JP2001042317A - Semitransmitting reflection type and reflection type liquid crystal device and electronic appliance using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To display a bright and high quality image without causing double reflection due to parallax or blur in an image in a semitransmitting reflection type or reflection type liquid crystal device which uses an inner face reflection method and which is provided with a semitransmitting reflection plate or reflection plate on the liquid crystal side of the substrate. SOLUTION: The reflection type liquid crystal device is equipped with a reflection plate 14, second insulating film 13, transparent electrode 11 in stripes, first insulating film 12 and alignment film 15 in this order on the surface of a first substrate 10 facing a liquid crystal. The refractive index n2 of the first insulating film is controlled to be larger than the refractive index n1 of the alignment film and smaller than the refractive index n3 of the transparent electrode film. The refractive index n4 of the second insulating film is controlled to be smaller than each of the refractive index n1 of the alignment film and the refractive index n3 of the transparent electrode film. The film thickness d2 of the first insulating film is controlled to 50 to 100 nm, and the film thickness d4 of the second insulating film is controlled to 40 to 120 nm.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention belongs to the technical field of liquid crystal devices such as a passive matrix drive system, an active matrix drive system, and a segment drive system, and an electronic apparatus using the same. A transflective liquid crystal device capable of displaying by switching between a reflective display and a transmissive display, or a reflective liquid crystal device capable of performing only a reflective display, employing an internal reflection method provided with a transflective layer or a reflective layer; Furthermore, it belongs to the technical field of electronic equipment using such a liquid crystal device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a reflection type liquid crystal device which performs display using external light without using a light source such as a backlight is advantageous from the viewpoints of low power consumption, small size and light weight.
In particular, it is used in portable electronic devices such as mobile phones, watches, electronic organizers, and notebook computers, for which portability is important. In a traditional reflective liquid crystal device, a reflective plate is attached to the back side of a transmissive liquid crystal panel in which liquid crystal is sandwiched between a pair of substrates, and external light incident from the front side is transmitted to the transmissive liquid crystal panel.
The light is reflected by a reflection plate via a polarizing plate or the like. However, in this case, since the optical path from the liquid crystal separated by the substrate or the like to the reflecting plate is long, parallax occurs in a display image, resulting in double image. Are mixed, it is extremely difficult to display a high-quality image. Further, since external light is attenuated while entering the liquid crystal panel and reciprocating to the reflection plate, it is basically difficult to perform bright display.

Therefore, recently, a configuration has been proposed in which a display electrode disposed on one substrate located on the side opposite to the side on which external light is incident is formed of a reflector, and the reflection position is brought close to the liquid crystal layer. A reflection type liquid crystal device of an internal reflection type has been developed. Specifically, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-114799 discloses that a pixel electrode also serving as a reflection plate is formed on a substrate, and a high refractive film is formed on the pixel electrode. There is disclosed a technique of laminating two films with a low refraction film or laminating a plurality of these films alternately, and forming an alignment film thereon. According to this technique, by providing a laminated body of a high-refractive film and a low-refractive film on a reflector, the reflectance for external light incident from the counter substrate side is increased,
It is said that bright reflective display can be performed.

On the other hand, in the case of a reflection type liquid crystal device, the display is made visible by using external light, and the display cannot be read in a dark place. There has been proposed a transflective liquid crystal device that utilizes light and allows display to be viewed by an internal light source in a dark place. This is the actual opening 57-0
As described in Japanese Patent No. 49271, a polarizing plate, a transflective plate, and a backlight are sequentially arranged on the outer surface of the liquid crystal panel opposite to the observation side. In this liquid crystal device, when the surroundings are bright, external light is taken in and reflective display is performed using light reflected by the semi-transmissive reflecting plate. When the surroundings are dark, the backlight is turned on and the semi-transmissive reflecting plate is turned on. A transmissive display in which the display can be visually recognized by the light transmitted through is provided.

Another transflective liquid crystal device is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 8-292413 in which the brightness of a reflective display is improved.
Is described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. In this liquid crystal device, the transflective plate, the polarizing plate, and the backlight are sequentially arranged on the outer surface of the liquid crystal panel opposite to the observation side, so that there is no polarizing plate between the liquid crystal cell and the transflective plate. A reflective display brighter than the liquid crystal device described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 57-049271 can be obtained.

[0006]

However, according to the reflection type liquid crystal device described in JP-A-8-114799, in which a pixel electrode also serves as a reflection plate, a high reflectance is required in order to obtain a high reflectance. It is essential to provide a two-layer or multi-layer laminate of a refraction film and a low refraction film on the pixel electrode, and there is a problem that the lamination structure and thus the device configuration and the manufacturing process are complicated.

On the other hand, in the transflective liquid crystal device described in JP-A-8-292413 or the like, since a transparent substrate is interposed between the liquid crystal layer and the transflector, double reflection and display are not possible. Bleeding will occur. Furthermore, when color filters are combined, the transflective plate is placed behind the liquid crystal panel, and a thick transparent substrate is interposed between the liquid crystal layer and the color filter and the transflective plate, so that the image is doubled due to parallax. And display bleeding occurs, and it is not possible to obtain a sufficient color.

On the other hand, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 7-318929 proposes a transflective liquid crystal device in which a pixel electrode serving as a transflective film is provided on the inner surface of a liquid crystal cell. A configuration is disclosed in which a transparent pixel electrode made of an ITO film is stacked on a reflective film via an insulating film.
However, in this liquid crystal device, a fine defect such as a hole defect or a dent defect or a fine opening is formed with respect to a pixel electrode also serving as a transflective film or a transflective film on which a transparent pixel electrode is superimposed. It is necessary to provide a large number of devices, which complicates the device configuration and additionally requires special steps in its manufacture. In addition, since a pixel electrode that also serves as a reflector provided with an opening is used, an electric field for driving a liquid crystal that is assumed to be a vertical electric field perpendicular to the electrode surface is obliquely distorted near the opening, This causes poor alignment of the liquid crystal, and ultimately makes it difficult to display a high-quality image.

[0009] In addition, the present applicant has filed Japanese Patent Application No.
No. 656 and Japanese Patent Application No. 10-160866 each invent a novel transflective liquid crystal device. In the former, however, the use of a pixel electrode which also functions as a reflection plate provided with an opening is used. In this case, the electric field may be distorted obliquely, resulting in poor orientation of the liquid crystal. In the latter case, it is considered that a sufficient reflectivity cannot be obtained, particularly in a reflective display, and the display becomes dark. As a result, there is room for improvement of the displayed image.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and has a semi-transmissive reflection type and a reflection type capable of displaying a bright and high-quality image without generating double reflection due to parallax or blurring of display. It is an object to provide a liquid crystal device and an electronic device using the same.

[0011]

In order to solve the above problems, a transflective liquid crystal device according to the present invention comprises a transparent first substrate and a transparent second substrate opposed to the first substrate. A liquid crystal sandwiched between the first and second substrates, a light source provided on the first substrate on a side opposite to the liquid crystal, and a liquid crystal arranged on a side of the first substrate facing the second substrate. A transflective layer, a transparent second insulating film disposed on the transflective layer, a transparent electrode film disposed on the second insulating film, and a transparent electrode film disposed on the transparent electrode film. a first insulating film, and an alignment film disposed on the first insulating film, the refractive index n ₂ of the first insulating film is larger and the transparent than the refractive index n ₁ of the alignment layer is set smaller than the refractive index n ₃ of the electrode film, the refractive index n ₄ of the second insulating film, the refractive index n ₁ and the said alignment layer The refractive index n ₃ of the transparent electrode film is set smaller than each other, and the thickness d ₂ of the first insulating film is 5
The thickness d ₄ of the second insulating film is set in a range of 40 to 120 nm.

According to the transflective liquid crystal device of the present invention, on the first substrate, a laminated body composed of the transflective layer, the second insulating film, the transparent electrode film, the first insulating film, and the alignment film is provided. Is provided. Here, since the transflective layer and the transparent electrode film are insulated from each other by the second insulating film, the planar pattern of the transflective layer is the planar pattern of the transparent electrode (pixel electrode) made of the transparent electrode film. Is not restricted by For this reason, it is possible to drive the liquid crystal portion through which the light source light passing through the transmission region passes by a vertical electric field in a direction perpendicular to the substrate, and at the same time, the liquid crystal portion through which the external light reflected by the reflection region passes. Driving with a vertical electric field is also possible. Furthermore, since the transparent electrode film and the alignment film are insulated from each other by the first insulating film, there is a possibility that defects such as a short circuit or a short circuit may occur in the transparent electrode (pixel electrode) made of the transparent electrode film or its wiring. Is reduced and overall device reliability is increased.

According to the transflective liquid crystal device configured as described above, when external light is incident from the side of the second substrate during the reflective display, the light is transmitted through the transparent second substrate and the liquid crystal.
The light is reflected by the laminated body including the semi-transmissive reflective layer, the second insulating film, the transparent electrode film, the first insulating film, and the alignment film provided on the first substrate, and is again transmitted to the second substrate via the liquid crystal and the second substrate. Is emitted from. Therefore, for example, if a polarizing plate is arranged on the outer surface of the second substrate, by controlling the alignment state of the liquid crystal by a vertical electric field using a transparent electrode composed of a transparent electrode film portion facing the reflection region of the transflective reflection layer, It is possible to control the intensity of external light emitted as display light via the liquid crystal after reflection. On the other hand, at the time of transmissive display, the light source light emitted from the light source and transmitted through the transmissive region of the transflective layer from the first substrate side is a liquid crystal driven by a transparent electrode composed of a transparent electrode film portion facing the transmissive region. Pass through the parts. That is, high-quality transmissive display can be performed using a liquid crystal portion driven by a vertical electric field using the transparent electrode. As described above, whether the display is of the reflective type or the transmissive type, the gap between the liquid crystal layer and the semi-transmissive reflection plate as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 57-049271 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-292413 is known. Due to the presence of the transparent substrate, double reflections and display bleeding do not occur, and it is possible to obtain sufficient color development even when colorized, and at the same time, it is possible to drive the liquid crystal well in the vertical electric field ,
Therefore, the alignment direction of the liquid crystal becomes uniform in each dot or each pixel, and it is possible to prevent the deterioration of the display quality due to the disorder of the alignment direction.

According to the research and simulations of the inventor of the present invention, a semi-transmissive reflective layer, a second insulating film, a transparent electrode film, a first insulating film, and an alignment film on a first substrate facing such a liquid crystal. The reflectance of the laminate to external light has wavelength dependence and changes depending on the refractive index and thickness of each of these films. The reflectance of the laminate on the first substrate with respect to light having a wavelength of 550 nm corresponding to green light, which is highly sensitive to human vision and is important in determining the brightness of a display image, is determined by the refractive index of the first insulating film. The refractive index n ₂ is set to be larger than the refractive index n ₁ of the alignment film and smaller than the refractive index n ₃ of the transparent electrode film (that is, set as n ₁ <n ₂ <n ₃ ), and the refractive index of the second insulating film is set. the rate n ₄ than the refractive index n ₃ of the refractive index n ₁ and the transparent electrode film of the alignment film was set respectively smaller (i.e., set to n ₄ <n ₁ and n _{4 <n 3)} case, the first and It is found that the refractive index is almost constant irrespective of the refractive index of the second insulating film or the refractive index and the film thickness of the transparent electrode film and the alignment film, and is mainly dependent on the film thickness of the first and second insulating films. ing. More specifically, with this setting, the first
By varying the thickness d ₄ of the thickness d ₂ and a second insulating film of the insulating film, the reflectance of the laminate, the lower the top centered at about 87% to about 90 to 91% from about 83 to It fluctuates periodically at 84%. That is, the film thicknesses d ₂ and d ₂ of the first and second insulating films for relatively increasing the reflectance which fluctuates around about 87% (to make it higher than about 87% which is the center of fluctuation). When obtaining the condition of d _4, the thickness d ₂ of the first insulating film, 50
4100 nm and the thickness d _{4 of} the second insulating film
Is in the range of 40 to 120 nm.
However, in the transflective liquid crystal device of the present invention, the first and second insulating films, the transparent electrode film, and the alignment are so arranged that these conditions for efficiently increasing the reflectance of the laminate are satisfied. The refractive index and the film thickness of the film are set respectively.

As a result, according to the transflective liquid crystal device of the present invention, external light (particularly, light having a wavelength of about 550 nm) entering through the liquid crystal in the laminate on the first substrate.
And a sufficient reflectivity cannot be obtained at the time of reflective display as in the transflective liquid crystal device described in Japanese Patent Application No. 10-160866 invented by the present applicant. The problem described above is solved, and finally a high-quality image display with a particularly bright reflective display can be realized.

As described above, the refractive index n ₂ of the first insulating film is larger than the refractive index n ₄ of the second insulating film. For example, when the second insulating film is formed from silicon oxide, the refractive index n ₂ is higher. In order to form the first insulating film having a high refractive index, zirconium oxide, titanium oxide, and aluminum oxide may be added to silicon oxide to increase the refractive index n ₂ by using, for example, a sol-gel method. In addition, CVD (Chemi
cal Vapor Deposition method or sputtering may be used.

The driving method of the transflective liquid crystal device of the present invention includes a passive matrix driving method and a TFT (Th.
in Film Transistor) Active matrix drive system,
Various known driving methods such as a TFD (Thin Film Diode) active matrix driving method and a segment driving method can be adopted. At this time, since the voltage-reflectance (transmittance) characteristics of the liquid crystal cell are often different between the reflective display and the transmissive display, the driving voltages are made different between the reflective display and the transmissive display, and It is preferable to optimize with. In addition, a plurality of stripe-shaped or segment-shaped transparent electrodes are formed on the second substrate, or a transparent electrode is formed on substantially the entire surface of the second substrate, as appropriate, depending on the driving method. Or,
The driving may be performed by a horizontal electric field parallel to the substrate between the transparent electrodes on the first substrate without providing the counter electrode on the second substrate. Further, the liquid crystal device may include a first
A polarizing plate, a retardation plate, and the like are disposed on the opposite side of the substrate and the second substrate from the liquid crystal layer. As a light source that is turned on during transmission type display, an LED (Light Source) is used for a small liquid crystal device.
Emitting Diode (EL), EL (Electro-Luminescence)
An element or the like is suitable, and for a large-sized liquid crystal device, a fluorescent tube or the like for introducing light from the side through a light guide plate is suitable.

In one embodiment of the transflective liquid crystal device of the present invention, the transflective layer is formed of a plurality of reflective films separated from each other when viewed two-dimensionally from a direction perpendicular to the second substrate. The transparent electrode film is provided at a position facing a gap between the plurality of reflection films and a position facing the plurality of reflection films.

According to this aspect, in particular, like a semi-transmissive reflection type liquid crystal device described in the above-mentioned conventional Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-318929, a fine defect portion which complicates the device configuration and manufacturing process. Since the transflective layer can be formed without providing a large number of fine openings, it is practically advantageous, and it is possible to improve device reliability and manufacturing yield. Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-318929,
Japanese Patent Application No. 10-23656 invented by the applicant of the present invention described above.
As in the case of a transflective liquid crystal device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-284, the electric field for driving the liquid crystal is not obliquely distorted in the vicinity of the opening by the pixel electrode serving also as a reflector provided with the opening. The liquid crystal does not have an alignment defect, and a high-quality image can be finally displayed.

In another aspect of the transflective liquid crystal device of the present invention, the transflective layer is a reflective film having a plurality of openings through which light from the first substrate can be transmitted. The transparent electrode film is provided at a position not facing the opening and at a position facing the opening.

According to this aspect, in particular, as in the above-mentioned transflective liquid crystal device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-318929 or Japanese Patent Application No. 10-23656 invented by the present applicant. In addition, since the electric field for driving the liquid crystal is not obliquely distorted in the vicinity of the opening by the pixel electrode which also functions as the reflection plate provided with the opening, the liquid crystal alignment defect does not occur and the high quality image is finally obtained. Display becomes possible.

In another aspect of the transflective liquid crystal device of the present invention, a phase difference plate is further provided between the light source and the first substrate.

According to this aspect, since the phase difference plate is provided, good display control can be performed in both the reflection type display and the transmission type display. More specifically, an optical element such as a polarizing plate and a retardation plate provided on the second substrate side reduces the influence on color tone such as coloring caused by wavelength dispersion of light during reflective display, and With the phase difference plate provided between the light source and the first substrate, it is possible to reduce the influence on the color tone such as coloring due to the wavelength dispersion of light during transmission display. Furthermore, the optical characteristics of the polarizing element, the retardation plate, and the like, the liquid crystal layer, and the semi-transmissive reflective layer provided on the second substrate side are set to enhance the contrast at the time of the reflective display. Obtaining high contrast characteristics in both the reflective display and the transmissive display by setting the optical characteristics of the phase difference plate provided between the light source and the first substrate to enhance the contrast in the transmissive display Can be.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a reflection type liquid crystal device of the present invention has a first substrate, a transparent second substrate opposed to the first substrate, and a gap between the first and second substrates. The sandwiched liquid crystal, a reflective layer disposed on the side of the first substrate facing the second substrate, a transparent second insulating film disposed on the reflective layer, and A transparent electrode film disposed, a transparent first insulating film disposed on the transparent electrode film,
An alignment film disposed on the first insulating film, wherein the refractive index n ₂ of the first insulating film is larger than the refractive index n _{1 of the} alignment film and the refractive index n of the transparent electrode film. _3, the refractive index n ₄ of the second insulating film is set smaller than the refractive index n _{1 of the} alignment film and the refractive index n ₃ of the transparent electrode film, respectively. The thickness d ₂ of one insulating film is set in the range of 50 to 100 nm.
Thickness d ₄ of the second insulating film is in the range of 40 to 120 nm.

According to the reflection type liquid crystal device of the present invention, the first
On the substrate, a laminated body including a reflective layer, a second insulating film, a transparent electrode film, a first insulating film, and an alignment film is provided. Here, since the reflective layer and the transparent electrode film are mutually insulated by the second insulating film, the planar pattern of the reflective layer is restricted by the planar pattern of the transparent electrode (pixel electrode) made of the transparent electrode film. Therefore, the liquid crystal portion through which reflected external light passes can be driven by a vertical electric field in a direction perpendicular to the substrate. Furthermore, since the transparent electrode film and the alignment film are insulated from each other by the first insulating film, there is a possibility that defects such as a short circuit or a short circuit may occur in the transparent electrode (pixel electrode) made of the transparent electrode film or its wiring. Is reduced and overall device reliability is increased.

According to the reflection type liquid crystal device configured as described above, when external light enters from the side of the second substrate, it is provided on the first substrate via the transparent second substrate and the liquid crystal. The light is reflected by the laminated body including the reflective layer, the second insulating film, the transparent electrode film, the first insulating film, and the alignment film, and is emitted again from the second substrate through the liquid crystal and the second substrate. Therefore, for example, if a polarizing plate is arranged on the outer surface of the second substrate, the alignment state of the liquid crystal is controlled by a vertical electric field using a transparent electrode composed of a transparent electrode film portion facing the reflective layer. Thus, the intensity of external light emitted as display light can be controlled. In this way, due to the presence of the transparent substrate between the liquid crystal layer and the reflection plate, double reflection and blurring of display do not occur, and it is possible to obtain a sufficient color even when colorized, and at the same time, A high refractive index can be obtained without providing a two-layer or multi-layer laminate of a high-refractive film and a low-refractive film on the pixel electrode as in the above-mentioned conventional Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-114799. It is also possible to simplify the structure and thus the apparatus configuration and the manufacturing process. Further, it is possible to drive the liquid crystal satisfactorily by the vertical electric field, so that the alignment direction of the liquid crystal is uniform in each dot or each pixel, and it is possible to prevent the display quality from being deteriorated due to the disorder of the alignment direction.

Here, as in the case of the above-mentioned transflective liquid crystal device of the present invention, according to the research and simulations of the inventor of the present invention, the reflection type liquid crystal device has a liquid crystal device facing the liquid crystal. The reflectance of external light on a laminate composed of a reflective layer, a second insulating film, a transparent electrode film, a first insulating film, and an alignment film on one substrate has wavelength dependence, and the refractive index and thickness of each of these films. It depends on.
In particular, the reflectance of the laminate on the first substrate for light having a wavelength of 550 nm is such that the refractive index n ₂ of the first insulating film is larger than the refractive index n ₁ of the alignment film and the refractive index n _{3 of the} transparent electrode film.
Refraction of the second case where the refractive index n ₄ of the insulating film is set to be respectively smaller than the refractive index n ₃ of the refractive index n ₁ and the transparent electrode film of the alignment film, the first and second insulating films as well as smaller than It has been found that the refractive index is almost constant irrespective of the refractive index or the film thickness of the transparent electrode film and the alignment film, and depends mainly on the film thickness of the first and second insulating films. More specifically, with such a setting, the first and the second for making the reflectivity of the laminated body that fluctuates around about 87% relatively high (higher than about 87%, which is the center of the fluctuation). 2 When the conditions of the film thicknesses d ₂ and d ₄ of the insulating film are obtained, the film thickness d ₂ of the first insulating film is 50
4100 nm and the thickness d _{4 of} the second insulating film
Is in the range of 40 to 120 nm.
However, in the reflective liquid crystal device of the present invention, the first and second insulating films, the transparent electrode film, and the alignment film are so arranged that these conditions for efficiently increasing the reflectance of the laminate are satisfied. The refractive index and the film thickness are each set.

As a result, according to the reflection type liquid crystal device of the present invention, the above-mentioned laminate on the first substrate has a high reflectance with respect to external light (in particular, light having a wavelength of about 550 nm) incident through the liquid crystal. As a result, a bright, high-quality image can be finally displayed.

As described above, the refractive index n ₂ of the first insulating film is larger than the refractive index n ₄ of the second insulating film. For example, when the second insulating film is formed from silicon oxide, the refractive index n ₂ is higher. In order to form the first insulating film having a high refractive index, zirconium oxide, titanium oxide, and aluminum oxide may be added to silicon oxide to increase the refractive index n ₂ by using, for example, a sol-gel method. In addition, CVD (Chemi
cal Vapor Deposition method or sputtering may be used.

As a driving method of the reflection type liquid crystal device of the present invention, various known driving methods such as a passive matrix driving method, a TFT active matrix driving method, a TFD active matrix driving method, and a segment driving method can be adopted. Further, a plurality of stripe-shaped or segment-shaped transparent electrodes are formed on the second substrate as appropriate according to the driving method, or a transparent electrode is formed on almost the entire surface of the second substrate. Alternatively, the driving may be performed by a horizontal electric field parallel to the substrate between the transparent electrodes on the first substrate without providing the counter electrode on the second substrate. Further, in the liquid crystal device, a polarizing plate, a retardation plate, and the like are respectively disposed on the second substrate on the side opposite to the liquid crystal layer, as appropriate.

In another embodiment of the transflective or reflective liquid crystal device of the present invention, the transparent electrode film has a thickness d ₃ of 30.
２270 nm.

According to this aspect, the thickness d _{3 of the} transparent electrode film
Is set to 30 to 270 nm, so that the reflection of external light on the laminate of the semi-transmissive reflective layer or reflective layer, the second insulating film, the transparent electrode film, the first insulating film, and the alignment film on the first substrate. The refractive index can be efficiently increased by satisfying the above-mentioned conditions for the refractive index and the film thickness of each film.

In another embodiment of the transflective or reflective liquid crystal device of the present invention, the transparent electrode film is made of an ITO film.

According to this aspect, since the transparent electrode film may be formed from the ITO film, the transflective layer or the reflective layer, the second layer, and the second layer on the first substrate can be formed with a relatively easy manufacturing process and at a relatively low cost. It is possible to efficiently increase the reflectance with respect to external light in the laminate including the insulating film, the transparent electrode film, the first insulating film, and the alignment film.

In another aspect of the transflective or reflective liquid crystal device of the present invention, the first insulating film is made of silicon oxide, titanium oxide (TiO ₂ ), zirconium oxide (Zr).
O ₂ ) or aluminum oxide (Al ₂ O ₃ ), and the second insulating film is mainly composed of silicon oxide.

According to this embodiment, one insulating film containing silicon oxide and titanium oxide (TiO ₂ ), zirconium oxide (ZrO ₂ ) or aluminum oxide (Al ₂ O ₃ ), and a transparent film mainly containing silicon oxide Since the second insulating film may be formed, the transflective layer or the reflective layer on the first substrate can be formed with a relatively easy manufacturing process and a relatively low cost.
It is possible to increase the reflectance with respect to external light in the stacked body including the second insulating film, the transparent electrode film, the first insulating film, and the alignment film.

An electronic apparatus according to the present invention includes the above-mentioned transflective or reflective liquid crystal device according to the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems.

According to the electronic apparatus of the present invention, there is provided a transflective liquid crystal device capable of switching between a bright reflective display and a transmissive display without causing double reflection due to parallax or blurring of a display, or a bright liquid crystal device. Various electronic devices such as a mobile phone, a wristwatch, an electronic organizer, and a notebook computer using a reflective liquid crystal device capable of reflective display can be realized.

The operation and other advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the embodiments explained below.

[0040]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) First, the structure of a liquid crystal device according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the first embodiment, the present invention is applied to a reflection type liquid crystal device of a passive matrix driving system. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing the reflective liquid crystal device viewed from the counter substrate side with a color filter formed on the counter substrate removed for convenience, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the reflection type liquid crystal device showing a cross-section along A-A including a color filter. In FIG. 1, for convenience of explanation, six striped electrodes are schematically shown in each of the vertical and horizontal directions. However, in reality, a large number of electrodes are present. In FIG. In order to make the size recognizable by the above, the scale is different for each layer or each member.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the reflection type liquid crystal device according to the first embodiment includes a first substrate 10 and a first substrate 10.
A transparent second substrate 20 and a first substrate 10
A liquid crystal layer 50 sandwiched between the first substrate 10 and the second substrate 20, a reflector 14 disposed on the side of the first substrate 10 facing the second substrate 20 (ie, an upper surface in FIG. 2), and , A plurality of stripe-shaped transparent electrodes 11 disposed via a transparent second insulating film 13, a transparent first insulating film 12 disposed on the transparent electrode 11, and a transparent first insulating film 12 disposed on the first insulating film 12. And an alignment film 15. Further, the reflection type liquid crystal device includes a color filter 23 disposed on a side of the second substrate facing the first substrate 10 (that is, a lower surface in FIG. 2), and a color filter flat disposed on the color filter 23. Chemical film 24,
A plurality of striped transparent electrodes 2 arranged on the color filter flattening film 24 so as to cross the transparent electrodes 11
1 and an alignment film 25 disposed on the transparent electrode 21. The first substrate 10 and the second substrate 20
Around the liquid crystal layer 50, the liquid crystal layer 50 is bonded by a sealant 31, and the liquid crystal layer 50 is sealed between the first substrate 10 and the second substrate 20 by the sealant 31 and the sealant 32.

Since the first substrate 10 may be transparent or opaque, it is made of, for example, a quartz substrate or a semiconductor substrate, and the second substrate 20 is required to be transparent or at least translucent to visible light. , For example, a glass substrate or a quartz substrate.

Each of the transparent electrode 11 and the transparent electrode 21 is made of a transparent conductive thin film such as an ITO film.

The reflection plate 14 is made of, for example, a reflection film containing aluminum as a main component, and is formed by vapor deposition, sputtering, or the like.

Each of the alignment films 15 and 25 is made of an organic thin film such as a polyimide thin film, is formed by spin coating or the like, and has been subjected to a predetermined alignment process such as a rubbing process.

The liquid crystal layer 50 assumes a predetermined alignment state by the alignment films 15 and 25 in a state where no electric field is applied between the transparent electrode 11 and the transparent electrode 21. The liquid crystal layer 50 is made of, for example, a liquid crystal in which one or several kinds of nematic liquid crystals are mixed.

The sealing material 31 is an adhesive made of, for example, a photo-curing resin or a thermosetting resin. In particular, when the reflection type liquid crystal device is small in size, on the order of several inches in diagonal or less, a gap material (spacer) such as glass fiber or glass beads for setting the distance between the two substrates to a predetermined value is provided in the sealing material. Mixed. However, such a gap material may be mixed in the liquid crystal layer 50 when the reflection type liquid crystal device has a large size of several inches to 10 inches or more. The sealing material 32 is made of a resin adhesive or the like that seals the injection port after vacuum-injecting the liquid crystal through the injection port of the sealing material 31.

The color filter 23 includes a color material film that transmits blue light, green light and red light for each pixel, and a light-shielding film called a black mask or a black matrix formed at the boundary of each pixel. Are known color filters, such as a delta arrangement, a stripe arrangement, a mosaic arrangement, and a triangle arrangement, configured to prevent color mixing. 1 and 2, the sealing material 5
A light-shielding film as a frame that defines the periphery of the image display area made of the same or different material as the light-shielding film in the color filter 23 may be provided in parallel with the inside of the color filter 23.
Alternatively, such a frame may be defined by an edge of a light-shielding case in which the reflective liquid crystal device is placed.

In the first embodiment, in particular, the refractive index n ₁ and the thickness d ₁ of the alignment film 15, the refractive index n ₂ and the thickness d _{2 of} the first insulating film 12 are arranged in order from the upper layer on the first substrate 10. Transparent electrode film 11
Refractive index n ₃ and the thickness d ₃ of the well the refractive index n ₄ and the thickness d ₄ of the second insulating film 13, is set as the respective following. That is, the refractive index n ₂ of the first insulating film 12 is
Is set to be larger than the refractive index n ₁ and smaller than the refractive index n ₃ of the transparent electrode film 11 (that is, n ₁ <n ₂ <
n ₃ ). Refractive index n ₄ of the second insulating film 13, than the refractive index n ₃ of the refractive index n ₁ and the transparent electrode film 11 of the alignment film 15 is set respectively smaller (i.e., n ₄ <n ₁ and n ₄ < n ₃ ). Then, the film thickness d ₂ of the first insulating film 12, 50 to 100 nm
And the thickness d ₄ of the second insulating film 13
Is set in the range of 40 to 120 nm.

[0051] The second insulating film 13 is mainly composed of silicon oxide, for example so as to satisfy the conditions described above, the second insulating film to the silicon oxide, titanium oxide (TiO _2), zirconium oxide (ZrO ₂₎ or oxide Aluminum (Al ₂ O
₃ ), the refractive index of the liquid crystal is 1.60, the refractive index of the alignment film 15 is 1.65, and the refractive index of the transparent electrode 11 is 1.9.
On the other hand, the refractive index of the first insulating film 12 is, for example, 1.75, and the refractive index of the second insulating film 13 is, for example, 1.46. In order to make the refractive index n ₂ of the first insulating film 12 larger than the refractive index n ₄ of the second insulating film 13,
The insulating film 13 is formed from silicon oxide, and the first insulating film 12 is formed.
Can be formed by adding zirconium oxide, titanium oxide, or aluminum oxide in addition to silicon oxide by using, for example, a sol-gel method (to increase the refractive index n ₂ ). In addition, CVD (Chemical Vapor Depositio)
n) A method or sputtering may be used.

Here, the alignment film 1 on the first substrate 10
5, in a system in which a laminated body including the first insulating film 12, the transparent electrode 11, the second insulating film 13, and the reflector 14 faces the liquid crystal layer 50, the reflectance of the laminated body with respect to external light, A simulation for obtaining the relationship between the refractive index and the film thickness will be described.

Here, the following simulation is performed by the method of Rouard.

First, the refractive index n ^* of an absorber such as a metal film or a semiconductor film is generally represented by a complex number as shown in the following equation.

N ^* = n-ik where n and k are optical constants of the absorbers These optical constants n and k are specific to each absorber and have wavelength dependence. Also, it changes depending on the film forming conditions and the film thickness. Therefore, once the absorber and its film forming conditions and film thickness are determined, it can be uniquely determined empirically, experimentally, or by simulation. Here, FIG. 3 shows an example of a chart for obtaining the optical constants n and k of aluminum constituting the reflection plate 14 in the first embodiment.

In FIG. 3, the wavelength of light (n
m) is shown, the optical constants n (left) and k (right) are shown on the vertical axis, the solid curve is the curve showing the wavelength dependence of the optical constant n, and the dotted curve is And a curve showing the wavelength dependence of the optical constant k. Therefore, for aluminum, for example, if the wavelength is 650 nm (red light), by following the intersection between the curve of the solid line and the wavelength of 650 nm as indicated by the arrow in the chart, n = 1.
3 is obtained. For example, if the wavelength is 700 nm, as indicated by the arrow in the chart, the dotted line curve and the wavelength 700 nm
By following the intersection with, k = 6.8 can be obtained, and the optical constants n and k for any wavelength of light can be easily obtained using the chart shown in FIG.

Next, the first substrate 10 in the present embodiment
Alignment film 15, first insulating film 12, transparent electrode 1
Reflector 14 (absorber) in a system in which a laminate composed of first, second insulating film 13 and reflector 14 faces liquid crystal layer 50
Is defined as n and k, and the refractive index of the liquid crystal (medium) of the liquid crystal layer 50 as n ₀ , the amplitude reflectance r is represented by the following equation. (However, as described above, in order from the upper layer, the refractive index of the alignment film 15 is set to n ₁ , the film thickness is set to d _1, and the first insulating film 1 is formed.
The second refractive index and a film thickness of d ₂ with an n _2, the film thickness and d ₃ as well as the refractive index of the transparent electrode film 11 and the n _3, a second
The refractive index of the insulating film 13 is set to n ₄ and the film thickness is set to d ₄ . _{) R = (r 1 + r} a e -iθ1) / (1 + r 1 r a e -iθ1) _{where, r a = (r 2 +} r b e -iθ2) / (1 + r 2 r b e -iθ2) r b = ( ^{_{r 3 + r c e -iθ3)}} / (1 + r 3 r c e -iθ3) r c = (r 4 + r 5 e -iθ4) / (1 + r 4 r 5 e -iθ4) r 1 = (n 1 -n 0) / (N ₁ + n ₀ ) r ₂ = (n ₂ −n ₁ ) / (n ₂ + n ₁ ) r ₃ = (n ₃ −n ₂ ) / (n ₃ + n ₂ ) r ₄ = (n ₄ −n ₃₎ ) / (N ₄ + n ₃ ) r ₅ = (nn ₅ −ik) / (n + n ₅ −ik) θ ₁ = 4πn ₁ d ₁ / λ θ ₂ = 4πn ₂ d ₂ / λ θ ₃ = 4πn ₃ d ₃ / λθ ₄ = 4πn ₄ d ₄ / λ Therefore, the energy reflectance R (= reflectance) is obtained by substituting the refractive index and the film thickness of each film for the above θ ₁ to θ ₄ and r _{1 to} r ₅ . first calculated sequentially calculates the value of r _c from r _a then substituting these values, then r ₁ and r _a Calculate the r By inputting, obtained by multiplying the complex conjugate of r the resulting amplitude reflectance r.

Next, the alignment film 15 facing the liquid crystal layer 50 obtained by performing the above-described simulation,
4 and 5 show the relationship between the reflectance (R) of the laminated body including the insulating film 12, the transparent electrode 11, the second insulating film 13, and the reflection plate 14 and the thickness d ₄ (nm) of the second insulating film 13. Shown in Here, the reflectance (R) of the laminated body with respect to light having a wavelength of 550 nm corresponding to green light, which is highly sensitive to human vision and is important in determining the brightness of a display image, is determined. It is as follows.

[0059] refractive index n ₃ of the refractive index n ₂ = 1.75 transparent electrode film 11 having a refractive index n ₁ = 1.65 the first insulating film 12 having a refractive index n _o = 1.6 alignment film 15 of the liquid crystal layer 50 = 1.9 Refractive index n ₄ of second insulating film 13 = 1.46 Film thickness d ₁ of alignment film 15 = 40 (nm) Film thickness d ₂ of first insulating film 12 = 75 (nm) and second insulation While changing the thickness d _{4 of the} film 13 from 0 to 200 nm as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, respectively, the thickness d ₃ of the transparent electrode film 11 is 30, 60, and 60 as shown in FIG. For each of 90, 120 and 150 (nm) and 150, 180, 210, 240 and 270 (nm) as shown in FIG. I do.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the second insulating film 1
By varying the third film thickness d _4, the reflectance R of the laminate, as the center value of about 87%, above about 90 to 91
The lower percentage is about 83-84%, which varies periodically in a trigonometric function. Therefore, in consideration of such a change characteristic, the transparent electrode 11,
When the first insulating film 12 and the second insulating film 13 are formed, a high reflectance can be obtained very efficiently using a relatively simple structure. Therefore, the first and second insulating films d ₂ and d _{2 in} order to relatively increase the reflectance that fluctuates around about 87% (to make it higher than about 87%, which is the center of fluctuation). When obtaining the condition of d _4, the thickness d of the first insulation film
₂ is in the range of 50 to 100 nm and the thickness d4 of the second insulating film is in the range of ₄₀ to 120 nm.

As described above, the refractive index n ₂ of the first insulating film is set to be larger than the refractive index n ₁ of the alignment film and smaller than the refractive index n ₃ of the transparent electrode film, and the refractive index n 2 of the second insulating film is changed. _Four
When set also respectively smaller than the refractive index n ₃ of the refractive index n ₁ and the transparent electrode film of the alignment film, the refractive index of the first insulating film 12 n ₂
And the refractive index n ₄ of the second insulating film, or the refractive index and the film thickness of the transparent electrode 11 and the alignment film 15 are almost constant, and the film thickness d ₂ of the first insulating film 12 is 50 to 100 nm. The thickness d ₄ of the second insulating film 13 is set within the range of ₄₀ to 1
By setting the thickness within the range of 20 nm, the reflectance R of the stacked body on the first substrate 10 with respect to external light (in particular, light having a wavelength of about 550 nm) can be extremely efficiently increased.

As a result, according to the reflection type liquid crystal device of the present embodiment, external light (in particular, light having a wavelength of about 550 nm) incident through the liquid crystal layer 50 in the laminated body on the first substrate 10 is obtained. A high reflectance R can be obtained, and finally a high-quality image display with a particularly bright reflective display can be realized.

The thickness d ₁ of the alignment film 15 is, for example, 10 to 80 n so as to function well as the alignment film.
m, and the thickness d ₃ of the transparent electrode 11 is, for example, 3 so as to function well as a pixel electrode.
What is necessary is just to set to 0-270 nm.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the reflection plate 14 on the upper side of the first substrate 10 is compared with a conventional reflection type liquid crystal device that reflects light by the reflection plate provided outside the first substrate.
Since external light is reflected by the multiple reflection by the laminated body including the second insulating film 13, the transparent electrode 11, the first insulating film 12, and the alignment film 15, the parallax in the display image is reduced by the shortened optical path and the display image is reduced. Also the brightness at is improved.

In addition, if the transparent electrode 11 and the alignment film 15 were formed on the first substrate 10 without the interposition of the first insulating film 12, especially in the liquid crystal layer 50 or the sealing material 31, When a conductive foreign substance having a size larger than the gap material (spacer) is mixed in the liquid crystal layer 50, the transparent electrodes 11 and 21 are short-circuited by breaking the alignment films 15 and 25. Highly likely to occur. However, according to the first embodiment, the alignment film 15
The occurrence probability of such a device defect can be remarkably reduced by the presence of the first insulating film 12 having higher strength or by the cooperation between the alignment film 15 and the first insulating film 12.

In the first embodiment, as described above, the first insulating film 12 and the second insulating film 13 contain silicon oxide, and the reflection plate 14 is mainly made of aluminum.
The reflectance can be improved with a relatively easy manufacturing process and a relatively low cost. However, even if the main component of the reflection plate 14 is another metal such as silver or chromium, the effects of the first embodiment as described above can be obtained.

In the first embodiment described above, the first insulating film 12 preferably contains inorganic oxide particles having an average particle size of 50 nm or less. With this configuration, the adhesiveness to the alignment film 15 formed on the first insulating film 12 is improved, and the reflective liquid crystal device can be manufactured relatively easily, and the device reliability can be increased. Such inorganic oxide particles, for example, silicon oxide particles, aluminum oxide particles,
It is made of antimony oxide particles, and such an inorganic oxide particle can be relatively easily contained in a silicon oxide film by, for example, a sol-gel method.

In the first embodiment described above, the terminal portion of the transparent electrode 11 extended to the terminal region on the first substrate 10 and the terminal portion of the transparent electrode 21 extended to the terminal region on the second substrate 10 are provided. Is, for example, TAB (Tape Automated Bon
ding) A driving L including a data line driving circuit and a scanning line driving circuit which are mounted on a substrate and supply an image signal and a scanning signal to the transparent electrode 11 and the transparent electrode 21 at a predetermined timing.
The SI may be electrically and mechanically connected via an anisotropic conductive film. Alternatively, in the peripheral region on the first substrate 10 or the second substrate 20 outside the sealing material 31,
Such a data line driving circuit or a scanning line driving circuit may be formed to constitute a so-called reflection type liquid crystal device having a built-in driving circuit. A so-called reflection type liquid crystal device having a built-in peripheral circuit may be formed by forming an inspection circuit or the like for inspection.

On the side of the second substrate 20 where external light enters and exits, for example, TN (Twisted Nematic) mode, VA
(Vertically Aligned) mode, PDLC (Polymer Dispe
A polarizing film, a retardation film, a polarizing plate, and the like are arranged in a predetermined direction according to an operation mode such as an rsed liquid crystal (rsed liquid crystal) mode or a normally white mode / normally black mode. Further, a micro lens may be formed on the second substrate 20 so as to correspond to one pixel. In this case, a bright liquid crystal device can be realized by improving the efficiency of collecting incident light. Furthermore, a dichroic filter that produces RGB colors using light interference may be formed by depositing many layers of interference layers having different refractive indexes on the second substrate 20. According to the counter substrate with the dichroic filter, a brighter color liquid crystal device can be realized.

Next, the operation of the reflection type liquid crystal device of the first embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 2, when external light is incident from the side of the second substrate 20, the alignment film 15 and the first insulating film provided on the first substrate 10 via the transparent second substrate 20 and the liquid crystal layer 50. 12, transparent electrode 11, second insulating film 13, and reflector 14
The light is multiple-reflected by the laminate composed of and is emitted again from the second substrate 20 side via the liquid crystal layer 50 and the second substrate 20. Therefore, the transparent electrode 11 and the transparent electrode 2
1, if an image signal and a scanning signal are supplied at a predetermined timing, an electric field is sequentially applied to the liquid crystal layer 50 at a place where the transparent electrode 11 and the transparent electrode 21 intersect for each row, column, or pixel. . Here, for example, the second substrate 2
If a polarizing plate is disposed on the outer surface of the pixel 0, the external light is modulated by controlling the alignment state of the liquid crystal layer 50 for each pixel by the transparent electrode 11, and gradation display is possible.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the liquid crystal device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the second embodiment, the present invention is applied to a transflective liquid crystal device. Here, FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the second embodiment. Components similar to those of the first embodiment shown in FIG. Omitted.

In FIG. 6, the transflective liquid crystal device of the second embodiment is different from the reflection plate 14 of the first embodiment.
Instead of a transflective plate 111,
In addition to the configuration of the first embodiment, the liquid crystal layer 5 of the first substrate 10
A polarizing plate 107 and a retardation plate 108 are provided on the side opposite to 0, and a polarizing plate 105 and a retardation plate 106 are provided on the side of the second substrate 20 opposite to the liquid crystal layer 50. Further, on the outside of the polarizing plate 107, a fluorescent tube 119 and a light guide plate 118 for guiding light from the fluorescent tube 119 from the polarizing plate 107 into the liquid crystal panel are provided. Other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

The transflective plate 111 is made of Ag, Al, or the like. Transflective reflector 111
2 μm for transmitting light from the first substrate 10
An opening having a diameter of m is provided. The total area of the openings is about 10% of the total area of the transflective plate 111, and the openings are provided at random.

Here, the electric field applied to the liquid crystal layer 50 by the transparent electrode 11 laminated on the transflective plate 111 in the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. FIG. 7 shows a fine (for example, 2 μm diameter) opening 1.
In a comparative example using a semi-transmissive reflective electrode 111 'having a single-layer structure serving also as a transflective plate provided with a semi-transmissive reflective electrode 11a' and a pixel electrode, a state of an electric field applied to the liquid crystal layer by the transflective reflective electrode 111 ' FIG. FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram schematically showing a state of an electric field applied to the liquid crystal layer by the transparent electrode 11 laminated on the transflective plate 111 in the second embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 7, when the transflective electrode 111 'made of a single conductive layer is used in the comparative example, during reflection type display, the light reflected by the non-opening area except for the opening area At is used. The liquid crystal portion through which light passes can be driven by the vertical electric field Fr (electric field in a direction perpendicular to the substrate) by the transflective electrode 111 ′ in the non-opening region. However, at the time of transmissive display, the opening 11 of the transflective electrode 111 ′ is used.
The liquid crystal portion in the opening region At through which the light source light incident from 1a ′ passes passes through the transflective electrode 11 in the non-opening portion.
It must be driven by the oblique electric field Ft 'by the 1' portion.
That is, at the time of transmissive display, display is performed by driving the liquid crystal by the distorted electric field in the opening region At, so that the display quality is deteriorated due to the disorder of the liquid crystal alignment as compared with the case of driving the liquid crystal by the vertical electric field.

As shown in FIG. 8, on the other hand, in the second embodiment, the transparent electrode 11 having no opening provided thereon is laminated on the semi-transmissive reflection plate 111 having the fine opening 111a. In the case of the reflection type display, the transparent electrode 1 in the non-opening region is used as in the comparative example.
One portion can be driven by the vertical electric field Fr. In addition, even in the transmissive display mode, the liquid crystal portion in the opening region At through which the light source light incident from the opening 111a of the transflective electrode 111 passes can be driven by the vertical electric field Ft by the portion of the transparent electrode 11 facing the opening 111a. . In this way, the pattern of the semi-transmissive reflector 111 has no effect on the electric field applied to the liquid crystal layer by the transparent electrode 11, so that the transparent electrode 11 does not affect the electric field applied to the liquid crystal layer. Due to the vertical electric field applied from the electrode 11, the alignment direction of the liquid crystal becomes uniform in each dot or each pixel, and it is possible to prevent the display quality from deteriorating due to the disorder in the alignment direction.

Here, various specific examples of the opening of the transflective plate 111 in each embodiment described above will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 9A, four rectangular slots may be arranged on four sides for each pixel, or as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 9, four rectangular slots may be arranged side by side for each pixel, a large number of circular openings may be discretely arranged for each pixel as shown in FIG. d) One relatively large rectangular slot may be arranged for each pixel as shown. Such an opening can be easily formed in a photo step / developing step / peeling step using a resist. The planar shape of the opening 111a may be a square, a polygon, an ellipse, an irregular shape, or a slit extending over a plurality of pixels. It is also possible to open the opening at the same time as forming the reflective layer, so that the number of manufacturing steps does not need to be increased. Also, regardless of the shape,
The diameter of the opening is 0.01 μm or more and 20 μm or less,
Further, the opening is preferably formed at an area ratio of 5% or more and 30% or less with respect to the reflective layer.

Alternatively, such a transflective plate 111
May be composed of a plurality of reflectors that are separated from each other when viewed in a plan view from a direction perpendicular to the second substrate 20, and that a gap between the reflectors serves as a light transmission region. It may be made of a metal thin film that can be transmitted and is extremely thin so that light can be transmitted, or a semi-transmissive reflective film such as a commercially available half mirror or a known reflective polarizer. With such a configuration, the transflective layer can be configured without providing a large number of fine defects and fine openings that cause complication of the device configuration and the manufacturing process. Also, the production yield can be improved.

Referring again to FIG. 6, the light guide plate 118 which constitutes the backlight together with the fluorescent tube 119 is made of a transparent material such as an acrylic resin plate having a rough surface for scattering formed on the entire back surface or a printed layer for scattering. The light from the fluorescent tube 119, which is a body and a light source, is received at the end face, and substantially uniform light is emitted from the upper surface of the drawing.

As described above, in the second embodiment, the polarizing plate 105 and the retardation plate 106 are disposed above the liquid crystal cell, and the polarizing plate 107 and the retardation plate 108 are disposed below the liquid crystal cell.
, Good display control can be performed in both the reflective display and the transmissive display. More specifically, the phase difference plate 106 reduces the influence on the color tone such as coloring caused by the wavelength dispersion of light at the time of reflection type display (that is, the display at the time of reflection type display using the phase difference plate 106). In addition, the phase difference plate 108 reduces the influence on the color tone such as coloring due to the wavelength dispersion of the light in the transmission type display (that is, the phase difference plate 106 optimizes the display in the reflection type display). Under such conditions, it is possible to further optimize the display at the time of transmission type display by the phase difference plate 108). In addition, it is also possible to arrange a plurality of retardation plates 106 and 108 by color compensation of a liquid crystal cell or viewing angle compensation, respectively. Thus, the phase difference plate 106 or 10
8, if a plurality of retardation plates are used, optimization of coloring compensation or visual compensation can be more easily performed.

Further, the polarizing plate 105 and the retardation plate 10
6. The optical characteristics of the liquid crystal layer 50 and the transflective plate 111 are set so as to enhance the contrast at the time of reflective display.
By setting the optical characteristics in 08 to enhance the contrast in the transmissive display, high contrast characteristics can be obtained in both the reflective display and the transmissive display. For example, at the time of reflective display, external light
The light passes through the polarizing plate 105 and becomes linearly polarized light.
06 and the liquid crystal layer 5 in a voltage non-applied state (dark display state)
Through the zero portion, the light becomes right-circularly polarized light and reaches the transflective plate 111, where it is reflected and the traveling direction is reversed and converted to left-handed circularly polarized light.
The optical characteristics of the polarizing plate 105, the phase difference plate 106, the liquid crystal layer 50, and the transflective plate 111 are set so that the light is converted into linearly polarized light through the portion and is absorbed (ie, darkened) by the polarizing plate 105. . At this time, the external light passing through the liquid crystal layer 50 in the voltage applied state (bright display state) is
Since the light passes through the portion, the light is reflected by the semi-transmissive reflection plate 111 and is emitted from the polarizing plate 105 (that is, becomes bright).
On the other hand, at the time of the transmissive display, the light source light emitted from the backlight and transmitted through the transflective plate 111 via the polarizing plate 107 and the phase difference plate 108 is transmitted by the transflective plate 111 at the time of the reflective display. The polarizing plate 107 and the phase difference plate 108 so that the reflected light becomes the same as the left circularly polarized light.
Is set. Then, although the light source and the optical path are different from those in the reflective display, the light source light transmitted through the transflective plate 111 in the transmissive display is reflected by the transflective plate 111 in the reflective display. Like the light, the light is converted into linearly polarized light through the portion of the liquid crystal layer 50 in a voltage non-applied state (dark display state), and is absorbed by the polarizing plate 105 (ie, becomes darker). At this time, the light passing through the liquid crystal layer 50 in the voltage applied state (bright display state) is
The light passes through the portion and is emitted from the polarizing plate 105 (that is,
Brighter).

As described above, the polarizing plate 105, the retardation plate 106, the liquid crystal layer 50, and the transflective plate 1 can provide high contrast characteristics in both the reflective display and the transmissive display.
FIGS. 10 and 11 show two specific examples of the optical characteristics of the polarizing plate 107 and the retardation plate 108. FIG.
In FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, the five stacked rectangles respectively represent a polarizing plate 105, a retardation plate 106,
Each layer of the liquid crystal cell including the liquid crystal layer 50 and the like, the retardation plate 108 and the polarizing plate 107 is shown, and the axial direction is indicated by the arrow drawn in each rectangle. In the examples shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the upper retardation plate 106 of the liquid crystal cell is composed of two retardation plates (hereinafter, referred to as a first retardation plate 106a and a second retardation plate 106b). Further, in the example shown in FIG. 11, the lower retardation plate 108 on the lower side of the liquid crystal cell includes two retardation plates (the third retardation plate 108a and the fourth retardation plate 1).
08b).

In FIG. 10, the absorption axis 1 of the polarizing plate 105 is shown.
Reference numeral 301 denotes 35.5 degrees to the left with respect to the longitudinal direction of the panel.
The delay axis direction 1302 of the first retardation plate 106a is 102.5 degrees to the left with respect to the longitudinal direction of the panel, and its retardation is 455 nm. The delay axis direction 1303 of the second retardation plate 106b is the left 4
8.5 degrees and its retardation is 544 nm. The rubbing direction 1304 of the alignment film on the transparent substrate 20 side of the liquid crystal cell is 37.5 degrees to the right with respect to the longitudinal direction of the panel. Rubbing direction 130 on the transparent substrate 10 side of the liquid crystal cell
5 is 37.5 degrees to the left with respect to the panel longitudinal direction. The liquid crystal is twisted 255 degrees counterclockwise from the transparent substrate 20 toward the transparent substrate 10. The product of the birefringence Δn of the liquid crystal and the cell gap d is 0.90 μm. The delay axis direction 1306 of the phase difference plate 108 is 0.5 degrees to the right with respect to the longitudinal direction of the panel, and the retardation is 140 n.
m. The absorption axis 1307 of the polarizing plate 107 is 49.5 degrees to the left with respect to the longitudinal direction of the panel. Under this condition, green light having a wavelength of 560 nm passes through the transflective plate 111 disposed in the liquid crystal cell in a state of elliptically polarized light having an ellipticity of 0.85 under the conditions. Also,
The rotation direction is clockwise, and the light enters from the polarizing plate 105 side, passes through the liquid crystal layer in the dark display state, and is transmitted through the transflective plate 11.
The polarization state becomes almost the same as that of the external light reflected at 1. Therefore, if the optical characteristics are set as in this example, high contrast characteristics can be obtained in both the reflective display and the transmissive display.

In FIG. 11, the absorption axis 1 of the polarizing plate 105 is shown.
Reference numeral 401 denotes left 110 degrees with respect to the panel longitudinal direction. The delay axis direction 1402 of the first retardation plate 106a is 127.5 degrees to the left with respect to the longitudinal direction of the panel, and the retardation is 270 nm. The delay axis direction 1403 of the second retardation plate 106b is 10 degrees to the left with respect to the longitudinal direction of the panel, and the retardation is 140 nm. Rubbing direction 140 of alignment film on transparent substrate 20 side of liquid crystal cell
4 is 51 degrees to the right with respect to the panel longitudinal direction. The rubbing direction 1405 on the transparent substrate 10 side of the liquid crystal cell is at left 50 degrees with respect to the panel longitudinal direction. The liquid crystal is a transparent substrate 2
It is twisted 79 degrees clockwise from 0 toward the transparent substrate 10. The product of the birefringence Δn of the liquid crystal and the cell gap d is 0.24 μm. The delay axis direction 1406 of the third retardation plate 108a is 100 degrees to the left with respect to the longitudinal direction of the panel, and its retardation is 140 nm. The delay axis direction 1407 of the fourth retardation plate 108b is 37.5 degrees to the left with respect to the longitudinal direction of the panel, and its retardation is 270 nm. Absorption axis 140 of polarizing plate 108
Reference numeral 8 denotes left 20 degrees with respect to the panel longitudinal direction. Under this condition, the light emitted from the backlight has a wavelength of 560
The light passes through the semi-transmissive reflection plate 111 arranged in the liquid crystal cell in a relatively wide wavelength range centered on green light of nm, and in an elliptically polarized state having an ellipticity of 0.96 at the maximum, which is very close to circularly polarized light. The direction of rotation is counterclockwise.
The polarization state is substantially the same as that of the external light that enters from the fifth side and passes through the liquid crystal layer in the dark display state and is reflected by the transflective plate 111. Therefore, if the optical characteristics are set as in this example, high contrast characteristics can be obtained in both the reflective display and the transmissive display.

As described above with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11, the liquid crystal device of the present invention includes the polarizing plate 105 and the retardation plate 106 and the polarizing plate 107 and the retardation plate 108, so that the reflection type display is performed. It is possible to obtain good color compensation and high contrast characteristics in both the transmission type and the transmission type display. For setting these optical characteristics,
The settings are not limited to those illustrated in FIGS. 10 and 11, but can be set experimentally, theoretically, or by simulation, or the like, in accordance with the brightness and contrast ratio required in the specifications of the liquid crystal device.

In the second embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the refractive index n ₂ of the first insulating film 12 is larger than the refractive index n ₁ of the alignment film 15 and the refractive index of the transparent electrode film 11. n ₃
Is set smaller than a refractive index n ₄ of the second insulating film 13, than the refractive index n ₃ of the refractive index n ₁ and the transparent electrode film 11 of the alignment film 15 is set respectively small, the first insulating The thickness d _{2 of the} film 12 is set in the range of 50 to 100 nm, and the thickness d ₄ of the second insulating film 13 is 40 to 120 nm.
It is set within the range of nm. Therefore, according to the transflective liquid crystal device of the second embodiment, at the time of the reflective display, as in the case of the first embodiment, the light enters through the liquid crystal layer 50 in the stacked body on the first substrate 10. Outside light (especially
High reflectance with respect to light having a wavelength of about 550 nm).

Further, according to the present embodiment, the transflective plate on the upper side of the first substrate 10 is different from the conventional transflective liquid crystal device in which the light is reflected by the transflective plate provided outside the first substrate. 111, the second insulating film 13, the transparent electrode 11,
Since external light is reflected by multiple reflection by the stacked body composed of the first insulating film 12 and the alignment film 15, parallax in a display image is reduced and brightness in the display image is improved by the shortened optical path.

Next, the operation of the transflective liquid crystal device of the second embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the reflection type display will be described. In this case, similarly to the case of the first embodiment, when external light enters from the second substrate 20 side in FIG. 6, the external light is placed on the first substrate 10 via the transparent second substrate 20 and the liquid crystal layer 50. The multi-reflection is performed by the laminated body including the alignment film 15, the first insulating film 12, the transparent electrode 11, the second insulating film 13, and the semi-transmissive reflection plate 111. The light is emitted from the two substrates 20 side. Therefore, if an image signal and a scanning signal are supplied from an external circuit to the transparent electrode 11 and the transparent electrode 21 at a predetermined timing, the liquid crystal layer 50 at the place where the transparent electrode 11 and the transparent electrode 21 intersect each other may be arranged in rows or columns. An electric field is sequentially applied to each pixel or each pixel. Thus, by controlling the alignment state of the liquid crystal layer 50 on a pixel-by-pixel basis, external light can be modulated and a gray scale display can be performed.

Next, the transmission type display will be described. In this case, when light from the lower side of the first substrate 10 in FIG. 6 is incident, the light passes through the opening of the semi-transmissive reflector 111, Is emitted from. Therefore, if an image signal and a scanning signal are supplied from an external circuit to the transparent electrode 11 and the transparent electrode 21 at a predetermined timing, the liquid crystal layer 50 at the place where the transparent electrode 11 and the transparent electrode 21 intersect each other may be arranged in rows or columns. An electric field is sequentially applied to each pixel or each pixel. Thus, by controlling the alignment state of the liquid crystal layer 50 on a pixel-by-pixel basis, the light source light is modulated and gradation display is possible.

In the first and second embodiments, the surfaces of the reflection plate 14 and the semi-transmissive reflection plate 111 facing the liquid crystal layer 50 are made uneven so that the mirror surface is eliminated and the scattering surface (white surface) is removed. ). The viewing angle may be widened by scattering due to unevenness. This uneven shape can be formed by using a photosensitive acrylic resin or the like for the base of the reflection plate 14 or the transflective reflection plate 111, or by roughening the base substrate itself with hydrofluoric acid. Note that a transparent flattening film is formed on the uneven surface of the reflection plate 14 or the semi-transmissive reflection plate 111, and the surface facing the liquid crystal layer 50 (the surface on which the alignment film is formed) is flattened. It is desirable from the viewpoint of preventing poor alignment.

Third Embodiment Next, a third embodiment of the liquid crystal device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the third embodiment, the present invention is applied to a TFD active matrix driving type transflective liquid crystal device.

First, the configuration near the TFD drive element used in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 12 is a plan view schematically showing a TFD driving element together with a pixel electrode and the like.
FIG. 13 is a sectional view taken along the line BB ′ of FIG. In FIG. 13, the scale of each layer and each member is different in order to make each layer and each member a recognizable size in the drawing.

12 and 13, the TFD drive element 40 is formed on a second insulating film 13 formed on a TFD array substrate 10 ', which is another example of the first substrate, as a base. The first metal film 42, the insulating layer 44, and the second metal film 46 are sequentially formed from the side of the second insulating film 13, and have a TFD structure or an MIM structure. And T
The first metal film 42 of the FD drive element 40 is connected to a scanning line 61 formed on the TFD array substrate 10 ′,
The second metal film 46 is connected to the pixel electrode 62.
Note that a data line (to be described later) is replaced with a TFD instead of the scanning line 61.
The scanning lines 61 may be formed on the array substrate 10 ', connected to the pixel electrodes 62, and provided on the counter substrate side.

The TFD array substrate 10 'is made of, for example, an insulating and transparent substrate such as glass or plastic, or an opaque semiconductor substrate. As described above, in the present embodiment, the second insulating film 13 also functions as a base film of the TFD element 40. If there is no problem, or if there is no problem in the surface condition of the TFD array substrate 10 ', such a base film can be omitted. The first metal film 42 is made of a conductive metal thin film, for example, tantalum alone or a tantalum alloy. Insulating film 4
Numeral 4 comprises an oxide film formed by anodic oxidation on the surface of the first metal film 42 in a chemical conversion solution, for example. The second metal film 46 is made of a conductive metal thin film, for example, chromium alone or a chromium alloy.

In the present embodiment, in particular, the pixel electrode 62 is made of, for example, IT
It consists of an O film. That is, the pixel electrode 62 functions as a transparent pixel electrode laminated on the transflective plate 111 of the transflective liquid crystal device via the second insulating film 13. As shown in FIG. 12, in the present embodiment, the semi-transmissive reflection plate 111 is formed in an island shape for each pixel, and the gap therebetween functions as a light transmission region.

Further, the pixel electrode 62, the TFD driving element 4
The first insulating film 12 is provided on the side facing the liquid crystal (the upper surface in the figure), such as the scanning line 61 and the scanning line 61, and the alignment film 15 is provided thereon as in the case of the first embodiment. ing.

Although several examples of the TFD drive element as the two-terminal type nonlinear element have been described above, a bidirectional element such as a ZnO (zinc oxide) varistor, an MSI (Metal Semi-Insulator) drive element, and an RD (Ring Diode) is used. A two-terminal non-linear element having diode characteristics can be applied to the transflective liquid crystal device of the present embodiment.

Next, the configuration and operation of the reflection type liquid crystal device of the TFD active matrix driving system according to the second embodiment, which includes the TFD driving elements configured as described above, are shown in FIGS. Will be explained. Here, FIG. 14 is an equivalent circuit diagram showing the liquid crystal element together with the drive circuit, and FIG. 15 is a partially cutaway perspective view schematically showing the liquid crystal element.

In FIG. 14, in the liquid crystal device of the TFD active matrix drive system, a plurality of scanning lines 61 arranged on a TFD array substrate
0, and a plurality of data lines 71 arranged on the opposite substrate are connected to the X driver circuit 110. The Y driver circuit 100 and the X driver circuit 1
10 may be formed on the TFD array substrate 10 'or its counter substrate, or may be an external I / O independent of the liquid crystal device.
C, and may be connected to the scanning lines 61 and the data lines 71 via predetermined wiring.

In each pixel area of the matrix, the scanning line 61 is connected to one terminal of the TFD drive element 40 (see FIGS. 12 and 13), and the data line 71 is connected to the liquid crystal layer 50 and the pixel electrode 62. Through the TFD drive element 40
Is connected to the other terminal. Therefore, a scanning signal is supplied to the scanning line 61 corresponding to each pixel region, and the data line 7
When the data signal is supplied to the pixel region 1, the TFD driving element 40 in the pixel region is turned on, and a driving voltage is applied to the liquid crystal layer 50 between the pixel electrode 62 and the data line 71 via the TFD driving element 40. You.

In FIG. 15, the transflective liquid crystal device includes a TFD array substrate 10 ′ and a transparent second substrate (opposite substrate) 20 disposed opposite to the TFD array substrate 10 ′.

The second substrate 20 has a plurality of data lines 7 extending in a direction intersecting the scanning lines 61 and arranged in a strip shape.
1 is provided. The alignment film 25 is provided below the data line 71. The data line 71 is, for example, ITO
It is made of a transparent conductive thin film such as a film. In FIG. 15, optical elements such as a light source and a polarizing plate are omitted.

As described above, the TF of the second embodiment
According to the semi-transmissive reflective liquid crystal device of the D active matrix drive system, the electric field is sequentially applied between the pixel electrode 62 and the data line 71 to the liquid crystal portion of each pixel electrode 62 so that the alignment state of each liquid crystal portion is Can be controlled, and the external light intensity and the light source light intensity emitted as display light through each liquid crystal portion can be controlled. Here, as in the case of the second embodiment, in the pixel opening region, the alignment film 15, the first insulating film 12, the pixel electrode (transparent electrode) 6 in the order from the liquid crystal layer 50 side.
2. Since the second insulating film 13 and the transflective plate 111 are formed, a high reflectance can be obtained at the time of the reflective display. In the transmission type display, the liquid crystal is driven by the vertical electric field, so that the alignment state of the liquid crystal is excellent. In particular, TF
To supply power to each pixel electrode 62 via D40,
Crosstalk between the pixel electrodes 62 can be reduced, and higher-quality image display can be performed.

(Fourth Embodiment) Next, a fourth embodiment of the liquid crystal device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the fourth embodiment, the present invention is applied to a transflective liquid crystal device of a TFT active matrix driving system. FIG. 16 is an equivalent circuit diagram of various elements, wirings, and the like in a plurality of pixels formed in a matrix forming an image display area of a liquid crystal device. FIG. FIG. 18 is a plan view of a plurality of pixel groups adjacent to each other on the TFT array substrate.
It is CC 'sectional drawing of FIG. In FIG. 18, the scale of each layer and each member is different in order to make each layer and each member a recognizable size in the drawing.

In FIG. 16, in the transflective liquid crystal device of the TFT active matrix system of the fourth embodiment,
A plurality of TFTs 130 for controlling the pixel electrode 62 are formed in a matrix, and a data line 135 to which an image signal is supplied is electrically connected to a source of the TFT 130. Image signals S1 and S to be written to the data line 135
2,..., Sn may be supplied line-sequentially in this order, or may be supplied to a plurality of adjacent data lines 135 for each group. Also, TFT1
The scanning lines 131 are electrically connected to the gates of the scanning lines 30. The scanning signals G1, G2,... ing. The pixel electrode 62 is a TFT1
The image signals S1, S2,..., And Sn supplied from the data line 135 are written at a predetermined timing by closing the switch of the TFT 130, which is a switching element, for a predetermined period. . The image signals S1, S2,..., Sn of a predetermined level written to the liquid crystal via the pixel electrodes 62 are held for a certain period between the image signals S1, S2,. Here, in order to prevent the held image signal from leaking, a storage capacitor 170 is added in parallel with a liquid crystal capacitor formed between the pixel electrode 62 and the counter electrode.

In FIG. 17, a matrix of pixel electrodes 62 (the outline 62a of which is shown by a dotted line in the figure) is provided on the TFT array substrate.
Data line 135, scan line 1 along the vertical and horizontal boundaries of
31 and a capacitance line 132 are provided. Data line 13
Reference numeral 5 is electrically connected to the source region of the semiconductor layer 1a made of a polysilicon film or the like via the contact hole 5. The pixel electrode 62 is electrically connected to the drain region of the semiconductor layer 1a via the contact hole 8. The capacitance line 132 is opposed to the first storage capacitance electrode extending from the drain region of the semiconductor layer 1a via the insulating film, and forms the storage capacitance 170. In addition, the scanning line 131 is arranged so as to face the channel region 1a 'indicated by the hatched region in the semiconductor layer 1a which rises to the right in the figure, and the scanning line 131 functions as a gate electrode.
As described above, at the intersections of the scanning lines 131 and the data lines 135, the TFTs 130 in which the scanning lines 131 are opposed to each other as gate electrodes in the channel region 1a 'are provided.

As shown in FIG. 17, the liquid crystal device includes a TFT array substrate 10 ″ that constitutes another example of the first substrate, and a transparent second substrate (opposite substrate) 20 that is disposed to face the TFT array substrate 10 ″. Particularly, in the present embodiment, the pixel electrode 62 provided on the TFT array substrate 10 ″ is made of, for example, an ITO film, like the transparent electrode 11 in the first embodiment.
That is, the pixel electrode 62 functions as a transparent pixel electrode laminated on the transflective plate 111 of the transflective liquid crystal device via the second insulating film 13. Note that FIG.
In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
Are formed in an island shape for each pixel, and the gap is configured to function as a light transmission region. Pixel electrode 6
2. The side facing the liquid crystal such as the TFT 130 (upper surface in the figure)
Is provided with a first insulating film 12 and an alignment film 15 as in the case of the first embodiment.

On the other hand, a counter electrode 121 as another example of a transparent electrode is provided on almost the entire surface of the second substrate 20, and a non-opening region of each pixel is called a black mask or a black matrix. The second light shielding film 122 is provided. An alignment film 25 is provided below the counter electrode 121.

On the TFT array substrate 10 ″, a pixel switching TFT 130 for controlling the switching of each pixel electrode 62 is provided at a position adjacent to each pixel electrode 62.

As described above, the pixel electrode 62 and the counter electrode 121
And the TFT array substrate 10 "
Liquid crystal is sealed in a space surrounded by the sealing material between the first substrate and the second substrate 20 as in the first embodiment, and a liquid crystal layer 50 is formed.

Further, a plurality of pixel switching TFTs 3
Below 0, a first interlayer insulating film 112 is provided.
The first interlayer insulating film 112 functions as a base film for the TFT 30 by being formed on the entire surface of the TFT array substrate 10.

In FIG. 18, a TF for pixel switching is used.
T130 is connected to the data line 13 via the contact hole 5.
5, a channel region 1 a ′ opposed to the scanning line 131 via a gate insulating film, and a drain region connected to the pixel electrode 62 via a contact hole 8. The data line 131 is
It is composed of a light-shielding and conductive thin film such as a low-resistance metal film such as Al or an alloy film such as metal silicide. A second interlayer insulating film 114 having contact holes 5 and 8 formed thereon is further formed thereon, and a third interlayer insulating film 117 having the contact hole 8 formed therein is further formed thereon. Is formed.

The pixel switching TFT 130 is an LD
The TFT may have any structure such as a D structure, an offset structure, and a self-aligned structure. In addition to single gate structure, T
The FT 130 may be configured.

As described above, the TF of the fourth embodiment
According to the transflective liquid crystal device of the T active matrix drive system, between the pixel electrode 62 and the counter electrode 121,
By sequentially applying an electric field to the liquid crystal portion of each pixel electrode 62, the alignment state of each liquid crystal portion can be controlled,
External light intensity or light source light intensity emitted as display light through each liquid crystal portion can be controlled. Here, as in the case of the second embodiment, in the pixel opening region, the alignment film 15, the first insulating film 12, the pixel electrode (transparent electrode) 62, the second insulating film 13, and the semi-transmissive film are arranged in this order from the liquid crystal layer 50 side. Since the reflection plate 111 is formed, a high reflectance can be obtained at the time of the reflection type display. In the transmission type display, the liquid crystal is driven by the vertical electric field, so that the alignment state of the liquid crystal is excellent. In particular, since power is supplied to each pixel electrode 62 via the TFT 130, crosstalk between the pixel electrodes 62 can be reduced, and higher quality image display can be performed.

(Fifth Embodiment) Next, a reflection type liquid crystal device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The fifth embodiment includes various electronic apparatuses to which the above-described reflective or transflective liquid crystal devices according to the first to fourth embodiments of the present invention are applied.

First, the liquid crystal device according to the first to fourth embodiments is replaced with, for example, a mobile phone 10 as shown in FIG.
When applied to the display unit 1001 of 00, an energy-saving mobile phone that is bright, has high contrast, has little parallax, and performs high-definition monochrome or color display can be realized.

A wristwatch 1 as shown in FIG.
When applied to the 100 display units 1101, an energy-saving wristwatch that is bright, has high contrast, and has little parallax and displays black and white or color with high definition can be realized.

Further, in a personal computer (or information terminal) 1200 as shown in FIG.
Applying to No. 6, an energy-saving personal computer that is bright, has high contrast, and displays high-definition black and white or color with almost no parallax can be realized.

In addition to the electronic apparatus shown in FIG. 19, a liquid crystal television, a viewfinder type or a monitor direct-view type video tape recorder, a car navigation device, an electronic organizer, a calculator, a word processor, an engineering workstation (EWS), Videophone, POS terminal,
Electronic devices such as devices with touch panels, etc.
Accordingly, the reflective or transflective liquid crystal device of the fourth embodiment can be applied.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be implemented by appropriately changing the embodiments without changing the gist of the present invention.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a reflection type liquid crystal device of a passive matrix driving system according to a first embodiment of the present invention viewed from a counter substrate side with a color filter formed on the counter substrate removed for convenience. It is.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the reflection type liquid crystal device showing a cross section taken along line AA ′ of FIG. 1 including a color filter.

FIG. 3 is a characteristic diagram showing an example of a chart for obtaining optical constants n and k for aluminum constituting a reflector in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a characteristic diagram (part 1) showing the relationship between the thickness of a second insulating film and the reflectance for each film thickness of a transparent electrode, obtained by simulation in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a characteristic diagram (part 2) showing the relationship between the film thickness of the second insulating film and the reflectance for each film thickness of the transparent electrode, obtained by simulation in the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view of a transflective liquid crystal device of a passive matrix driving system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram schematically showing an electric field applied to a liquid crystal layer by a transflective electrode having a single-layer structure in a comparative example.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram schematically showing a state of an electric field applied to a liquid crystal layer by a transparent electrode laminated on a transflective plate in the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged plan view showing various specific examples of an opening provided in the transflective layer of the second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a preferable optical characteristic setting pattern in the second embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a conceptual diagram showing another example of a setting pattern of an optical characteristic suitable in the second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a plan view schematically showing a TFD drive element used in a TFD active matrix drive type liquid crystal device according to a third embodiment of the present invention, together with pixel electrodes and the like.

13 is a sectional view taken along the line B-B 'of FIG.

FIG. 14 is an equivalent circuit diagram showing an equivalent circuit of a pixel portion of a liquid crystal device according to a third embodiment together with a peripheral driving circuit.

FIG. 15 is a partially broken perspective view schematically illustrating a liquid crystal device according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 16 is an equivalent circuit diagram of a pixel portion of a TFT active matrix driving type liquid crystal device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a plan view of a pixel portion of a liquid crystal device according to a fourth embodiment.

18 is a sectional view taken along the line C-C 'of FIG.

FIG. 19 is an external view of various electronic devices according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... 1st substrate 11 ... Transparent electrode 12 ... 1st insulating film 13 ... 2nd insulating film 14 ... Reflector 15 ... Alignment film 20 ... 2nd substrate 25 ... Alignment film 31 ... Sealing material 32 ... Sealing material 111 ... Half Transmission reflector

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2H090 HA04 HB03X HB08Y HD05 HD06 HD14 JB04 KA05 KA11 LA06 LA09 2H091 FA02Y FA08X FA08Z FA11X FA11Z FA14Y FA15Y FA23Z FA31Z FA35Y FA42X FB02 FB08 FC02 GA01 GA03 KA03 GA07 LA17 LA20 2H092 GA17 JA03 JA04 JA05 JA24 JB52 JB56 KA08 KB04 KB25 NA03 PA01 PA02 PA04 PA06 PA08 PA10 PA11 PA12

Claims (9)

[Claims] A transparent first substrate; a transparent second substrate opposed to the first substrate; a liquid crystal sandwiched between the first and second substrates; and a liquid crystal of the first substrate. A light source provided on the side opposite to the first substrate; a semi-transmissive reflective layer arranged on the side of the first substrate facing the second substrate; a transparent second insulating film arranged on the semi-transmissive reflective layer; A transparent electrode film disposed on the second insulating film, a transparent first insulating film disposed on the transparent electrode film, and an alignment film disposed on the first insulating film. The refractive index n ₂ of the first insulating film is equal to the refractive index n _{1 of the} alignment film.
It is set smaller than the refractive index n ₃ of large and the transparent electrode film than a refractive index n ₄ of the second insulating film, the refractive index n ₁ of the alignment layer
And the refractive index n ₃ of the transparent electrode film is set to be smaller than each other. The thickness d ₂ of the first insulating film is set in the range of 50 to 100 nm, and the film of the second insulating film The transflective liquid crystal device, wherein the thickness d4 is set in a range of ₄₀ to 120 nm. 2. The transflective layer includes a plurality of reflective films separated from each other when viewed in a plan view from a direction perpendicular to the second substrate. The transflective liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the transflective liquid crystal device is provided at a position facing the gap and a position facing the plurality of reflective films. 3. The semi-transmissive reflective layer includes a reflective film provided with a plurality of openings through which light from the first substrate can pass, and the transparent electrode film does not face the openings. The transflective liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the transflective liquid crystal device is provided at a position facing the opening. 4. The transflective liquid crystal device according to claim 1, further comprising a retardation plate between the light source and the first substrate. 5. A first substrate, a transparent second substrate opposed to the first substrate, a liquid crystal sandwiched between the first and second substrates, and a second substrate of the first substrate A reflective layer disposed on the side facing the substrate, a transparent second insulating film disposed on the reflective layer, a transparent electrode film disposed on the second insulating film, and disposed on the transparent electrode film A transparent first insulating film, and an alignment film disposed on the first insulating film, wherein a refractive index n ₂ of the first insulating film is a refractive index n _{1 of the} alignment film.
It is set smaller than the refractive index n ₃ of large and the transparent electrode film than a refractive index n ₄ of the second insulating film, the refractive index n ₁ of the alignment layer
And the refractive index n ₃ of the transparent electrode film is set to be smaller than each other. The thickness d ₂ of the first insulating film is set in the range of 50 to 100 nm, and the film of the second insulating film The reflection type liquid crystal device, wherein the thickness d4 is set in a range of ₄₀ to 120 nm. 6. The film thickness d _{3 of the} transparent electrode film is 30 to 2
The transflective or reflective liquid crystal device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the wavelength is set to 70 nm. 7. The transparent electrode film is made of ITO (Indium Tin).
7. The transflective or reflective liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid crystal device comprises an Oxide) film. 8. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the first insulating film contains silicon oxide, titanium oxide, zirconium oxide, or aluminum oxide, and the second insulating film contains silicon oxide as a main component. The transflective or reflective liquid crystal device according to any one of the above. 9. An electronic apparatus comprising the transflective or reflective liquid crystal device according to claim 1. Description: