Microparticle Arraying Mask Tapered Through-Holes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing microparticle arraying masks are ineffective in preventing defects such as falling out, overlapping, and damage when arraying microparticles with diameters less than or equal to 50 μm on a base material, as they do not adequately account for the smaller particle sizes.
Innovation Solution
A microparticle arraying mask with through-holes that have a smaller opening plane area on the supply side compared to the discharge side, ensuring a positive sectional area change along the z-axis, and a thickness ratio of the mask to particle diameter within the range of 0.4 to 1.0, preventing defects by minimizing shear force and ensuring proper insertion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional microparticle arraying mask is used for microparticles with diameter ≤ 50 μm, then the arraying process can be performed, but defects such as falling out, overlapping, and damage occur
Solution Approach 1:
The through-holes are designed with non-uniform cross-sectional areas along the thickness direction, creating different local properties: a smaller opening area on the microparticle supply side to prevent overlapping, and a larger opening area on the discharge side to facilitate particle insertion and prevent falling out. This local variation in hole geometry resolves the contradiction between preventing defects and maintaining arraying precision for small microparticles.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the geometric parameters of the through-holes by ensuring that the cross-sectional area increases along the thickness direction (dA/dz > 0). This parameter change creates a tapered structure that optimizes both particle insertion and retention, preventing defects while maintaining precise arraying for microparticles with diameter ≤ 50 μm.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the through-holes have a tapered shape with t/d between 0.8 and 1.4 as in Patent Literature 1, then arraying can be performed for particles up to 100 μm, but defects occur when arraying smaller particles with diameter ≤ 50 μm
Solution Approach 1:
By creating local quality variation in the through-hole geometry (smaller opening at supply side, larger opening at discharge side), the mask can effectively handle smaller microparticles (≤ 50 μm) without defects, while maintaining the tapered structure that provides adaptability for a range of particle sizes.
Solution Approach 2:
The through-holes exhibit asymmetric geometry with different opening areas at the supply side and discharge side. This asymmetry is specifically designed to address the needs of smaller microparticles, preventing both overlapping and falling out, thereby improving reliability for the ≤ 50 μm particle size range while maintaining versatility.
Data Source
AI summary
To prevent defects in microparticles from occurring in a case of arraying the microparticles having a diameter of less than or equal to 50 μm on a base material. Provided is a microparticle arraying mask for arraying microparticles having a diameter of less than or equal to 50 μm on a base material. The microparticle arraying mask has through-holes into which the microparticles are inserted. An opening plane of the through-holes on a microparticle supply side has an area smaller than an area of an opening plane of the through-holes on a microparticle discharge side. In a case of assuming that a direction from the opening plane on the microparticle supply side to the opening plane on the microparticle discharge side is a positive direction of a z-axis, and a sectional area of the through-holes vertical to the z-axis is A,dA(z)/dz>0 holds in a whole region in the through-holes along the z-axis, andExpression (1) below is satisfied:0.4≤t/d≤1.0 (1).