Fine metal mask having protective portions having protective portion with ratio of thickness reduction equal to single pixel aperture ratio and method for manufacturing the same, mask frame assembly

1. A fine metal mask, comprising:

at least one mask pattern portion; and

at least one protective portion disposed at and connected with at least one side edge of the at least one mask pattern portion, wherein a thickness of the at least one protective portion is less than a thickness of the at least one mask pattern portion, and the thickness of the at least one mask pattern portion is equal to a thickness of the fine metal mask; wherein:

each of the at least one protective portion is obtained by thinning the fine metal mask from two opposite surfaces of the fine metal mask;

a ratio of a reduction in thickness of the at least one protective portion to the thickness of the at least one mask pattern portion is equal to a single pixel aperture ratio of one of the mask pattern portion; wherein the single pixel aperture ratio refers to a ratio of an area of removed portion of one of the mask pattern portion to a total area of a corresponding entire mask pattern portion, each mask pattern portion is a single pixel portion, and the removed portion is formed by removing material from each mask pattern portion;

each of the at least one protective portion comprises a first surface and a second surface opposite to each other; the fine metal mask comprise a surface and an opposite surface; each of the at least one protective portion is obtained by thinning the fine metal mask from the surface of the fine metal mask to the first surface and from the opposite surface of the fine metal mask to the second surface; a reduction in thickness of the fine metal mask from the surface of the fine metal mask to the first surface is equal to a reduction in thickness of the fine metal mask from the opposite surface of the fine metal mask to the second surface;

each of the at least one mask pattern portion comprises a third surface and a fourth surface opposite to each other;

the first surface and the third surface are at a side of a reference plane, and the first surface is closer to the reference plane than the third surface is close to the reference plane in a vertical direction, wherein the reference plane is a plane which passes through an approximate center of thickness of each of the at least one mask pattern portion and is parallel to the third surface or the fourth surface; the second surface and the fourth surface are at an opposite side of the reference plane, and the second surface is closer to the reference plane than the fourth surface is close to the reference plane in the vertical direction; and

the at least one protective portion includes four protective portions, four side edges of each of the at least one mask pattern portion are each provided with one of the four protective portions, the four protective portions are connected in a head-to-end manner to form a shape extending around and surrounding the four side edges of each of the at least one mask pattern portion.

2. A mask frame assembly, comprising:

a plurality of fine metal masks according to claim 1 ; and

a mask frame, wherein, the plurality of fine metal masks are fixed on the mask frame.

3. The mask frame assembly according to claim 2 , wherein the plurality of fine metal masks comprises a plurality of protective portions, and each protective portion is obtained by thinning a corresponding one of the plurality of fine metal masks from two opposite sides of the corresponding one of the plurality of fine metal masks closer to the substrate on which a film to be formed.

4. The mask frame assembly according to claim 2 , wherein two ends of each of the plurality of fine metal masks along a first direction are fixed on the mask frame;

the plurality of fine metal masks comprises a plurality of protective portions and a plurality of mask pattern portions, and two of the plurality of protective portions are respectively disposed on two side edges of a corresponding one of the plurality of mask pattern portions along a second direction, and the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction.

5. The mask frame assembly according to claim 4 , wherein two of the plurality of protective portions are disposed on two side edges of at least one of the plurality of mask pattern portion along the first direction, respectively.

6. A method for manufacturing the fine metal mask comprising: at least one mask pattern portion; and at least one protective portion disposed at and connected with at least one side edge of the at least one mask pattern portion, wherein a thickness of the at least one protective portion is less than a thickness of the at least one mask pattern portion, and the thickness of the at least one mask pattern portion is equal to a thickness of the fine metal mask, the method comprising:

forming at least one mask pattern in a metal sheet to form the at least one mask pattern portion;

forming the at least one protective portion connected with the at least one side edge of the at least one mask pattern portion of the metal sheet; wherein

each of the at least one protective portion is obtained by thinning the fine metal mask from two opposite surfaces of the fine metal mask;

a ratio of a reduction in thickness of the at least one protective portion to the thickness of the at least one mask pattern portion is equal to a single pixel aperture ratio of one of the mask pattern portion; wherein the single pixel aperture ratio refers to a ratio of an area of removed portion of one of the mask pattern portion to a total area of a corresponding entire mask pattern portion, each mask pattern portion is a single pixel portion, and the removed portion is formed by removing material from each mask pattern portion;

each of the at least one protective portion comprises a first surface and a second surface opposite to each other; the fine metal mask comprise a surface and an opposite surface; each of the at least one protective portion is obtained by thinning the fine metal mask from the surface of the fine metal mask to the first surface and from the opposite surface of the fine metal mask to the second surface; a reduction in thickness of the fine metal mask from the surface of the fine metal mask to the first surface is equal to a reduction in thickness of the fine metal mask from the opposite surface of the fine metal mask to the second surface;

each of the at least one mask pattern portion comprises a third surface and a fourth surface opposite to each other;

the first surface and the third surface are at a side of a reference plane, and the first surface is closer to the reference plane than the third surface is close to the reference plane in a vertical direction, wherein the reference plane is a plane which passes through an approximate center of thickness of each of the at least one mask pattern portion and is parallel to the third surface or the fourth surface; the second surface and the fourth surface are at an opposite side of the reference plane, and the second surface is closer to the reference plane than the fourth surface is close to the reference plane in the vertical direction; and

the at least one protective portion includes four protective portions, four side edges of each of the at least one mask pattern portion are each provided with one of the four protective portions, the four protective portions are connected in a head-to-end manner to form a shape extending around and surrounding the four side edges of each of the at least one mask pattern portion.

7. The method for manufacturing the fine metal mask according to claim 6 , wherein

forming at least one mask pattern in the metal sheet to form the at least one mask pattern portions comprises:

forming a first protective layer, which covers a first portion, on the metal sheet, wherein the first portion is a portion of the metal sheet except a portion in which the at least one mask pattern is to be formed;

forming at least one mask pattern in a portion which is not covered by the first protective layer; and

removing the first protective layer.

8. The method for manufacturing the fine metal mask according to claim 7 , wherein

forming at least one protective portion connected with at least one side edge of the at least one mask pattern portion of the metal sheet comprises:

forming a second protective layer, which covers a second portion, on the metal sheet, wherein the second portion is a portion of the metal sheet except a portion to be thinned;

thinning the portion to be thinned, which is not covered by the second protective layer, from at least one side of the portion to be thinned; and

removing the second protective layer.