A shadow mask is a precision, micromachined sheet that is used to deposit material onto a substrate. Shadow masks, also known as stencils or deposition masks, are used in a wide range of different vacuum-chamber evaporation and sputtering processes to fabricate both simple and complex semiconductor, micro-engineered electronic components and variety of products in the consumer and life science world.
One of the common areas that shadow masks are increasingly being used is the flat panel LED market to deposit inks and other organic materials onto substrates during the manufacturing process of flat panel LED and OLED displays.