CN114779534A - Optical alignment mask plate, liquid crystal display panel and optical alignment method - Google Patents

Optical alignment mask plate, liquid crystal display panel and optical alignment method Download PDF

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Publication number
CN114779534A
CN114779534A CN202210464945.3A CN202210464945A CN114779534A CN 114779534 A CN114779534 A CN 114779534A CN 202210464945 A CN202210464945 A CN 202210464945A CN 114779534 A CN114779534 A CN 114779534A
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alignment
light
substrate
region
photo
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CN114779534B (en
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刘永
付兴凯
王武
王国志
吴忠芯
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BOE Technology Group Co Ltd
Chengdu CEC Panda Display Technology Co Ltd
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BOE Technology Group Co Ltd
Chengdu CEC Panda Display Technology Co Ltd
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    • GPHYSICS
    • G02OPTICS
    • G02FOPTICAL DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF LIGHT BY MODIFICATION OF THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIA OF THE ELEMENTS INVOLVED THEREIN; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; FREQUENCY-CHANGING OF LIGHT; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS
    • G02F1/00Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics
    • G02F1/01Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour 
    • G02F1/13Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour  based on liquid crystals, e.g. single liquid crystal display cells
    • G02F1/133Constructional arrangements; Operation of liquid crystal cells; Circuit arrangements
    • G02F1/1333Constructional arrangements; Manufacturing methods
    • G02F1/1337Surface-induced orientation of the liquid crystal molecules, e.g. by alignment layers
    • G02F1/13378Surface-induced orientation of the liquid crystal molecules, e.g. by alignment layers by treatment of the surface, e.g. embossing, rubbing or light irradiation
    • G02F1/133788Surface-induced orientation of the liquid crystal molecules, e.g. by alignment layers by treatment of the surface, e.g. embossing, rubbing or light irradiation by light irradiation, e.g. linearly polarised light photo-polymerisation

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  • Nonlinear Science (AREA)
  • Spectroscopy & Molecular Physics (AREA)
  • Mathematical Physics (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Crystallography & Structural Chemistry (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Optics & Photonics (AREA)
  • Liquid Crystal (AREA)

Abstract

The embodiment of the application discloses a photo-alignment mask plate, a liquid crystal display panel and a photo-alignment method. In one embodiment, the photo-alignment mask plate includes a first alignment region and a second alignment region, the first alignment region includes a plurality of first light-transmissive regions and first light-shielding regions, and the second alignment region includes a plurality of second light-transmissive regions and second light-shielding regions, wherein a width of each of the first light-transmissive regions and the first light-shielding regions is the same as a length of a first side of a sub-pixel in the liquid crystal substrate to be aligned, and a width of each of the second light-transmissive regions and the second light-shielding regions is the same as a length of a second side of the sub-pixel in the liquid crystal substrate to be aligned, wherein the first side is adjacent to the second side. In the embodiment, the widths of the first light-transmitting area and the first light-shielding area are equal to the first side of the sub-pixel, and the widths of the second light-transmitting area and the second light-shielding area are equal to the second side of the sub-pixel, so that a plurality of domains can be aligned by using one mask plate.

Description

Optical alignment mask plate, liquid crystal display panel and optical alignment method
Technical Field
The present application relates to the field of display technology. And more particularly, to a photo-alignment mask plate, a liquid crystal display panel, and a photo-alignment method.
Background
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) panels are widely used in various electronic products. The liquid crystal display panel mainly comprises an array substrate, a color film substrate and a liquid crystal layer positioned between the array substrate and the color film substrate, wherein alignment film layers are arranged on two sides of the liquid crystal layer, and the alignment films are used for enabling liquid crystal molecules to generate initial orientation.
The Alignment technology in the prior art generally widely uses a Rubbing (Rubbing) Alignment method and a Photo Alignment (Photo Alignment) Alignment method. The photo-alignment method is to irradiate an alignment film layer on a substrate by using polarized UV (Ultraviolet) light, so that the polymer structure on the surface of the alignment film layer generates anisotropic photopolymerization, conversion or cracking reaction, and further induces the arrangement of liquid crystal molecules to obtain an anisotropic effect, and compared with the rubbing alignment, the method can realize higher contrast ratio which can reach the level of 5000: 1.
However, in the current photo-alignment method, if a one-domain display panel, a two-domain display panel, and a four-domain display panel are to be obtained, three photo-alignment masks corresponding to the three display panels need to be respectively manufactured, so that the manufacturing cost is high, and the product development efficiency is low.
Disclosure of Invention
An object of the present application is to provide a photo-alignment mask plate and a photo-alignment method for a liquid crystal substrate to solve at least one of the problems of the prior art.
In order to achieve the purpose, the following technical scheme is adopted in the application:
the first aspect of the present application provides a photo-alignment mask plate, comprising a first alignment region and a second alignment region, the first alignment region comprising a plurality of first light-transmitting regions and a plurality of first light-shielding regions arranged adjacently along a first direction, the second alignment region comprising a plurality of second light-transmitting regions and a plurality of second light-shielding regions arranged adjacently along the first direction or a second direction perpendicular to the first direction,
wherein the widths of the first light-transmitting region and the first light-shielding region are the same as the length of the first edge of the sub-pixel in the liquid crystal display panel,
the widths of the second light-transmitting area and the second light-shielding area are the same as the length of a second edge of a sub-pixel to be aligned in the liquid crystal display panel, wherein the first edge is adjacent to the second edge.
In some alternative embodiments, comprising a plurality of first alignment regions and a plurality of second alignment regions,
the first alignment region and the second alignment region are arranged along a first direction, or
The first alignment area and the second alignment area are arranged along a second direction, wherein the second direction is perpendicular to the first direction.
In some alternative embodiments, a plurality of first alignment regions and a plurality of second alignment regions are included, and the first alignment regions and the second alignment regions are alternately arranged along a first direction or a second direction, wherein the second direction is perpendicular to the first direction.
In some alternative embodiments, the photo-alignment reticle is a uv-type reticle.
A second aspect of the present application provides an optical alignment method for an optical alignment mask blank based on the foregoing, including:
fixing a liquid crystal substrate on a machine table of optical alignment equipment, wherein the liquid crystal substrate comprises a first substrate and a second substrate, a first alignment film layer is arranged on the surface of the first substrate, and a second alignment film layer is arranged on the surface of the second substrate;
carrying out photo-alignment on the liquid crystal substrate based on the photo-alignment mask plate, comprising the following steps of:
providing a photo-alignment mask plate at a first position above the first substrate,
exposing the first alignment film layer for the first time based on the photo-alignment mask plate;
changing the relative position of the optical alignment mask plate and the first substrate to enable the optical alignment mask plate to translate by the length of the N first edges relative to the first position;
performing second exposure on the first alignment film layer based on the photo-alignment mask plate;
providing a photo-alignment mask plate at a second position above the second substrate, and performing first exposure on the second photo-alignment film layer based on the photo-alignment mask plate;
changing the relative position of the optical alignment mask plate and the second substrate to enable the optical alignment mask plate to translate by the length of the N second edges relative to the second position;
exposing the second photo-alignment film layer for the second time based on the photo-alignment mask plate to complete multiple domain alignments of the liquid crystal substrate,
wherein N is a positive odd number.
In some of the alternative embodiments, the first and second,
the first substrate includes a first corresponding region corresponding to the sub-pixel, the second substrate includes a second corresponding region corresponding to the sub-pixel, each side of the first corresponding region and the second corresponding region corresponds to each side of the sub-pixel one by one,
the width of the first light-transmitting region is parallel to the first edge of the first corresponding region, half of the first corresponding region is covered by the first light-transmitting region and the other half is covered by the first light-shielding region,
the width of the second light-transmitting area is parallel to the second edge of the second corresponding area, and half of the second corresponding area is covered by the second light-transmitting area and the other half is covered by the second light-shielding area.
In some of the alternative embodiments, the first and second,
the first substrate includes a first corresponding region corresponding to the sub-pixel, the second substrate includes a second corresponding region corresponding to the sub-pixel, each side of the first corresponding region and the second corresponding region corresponds to each side of the sub-pixel one by one,
the width of the first light-transmitting region is parallel to the first side of the first corresponding region, the orthographic projection of the first light-transmitting region on the first substrate covers the complete first corresponding region,
the width of the second light-transmitting area is parallel to the second edge of the second corresponding area, and half of the second corresponding area is covered by the second light-transmitting area and the other half is covered by the second light-shielding area.
In some of the alternative embodiments, the first and second,
the first substrate includes a first corresponding region corresponding to the sub-pixel, the second substrate includes a second corresponding region corresponding to the sub-pixel, each side of the first corresponding region and the second corresponding region corresponds to each side of the sub-pixel one by one,
the width of the first light-transmitting region is parallel to the first side of the first corresponding region, the orthographic projection of the first light-transmitting region on the first substrate covers the complete first corresponding region,
the width of the second light-transmitting area is parallel to the second edge of the second corresponding area, and the orthographic projection of the second light-transmitting area on the second substrate covers the complete second corresponding area.
In some optional embodiments, the first substrate is a color filter substrate and the second substrate is an array substrate, or the first substrate is an array substrate and the second substrate is a color filter substrate.
A third aspect of the present application provides a liquid crystal display panel comprising:
the color film substrate is provided with a first alignment film layer on the surface;
the array substrate is provided with a second alignment film layer on the surface;
a liquid crystal layer arranged between the first alignment film layer and the second alignment film layer,
wherein the first alignment film layer and the second alignment film layer are formed after alignment by using the photo-alignment method described above.
The beneficial effects of this application are as follows:
aiming at the existing problems at present, an optical alignment mask plate, a liquid crystal display panel and an optical alignment method are formulated, a first alignment area and a second alignment area are provided, the width of a first light transmitting area and the width of a first light shading area in the first optical alignment area are equal to the length of a first edge of a sub-pixel, the width of a second light transmitting area and the width of a second light shading area in the second optical alignment area are equal to the length of a second edge of the sub-pixel, and therefore the optical alignment mask plate can be used for completing alignment of various liquid crystal substrates of various domains, product development efficiency is improved, product manufacturing cost is reduced, and the optical alignment mask plate has a wide application prospect.
Drawings
The following description of the embodiments of the present application will be made in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the alignment principle of a prior art photo-alignment mask;
FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic top view of a photo-alignment reticle of an embodiment of the present application;
FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic top view of a photo-alignment reticle of another embodiment of the present application;
FIG. 4 shows a schematic top view of a photo-alignment reticle of another embodiment of the present application;
fig. 5 shows a schematic flowchart of a photoalignment method using a photoalignment mask plate according to an embodiment of the present application;
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating the alignment principle of a photo-alignment method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the alignment principle of another embodiment of the photo-alignment method of the present application;
fig. 8 is a schematic view illustrating an alignment principle of a photo-alignment method according to another embodiment of the present application.
Detailed Description
In order to more clearly explain the present application, the present application is further described below with reference to the following examples and the accompanying drawings. Like parts in the drawings are indicated with the same or similar reference numerals. It is to be understood by persons skilled in the art that the following detailed description is illustrative and not restrictive, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present application.
It should be noted that, when the modules "have", "include", "including", etc. are described in the present application, they are all in an open meaning, that is, when a module "has", "includes" or "includes" a first element, a second element and/or a third element, it means that the module includes other elements besides the first element, the second element and/or the third element. In addition, the ordinal numbers such as "first", "second", etc., in this application are not intended to limit the sequence in any particular manner, but merely to distinguish between the various elements.
In the related art, as shown in fig. 1, in the UV2A alignment process, when a four-domain alignment is fabricated, a single sub-pixel in a TFT substrate is generally divided into two regions along a short side direction of the sub-pixel, a single sub-pixel in a CF substrate is divided into two regions along a long side direction of the sub-pixel, and four regions are formed after the TFT substrate and the CF substrate are paired. In the exposure alignment process, each sub-pixel needs to be exposed twice, so that alignment of the TFT substrate and the CF substrate is realized.
As shown in fig. 1, regardless of the photo-alignment mask corresponding to the color filter substrate (CF) side or the array substrate (TFT) side, the white light-transmitting area and the black light-shielding area both correspond to the 1/2 areas of the sub-pixels, and the CF side and the TFT side are exposed twice in the actual photo-alignment process to form a four-domain alignment. However, it can be understood that the photo-alignment mask plate is only suitable for one four-domain alignment, and when the two-domain alignment is required for the liquid crystal substrate, a new photo-alignment mask plate needs to be redesigned, so that the product development efficiency of the liquid crystal display panel in the prior art is low, and the manufacturing cost is high.
In order to solve the above technical problem, an embodiment of the present application provides an optical alignment mask plate, including:
a first alignment region including a plurality of first light-transmitting regions and a plurality of first light-shielding regions arranged adjacent to each other in a first direction, and a second alignment region including a plurality of second light-transmitting regions and a plurality of second light-shielding regions arranged adjacent to each other in the first direction or a second direction perpendicular to the first direction,
wherein the widths of the first light-transmitting region and the first light-shielding region are the same as the length of the first edge of the sub-pixel in the liquid crystal substrate to be aligned,
the widths of the second light-transmitting area and the second light-shielding area are the same as the length of a second edge of the sub-pixel in the liquid crystal substrate to be aligned, wherein the first edge is adjacent to the second edge.
In this embodiment, a first alignment region and a second alignment region are provided, and widths of a first light-transmitting region and a first light-shielding region in the first alignment region are equal to a length of a first edge of a sub-pixel, and widths of a second light-transmitting region and a second light-shielding region in the second alignment region are equal to a length of a second edge of the sub-pixel, so that alignment of multiple liquid crystal substrates of multiple domains can be completed by using one optical alignment mask plate, product development efficiency is improved, product manufacturing cost is reduced, and the liquid crystal display device has a wide application prospect.
In a specific example, referring to fig. 2, the photo-alignment mask plate 1 includes a first alignment region 11 and a second alignment region 12.
The first alignment region 11 includes a plurality of first light-transmitting regions 111 and first light-shielding regions 121 adjacently arranged in the X direction (i.e., the first direction); the second alignment region 12 includes a plurality of second light-transmitting regions 112 and second light-shielding regions 122 adjacently arranged in the X direction.
In particular, referring to fig. 2, each of the first light transmission region 111 and the first light-shielding region 121 has a width the same as a length a of a first side of a sub-pixel in the liquid crystal display panel; and, each of the second light transmitting region 112 and the second light blocking region 122 has a width identical to a length b of the second side of the sub-pixel in the liquid crystal display panel. Wherein, a sub-pixel is illustrated by a dashed box in the figure, and the first edge is adjacent to the second edge.
In this example, the sub-pixel is a rectangle, the first side represents the length of the sub-pixel, and the second side represents the width of the sub-pixel, but the present application is not limited thereto, and if the sub-pixel is a square, the first side and the second side may correspond to two adjacent right-angled sides (i.e., the side length of the square), respectively. In other words, when the sub-pixels are rectangular or square, the first side is perpendicular to the second side.
It is worth mentioning that, with this arrangement, when the liquid crystal substrate to be aligned is photo-aligned using the photo-alignment mask 1, the orthographic projection of the first light-transmitting area 111 and the first light-shielding area 121 in the photo-alignment mask 1 on the liquid crystal substrate covers the corresponding area corresponding to the sub-pixel on the liquid crystal substrate; similarly, when the photoalignment mask plate 1 is used to photoalign the array substrate to be aligned, the orthographic projection of the second light transmissive region 112 and the second light blocking region 122 in the photoalignment mask plate 1 on the liquid crystal substrate covers the corresponding region corresponding to the sub-pixel on the liquid crystal substrate.
As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the liquid crystal substrate includes a color film substrate and an array substrate, and the corresponding regions are sub-pixels; when the array substrate and the color film substrate are in box-to-box connection, the orthographic projection of the corresponding area on the color film substrate is overlapped with the sub-pixels, and each side of the corresponding area corresponds to each side of the sub-pixels one by one.
It should be noted that fig. 2 only shows an example of one kind of photo-alignment mask plate, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto.
Alternatively, referring to fig. 3, in another photo-alignment mask blank 1' shown in the figure, the first alignment region 11 still includes a plurality of first light-transmitting regions 111 and a plurality of first light-shielding regions 121 adjacently arranged along the X direction; differently, the second alignment region 12' includes a plurality of second light-transmitting regions 112' and a plurality of second light-shielding regions 122' arranged adjacent to each other in the Y direction (i.e., a second direction perpendicular to the first direction).
Further alternatively, the number of the first alignment regions and the second alignment regions in one photo-alignment mask plate is not limited to one. Exemplarily, referring to fig. 4, the photo-alignment mask includes 2 first alignment regions 11 and 2 second alignment regions 12, the first alignment regions 11 are arranged along the Y direction, and the second alignment regions 12 are also arranged along the Y direction. Of course, fig. 4 is merely exemplary, and more first alignment regions and more second alignment regions may be included in one photo-alignment mask.
Although not further illustrated, those skilled in the art will appreciate that, similarly, when the photo-alignment mask plate includes a plurality of first alignment regions and a plurality of second alignment regions, in the case where the arrangement directions of the light-transmitting regions and the light-shielding regions are constant in each alignment region, for example, when the first light-transmitting regions and the first light-shielding regions are both arranged in the X direction and the second light-transmitting regions and the second light-shielding regions are both arranged in the X direction, the first alignment regions may also be arranged in the X direction and the second alignment regions are arranged in the X direction; further optionally, the first alignment regions and the second alignment regions are alternately arranged along the X direction or the Y direction.
Of course, a photo-alignment mask plate may also include only one first alignment region and a plurality of second alignment regions, and the arrangement is similar to the above, which is not described herein again.
In this embodiment, optionally, the photo-alignment mask is an ultraviolet type mask, that is, a mask for performing photo-alignment by performing ultraviolet exposure based on the photo-alignment mask. Of course, the present application is not limited thereto, and if the photo alignment mask plate can be exposed by other light beams for photo alignment, the photo alignment mask plate of the embodiment of the present application may also be applied by other light beam types, which are not described herein again.
In the above arrangement, by providing the first alignment region 11 and the second alignment region 12, and arranging each of the first light-transmitting region 111 and the first light-shielding region 121 to have a width the same as the length a of the first side of the sub-pixel in the liquid crystal substrate to be aligned; moreover, the width of each of the second light-transmitting area 112 and the second light-shielding area 122 is the same as the length b of the second side of the sub-pixel in the liquid crystal substrate to be aligned, so that when different liquid crystal substrates are optically aligned, even if different domain numbers are expected according to design requirements, the optical alignment mask plate can be used for manufacturing, different optical alignment mask plates do not need to be additionally designed and manufactured according to different liquid crystal substrate alignment schemes, the product development efficiency is greatly improved, the product cost is reduced, and the optical alignment mask plate has a wide application prospect.
In order to further understand the structural advantages of the photo-alignment mask plate provided in the embodiments of the present application, the following further describes in detail a photo-alignment method using the photo-alignment mask plate provided in the embodiments of the present application.
Referring to fig. 5, based on the same inventive concept, the present application further provides a photo-alignment method for photo-aligning a mask blank according to the foregoing embodiment, including:
s1, fixing a liquid crystal substrate on a machine table of optical alignment equipment, wherein the liquid crystal substrate comprises a first substrate and a second substrate, a first alignment film layer is arranged on the surface of the first substrate, and a second optical alignment film layer is arranged on the surface of the second substrate;
s2, performing photo-alignment on the liquid crystal substrate based on the photo-alignment mask, including:
providing a photo-alignment mask plate at a first position above the first substrate,
exposing the first alignment film layer for the first time based on the photo-alignment mask plate;
changing the relative position of the optical alignment mask plate and the first substrate to enable the optical alignment mask plate to translate by the length of the N first edges relative to the first position;
performing second exposure on the first alignment film layer based on the photo-alignment mask plate;
providing a photo-alignment mask plate at a second position above the second substrate, and performing first exposure on the second photo-alignment film layer based on the photo-alignment mask plate;
changing the relative position of the optical alignment mask plate and the second substrate to enable the optical alignment mask plate to translate by the length of the N second edges relative to the second position;
exposing the second photo-alignment film layer for the second time based on the photo-alignment mask plate to complete multiple domain alignments of the liquid crystal substrate,
wherein N is a positive odd number.
In this embodiment, a photo-alignment mask having a first alignment region and a second alignment region is used, and widths of a first light-transmitting region and a first light-shielding region in the first photo-alignment region are equal to a length of a first side of a sub-pixel, and widths of a second light-transmitting region and a second light-shielding region in the second photo-alignment region are equal to a length of a second side of the sub-pixel.
The alignment process for fabricating three domain numbers using the photo-alignment mask plate 1 shown in fig. 2 will be described in detail below with reference to fig. 6 to 8.
In the following examples, the present application example performed ultraviolet vertical alignment (UV) by using the above photo-alignment mask plate2A) In that respect Currently, a typical photoalignment device generally includes a UV lamp cartridge and a stage. In the actual alignment process, a UV lamp tube, a photo-alignment mask and a machine table (a liquid crystal substrate is fixed on the machine table) are sequentially arranged in the vertical direction in the equipment from top to bottom.
The basic structure of the UV lamp cartridge comprises: the ultraviolet light is irradiated on the photo-alignment mask plate and exposes the liquid crystal substrate vertically below the photo-alignment mask plate. In the exposure process, the part of the machine table for fixing the liquid crystal substrate moves, so that the long sides of the light transmitting area and the light shielding area in the photo-alignment mask plate are parallel to the running direction of the machine table. Generally, the incident exposure direction of the ultraviolet light irradiated to the photoalignment mask plate is not in the same plane with the running direction of the liquid crystal substrate on the machine, and the incident plane direction of the ultraviolet light is spatially vertical to the moving plane direction of the liquid crystal substrate.
In an embodiment of the present application, the liquid crystal substrate includes an array substrate and a color filter substrate. Before optical alignment, optical alignment film layers are pre-arranged on the surfaces of the array substrate and the color film substrate for alignment, the optical alignment film layers are made of an alignment type material, such as Polyimide (PI), the PI is a polymer material with excellent comprehensive performance, and the material of the optical alignment film layers can be other materials, which is not limited in the application.
For convenience of description, in the following examples, the color filter substrate is represented by a first substrate, and the array substrate is represented by a second substrate, then the photoalignment film layer disposed on the surface of the color filter substrate is a first photoalignment film layer, and the photoalignment film layer disposed on the surface of the array substrate is a second photoalignment film layer.
Further, each of the following fig. 6 to 8 shows an enlarged view of a region of a partial photo-alignment mask plate, and in each of the following examples, the first substrate is aligned with the first alignment region 11, and the second substrate is aligned with the second alignment region 12. For the first substrate, the first black-and-white alternating rectangle from the left in fig. 6 to 8 represents the first exposure process, the second black-and-white alternating rectangle represents the second exposure process, and for the second substrate, the first black-and-white alternating rectangle from the top in the figures represents the first exposure process, and the second black-and-white alternating rectangle represents the second exposure process. Wherein the order of the two exposures may be substantially interchanged for each substrate.
In addition, in the following description, the first position indicates an initial placement position of the photo-alignment mask 1 when the first substrate is aligned by the first alignment region 11, the second position indicates an initial placement position of the photo-alignment mask 1 when the second substrate is aligned by the second alignment region 12, the first position and the second position may be the same or different, and the present application is not particularly limited, and generally, the initial placement position of each alignment is the same for the same substrate.
It should be further noted that the first substrate includes a first corresponding region corresponding to the sub-pixel, the second substrate includes a second corresponding region corresponding to the sub-pixel, and each side of the first corresponding region and each side of the second corresponding region correspond to each side of the sub-pixel one by one. Specifically, when the first substrate and the second substrate are aligned, the orthographic projection of the first corresponding region on the liquid crystal substrate is completely overlapped with the sub-pixel, and the orthographic projection of the second corresponding region on the liquid crystal substrate is completely overlapped with the sub-pixel. In addition, because there is a corresponding relationship between each edge of the first corresponding region and the second corresponding region and the sub-pixel, for the convenience of understanding, the first corresponding region and the second corresponding region are represented by the same graph in fig. 6 to 8, and will not be described in detail below.
Specifically, when four-domain alignment is performed using the photo-alignment mask plate according to the embodiment of the present application, referring to fig. 6, step S2 specifically includes the following steps.
In step S21-1, a photo alignment mask plate 1 is provided at a first position above the first substrate.
The width of the first transparent region 111 is parallel to the first side of the first corresponding region, so that the first transparent region 111 exposes a line of regions (corresponding to a line of sub-pixels) with the first side of the first corresponding region as the width, and when the first substrate is controlled to move on the machine, the exposed region does not shift during the movement. In addition, in this step, it is required that half of the first corresponding region is covered by the first light-transmitting region 111 and the other half is covered by the first light-shielding region 121.
In step S22-1, the first alignment film layer is exposed for the first time based on the photo-alignment mask 1, as shown in the figure, the black dotted line indicates the ultraviolet light of the first polarization direction.
In step S23-1, the relative position of the photo-alignment mask 1 and the first substrate is changed such that the photo-alignment mask 1 is shifted by a length a of N first sides in parallel with the first sides with respect to the first position, where N is a positive odd number. I.e. shifted by a length a of N first sides in the direction of extension of the first sides, as shown.
As shown in fig. 6, the effect achieved by the above translation is equivalent to that the exposure pattern and the shading pattern are shifted downwards by a length a of one first edge on the basis of the initial position, because half of the light-transmitting part in the first corresponding region is shaded when the first position is in the first position, so that the light-transmitting region after the shift is changed into shading, and the light-shielding region is changed into light-transmitting.
In step S24-1, the first alignment film layer is exposed for the second time based on the photo-alignment mask 1, and the light gray dashed line indicates the ultraviolet light in the second polarization direction, and the light gray dashed line is set at the above position of the photo-alignment mask 1, so that half of the first corresponding region after the second exposure is irradiated by the ultraviolet light in the first polarization direction, and the other half of the first corresponding region after the second exposure is irradiated by the ultraviolet light in the second polarization direction.
In step S25-1, the photo alignment mask 1 is provided at a second position above the second substrate, and the width of the second transparent region 112 is parallel to the second side of the second corresponding region, so that the second transparent region 112 exposes a row of regions (i.e. corresponding to a row of sub-pixels with the first side being wide) with the first side of the second corresponding region being wide, and the exposed region will not shift during the movement when the second substrate is controlled to move on the stage. Half of the second corresponding region is covered by the second light-transmitting region 112 and the other half is covered by the second light-shielding region 122.
In step S26-1, the first exposure of the second photoalignment film layer is performed based on the photoalignment mask plate 1.
In step S27-1, the relative position of the photo-alignment mask 1 and the second substrate is changed, so that the photo-alignment mask 1 is shifted by a length b of N second sides in a direction parallel to the second sides with respect to the second position, i.e., by a length b of N second sides in the extending direction of the second sides as shown in the figure. As shown in fig. 6, the effect achieved by the above translation is equivalent to that the exposure pattern and the light-shielding pattern are shifted downward by a length b of one second edge on the basis of the initial position, because half of the second corresponding region blocks light and the other half of the light is blocked in the second corresponding region, the originally light-blocked region becomes transparent after the shift, and the originally transparent region becomes light-blocked.
In step S28-1, the second photo-alignment film layer is exposed for the second time based on the photo-alignment mask plate 1, and half of the second corresponding region of the second photo-alignment film layer is irradiated by the uv light with the first polarization direction, and the other half of the second corresponding region is irradiated by the uv light with the second polarization direction, so that the liquid crystal in the sub-pixel on the display panel has a four-domain alignment after the first substrate and the second substrate are aligned to each other.
Through the above photo-alignment process, since the widths of the first light-transmitting region 111 and the first light-shielding region 121 in the photo-alignment mask blank 1 are both the same as the length a of the first side of the sub-pixel, when the photo-alignment mask blank is set at the first position, half of the first corresponding region is covered by the first light-transmitting region 111 and the other half is covered by the first light-shielding region 121, so that half of the first corresponding region is exposed after the first exposure; when the relative position of the photoalignment mask plate 1 and the first substrate is changed relative to the first position, only half of the first area can still be ensured to be exposed because the positive odd length a is translated; similarly, with the second alignment region 12, since the widths of the second light-transmitting region 112 and the second light-shielding region 122 are the same as the length b of the second side of the sub-pixel, through the arrangement and relative displacement of the second position, half of the second corresponding region on the second substrate is irradiated by the ultraviolet light of the first polarization direction, and the other half is irradiated by the ultraviolet light of the second polarization direction through two exposures. By matching the photo-alignment mask plate with the photo-alignment method, four-domain alignment can be realized.
When the photo-alignment mask plate of the embodiment of the present application is used to produce the two-domain alignment, referring to fig. 7, step S2 further includes the following steps.
In step S21-2, a photo alignment mask 1 is provided at a first position above the first substrate, and the width of the first transparent region 111 is parallel to the first side of the first corresponding region, so that the first transparent region 111 exposes a row of regions (i.e. corresponding to a row of sub-pixels with the first side being wide) with the first side of the first corresponding region being wide, and the exposed region does not shift during the movement of the first substrate on the stage. The orthographic projection of the first light-transmitting area 111 on the first substrate covers the complete sub-pixel.
In step S22-2, the first alignment film layer is exposed for the first time based on the photo-alignment mask 1. By the above positional relationship, the first corresponding region covered by the first light transmitting region 111 is exposed after the first exposure, and the first corresponding region covered by the first light shielding region 121 is not exposed.
In step S23-2, the relative position of the photoalignment mask 1 and the first substrate is changed, and the photoalignment mask is shifted by N first edge lengths a in a direction parallel to the first edges with respect to the first position, i.e., by N first edge lengths a in the extending direction of the first edges as shown in the figure.
In step S24-2, the first alignment film layer is exposed for the second time based on the photo-alignment mask 1. Through the arrangement, the relative position of the photo-alignment mask plate 1 and the first substrate is changed on the basis of the first position, so that the mask plate patterns are equivalent to the length a of the first edge of the mask plate patterns, and the sub-pixels which are not aligned after the second exposure are exposed.
Similarly, in step S25-2, a light alignment mask is provided at a second position above the second substrate, the width of the second transparent region 112 is parallel to the second side of the second corresponding region, half of the second corresponding region is covered by the second transparent region 112 and the other half is covered by the second light-shielding region 122; in step S26-2, the first exposure is performed on the second photoalignment film layer based on the photoalignment mask plate 1; in step S27-2, the relative position of the photo-alignment mask 1 and the second substrate is changed, so that the photo-alignment mask 1 is shifted by a length b of N second sides in a direction parallel to the second sides relative to the second position, that is, by a length b of N second sides in the extending direction of the second sides; in step S28-2, the second photo-alignment film layer is exposed for a second time based on the photo-alignment mask plate 1 to complete the two-domain alignment.
By the above photo-alignment process, since the widths of the first light transmitting area 111 and the first light shielding area 121 in the photo-alignment mask blank 1 are both the same as the length a of the first side of the sub-pixel, the first light transmitting area 111 covers the entire first corresponding area and the first light shielding area 121 covers the other entire first corresponding area when disposed in the first position; when the relative position is changed relative to the first position, because the N lengths a are translated, one part of the first corresponding area can be exposed and the other part of the first corresponding area can be shielded; similarly, with the second alignment region 12, because the widths of the second light-transmitting region 112 and the second light-shielding region 122 are the same as the length b of the second side of the sub-pixel, through the setting and displacement change of the second position, after the two exposures are completed, half of each second corresponding region in the second substrate is irradiated by the ultraviolet light in the first polarization direction, and the other half is irradiated by the ultraviolet light in the second polarization direction, so that the liquid crystal during the period after the first substrate and the second substrate are aligned to the cell has the two-domain alignment.
Similarly to the above alignment process, referring to fig. 8, step S2 further includes:
in step S21-3, the photo-alignment mask 1 is provided at a first position above the first substrate, the width of the first transparent region 111 is parallel to the first side of the first corresponding region, and the orthographic projection of the first transparent region 111 on the first substrate covers the entire first corresponding region.
In step S22-3, the first substrate is exposed for the first time based on the photo-alignment mask plate 1.
In step S23-3, the relative position of the photoalignment mask 1 and the first substrate is changed, and the photoalignment mask is shifted by N first edge lengths a in a direction parallel to the first edges with respect to the first position, i.e., by N first edge lengths a in the extending direction of the first edges as shown in the figure.
In step S24-3, the first substrate is exposed for the second time based on the photo-alignment mask plate 1.
In step S25-3, the photo-alignment mask plate 1 is provided at a second position above the second substrate, the width of the second transparent region 112 is parallel to the second side of the second corresponding region, and the orthographic projection of the first transparent region 111 on the second substrate covers the entire first corresponding region.
In step S26-3, the second substrate is subjected to the first exposure based on the photo-alignment mask plate 1.
In step S27-3, the relative position of the photo-alignment mask 1 and the second substrate is changed, and the photo-alignment mask 1 is shifted by a length b of N second sides in a direction parallel to the second sides with respect to the second position, i.e., by a length b of N second sides in the extending direction of the second sides.
In step S28-3, the second substrate is exposed for a second time based on the photo-alignment mask to complete a domain alignment.
By the arrangement, the characteristics of the first alignment area and the second alignment area in the optical alignment mask plate are utilized, and the optical alignment mask plate is matched with the alignment method, so that in the process of exposing the first substrate, through the matching of the first position and the translation mode of the mask plate, the first corresponding area of one part of the first corresponding area after the first substrate is aligned is irradiated by ultraviolet light in the first polarization direction, the other part of the first corresponding area is irradiated by ultraviolet light in the second polarization direction, and similarly, only one part of the second corresponding area of the second substrate is irradiated by ultraviolet light in the first polarization direction, the other part of the second corresponding area is irradiated by ultraviolet light in the second polarization direction, and the other part of the second corresponding area is irradiated by ultraviolet light in the second polarization direction, so that the optical alignment mask plate 1 is utilized to realize the one-domain alignment.
By combining the above analysis, it can be known that by using the photo-alignment mask plate of the embodiment of the present application and the above alignment method, the alignment requirements of various domain numbers can be realized only by one photo-alignment mask plate, and a special photo-alignment mask plate is not required to be designed for each alignment, so that the development efficiency is improved, and the product development and manufacturing cost is reduced.
It should be noted that although the above examples of the present application describe that the light-transmissive region covers 1/2 subpixels when the photoalignment mask is first placed, or covers complete subpixels, the present application is not limited thereto, and in a specific implementation, the light-transmissive region covers 1/3, 1/4 subpixels when the photoalignment mask is first placed, so that more alignment combinations with more ratios can be provided by using one photoalignment mask.
In addition, although the first substrate is a color filter substrate and the second substrate is an array substrate as an example, the present application is not limited thereto, and in practical applications, the first substrate may be an array substrate and the second substrate may be a color filter substrate. In other words, the area variation manner of the exposure performed by the middle light alignment mask plate shown in fig. 6 to 8 may be changed, for example, during the two-domain alignment, the color film substrate may perform the two-domain alignment, and the array substrate may perform the one-domain alignment, so as to provide more alignment options, which is not described herein again.
Based on the same inventive concept, embodiments of the present application further provide a liquid crystal display panel, including:
the color film substrate is provided with a first alignment film layer on the surface;
the array substrate is provided with a second alignment film layer on the surface;
a liquid crystal layer disposed between the first alignment layer and the second alignment layer,
the first alignment film layer and the second alignment film layer are formed after alignment by using the photo-alignment method described in the above embodiment.
Aiming at the existing problems at present, an optical alignment mask plate, a liquid crystal display panel and an optical alignment method are formulated, a first alignment area and a second alignment area are provided, the width of a first light transmitting area and the width of a first light shading area in the first optical alignment area are equal to the length of a first edge of a sub-pixel, the width of a second light transmitting area and the width of a second light shading area in the second optical alignment area are equal to the length of a second edge of the sub-pixel, and therefore the optical alignment mask plate can be used for completing alignment of various liquid crystal substrates of various domains, product development efficiency is improved, product manufacturing cost is reduced, and the optical alignment mask plate has a wide application prospect.
It should be understood that the above-mentioned examples are given for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the present disclosure to any particular embodiment, and that various other modifications and variations in light thereof will be suggested to persons skilled in the art and are to be included within the spirit and purview of this application.

Claims (10)

1. A photo-alignment mask plate, comprising a first alignment region and a second alignment region, wherein the first alignment region comprises a plurality of first light-transmitting regions and a plurality of first light-shielding regions arranged adjacently along a first direction, and the second alignment region comprises a plurality of second light-transmitting regions and a plurality of second light-shielding regions arranged adjacently along the first direction or a second direction perpendicular to the first direction,
wherein the widths of the first light-transmitting region and the first light-shielding region are the same as the length of the first side of the sub-pixel in the liquid crystal display panel,
the widths of the second light-transmitting area and the second light-shielding area are the same as the length of a second edge of a sub-pixel to be aligned to the liquid crystal display panel, wherein the first edge is adjacent to the second edge.
2. The photo-alignment mask blank of claim 1, comprising a plurality of the first alignment regions and a plurality of the second alignment regions,
the first alignment region and the second alignment region are arranged along the first direction, or
The first alignment region and the second alignment region are both arranged along the second direction, wherein the second direction is perpendicular to the first direction.
3. The photo-alignment mask blank of claim 1, comprising a plurality of the first alignment regions and a plurality of the second alignment regions, the first alignment regions and the second alignment regions being alternately arranged along the first direction or a second direction, wherein the second direction is perpendicular to the first direction.
4. The photoalignment mask according to claim 1, characterized in that the photoalignment mask is a uv-type mask.
5. A photo-alignment method based on the photo-alignment mask blank of any one of claims 1-4, comprising:
fixing a liquid crystal substrate on a machine table of optical alignment equipment, wherein the liquid crystal substrate comprises a first substrate and a second substrate, a first alignment film layer is arranged on the surface of the first substrate, and a second alignment film layer is arranged on the surface of the second substrate;
performing photo-alignment on the liquid crystal substrate based on the photo-alignment mask plate, including:
providing the photo-alignment mask plate at a first position above the first substrate,
exposing the first alignment film layer for the first time based on the photo-alignment mask plate;
changing the relative position of the photoalignment mask plate and the first substrate, and enabling the photoalignment mask plate to translate the length of the N first edges relative to the first position;
exposing the first alignment film layer for the second time based on the photo-alignment mask plate;
providing the photoalignment mask plate at a second position above the second substrate, and performing first exposure on the second photoalignment film layer based on the photoalignment mask plate;
changing the relative position of the photoalignment mask plate and the second substrate to enable the photoalignment mask plate to translate by the length of the N second edges relative to the second position;
performing a second exposure on the second photo-alignment film layer based on the photo-alignment mask plate to complete multiple domain alignments of the liquid crystal substrate,
wherein N is a positive odd number.
6. The method of claim 5,
the first substrate includes a first corresponding region corresponding to the sub-pixel, the second substrate includes a second corresponding region corresponding to the sub-pixel, each side of the first corresponding region and the second corresponding region corresponds to each side of the sub-pixel one by one,
the width of the first light-transmitting region is parallel to the first side of the first corresponding region, half of the first corresponding region is covered by the first light-transmitting region and the other half is covered by the first light-shielding region,
the width of the second light-transmitting area is parallel to the second edge of the second corresponding area, and half of the second corresponding area is covered by the second light-transmitting area and the other half is covered by the second light-shielding area.
7. The photoalignment method according to claim 5, characterized in that,
the first substrate includes a first corresponding region corresponding to the sub-pixels, the second substrate includes a second corresponding region corresponding to the sub-pixels, respective sides of the first corresponding region and the second corresponding region correspond one-to-one with respective sides of the sub-pixels,
the width of the first light-transmitting area is parallel to the first side of the first corresponding area, the orthographic projection of the first light-transmitting area on the first substrate covers the complete first corresponding area,
the width of the second light-transmitting area is parallel to the second edge of the second corresponding area, and half of the second corresponding area is covered by the second light-transmitting area and the other half is covered by the second light-shielding area.
8. The photoalignment mask blank according to claim 5,
the first substrate includes a first corresponding region corresponding to the sub-pixel, the second substrate includes a second corresponding region corresponding to the sub-pixel, each side of the first corresponding region and the second corresponding region corresponds to each side of the sub-pixel one by one,
the width of the first light-transmitting area is parallel to the first edge of the first corresponding area, the orthographic projection of the first light-transmitting area on the first substrate covers the complete first corresponding area,
the width of the second light-transmitting area is parallel to the second edge of the second corresponding area, and the orthographic projection of the second light-transmitting area on the second substrate covers the complete second corresponding area.
9. The photoalignment method according to any of claims 6 to 8, wherein the first substrate is a color filter substrate and the second substrate is an array substrate, or the first substrate is an array substrate and the second substrate is a color filter substrate.
10. A liquid crystal display panel, comprising:
the color film substrate is provided with a first alignment film layer on the surface;
the array substrate is provided with a second alignment film layer on the surface;
a liquid crystal layer disposed between the first alignment film layer and the second alignment film layer,
wherein the first alignment layer and the second alignment layer are formed after alignment using the photo-alignment method of any one of claims 5-9.
CN202210464945.3A 2022-04-29 2022-04-29 Photo-alignment mask plate, liquid crystal display panel and photo-alignment method Active CN114779534B (en)

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Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN104570489A (en) * 2014-12-26 2015-04-29 深圳市华星光电技术有限公司 Mask plate and optical alignment method
CN105700248A (en) * 2016-04-21 2016-06-22 深圳市华星光电技术有限公司 Alignment method for liquid crystal display panel
CN108761927A (en) * 2018-05-24 2018-11-06 昆山龙腾光电有限公司 Light alignment system and light alignment method
CN109358455A (en) * 2018-12-24 2019-02-19 信利(惠州)智能显示有限公司 A kind of light orientation processing method, light orientation mask plate and light orientation mask board group
CN110161731A (en) * 2019-06-06 2019-08-23 成都中电熊猫显示科技有限公司 mask equipment

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN104570489A (en) * 2014-12-26 2015-04-29 深圳市华星光电技术有限公司 Mask plate and optical alignment method
CN105700248A (en) * 2016-04-21 2016-06-22 深圳市华星光电技术有限公司 Alignment method for liquid crystal display panel
CN108761927A (en) * 2018-05-24 2018-11-06 昆山龙腾光电有限公司 Light alignment system and light alignment method
CN109358455A (en) * 2018-12-24 2019-02-19 信利(惠州)智能显示有限公司 A kind of light orientation processing method, light orientation mask plate and light orientation mask board group
CN110161731A (en) * 2019-06-06 2019-08-23 成都中电熊猫显示科技有限公司 mask equipment

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