JP2001075117A - Production of liquid crystal device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the electrolytic corrosion, oxidation, mechanical damage, etc., of wiring by forming alignment layers even on the wiring formed on external junctures on overhanging regions and removing the alignment layers in the external junctures, then immediately packaging electronic parts or wiring members without executing other treatments. SOLUTION: The alignment layers 16 on the mother substrate 11 are extended and formed from liquid crystal sealing regions 11A to the overhanging regions 11B to completely cover the wiring (b). The mother substrates 11 and 12 are stuck together cut into strips, and filled with liquid crystals (c and d). The substrates are partly cut away to form the mother substrate 11 to an overhanging state, and the substrates are separated to individual liquid crystal panels 100 (e). The alignment layers 16 cover the wiring on the surfaces of the overhanging regions 11B. The entire part of the liquid crystal panels 100 is washed with pure water, etc., and voltage is impressed thereto. Lighting is inspected (f) and the electronic parts, etc., are packaged in other places. The alignment layers 16 on the overhanging regions 11B are decomposed away (g) and thereafter the electronic parts 140 are packaged on the overhanging regions 11B without executing any treatment at all (h).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device, and more particularly to a manufacturing technique suitable for a reflection type liquid crystal device having a reflective electrode on a surface of one substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, in a conventional liquid crystal device, electrodes are formed on the surfaces of two transparent substrates, respectively, and these two transparent substrates are bonded together with a sealing material interposed therebetween. Is formed by encapsulating. Among such liquid crystal devices, there is a reflection type liquid crystal device configured so that a display can be visually recognized by reflection of external light.

In a reflection type liquid crystal device, a reflection electrode and a wiring connected to the reflection electrode and extending to an external terminal on the substrate are formed of metal, for example, aluminum on the surface of one substrate. Further, an alignment film for aligning the liquid crystal in a predetermined direction is formed on the electrodes and the wirings. The surface of the alignment film is subjected to a rubbing treatment. On the other hand, a transparent electrode and a wiring are formed on the other substrate, and an alignment film similar to the above is formed thereon. The two substrates thus formed are adhered to each other via a sealing material to form a liquid crystal panel. In many cases, in this liquid crystal panel, one of the substrates has an overhanging region that extends laterally more than the other substrate, and electronic components and wiring members are electrically connected to the surface of the overhanging region. The structure has an external connection portion.

On the surface of the overhang region in the above-mentioned liquid crystal panel, a wiring extending from a reflective electrode formed on one substrate is drawn, and a wiring conductively connected to a transparent electrode formed on the other substrate is also provided. It will be drawn again. Then, the ends of these wirings are arranged in an external connection portion, for example, electronic components such as an integrated circuit chip having a built-in liquid crystal driving circuit are mounted thereon, or a flexible wiring board connected to other circuit components is provided. Are connected. Then, after mounting the electronic components and the wiring members, the external terminals are resin-molded with a silicone resin or the like.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned reflection type liquid crystal device, when the wiring formed on the overhanging area of the substrate flows through the manufacturing process in a state where the wiring is exposed, foreign matter adheres to the wiring during the manufacturing process. If foreign matter adheres or is damaged, even if resin molding is performed after the above-mentioned integrated circuit chip or wiring member is finally mounted, electrical contact etc. may occur. There is a problem that it becomes easier.

In particular, when the reflective electrode and its wiring are formed of aluminum, the aluminum is easily oxidized and exposed to electric contact very easily because it is exposed, and is easily damaged due to its softness. There is a problem that handling is difficult in the manufacturing process, for example, since the wire is broken and may be dissolved when washed with warm water of about 60 degrees during the manufacturing process, so that the liquid crystal panel is difficult to clean. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal device having a wiring formed of a metal such as aluminum to prevent the wiring from being contacted, oxidized and damaged. It is another object of the present invention to provide a manufacturing method that can perform the cleaning process easily.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to the present invention comprises a first substrate having a reflective electrode on a surface thereof, and a transparent second substrate facing the first substrate. A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device, comprising: a substrate; and a liquid crystal sandwiched between the first substrate and the second substrate.
An electrode forming step of forming the reflective electrode on a surface of a substrate and forming a wiring connected to the reflective electrode so as to extend to an external connection portion set on an overhang region of the first substrate; An alignment film forming step of forming a coating directly or indirectly on the reflective electrode and the wiring,
A liquid crystal cell forming step of bonding the first substrate and the second substrate via a sealant, sealing liquid crystal between the substrates to form a liquid crystal cell structure, and covering the external connection portion of the alignment film And a mounting step of mounting an electronic component or a wiring member on the wiring immediately after removing the portion without performing other processing.

According to the present invention, the alignment film is formed also on the wiring formed so as to extend to the external connection portion on the overhang region in the alignment film forming step, and the alignment film at the external connection portion is removed. After that, electronic components or wiring members were immediately mounted without performing other processing,
Since no other manufacturing process or cleaning process is performed in a state where the wiring is exposed, it is possible to reduce a risk that foreign matter adheres to the wiring, the wiring is damaged, and the wiring is eluted. Therefore, it is possible to prevent contact, oxidation, and mechanical damage of the wiring.

In the present invention, after the liquid crystal cell forming step and before the mounting step, there is provided an inspection step of performing an electrical inspection by applying a voltage to the wiring via the alignment film. Is preferred.

According to the present invention, the electrical test is performed by applying a potential to the wiring while the wiring is covered with the alignment film. Can be prevented from easily occurring.

Next, a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to the present invention includes a first substrate having a reflective electrode on a surface thereof, and a transparent second substrate opposed to the first substrate. And the second
A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device comprising a liquid crystal interposed between a substrate and a substrate, wherein the reflective electrode is formed on a surface of the first substrate, and a wiring connected to the reflective electrode is attached to the first substrate. An electrode forming step of forming an extension to an external connection portion set on the output region; an alignment film forming step of forming an alignment film directly or indirectly on the reflective electrode and the wiring; and A liquid crystal cell forming step of laminating the first substrate and the second substrate via a sealing material, sealing liquid crystal between the substrates to form a liquid crystal cell structure, and applying a voltage to the wiring via the alignment film. And performing an electrical inspection by applying the voltage.

According to the present invention, the electrical inspection is performed by applying a potential to the wiring while the wiring is covered with the alignment film. Can be prevented from easily occurring.

The voltage applied through the alignment film as described above needs to be higher than the voltage applied in a state in which the wiring is in direct contact with the wiring. It is determined that there is a capacitor using the alignment film as a dielectric.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the wiring is made of aluminum or an alloy mainly containing aluminum.

According to the present invention, aluminum or an alloy mainly composed of aluminum is liable to be oxidized, easily eroded, easily damaged by mechanical damage, and easily eluted in hot water or the like. Therefore, a particularly great effect can be obtained. In this case, it is particularly effective when both the reflective electrode and the wiring are formed of the same material due to a request in a manufacturing process.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment of a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view (a) schematically showing a state when a liquid crystal panel is completed in the liquid crystal device of the present embodiment, and an enlarged plan view (b) showing a planar structure near an overhang region of the device. 2 (a) to 2 (h) are schematic process explanatory views showing the outline of the manufacturing process of the present embodiment. FIGS. 3A and 3B show mother substrates 11 and 1 to be described later.
FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing an outline of a surface structure of No. 2;

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3A, a plurality of liquid crystal sealing regions 11A arranged vertically and horizontally are set on a mother substrate 11 as shown in FIG. A large number of reflective electrodes 13 and wirings 14 shown in FIG. 1A are formed for each region 11A. Each of the reflective electrodes 13 is formed to extend in a stripe shape, and is formed so as to be parallel to each other in the liquid crystal enclosure region 11A. Reflective electrode 13
The wiring 14 is formed by forming aluminum on the mother substrate 11 by a sputtering method, and then etching and patterning an unnecessary portion using a photolithography method or the like.

Next, Si is placed on the reflective electrode 13.
A top coat film 15 shown in FIG. 1A is formed by forming a hard inorganic film such as O ₂ and TiO ₂ .
The top coat film 15 is used to prevent impurities from being eluted from the substrate, or to prevent short-circuiting between the electrodes due to dust or the like being mixed with a transparent electrode formed on the mother substrate 12 described later. It is. Therefore, when such a necessity is not required, it may not be formed.

Next, an alignment film 16 is formed on the top coat film 15. The alignment film 16 is formed by applying and baking a polyimide resin, and the surface thereof is subjected to a rubbing treatment. Normally, the alignment film 16 may be formed only on the reflective electrode 13, but in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3A, the alignment film 16 is formed so as to protrude from the liquid crystal sealing region 11A, and the wiring 14 is formed. As shown in FIG. The alignment film 16 is formed so as to completely cover the wiring 14.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3B, the mother substrate 12 shown in FIG.
A is provided with a plurality of liquid crystal enclosing regions 12A corresponding to a plurality of transparent electrodes 17 made of a transparent conductor made of ITO (indium tin oxide) or the like.
Is formed. The transparent electrodes 17 are each formed in a stripe shape, and are patterned in respective regions in a state where they are arranged in parallel with each other. An alignment film 18 similar to the above is formed on the transparent electrode 17 and subjected to a rubbing process.

A seal member 19 is disposed on the mother substrate 11 formed as described above, as shown in FIG. 3A, and the mother substrate 11 and the mother substrate 12 are connected via the seal member 19 in FIG.
It is bonded as shown in FIG. Then, the bonding state is a predetermined gap between the substrates (for example, 5 to 10).
(approximately μm), and in this state, heating or light irradiation is performed to cure the sealing material 19.
Thus, mother panel 10 is formed.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2D, the mother panel 10 is cut into a strip shape (scribe-break) to form a strip-shaped panel 20. By forming the strip-shaped panel 20, the liquid crystal injection port 19a of the sealing material 19 shown in FIG. 3A is exposed, and the liquid crystal is injected from the liquid crystal injection port 19a. The liquid crystal can be injected by immersing the liquid crystal injection port 19a in the liquid crystal under reduced pressure or
The liquid crystal is injected into the panel by closing the liquid crystal injection port 19a with the liquid crystal by dropping the liquid crystal into the liquid crystal a, and increasing the ambient pressure toward the atmospheric pressure in this state, thereby causing the liquid crystal to enter the panel by the difference between the inside and outside pressures. When the liquid crystal injection is completed, the liquid crystal injection port 19a is sealed to confine the liquid crystal inside the sealing material 19.

Next, the strip-shaped panel 20 shown in FIG.
On the other hand, a part of the substrate corresponding to the mother substrate 12 is cut and removed as shown in the figure, and the substrate corresponding to the mother substrate 11 is formed in a protruding state as shown in FIG. The strip-shaped panel 20 is cut into individual liquid crystal filled areas,
It is separated into individual liquid crystal panels 100. In this state, as shown in FIG. 1A, the outer edge of the substrate 110, which is a part of the motherboard 11, is a substrate 1 which is a part of the motherboard 12.
The overhanging region 11 </ b> B extends beyond the outer edge portion 20. Then, on the surface of the overhang region 11B, the wiring 14 is covered with the alignment film 16 as described above.

When the liquid crystal panel 100 is completed as described above, the entire liquid crystal panel 100 is washed with pure water or the like, and then, as shown in FIG. 2 (f), the wiring 14 formed on the overhang region 11B is formed. To the inspection device 130
To perform a lighting inspection of the liquid crystal panel. As described above, since the wiring 14 is conductively connected to the reflective electrode 13 on the substrate 110 and the transparent electrode 17 on the substrate 120, it is necessary to apply a predetermined voltage to the wiring 14 drawn to the overhang region 11B. The reflection electrode 13 and the transparent electrode 14
It is possible to test whether or not the liquid crystal portion (pixel region) sandwiched between and receives a predetermined electric field and operates as designed in advance (that is, whether or not to light).

FIG. 4 shows the overhang area 11B during the lighting inspection.
3 is an enlarged sectional view showing the vicinity of FIG. In this figure, in the overhang region 11B, the wirings 14 are arranged at predetermined intervals on the surface of the substrate 110 as described above.
An alignment film 16 is further formed on the surface of the substrate.

On the other hand, the inspection probe connected to the inspection apparatus 130 includes a probe substrate 131 and an inspection probe formed on the surface of the probe substrate 131 and formed at the tip of a wiring pattern (not shown) in the probe substrate 131. A pad 132 and an anisotropic conductive rubber 133 fixed on the surface of the probe substrate 131 are provided. Inspection pad 1
Reference numeral 32 is connected to a circuit in the inspection apparatus 130 via the above wiring pattern. The anisotropic conductive rubber 133 is provided with a large number of conductive materials in an elastic synthetic rubber, for example, so that when the test probe is pressed onto the overhang region 11B and pressed, the conductive material is conductive only in its thickness direction. Particles (not shown) are dispersed and arranged. When the inspection probe is pressed onto the surface of the overhang region 11B by the anisotropic conductive rubber 133, a conductive state is established between the inspection pad 132 and the surface of the anisotropic conductive rubber 133.

Normally, the inspection probe is pressed so that the surface of the anisotropic conductive rubber 133 directly contacts the wiring and the electrodes.
Is not in direct contact with the wiring 14 because the surface of the substrate contacts the alignment film 16. For this reason, the voltage applied to the inspection pad 132 is greatly increased (for example, 15 V) from the voltage (for example, 4 V) used for the normal lighting inspection, and the alignment film is placed between the anisotropic conductive rubber 133 and the wiring 14. A desired potential can be applied to the wiring 14 disposed below even when the intervening wiring 16 is provided. As a result, a predetermined voltage required for lighting inspection between the reflective electrode 13 and the transparent electrode 17 is applied. It can be applied.

This applied voltage is set to a predetermined value on the assumption that there is a capacitor serving as a dielectric in which the alignment film 16 is interposed between the anisotropic conductive rubber 133 and the wiring 14.

When the lighting test shown in FIG. 2F is completed, the liquid crystal panel is often once packaged and, if necessary, transported to another place by an appropriate method. Such an aspect is, for example, when the liquid crystal panel 100 is shipped in the form of a liquid crystal panel, and the customer mounts the liquid crystal panel on an electronic device or the like, or the liquid crystal panel 100 is manufactured at a certain factory.
This process is performed when the subsequent processing of the liquid crystal panel 100 is performed in another factory. Further, when the subsequent processing step of the liquid crystal panel 100 is performed in the factory, the liquid crystal panel is transported along a predetermined route in the factory as it is.

Next, electronic components and wiring members are mounted on the liquid crystal panel 100 configured as described above. Here, usually, prior to the mounting process of electronic components and wiring members,
First, the liquid crystal panel 100 is cleaned. In this case, even if cleaning is performed using, for example, hot water, the wiring 14 on the overhang region 11B of the liquid crystal panel 100 is covered with the alignment film 16, so that elution or damage of the wiring 14 can be avoided.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 2 (g), ashing is performed by bringing O ₂ plasma into contact with the liquid crystal panel to decompose and remove the alignment film 16 exposed on the overhang region 11B.
In this case, as shown in FIG. 1B, only the external connection portion 11C shown in the overhang region 11B is necessary for conductively connecting the electronic components and the wiring members. , Alignment film 16 formed in overhang region 11B
May be removed, but only the alignment film 16 formed on the external connection portion 11C may be removed. In this way, the quality and damage of the wiring 14 can be prevented better. Conversely, if all of the alignment film 16 exposed on the overhang region 11B is removed in this step, the liquid crystal panel 100 can be put in an ashing device or the like as it is, and the processing can be completed. Can be omitted, and handling is simplified.

Then, after removing the alignment film 16, the electronic component 140 is mounted on the overhang region 11B without any processing, as shown in FIG. 2 (h). Electronic components 14
Reference numeral 0 denotes, for example, an integrated circuit chip having a built-in liquid crystal drive circuit, and is mounted in the external connection portion 11C shown in FIG. For example, an anisotropic conductive film is adhered on the end of the wiring 14, and the electronic component 140 is thermocompression-bonded to the external connection portion 11C via the anisotropic conductive film, and the thickness direction of the anisotropic conductive film is increased. The connection terminals of the electronic component 140 and the large number of wirings 14 are surely conductively connected by utilizing the property of conductive connection only to the electronic component 140.

After that, for example, a wiring member such as a flexible wiring board is conductively connected to the external terminal 150 shown in FIG. 1B, and finally, a silicone resin is formed over the electronic component 140 and the wiring member on the overhang region 11B. Resin molding is performed by, for example,

According to the above-described embodiment, each manufacturing process is sequentially performed in a state where the overhang region 11B is covered with the alignment film 16, and finally the overhang region 11B is connected to another member (such as an electronic component or a wiring). Immediately before electrical connection to the member), at least the alignment film 16 formed on the external connection portion 11C is removed, and the member is mounted immediately without performing any processing. Since foreign matter hardly adheres to the wiring formed on the substrate and is hardly damaged, contact, oxidation, and other damage of the wiring hardly occur.
In particular, when the wiring is formed of aluminum or an alloy thereof, the present embodiment is very effective because electric contact is easily generated, oxidation is easily generated, and scratches are hardly caused.

Further, since the wiring composed of a thin film made of aluminum or an alloy thereof has a characteristic that it can be easily dissolved even by about 60 ° C. hot water, the wiring is formed by an alignment film as in this embodiment. When covered, do not consider the risk of melting the wiring,
The cleaning operation can be sufficiently performed.

Further, in the present embodiment, the lighting test and other electrical tests of the manufactured liquid crystal panel are performed through the alignment film which is an insulator, so that it is necessary to increase the applied voltage during the test. However, the test can be performed without removing the alignment film while maintaining the cleanliness of the wiring.

It should be noted that the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal device of the present invention is not limited to the illustrated example described above, and it goes without saying that various changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Forming an alignment film on the wiring formed to extend to the external connection portion on the overhang region in the alignment film forming step,
Since the electronic component or the wiring member is immediately mounted without performing other processing after removing the alignment film in the external connection portion, another manufacturing process, a cleaning process, or the like is performed with the wiring exposed. Since there is no danger, it is possible to reduce the risk of foreign matter adhering to the wiring, damage to the wiring, and elution of the wiring, so that it is possible to prevent electrical contact, oxidation, mechanical damage, and the like of the wiring.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a schematic cross-sectional view schematically showing a structure of a liquid crystal panel before lighting inspection in an embodiment of a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to the present invention, and FIG. It is a schematic plan view (b).

FIGS. 2A to 2H are schematic process explanatory views showing schematic processes of the embodiment. FIGS.

FIG. 3 is schematic plan views (a) and (b) schematically showing a planar structure of a pair of mother substrates used in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a structure of an electrical contact portion at the time of a lighting inspection of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11, 12 Mother substrate 11A, 12A Liquid crystal sealing area 11B Overhanging area 13 Reflective electrode 14 Wiring 15 Top coat film 16 Alignment film 17 Transparent electrode 18 Alignment film 19 Sealing material 110, 120 Substrate

Claims (4)

[Claims] A first substrate having a reflective electrode on a surface thereof;
A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device, comprising: a transparent second substrate facing the first substrate, wherein a liquid crystal is sandwiched between the first substrate and the second substrate. An electrode forming step of forming the reflection electrode on a surface and extending a wiring connected to the reflection electrode to an external connection portion set on an overhang region of the first substrate; And an alignment film forming step of forming an alignment film directly or indirectly on the wiring, laminating the first substrate and the second substrate via a sealing material, and sealing liquid crystal between the substrates. A liquid crystal cell forming step of forming a liquid crystal cell structure; and a mounting step of immediately mounting an electronic component or a wiring member on the wiring without performing other processing after removing a portion of the alignment film covering the external connection portion. Characterized by having A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device. 2. The inspection according to claim 1, wherein a voltage is applied to the wiring via the alignment film after the liquid crystal cell forming step and before the mounting step. A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device, comprising the steps of: 3. A first substrate having a reflective electrode on a surface,
A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device, comprising: a transparent second substrate facing the first substrate, wherein a liquid crystal is sandwiched between the first substrate and the second substrate. An electrode forming step of forming the reflection electrode on a surface and extending a wiring connected to the reflection electrode to an external connection portion set on an overhang region of the first substrate; And an alignment film forming step of forming an alignment film directly or indirectly on the wiring, laminating the first substrate and the second substrate via a sealing material, and sealing liquid crystal between the substrates. A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device, comprising: a liquid crystal cell forming step of forming a liquid crystal cell structure; and an inspection step of performing an electrical inspection by applying a voltage to the wiring via the alignment film. 4. One of claims 1 to 3
3. The method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the wiring is formed of aluminum or an alloy mainly containing aluminum.