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US4273812A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Method of producing material patterns by evaporating material through a perforated mask having a reinforcing bridge

Assignee: Hitachi Ltd
•
Filing: 1979-02-01
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Granted: 1981-06-16
•
Expires: 1999-02-01
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Abstract

Abstract A method of producing material patterns in which at least one substrate is fixed together with a mask to a substrate holder, and an evaporated film of desired substances is formed on the surface of the substrate by means of evaporation sources provided to confront the substrate. The mask is fabricated to have a plurality of reinforcing bridges formed in the desired portions of the mask openings of desired shape formed in the mask. The mask is held spaced from the substrate by a small distance during the evaporation, so that the evaporation may be effected at least through two pattern openings defined at both sides of each bridge. The evaporation is performed by means of evaporation sources which are located such that the line interconnecting one of the edges of each bridge and the evaporation source located at the same side with respect to the substantial bridging direction of the bridge and another line interconnecting the other edge of the bridge and the evaporation source located at the same side as the other edge intersect each other at a point on the surface of the substrate or in the clearance between the substrate surface and the mask. This method makes it possible to produce patterns which could never be produced by the conventional evaporation method.

Inventors

  • 👤 Ken Tsutsui
  • 👤 Akira Sasano
  • 👤 Toshio Nakano
  • 👤 Haruo Matsumaru
  • 👤 Eiichi Maruyama

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-23 14:55
CPC Classifications
H; H05; H05K; H05K3/00; H05K3/10; H05K3/14; H05K3/143; C; C23; C23C; C23C14/00; C23C14/04; C23C14/042

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 18
Claim 1
Independent Claim 161 words
A method of producing material patterns on a substrate, by deposition of the material in evaporated form through a perforated mask onto the substrate surface, said perforated mask having at least one opening, which at least one opening corresponds to said material patterns, and at least one reinforcing bridge which extends across part of said at least one opening to reinforce said mask, characterized in that during the deposition said perforated mask is spaced from the substrate surface, and further characterized in that the step of depositing the material includes orienting the mask-substrate combination, relative to at least one evaporation source, such that the material is evaporated onto the substrate from at least two different directions chosen so that no gap is left in the material deposited on the substrate surface beneath the at least one reinforcing bridge after the deposition, whereby said material patterns, having no gap on the substrate surface beneath the at least one reinforcing bridge, are formed.
Claim 2
Independent Claim 161 words
A method of producing material patterns on a substrate, by deposition of the material in evaporated form through a perforated mask onto the substrate surface, said perforated mask having at least one opening, which at least one opening corresponds to said material patterns, and at least one reinforcing bridge which extends across part of said at least one opening to reinforce said mask, characterized in that during the deposition said perforated mask is spaced from the substrate surface, and further characterized in that the step of depositing the material includes orienting the mask-substrate combination, relative to at least one evaporation source, such that the material is evaporated onto the substrate from at least two different directions chosen so that no gap is left in the material deposited on the substrate surface beneath the at least one reinforcing bridge after the deposition, whereby said material patterns, having no gap on the substrate surface beneath the at least one reinforcing bridge, are formed.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 63 words
A method of producing material patterns according to claim 1, characterized in that the substrate and mask are rotated about an axis of rotation, thereby moving the substrate and mask with respect to at least one evaporation source so as to provide said different directions of evaporation by providing different relative locations of the at least one evaporation source vis-a-vis the mask-substrate combination.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 43 words
A method of producing material patterns according to claim 2, characterized in that one evaporation source is provided, and in that the substrate and mask are rotated with respect to the one evaporation source such that two different directions of evaporation are provided.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 28 words
A method of producing material patterns according to claim 1, characterized in that there are at least two spaced evaporation sources respectively providing said different directions of evaporation.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 26 words
A method of producing material patterns according to claim 4, characterized in that there are two spaced evaporation sources which provide two different directions of evaporation.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 51 words
A method of producing material patterns according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the direction of a line interconnecting the openings defined at both sides of respective bridges is at an angle of not more than 30° to the straight line connecting two relative locations of the evaporation source.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 47 words
A method of producing material patterns according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the direction of a line interconnecting the openings defined at both sides of respective bridges is at an angle of not more than 30° to the straight line connecting two evaporation sources.
Claim 9
Independent Claim 64 words
A method of producing material patterns according to claims 2, 3 or 6, characterized in that the evaporation source is 20 mm to 200 mm from the axis of rotation, the distance between the axis of rotation and the substrate is 30 to 200 mm, and the distance between the evaporation source and the rotation surface of the substrate is 50 to 500 mm.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 42 words
A method of producing material patterns according to claim 2, characterized in that the rotation of the substrate and mask is intermittent, evaporation being effected while the substrate is held stationary relative to the evaporation source at predetermined positions in its rotation.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 42 words
A method of producing material patterns according to claim 6, characterized in that the rotation of the substrate and mask is intermittent, evaporation being effected while the substrate is held stationary relative to the evaporation source at predetermined positions in its rotation.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 64 words
A method of producing material patterns according to claim 1, characterized in that a plurality of spaced evaporation sources is used for evaporation of at least two different substances and that each substance is evaporated onto the substrate from at least two different directions chosen so that no gap is left in the material deposited on the substrate surface beneath the bridge or bridges.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 64 words
A method of producing material patterns according to claim 6, characterized in that a plurality of spaced evaporation sources is used for evaporation of at least two different substances and that each substance is evaporated onto the substrate from at least two different directions chosen so that no gap is left in the material deposited on the substrate surface beneath the bridge or bridges.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 64 words
A method of producing material patterns according to claim 7, characterized in that a plurality of spaced evaporation sources is used for evaporation of at least two different substances and that each substance is evaporated onto the substrate from at least two different directions chosen so that no gap is left in the material deposited on the substrate surface beneath the bridge or bridges.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 34 words
A method of producing material patterns according to claim 1, characterized in that the lines extending in the directions of the openings on either side of each bridge extend substantially in the same direction.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 39 words
A method of producing material patterns according to claim 1, characterized in that the lines extending in the directions of the openings on either side of each bridge extend in directions which deviate at most 30° from each other.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim 36 words
A method of producing material patterns according to claim 1, characterized in that the mask is substantially planar, and the one or more reinforcing bridges extend in the same plane as the remainder of said mask.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim 55 words
A method of producing material patterns according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of evaporation sources are disposed such that the line interconnecting evaporation sources which provide material evaporated from at least two different directions makes an angle not greater than 30° to the lines interconnecting pattern openings defined at both sides of respective bridges.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US3148085A Cited
US3193408A Cited
GB978984A Cited
US3326718A Cited
US3510349A Cited
US3799792A Cited
US4049857A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1984-06-15 1984-12-15 1985-06-16 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1988-06-15 1988-12-15 1989-06-16 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 1992-06-15 1992-12-15 1993-06-16 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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