fixing method between the mask splicing unit 101 and the mask frame 102 is not limited. Preferably, the mask splicing unit 101 and the mask frame 102 can be fixed by welding or bonding. fixed. The mask plate 100 made by the fixing method of welding or bonding has good flatness, and each mask plate is easy to be aligned so as to be on the same plane. Figure 10 The shown mask splicing unit 101 and the mask frame 102 are fixed by welding, specifically by spot welding, and the welding point 103 is located at the connection between the two frames opposite the mask splicing unit 101 and the mask frame 102 place.
[0081] In some embodiments, the mask can also be a high-precision metal mask FMM. That is, the mask splicing unit 101 is as follows Figure 8 Fine reticle shown. Since each sub-pixel pixel of the OLED panel is insulated and separated from each other, the material of the vapor-deposited light-emitting layer is an FMM that needs to use a high-precision metal mask, and this application is also applicable to the FMM.
[0082] An embodiment of the present invention also provides a method for fabricating an array substrate, including the following steps: facing and aligning the first side surface of the mask plate described in any of the above technical solutions with the substrate and aligning it with the substrate, so that a plurality of supporting protrusions are formed. It is supported between the mask body and the substrate; the substrate after the above steps is evaporated to form an organic light-emitting layer on the substrate.
[0083] The method for fabricating the array substrate provided by the embodiment of the present invention uses the mask plate in any of the above technical solutions for evaporation, and does not need to fabricate support protrusions on the substrate, which simplifies the fabrication process of the substrate and saves fabrication costs. The solution can reduce scratches on the surface of the substrate, and can also reduce the impact of particles generated by friction on the quality of the substrate, thereby improving product yield.
[0084] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, provided that these modifications and variations of the present invention fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention and their equivalents, the present invention is also intended to include these modifications and variations.
