Metal mask and mask assembly

Abstract

The metal mask plate and the mask plate assembly disclosed by the application relate to the technical field of semiconductor display. The metal mask plate comprises metal strips, a plurality of first metal strips arranged in parallel and a plurality of second metal strips arranged in parallel, the first metal strips and the second metal strips are perpendicular to each other and are joined at the intersection, forming a mask screen surface with at least one opening; the metal mask plate further comprises a shielding part and a connecting part, the shielding part is arranged in the opening, and the shielding part and the metal strip at the edge of the opening are connected through the connecting part; the part of the connecting part between the shielding part and the metal strip connected with the shielding part is curved into a groove shape towards one side of the mask screen surface, and a vacant area is formed between the shielding part and the metal strip connected with the shielding part. The mask plate assembly comprises the metal mask plate. The application can be used for producing display panels with blind holes and helps to optimize product quality.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of semiconductor display, and in particular to a metal mask and a mask assembly. BACKGROUND

[0002] An organic light emitting diode (OLED) display device has the advantages of self-luminous, bright colors, low power consumption, wide viewing angle, etc., and is widely used in electronic products. In the production process of an OLED display panel, a metal mask (Mask) plays an extremely important role.

[0003] With the increasing demand of users of electronic products for the screen-to-body ratio of display panels, a blind hole display panel as shown in FIG. (1) is increasingly favored by users of electronic products. For such a blind hole display panel, a "blind hole area" that is not deposited with organic material needs to be reserved on the substrate during evaporation production, and therefore the structure of the mask needs to be newly designed. SUMMARY

[0004] To at least solve the problems in the prior art, the present application provides a metal mask, comprising:

[0005] a plurality of first metal strips and a plurality of second metal strips arranged in parallel, the first metal strips and the second metal strips intersecting perpendicularly and being joined at the intersection to form a mask net surface having at least one opening; and

[0006] a shielding portion and a connecting portion, the shielding portion being arranged in the opening, and the metal strips at the edge of the opening being connected to the shielding portion through the connecting portion.

[0007] The part of the connecting portion between the shielding portion and the metal strips connected to the shielding portion is curved into a groove shape toward one side of the thickness direction of the mask net surface, and forms an empty area between the shielding portion and the metal strips connected to the shielding portion.

[0008] In some embodiments, the metal strips, the shielding portion and the connecting portion are integrally formed; or,

[0009] At least one of the shielding portion and the metal strips is connected to the connecting portion in a jointed manner.

[0010] In some embodiments, the depth of the groove shape is positively correlated with the width of the connecting portion.

[0011] Preferably, the depth of the groove shape is 3-8 times the width of the connecting portion.

[0012] In some embodiments, the connecting portion has a first bending section, a second bending section and a third bending section, the first bending section does not exceed the projection range of the metal strip along its thickness direction, and the third bending section does not exceed the projection range of the shielding portion along the thickness direction of the metal strip.

[0013] In some embodiments, the inner bending angle between the first bending section and the second bending section is 60°-90°, and the inner bending angle between the third bending section and the second bending section is 72°-90°.

[0014] In some embodiments, the connecting portion has an array of through holes at least at the second bending section.

[0015] In some embodiments, the shielding portion and the metal strip connected thereto are in the same plane; or,

[0016] The shielding portion is located on the side of the metal strip opposite to the bending direction of the connecting portion, and the distance between the shielding portion and the metal strip along the thickness direction of the metal strip is not more than 0.5 mm.

[0017] In some embodiments, in the thickness direction of the metal strip, the distal end of the shielding portion is farther away from the metal strip than the other end opposite to the distal end;

[0018] Preferably, the inclination angle between the shielding portion and the metal strip connected thereto is not more than 2°.

[0019] In some embodiments, the shielding portion is arranged on the first metal strip, and is arranged as:

[0020] The plurality of first metal strips each having a shielding portion arranged on only one side are arranged in the same state in the mask screen surface; or,

[0021] The plurality of first metal strips each having a shielding portion arranged on only one side and the first metal strip without a shielding portion or the first metal strip having a shielding portion arranged on both sides, the first metal strips each having a shielding portion arranged on only one side are symmetrically distributed on both sides of the first metal strip without a shielding portion or on both sides of the first metal strip having a shielding portion arranged on both sides; or,

[0022] The plurality of first metal strips each having a shielding portion arranged on both sides, the shielding portions on both sides of the first metal strips are alternately staggered arranged along the length direction of the first metal strips, and the first metal strips are arranged in the same state in the mask screen surface; or,

[0023] The plurality of first metal strips each having a shielding portion arranged on both sides and the plurality of first metal strips without a shielding portion, the two kinds of first metal strips are alternately arranged in the mask screen surface.

[0024] The application also provides a mask assembly comprising the metal mask mentioned above.

[0025] The application has the following advantages:

[0026] When the metal mask designed above is attached to the substrate, there is a certain spacing between the connecting part and the surface of the substrate in the vacant area, which is the depth of the groove shape of the connecting part. Therefore, the evaporated organic material can successfully avoid the connecting part and deposit on the orthographic projection position of the connecting part on the surface of the substrate, thereby avoiding the blocking of the connecting part to the organic material and helping to improve the quality of the display panel.

[0027] In addition, other additional aspects and advantages of the application will be partially given in the following description, partially become obvious from the following description, or be understood through the practice of the application. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0028] Figure 1 A structural schematic diagram of a blind hole display panel;

[0029] Figure 2 A partial structural schematic diagram of a metal mask of the application at a single opening;

[0030] Figure 3 A partial structural schematic diagram of a metal mask in which the shielding part and the connecting part are engaged with the metal strip in different ways;

[0031] Figure 4 A side view of the metal strip at the position of the shielding part and the connecting part;

[0032] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of another embodiment different from the embodiment in Figure 4

[0033] Figure 6 A partial structural schematic diagram of a metal mask of different embodiments of the shielding part and the connecting part;

[0034] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of different arrangement modes of the shielding part in the metal mask;

[0035] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of an evaporation process;

[0036] In the figure: 1, metal strip; 11, first metal strip; 12, second metal strip; 100, opening; 101, bonding groove; 102, first surface; 103, second surface;

[0037] 2, shielding part; 21, distal end;

[0038] ​3, connection part; 31, first bending section; 32, second bending section; 33, third bending section; 34, joint; 300, vacant area; 301, first vertex; 302, second vertex; 303, through hole;

[0039] 4, substrate; 5, evaporation source. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] In order to make the purpose, technical scheme and advantages of the present application clearer, the present application will be further described in detail below with reference to the drawings. Obviously, the following described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments. As a reference, the following description and drawings are brief examples for helping to understand the present application, and are not used to limit the technical scope of the present application. In other words, the following described embodiments can have various modifications, which belong to the technical idea range of the present application, and the ordinary skilled in the art can easily understand the technical idea of the present application through the following description. The present application will be further described below with reference to the drawings and embodiments:

[0041] Referring to the drawings, Figure 2 , a metal mask is shown, and the drawing is only a partial structure of the metal mask. The metal mask shown includes metal strips 1, which are specifically configured as: a plurality of first metal strips 11 and a plurality of second metal strips 12 (here, "a plurality of" should be understood as at least two), the first metal strips 11 and the second metal strips 12 are perpendicular to each other and intersect, and are joined at the intersection (the joining method can be various, such as welding, etc.). There are up-and-down through openings 100 in the mask net surface composed of the first metal strips 11 and the second metal strips 12. In the evaporation process, the openings 100 are used as channels for the organic material to pass through, so that the organic material is deposited on the substrate and forms an organic material deposition layer pattern like the opening 100. The openings 100 in the mask net surface are at least one, that is, can be one, two or more than three, but usually have a plurality of openings 100.

[0042] In order to obtain the "blind hole area" not deposited with the organic material in the area of the organic material deposition layer pattern on the substrate, the metal mask in the present disclosure further includes a shielding part 2. Referring to the drawings, Figure 2 , the shielding part 2 is located in the area of the above-mentioned opening 100. In the evaporation process, the shielding part 2 can be used to block the organic material from being deposited on the predetermined position on the substrate, so as to obtain the above-mentioned "blind hole area" on the substrate. It is worth noting that, Figure 2 , only a specific position of the shielding part 2 in the area of the opening 100 is shown, and in practice, the position can be re-determined according to the position of the "blind hole" on the display panel prepared in advance.

[0043] The shielding part 2 has different arrangements on the metal strip 1. In general, referring to the attached Figure 2 The shielding part 2 is connected with the metal strip 1 at the edge of the opening 100 through the connecting part 3, which mainly serves to connect and support the shielding part 2.

[0044] In practice, due to the existence of the connecting part 3, the surface of the substrate in the area corresponding to the orthographic projection position of the connecting part 3 on the substrate will be shielded by the connecting part 3, so that the deposited organic material cannot enter this area for deposition, resulting in display abnormalities of the display device at this position. In the face of this situation, the technical personnel tried to reduce the shielding of the connecting part 3 to the surface of the substrate by means such as reducing the width of the connecting part 3, opening holes on the connecting part 3, etc. However, the practice results show that the effect of these improvement methods is limited and cannot completely solve the shielding problem of the connecting part 3 to the substrate. Therefore, in order to further improve the quality of the display panel, the connecting part 3 described above is newly designed in the present disclosure.

[0045] The attached Figure 3 The local structure schematic diagram of the metal mask at the position of the shielding part 2 is shown. Referring to the attached Figure 3 The connecting part 3 is formed by bending an entire strip-shaped metal. Specifically, the connecting part 3 at this part between the shielding part 2 and the metal strip 1 connected with the shielding part 2 is curved towards one side in the direction of the thickness of the mask net surface, forming a groove shape in the drawing, and then forming an empty area 300 between the shielding part 2 and the metal strip 1 connected with the shielding part 2, which is the port area corresponding to the groove shape.

[0046] When the above-mentioned metal mask is attached to the substrate, there is a certain gap between the connecting part 3 and the surface of the substrate in the specific area of the substrate surface corresponding to the empty area 300, which is the depth of the groove shape of the connecting part 3. Due to the existence of the gap, the surface of the substrate corresponding to the empty area 300 will not be shielded by the connecting part 3. In other words, the deposited organic material can successfully avoid the connecting part 3 and deposit on the orthographic projection position of the connecting part 3 on the substrate surface, thereby avoiding the blocking of the organic material by the connecting part 3, which helps to improve the quality of the display panel.

[0047] As a group of components of the metal mask in the present disclosure, the metal strip 1 configured with the connecting part 3 and the shielding part 2 can be prepared by various processing methods.

[0048] For example, the attached Figure 3(a) shows a partial structure of a metal mask plate, which comprises a metal strip 1 configured with a connecting part 3 and a shielding part 2, the metal strip 1, the shielding part 2 and the connecting part 3 are integrally formed, and the manufacturing process is relatively simple. It is worth mentioning that the shielding part 2 and the connecting part 3 are integrally formed with the metal strip 1, and the thickness is consistent. However, in practice, the thickness of the shielding part 2 and the connecting part 3 can be reduced by subsequent processing, thereby reducing the mass of the shielding part 2 and the connecting part 3. The way to reduce the thickness of the shielding part 2 and the connecting part 3 can adopt a half-etching process, that is, by etching to remove part of the thickness of the shielding part 2 and the connecting part 3, so as to obtain a smaller thickness.

[0049] Unlike Figure 3 (a) shows an example, the connecting part 3 and the metal strip 1, the shielding part 2 can also be connected by welding and other bonding methods. For example, Figure 3 (b) shows another partial structure of a metal mask plate, wherein the shielding part 2 is located at one end of the connecting part 3, and is integrally formed with the connecting part 3, and has a bonding part 34 at the other end of the connecting part 3, and the metal strip 1 has a bonding groove 101 capable of accommodating the bonding part 34, the bonding groove 101 can also be processed by the above-mentioned half-etching process, and the bonding part 34 is welded in the bonding groove 101 on the metal strip 1. In this example, the thickness of the shielding part 2 and the connecting part 3 is preferably less than the thickness of the metal strip 1. For Figure 3 (b) shows an example, the connecting part 3 can be bent first and then welded to the metal strip 1, which is easier to manufacture than bending the connecting part 3 connected to the metal strip 1.

[0050] Referring to the accompanying Figure 4 and the accompanying Figure 6 (a), the depth of the groove shape is H, and the width of the connecting part 3 is D. Practice shows that the depth H of the groove shape and the width D of the connecting part 3 have relevance based on the consideration of the influence on the quality of the evaporation product. Specifically, the depth H of the groove shape and the width D of the connecting part 3 are positively correlated.

[0051] In practice, referring to the accompanying Figure 8, the distance between the substrate 4 and the connecting portion 3 in the figure corresponds to the depth H of the groove shape. If the width D of the connecting portion 3 is increased for the consideration of the strength of the connecting portion 3, the portion of the path of the diffusion of the organic material to the surface of the substrate 3 blocked by the connecting portion 3 will also increase during the evaporation process. At this time, the depth H of the groove shape is appropriately increased, which helps more organic evaporation material to enter the area of the surface of the substrate 4 within the orthogonal projection area of the connecting portion 3, and the difference between the amount of the organic material deposited per unit area in this area and the amount of the organic material deposited per unit area in other areas of the surface of the substrate will be reduced. Conversely, if the width D of the connecting portion 3 is reduced, the depth H of the groove shape can be correspondingly reduced. Preferably, the depth of the groove shape should be 3-8 times the width of the connecting portion 3, for example, the width D of the connecting portion 3 is 1.5 mm, and the depth H of the groove shape can be set to 4.5-12 mm, such as H=6 mm or 8 mm or 10 mm, etc.

[0052] Referring to the drawings Figure 4 , the connecting portion 3 has a first bending section 31, a second bending section 32 and a third bending section 33. Based on the consideration of different bending states of the connecting portion 3, when the metal mask is attached to the substrate, the first bending section 31 and the third bending section 33 close to the surface of the substrate, in some cases, the first bending section 31 and the third bending section 33 will also affect the deposition of the organic material on the surface of the substrate.

[0053] In order to avoid the first bending section 31 and the third bending section 33 from blocking the surface of the substrate, the connecting portion 3 in the disclosure is set as follows: the first bending section 31 does not exceed the projection range of the metal strip 1 along the thickness direction thereof, and the third bending section 33 does not exceed the projection range of the shielding portion 2 along the thickness direction of the metal strip 1. Referring to the drawings Figure 4 , the Z-axis extension direction is the thickness direction of the metal strip 1 described above. In this state, the orthogonal projection positions of the first bending section 31 and the third bending section 33 on the surface of the substrate coincide with the metal strip 1 and the shielding portion 2 respectively, and therefore in the path of the diffusion of the organic material to the surface of the substrate, the first bending section 31 and the third bending section 33 will not block the organic material into the area of the surface of the substrate corresponding to the aforementioned vacant area 300, so that the amount of the organic material deposited per unit area in this area is basically the same as that in other areas of the surface of the substrate.

[0054] Referring to the drawings Figure 4The inward angle corresponding to the first vertex 301 at the connection between the first bent segment 31 and the second bent segment 32 is denoted as α, and the inward angle corresponding to the second vertex 302 at the connection between the second bent segment 32 and the third bent segment 33 is denoted as β. Given a fixed depth H of the aforementioned groove shape, the smaller the inward angles α and β, the larger the lengths of the first bent segment 31, the second bent segment 32, and the third bent segment 33 will be. If the length of the connecting part 3 is too large, deformation is likely to occur. Therefore, to reduce the deformation of the connecting part 3, the inward angle α is preferably 60° to 90°, such as ∠α = 70° or 80°; the inward angle β is preferably 72° to 90°, such as ∠β = 80° or 85°.

[0055] See appendix Figure 8 If the evaporation source 5 is moved directly below the connector 3, the connector 3 will still block the organic material to some extent along the path of diffusion from the organic material to the substrate surface. To further reduce the impact of the above phenomenon on the evaporation quality, please refer to the appendix. Figure 6 (b) A plurality of through holes 303 arranged in an array are provided on the connecting portion 3. The through holes 303 are obtained by etching. The through holes 303 may be distributed on the entire connecting portion 3, including the first bending section 31, the second bending section 32, and the third bending section 33. However, considering that providing through holes 303 may cause insufficient strength of the connecting portion 3, resulting in the connecting portion 3 being prone to deformation, it is preferable in practice to provide the above-mentioned through holes 303 only on the third bending section 33.

[0056] Typically, after the metal mask is stretched, there will be varying degrees of sagging in the middle, with some metal masks experiencing a maximum sagging of 200–400 μm. In practice, the blocking portion 2 on the metal mask will also sink to varying degrees due to the sagging of the metal mask itself, making it difficult for the blocking portion 2 to effectively adhere to the substrate. This results in the produced "blind hole area" being smaller than the predetermined area, affecting the quality of the display panel. Based on this consideration, in this disclosure, the blocking portion 2 is located on the side of the metal strip 1 opposite to the bending direction of the connecting portion 3. (See attached diagram) Figure 4 As shown in the example, the bending direction of the connecting part 3 should be understood as the Z-axis direction in the figure. In this case, the blocking part 2 is higher than the first surface 102 of the corresponding metal strip 1 in the initial state. Therefore, the amount by which the blocking part 2 is higher than the first surface 102 can be used to compensate for the amount of sinking of the blocking part 2, and prevent the blocking part 2 from sinking below the second surface 103 of the metal strip 1.

[0057] See attached document Figure 4The distance between the shielding part 2 and the metal strip 1 along the thickness direction of the metal strip 1 is denoted as h. Preferably, this distance h does not exceed 0.5 mm, for example, h = 0.1 mm, 0.2 mm, 0.3 mm, or 0.4 mm. It is worth noting that the selection of this distance h range also takes into account the sinking caused by the weight of the shielding part 2 and its connecting part 3. Even if the weight of the shielding part 2 and its connecting part 3 is small enough, this sinking factor should be taken into account when their thickness is small enough.

[0058] Furthermore, the shielding part 2 and the metal strip 1 connected to it can also be in the same plane. In this case, it should be ensured that the strength of the connecting part 3 is sufficient to stably support the shielding part 2 and its own weight, so as to avoid the shielding part 2 from sinking due to insufficient strength of the connecting part 3. As for the sagging of the entire metal mask, in practice, it can be solved by setting support strips under the metal mask.

[0059] Considering that within the plane of the metal mask, the end of the connecting portion 3 near the shielding portion 2 may still tilt downwards, causing the shielding portion 2 to not completely adhere to the lower surface of the substrate during the vapor deposition process, in some embodiments, the distal end 21 of the shielding portion 2 is further away from the metal strip 1 in the thickness direction of the metal strip 1 than the other end facing away from that distal end 21. That is, see Appendix Figure 5 The shielding portion 2 has an upward tilt angle γ relative to the plane of the metal strip 1, preferably not greater than 2°, for example, γ = 0.5° or 1°. This compensates for the downward tilt of the shielding portion 2, making the shielding portion 2 tend to be parallel to the substrate. In practice, in some cases, if the shielding portion 2 still has a small tilt angle in its natural downward state, when the metal mask and the substrate approach each other, the substrate will first contact the distal end 21 of the shielding portion 2, and then press the distal end 21 of the shielding portion 2 downward, thereby allowing the entire shielding portion 2 to adhere to the lower surface of the substrate.

[0060] Depending on the specific requirements, the blocking portion 2 and its connecting portion 3 within the metal photomask can be arranged in different ways. See the appendix below. Figure 7 Several examples of different arrangements are provided. In these examples, the first metal strip 11 extends laterally, the second metal strip 12 extends longitudinally, and the shielding part 2 and its connecting part 3 are all disposed on the first metal strip 11. Specific explanations of each example shown are as follows.

[0061] See appendix Figure 7 (a) In the metal mask shown, the blocking part 2 is provided only on one side of each first metal strip 11-a in the width direction, and each first metal strip 11-a is arranged in the same state in the mask mesh.

[0062] See appendix Figure 7(b) In the illustrated metal mask, several first metal strips 11-a are provided with a blocking portion 2 only on one side of their width direction, and a first metal strip 11-b without a blocking portion 2 is also included. The first metal strips 11-a are symmetrically distributed on both sides of the first metal strip 11-b. In this example, the blocking portion 2 on each first metal strip 11-a is located on the side of the metal strip facing the first metal strip 11-b, so as to ensure that each opening 100 in the mask mesh of this example has a blocking portion 2.

[0063] See appendix Figure 7 (c) In the illustrated metal mask, several first metal strips 11-a have a blocking portion 2 on only one side of their width direction, and a first metal strip 11-c with blocking portions 2 on both sides of its width direction is also included. The first metal strips 11-a are symmetrically distributed on both sides of the first metal strip 11-c. In this example, the blocking portion 2 on each first metal strip 11-a is located on the side of the metal strip opposite to the first metal strip 11-c, so as to ensure that each opening 100 in the mask mesh of this example has a blocking portion 2.

[0064] See appendix Figure 7 (d) In the metal mask shown, each of the first metal strips 11-d has a blocking portion 2 on both sides in the width direction. Furthermore, the blocking portions 2 on both sides of each first metal strip 11-d are arranged alternately and staggered along the length direction of the first metal strip 11-d. Each first metal strip 11-d is arranged in the same state in the mask mesh.

[0065] See appendix Figure 7 (e) In the metal mask shown, several first metal strips 11-c are provided with shielding portions 2 on both sides in the width direction, and several first metal strips 11-b are not provided with shielding portions 2. The two types of first metal strips 11 are arranged alternately in the mask mesh.

[0066] above Figure 7 In the various examples, the first metal strip 11 with the shielding portion 2 and the connecting portion 3 is significantly more difficult to manufacture than other metal strips 1 without the shielding portion 2 and the connecting portion 3, resulting in lower production efficiency and higher cost. Therefore, in practice, it is preferable to use a metal mask structure with fewer first metal strips 11 having the shielding portion 2 and the connecting portion 3, such as those with... Figure 7 (e) shows the metal mask.

[0067] Furthermore, the presence of the shielding portion 2 and the connecting portion 3 increases the counterweight on the bearing side of the metal strip 1. Based on this consideration, it is preferable to use a first metal strip 11 with shielding portions 2 and connecting portions 3 on both sides to prepare the metal mask, so as to ensure that the counterweight on both sides of the first metal strip 11 is as balanced as possible, for example, with... Figure 7(d) and the accompanying drawings. Figure 7 (e) the metal mask shown.

[0068] In addition, the central part of the metal mask after being tensioned will sag, and the sagging amount is generally greater closer to the central part of the metal mask. In view of this aspect, it is preferable that the metal mask be as shown in the accompanying drawings. Figure 7 (c) the metal mask shown, characterized in that the shielding part 2 and the connecting part 3 are located in a direction in which the first metal strip 11-a is away from the first metal strip 11-c, and the shielding part 2 and the connecting part 3 exert a counterweight on the first metal strip 11-a or can to some extent balance the influence of the sagging tension of the entire metal mask surface on the first metal strip 11-a.

[0069] The above-mentioned metal masks are shown in the accompanying drawings. Figure 7 In each of the examples of the above-mentioned metal masks, only a case in which each opening 100 on the metal mask has a set of shielding parts 2 and connecting parts 3 is shown. In practice, only a part of each opening 100 on the metal mask can have shielding parts 2 and connecting parts 3. In the same opening 100 on the metal mask, the number of shielding parts 2 also does not have to be only one set, and in practice can be selected according to the number of "blind holes" reserved on the display panel. In addition, the shielding parts 2 can be selected to have different shapes. For example, referring to the accompanying drawings, in (a), the shielding part 2 is in the shape of a waist-shaped hole; in (b), the shielding part 2 is circular; in (c), the shielding part 2 is in the shape of a square hole; and in (d), the shielding part 2 is in the shape of a rectangular hole. Figure 6 Figure 6 Figure 6 Figure 6

[0070] The metal mask in the present disclosure has been described as much as possible in detail, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and a mask assembly is also provided, which comprises a mask frame and the aforementioned metal mask in the present disclosure, and the mask frame is used to support the metal mask after being tensioned. The central part of the mask frame has a window that penetrates from top to bottom, and the mask frame can be rectangular or of other shapes. The metal mask after being tensioned is joined (usually by welding) to the mask frame, and each opening 100 in the metal mask is located in the window area of the central part of the mask frame. The mask assembly can be used to produce a display panel with "blind holes" and helps to optimize the quality of the display panel product.

[0071] ​​​​Referring to the drawings, a metal mask Referring to the drawings, a metal mask Finally, it should be again emphasized that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application but not to limit them, and although the embodiments of the present application are described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can still be modified or replaced equivalently, and these modifications or equivalent replacements should not make the modified technical solutions deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A metal photomask, characterized in that, include: Metal strips (1) are configured as a plurality of first metal strips (11) and a plurality of second metal strips (12) that are parallel to each other, the first metal strips (11) and the second metal strips (12) intersecting perpendicularly and joining at the intersection to form a mask mesh having at least one opening (100); and The above-mentioned opening (100) has a shielding part (2) and a connecting part (3). The shielding part (2) is provided in the opening (100), and the shielding part (2) is connected to the metal strip (1) at the edge of the opening (100) through the connecting part (3). The portion of the connecting part (3) located between the shielding part (2) and the metal strip (1) connected to the shielding part (2) is bent into a groove shape toward one side in the thickness direction of the mask mesh, and an empty area (300) is formed between the shielding part (2) and the metal strip (1) connected to the shielding part (2). The connecting part (3) is formed by bending a whole strip of metal and has a first bent section (31), a second bent section (32) and a third bent section (33); in, The inward angle between the first bent segment (31) and the second bent segment (32) is 60° to 90°, and the inward angle between the third bent segment (33) and the second bent segment (32) is 72° to 90°. The shielding part (2) is located on the side of the metal strip (1) opposite to the bending direction of the connecting part (3), and there is a gap between the shielding part (2) and the metal strip (1) along the thickness direction of the metal strip (1) and the gap does not exceed 0.5 mm; In the thickness direction of the metal strip (1), the distal end (21) of the shielding part (2) is further away from the metal strip (1) than the other end opposite to the distal end (21), and there is an angle of inclination of no more than 2° between the shielding part (2) and the metal strip (1) connected thereto.

2. The metal photomask according to claim 1, characterized in that, The metal strip (1), the shielding part (2), and the connecting part (3) are integrally formed; or, At least one of the shielding part (2) and the metal strip (1) is connected to the connecting part (3) in an engaging manner.

3. The metal photomask according to claim 1, characterized in that, The depth of the groove shape is positively correlated with the width of the connecting part (3).

4. The metal photomask according to claim 3, characterized in that, The depth of the groove shape is 3 to 8 times the width of the connecting part (3).

5. The metal photomask according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first bent segment (31) does not exceed the projection range of the metal strip (1) along its thickness direction. The third bending segment (33) does not exceed the projection range of the shielding part (2) along the thickness direction of the metal strip (1).

6. The metal photomask according to claim 5, characterized in that, The connecting portion (3) has an array of through holes (303) at least at the second bending section (32).

7. The metal photomask according to claim 1, characterized in that, The shielding part (2) is disposed on the first metal strip (11) and is configured as follows: Includes several first metal strips (11) with a shielding portion (2) on only one side, the first metal strips (11) being arranged in the same manner within the mask mesh surface; or, This includes several first metal strips (11) with a shielding portion (2) on only one side, and a first metal strip (11) without a shielding portion (2) or a first metal strip (11) with shielding portions (2) on both sides. The first metal strips (11) with a shielding portion (2) on only one side are symmetrically distributed on both sides of the first metal strip (11) without a shielding portion (2) or on both sides of the first metal strip (11) with shielding portions (2) on both sides; or, Includes several first metal strips (11) with shielding portions (2) on both sides, the shielding portions (2) on both sides of the first metal strip (11) are arranged alternately and staggered along the length of the first metal strip (11), and the first metal strips (11) are arranged in the same state within the mask mesh surface; or, It includes several first metal strips (11) with shielding portions (2) on both sides and the shielding portions (2) on both sides are symmetrically distributed, and several first metal strips (11) without shielding portions (2) are arranged alternately in the mask mesh.

8. A mask assembly comprising the metal mask as described in any one of claims 1 to 7.

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