JP2001296530A - Electrooptical device and its manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for manufacturing an electrooptical device capable of forming plural cylindrical spacers having satisfactory mechanical strength in a simple stage and to provide the electrooptical device manufactured by the method. SOLUTION: The electrooptical device has an electrooptical material interposed between a pair of substrates opposed to each other and at least one substrate is provided with the plural cylindrical spacers which are formed integrally with the surface opposed to the other substrate and whose respective parts abut against the other substrate. The respective cylindrical spacers are difficult to be peeled from the substrate compared with the case that the cylindrical spacers are separately formed on the substrate by using a material different from the material of the substrate, since the plural cylindrical spacers are formed thus integrally with the surface opposed to the other substrate of at least one substrate.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an electro-optical device and a method for manufacturing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an electro-optical device (for example, a liquid crystal device) which has been widely used is surrounded by a pair of substrates facing each other, a frame-shaped sealing material interposed between the two substrates, and both substrates and the sealing material. And an electro-optical material (for example, liquid crystal) sealed in the region. Furthermore, in recent years, as this type of electro-optical device, a plurality of columnar spacers (hereinafter, referred to as “columnar spacers”) are provided on one substrate, and the tops of the columnar spacers are brought into contact with the surface of the opposing substrate. By
A device in which the gap between both substrates is kept constant has been proposed. Here, these columnar spacers are generally formed of resin or the like on a substrate such as glass or quartz. Specifically, a plurality of columnar spacers can be formed on the substrate by removing the resin layer covering the surface of the substrate except for the region where the columnar spacers are to be formed.

[0003]

However, since the columnar spacer is formed of a polymer material such as a resin which is different from the material of the substrate, the columnar spacer has insufficient adhesion to the substrate and is separated from the substrate. There was a problem that it was easy.
In the vicinity of the portion where the columnar spacer has been lost, the thickness between the two substrates does not become the expected thickness,
As a result, a problem that desired display characteristics cannot be obtained may occur.

Particularly, in a liquid crystal device using liquid crystal as an electro-optical material, an organic thin film covering a substrate on which a plurality of columnar spacers are formed is subjected to a rubbing process to form an alignment film. In this case, the tip of the rubbing cloth hits the columnar spacer, and thus the above-mentioned columnar spacer is likely to be lost.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and has a method of manufacturing an electro-optical device capable of forming a plurality of columnar spacers having sufficient mechanical strength by a simple process, and a method of manufacturing the same by the method. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electro-optical device.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is an electro-optical device having an electro-optical material sandwiched between a pair of opposing substrates, wherein at least one of the substrates has: It is an object of the present invention to provide an electro-optical device, comprising a plurality of columnar spacers formed integrally with a surface facing the other substrate and partially contacting the other substrate.

According to such an electro-optical device, a plurality of columnar spacers for uniformly maintaining a gap between a pair of substrates are provided.
Since at least one of the substrates is formed integrally with the surface facing the other substrate, the columnar spacers are peeled off from the substrate as compared with the case where the columnar spacers are formed separately on the substrate using a different material from the substrate. There is an advantage that it is difficult. As a result, the effect that the deterioration of the display characteristics due to the loss of the columnar spacer can be suppressed can be obtained.

In the above invention, unevenness is formed in a region of the surface facing the other substrate which is different from a region in which the plurality of columnar spacers are formed, and at least a part of the region in which the unevenness is formed, A reflective film may be formed. With this configuration, the incident light from the other substrate is appropriately scattered and emitted from the other substrate, so that a situation in which a background, illumination, or the like is reflected in a displayed image is avoided. be able to.

In the above invention, the electrode may be provided on the other substrate, and the reflection film may be an electrode for applying a predetermined voltage to the electro-optical material together with the electrode on the other substrate. That is, the conductive film may have both functions of the reflection film and the electrode. By doing so, there is no need to provide a reflective film and an electrode separately, and there is an advantage that the manufacturing cost can be reduced. Needless to say, a conductive film having a conductive film such as ITO may be separately formed on the reflective film, and the conductive film may be used as an electrode.

As a result of an experiment conducted by the inventor of the present invention, the best results are obtained when the distance from the top of the projection in the region where the unevenness is formed to the other substrate is 3 μm or more and 8 μm or less in the columnar spacer. It was confirmed that excellent display characteristics were obtained.

The present invention also relates to a method of manufacturing an electro-optical device in which a pair of substrates are opposed to each other via a plurality of columnar spacers of at least one of the substrates, and an electro-optical material is sandwiched between the two substrates. A spacer forming step of integrally forming the plurality of columnar spacers on a surface of the at least one substrate facing the other substrate; and a part of the plurality of columnar spacers included in at least one of the substrates is the other. And a bonding step of bonding the pair of substrates so as to contact the substrates.

In the electro-optical device obtained by such a method of manufacturing an electro-optical device, a plurality of columnar spacers for maintaining a uniform gap between a pair of substrates are provided on at least one of the substrates facing the other substrate. Since they are integrally formed, there is an advantage that the columnar spacers are less likely to be peeled off from the substrate than when the columnar spacers are separately formed on the substrate using a material different from that of the substrate.

In the spacer forming step of the present invention, a predetermined thickness of a region other than a region where the plurality of columnar spacers is to be formed on one surface of the substrate facing the other substrate is removed. Therefore, it is desirable to form the plurality of columnar spacers. In such a case, there is no need to provide a layer serving as a columnar spacer on the plate-shaped member, and there is an advantage that the manufacturing process can be simplified. In the spacer forming step, it is conceivable to remove a part of a surface of one substrate facing the other substrate by using a chemical etching method.

In the spacer forming step,
On a surface of one substrate facing the other substrate, a region other than a region where the plurality of columnar spacers are to be formed is removed by a predetermined thickness, and irregularities are formed on the surface of the removed portion. A reflection film forming step of forming a reflection film on at least a part of the region where the unevenness is formed may be performed. Further, an unevenness forming step of forming unevenness in a region of the one substrate facing the other substrate which is different from a region in which the plurality of columnar spacers are formed, and at least one of the region in which the unevenness is formed. And a reflection film forming step of forming a reflection film on the portion. By doing so, light incident on the electro-optical device manufactured by the method can be appropriately scattered and reflected, so that reflection of the background and the like can be avoided. In the reflection film forming step, the conductive film may be formed by using a sputtering method, an ion plating method, or an evaporation method.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Such an embodiment shows one aspect of the present invention, and does not limit the present invention, and can be arbitrarily changed within the scope of the present invention. Hereinafter, a liquid crystal device using liquid crystal as an electro-optical material will be described as an example of the electro-optical device according to the invention. In each of the embodiments described below, a case where the present invention is applied to a so-called reflective liquid crystal device will be described as an example. However, the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto.

A: First Embodiment A-1; Configuration of First Embodiment First, a first embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a passive matrix type reflection type liquid crystal device will be described. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the configuration of the liquid crystal device 100, and FIG.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA ′ in FIG. 1. In FIGS. 1 and 2 and each of the drawings shown below, the scale of each layer and each member is different so that each layer and each member have a size that can be recognized in the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the liquid crystal device 100 includes a front substrate 1 and a rear substrate 2 which face each other with a frame-shaped sealing material 4 interposed therebetween.
And a liquid crystal 3 sealed in a region surrounded by both substrates and the sealing material 4.

As shown in FIG. 2, the front substrate 1 includes a substrate 11 which is a plate-shaped member such as glass or quartz, a plurality of transparent electrodes 12, and an alignment film 13. Each transparent electrode 12
Is a strip-shaped electrode formed to extend in a certain direction, as shown by a broken line in FIG.
It is formed by TO (Indium Tin Oxide) or the like. The alignment film 13 is formed on the substrate 11 on which these transparent electrodes 12 are formed.
And a rubbing process for defining the alignment direction of the liquid crystal 3 when no voltage is applied. Note that a polarizing plate for polarizing incident light is attached to the outside of the front substrate 1 (the side opposite to the liquid crystal 3), but since it is not directly related to the present invention, its description and illustration are omitted. I do.

On the other hand, the rear substrate 2 has a substrate 21 formed of glass, quartz, or the like, a plurality of reflective electrodes 22, and an alignment film 23 covering the surface of the substrate 21 on which the plurality of reflective electrodes 22 are formed. are doing. As shown in FIG. 1, each reflective electrode 22 is a strip-shaped electrode formed to extend in a direction intersecting the plurality of transparent electrodes 12 formed on the front substrate 1.
The alignment direction of the liquid crystal 3 sandwiched between the front substrate 1 and the rear substrate 2 changes when a voltage is applied between each reflective electrode 22 and each transparent electrode 12. That is, the region where each reflective electrode 22 and each transparent electrode 12 intersect functions as a pixel. Further, the reflective electrode 22 in the present embodiment is formed of a metal having reflectivity, for example, a metal containing aluminum as a main component. Therefore, the incident light from the front substrate 1 side is
And is emitted to the front substrate 1 side. Specifically, external light such as sunlight or indoor lighting enters from the front substrate 1 side, and a polarizing plate (not shown) → the substrate 11 → the transparent electrode 12 →
The light is reflected by the reflective electrode 22 along the route of the alignment film 13 → the liquid crystal 3 → the alignment film 23 → the reflective electrode 22, and is emitted from the front substrate 1 by following the above route in reverse.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a plurality of columnar spacers 211 are provided on one surface of the substrate 21 (the surface facing the front substrate 1) in the present embodiment.
1 and are formed integrally. Each of these columnar spacers 2
As shown in FIG. 1, a region 11 is formed between the reflective electrodes 22 in a region on the front substrate 1 which does not face the transparent electrode 12. Then, each columnar spacer 21
1 is in contact with the surface of the front substrate 1 covered by the alignment film 13, whereby the thickness of the gap between the front substrate 1 and the rear substrate 2 is kept constant over the entire surface of each substrate. It is designed to drip.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, each of the columnar spacers 211 on the surface of the substrate 21 facing the front substrate 1 is formed.
A plurality of fine irregularities are formed in an area different from the area in which is formed. Since the plurality of reflective electrodes 22 are formed in a thin film shape in the region where the unevenness is formed on the substrate 21, unevenness reflecting the unevenness on the substrate 21 is formed on the surface of each reflective electrode 22. Becomes As a result, since the incident light from the front substrate 1 side is appropriately scattered by the unevenness of the reflection electrode 22 and then emitted from the front substrate 1 side, the background is reflected in an image visually recognized by the user, and the indoor lighting It is possible to avoid a situation in which light from is reflected.

A-2: Method of Manufacturing Liquid Crystal Device 100 Next, a method of manufacturing the liquid crystal device 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. First, as shown in FIG.
A photoresist 200 is formed on a surface of a plate-like member 21a (for example, a glass plate) serving as the substrate 21 in a region where the plurality of columnar spacers 211 are to be formed. The photoresist 200 can be formed using, for example, a flexographic printing method. The photoresist 20
The surface of the plate-shaped member 21a on which 0 is formed has a configuration illustrated in FIG.

Subsequently, the surface of the plate member 21a on which the photoresist 200 is formed is etched to remove a region where the photoresist 200 is not formed by a predetermined thickness. Further, in the present embodiment, at the time of this etching, a treatment liquid having an etching rate different for each minute portion on the surface of the plate-like member 21a is used as an etchant. As a result, a large number of minute irregularities 212 and a plurality of columnar spacers protruding from the surface of the plate member on which the irregularities 212 are formed are formed on the surface of the region removed by the etching (FIG. 3 ( b)). Specifically, the unevenness 212 and the plurality of columnar spacers 21
1 can be formed by the steps exemplified below. In the specific example shown below, the plate-like member 21
It is assumed that a soda lime glass substrate (soda lime glass substrate) is used as a. Here, FIG.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a cross-sectional structure of a plate-like member 21a. As shown in the drawing, in the plate-like member 21a, a portion in which a network modifier, such as an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal, is contained in a network-like structure 21a ′ made of silicic acid, which is a network former ( (A hatched portion in the figure) 21a '' is present.

First, prior to the formation of the photoresist 200, the plate-like member is etched with a hydrofluoric acid solution of about 5 wt% at 20 ° C. for 5 seconds while also washing. Subsequently, the photoresist 200 shown in FIG. 3A is formed on the surface of the plate-like member 21a that has been uniformly etched by the above-described process. Next, the plate member 2
1a is immersed in an aqueous solution containing 30% by weight of hydrofluoric acid and 45% by weight of ammonium hydrogen difluoride at 25 ° C. for about 15 seconds.

Here, when the plate-like member 21a whose cross-sectional structure is shown in FIG. 5 (a) is immersed in the above-mentioned treatment liquid, the alkali metal or alkaline-earth element is removed more than the network-like structure 21a 'made of silicic acid. Since the elution rate of the portion 21a ″ containing metal or the like is faster, unevenness as shown in FIG. 5B is formed. On the other hand, since the region where the photoresist 200 is formed is not removed by the above-described etching, this region remains as the columnar spacer 211. Although the case where a soda lime glass substrate is used as the plate-like member 21a is illustrated here, for example, even when a borosilicate glass substrate, an aluminosilicate glass substrate, or the like is used, the mixing ratio of the treatment liquid may be changed. Can be addressed.

After the above process is completed, the photoresist 200 is removed, thereby forming a plurality of columnar spacers 211 and unevenness 2 on one surface as shown in FIG.
The substrate 21 integrally formed with 12 is completed.

Next, a metal film 22a containing aluminum as a main component is formed on the surface of the substrate 21 on which the plurality of columnar spacers 211 and the irregularities 212 are formed (FIG. 3).
(C)). This metal film can be formed by using, for example, a sputtering method, an electron beam evaporation method, an ion plating method, or the like. Further, etching is performed on the metal film 22a thus formed, and the metal film 2a is etched.
2a is patterned into the shape (band-like shape) of the plurality of reflective electrodes 22 (FIG. 3D). FIG. 6 shows a substrate 21 on which a plurality of reflective electrodes 22 are formed as described above,
FIG. 4 is a plan view when viewed from a surface on which a second spacer 2 and a columnar spacer 211 are formed. As described above, irregularities reflecting the irregularities 212 formed on the substrate 21 are formed on the surface of the reflective electrode 22 thus formed.

Subsequently, the substrate 21 on which the plurality of columnar spacers 211 and the unevenness 212 and the reflection electrode 22 are formed
A thin film of a high-molecular organic material (for example, polyimide) or the like is applied to the surface of the substrate and baked. Then, the thin film is subjected to a uniaxial alignment process (for example, a rubbing process) according to the twist angle of the liquid crystal to be used to form an alignment film 23, and the rear substrate 2 is completed (FIG. 3E).

On the other hand, the front substrate 1 is formed by the following steps. That is, first, a thin film such as ITO is formed on the surface of the substrate 11 such as a glass plate. Then, the thin film is subjected to etching, photolithography, and the like, so as to be patterned into a band shape shown by a broken line in FIG. 1 to form a plurality of transparent electrodes 12. Subsequently, the alignment film 1 covering the surface of the substrate 11 on which these transparent electrodes 12 are formed
Form 3 This alignment film 13 can be formed by the same process as the alignment film 23 of the back substrate 2.

Next, a sealing material 4 having a shape surrounding the edge of the rear substrate 2 is printed on the rear substrate 2 formed by the above-described steps (FIG. 3F). The sealing material 4 has an opening (not shown) for enclosing the liquid crystal 3 later.
Is provided. Then, the rear substrate 2 and the front substrate 1 are joined via the sealing material 4 such that the surfaces on which the electrodes are formed face each other. At this time, the two substrates are joined such that the top of each columnar spacer 211 on the rear substrate 2 comes into contact with the surface of the front substrate 1. Then, after the liquid crystal 3 is sealed from the liquid crystal sealing opening provided in the sealing material 4,
The liquid crystal filling port is sealed with a sealing material (adhesive or the like) to complete the liquid crystal device 100 (FIG. 3G). The above is the method for manufacturing the liquid crystal device according to the present embodiment.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the substrate 21 and the plurality of columnar spacers 211 are integrally formed, the conventional method of separately forming the plurality of columnar spacers on the substrate 21 is different from the conventional method. In comparison, the columnar spacer 211
Has the advantage that it is difficult to separate from the substrate 21. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the deterioration of the display characteristics due to the loss of the columnar spacer. Further, in the related art, a step of forming a resin layer to be a plurality of columnar spacers on the substrate is required. In the present embodiment, the columnar spacer is formed by etching the glass substrate. Therefore, the step of forming the resin layer is unnecessary. Therefore, the manufacturing process can be simplified as compared with the above-described conventional technology.

Further, according to the present embodiment, even when the columnar spacer is formed on the surface of the substrate having the unevenness, it is possible to prevent the cell gap from becoming uneven due to the unevenness. There is an advantage that can be. The details are as follows.

Here, it is assumed that the columnar spacers are separately formed on the substrate on which the irregularities are formed by using the above-described conventional technique. In this case, since each columnar spacer is formed on the unevenness on the substrate, the height of each columnar spacer varies depending on the position. Therefore, there is a problem that it is difficult to keep the cell gap uniform over the entire surface of the substrate. It is also conceivable to form a flattening film covering the substrate on which the irregularities are formed, and form columnar spacers on the flattening film. In this case, however, each columnar spacer sinks into the flattening film. Similarly, it is difficult to keep the cell gap at a desired thickness.

On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, the columnar spacer is not formed on the upper surface of the unevenness on the substrate, but the unevenness is formed in a region other than the region where the columnar spacer is formed. Further, it is possible to produce a columnar spacer capable of surely realizing a uniform cell gap without the above-described problems.

B: Second Embodiment B-1: Configuration of Second Embodiment Next, a second embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an active matrix type liquid crystal device will be described. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a part of a cross section of the liquid crystal device 101 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the liquid crystal device includes an element substrate 5 and an opposing substrate 6 which face each other with a sealant 4 interposed therebetween, and a liquid crystal 3 sandwiched between the substrates.

The element substrate 5 includes a plurality of scanning lines (not shown), a plurality of data lines (not shown) extending in a direction orthogonal to the scanning lines, and a plurality of scanning lines on a substrate 51 such as a glass substrate. The switching element 52 and the pixel electrode 53 provided corresponding to each intersection with the data line are formed. Further, the surface of the substrate 51 on which these portions are formed is covered with an alignment film 54. Here, each switching element 52 is a means for performing switching control of the voltage applied to the pixel electrode 53, and is, for example, a thin film transistor (TFT).
Each pixel electrode 53 is formed of a transparent material such as ITO.

On the other hand, the opposing substrate 6 comprises a substrate 61 and a substrate 6
1 and an alignment film 63 covering the surface of the substrate 61 on which the counter electrode 62 is formed. Here, a plurality of columnar spacers 6 are provided on one surface of the substrate 61, similarly to the substrate 21 in the first embodiment.
11 is formed integrally with the substrate 61. However,
Each columnar spacer 611 in the present embodiment is formed in a region on the element substrate 5 which is different from a region facing the pixel electrode 53. A part (upper surface) of each columnar spacer 611 comes into contact with the surface of the element substrate 5 covered by the alignment film 54.

The columnar spacer 611 on the surface of the substrate 61
In a region where is not formed, a plurality of irregularities 612 are formed. The counter electrode 62, which is a reflective metal thin film, is formed in a region where the irregularities 612 are formed (that is, a region different from the region where the columnar spacers 611 are formed). On the surface of the counter electrode 62, like the reflective electrode 22 in the first embodiment,
Irregularities reflecting the irregularities 612 on the substrate 61 are formed, and the incident light from the element substrate 5 side is irregularly reflected.

B-2: Method for Manufacturing Liquid Crystal Device 101 Next, referring to FIG. 8, the liquid crystal device 10 according to the present embodiment will be described.
1 will be described. First, as in the first embodiment, the substrate 61 on which the plurality of columnar spacers 611 are integrally formed is prepared. That is, the columnar spacer 611
By etching the plate-like member 61a (FIG. 8A) in which the region in which is to be formed is covered with the photoresist 200, the etching is performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment.
The substrate 61 on which the plurality of columnar spacers 611 and the irregularities 612 are integrally formed can be formed (FIG. 8).
(B)). However, unlike the first embodiment, at this stage, the photoresist 200 formed on the upper surface of each columnar spacer 611 is not removed.

Next, a metal film 62a containing aluminum as a main component is formed on the entire surface of the substrate 61 on which the plurality of columnar spacers 611 and the like are formed by using sputtering, electron beam evaporation, ion plating, or the like. At this time, the metal film 62a is also formed on the upper surface of each columnar spacer 611 covered by the photoresist 200 (FIG. 8C). Subsequently, the photoresist 200 formed on the upper surface of each columnar spacer 611 is removed. In this step, the metal film 62a formed on the upper surface of each columnar spacer 611 with the photoresist 200 interposed therebetween is removed together with the photoresist 200, and the above-described counter electrode 62 is formed (FIG. 8D). Next, the alignment film 6 covering the upper surface of the substrate 61 on which the counter electrode 62 is thus formed.
3 are formed by the same steps as in the first embodiment, and the opposing substrate 6 is completed (FIG. 8E).

Since the element substrate 5 can be formed by the same process as that of the element substrate of the conventional liquid crystal device, the description is omitted.

The opposing substrate 6 and the element substrate 5 thus formed are joined by the sealing material 4 so that the electrode forming surfaces face each other. At this time, each columnar spacer 6 of the counter substrate 5 is
The two substrates are joined such that the top of 11 comes into contact with the surface of the element substrate 5. Thereafter, the liquid crystal 3 is sealed in the gap between the substrates, and the liquid crystal device 101 is completed (FIG. 8F).

In this embodiment, the same effects as in the first embodiment can be obtained. Further, in the present embodiment, the photoresist 20 is formed on the upper surface of each columnar spacer 611.
The metal layer 62a formed so as to sandwich 0 is simultaneously removed in the step of removing the photoresist 200. Therefore, the manufacturing process can be simplified as compared with the case where the process for removing the photoresist 200 and the process for removing the metal film 62a on the columnar spacer 611 are separately performed.

C: Modifications Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the above embodiment is merely an example, and various modifications may be made to the above embodiment without departing from the spirit of the present invention. be able to. For example, the following modifications can be considered.

<Modification 1> In the above embodiment, the substrate 21 (61) such as a glass substrate and the plurality of columnar spacers 2
11 (611) are formed integrally, but the following may be adopted. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of a substrate 71 (corresponding to the substrate 21 or 61 in each of the above embodiments) of the liquid crystal device according to the present modification. As shown in the figure, each columnar spacer 721 is not formed integrally with a substrate 71 such as a glass substrate, but is formed integrally with a resin layer 72 covering the substrate 71. Specifically, the columnar spacer 721 is formed by removing a region other than the region where the plurality of columnar spacers 721 are to be formed from the resin layer covering the surface of the substrate 71 by a predetermined thickness by etching or the like. can do.

As described above, in the present invention, the surface of the planar member of the substrate facing the other substrate is
It is sufficient that a plurality of columnar spacers are formed integrally with the member.

The positions at which the columnar spacers are formed and the shapes of the columnar spacers are not limited to the positions and shapes shown in the above embodiments. For example, prismatic columnar spacers may be provided at positions different from the positions shown in the above embodiments. Further, in the second embodiment, the case where the plurality of columnar spacers 611 are formed on the counter substrate 6 has been described as an example. However, the plurality of columnar spacers may be integrally formed on the substrate 51 of the element substrate 5. Good. Further, a part of the plurality of columnar spacers included in the liquid crystal device may be provided on one substrate, and the other part may be provided on the other substrate. That is, it is only necessary that at least one substrate has a plurality of columnar spacers.

Further, as a result of an experiment conducted by the inventor of the present invention, the height of each columnar spacer from the top of the protrusion (FIG. 3B or FIG. ) Is 3 μm to 8 μm
In particular, it was confirmed that good display characteristics were obtained. Therefore, it is preferable to select the etching conditions (etching time and the like) to be applied to the plate member 21a or 61a so that the height of each columnar spacer with respect to the top of the convex portion is 3 μm to 8 μm.

<Modification 2> In each of the above embodiments,
The reflection electrode 22 is made of a metal mainly composed of aluminum.
Alternatively, the counter electrode 62 is formed. However, the counter electrode 62 may be formed of another metal, for example, a single metal such as aluminum or silver, or an alloy containing silver as a main component.
In each of the above embodiments, the plate member 21a (6
Although a photoresist is used as a mask material in the etching of 1a), a resin-based adhesive such as an epoxy resin or a resin-based paint can also be used.

<Modification 3> In the first embodiment, a reflection electrode 23 having both a function as a reflection plate and a function as an electrode is formed in a part of the area on the substrate 21 where the unevenness 212 is formed. However, in such a configuration, the liquid crystal is formed by electrodes of different materials (the transparent electrode 13 such as ITO formed on the front substrate 1 and the reflective electrode 23 such as aluminum formed on the back substrate 2). Since it is sandwiched, polar polarization may occur. From such a viewpoint, the configuration of the back substrate 2 in the first embodiment may be the configuration illustrated in FIG.
As shown in the figure, the back substrate 2 ′ according to the present modification covers the substrate 21 on which the plurality of columnar spacers 211 and the irregularities 212 are integrally formed, and the region on the surface of the substrate 21 on which the irregularities 212 are formed. It has a reflective film 25, an insulating film 26 covering the surface of the substrate 21 on which the reflective film 25 and the columnar spacers 211 are formed, and a transparent electrode 27 formed on the surface of the insulating film 26 by a transparent conductive material such as ITO. ing. With this configuration, the transparent electrode 13 included in the front substrate 1 is formed.
And the electrodes of the rear substrate 2 can be formed of the same material, so that the above problem can be avoided. In this case, the reflection film 25 may be formed of a material having reflectivity, and does not necessarily have to have conductivity. Although a passive matrix liquid crystal device is illustrated in FIG. 10, a similar structure can be applied to an active matrix liquid crystal device.

<Modification 4> In the second embodiment described above, the metal film formed on the upper surface of each columnar spacer with the photoresist interposed therebetween is removed together with the photoresist. At this time, various other methods can be used. For example, a photomask may be formed on the surface of the substrate covered with the metal film so as to cover a region other than the upper surface of the spacer, and etching may be performed. In this case, the photoresist may be removed before forming the metal film.

<Modification 5> In each of the above embodiments,
Since the present invention is applied to a reflection type liquid crystal device, the unevenness 212 is formed in a region on the substrate 21 which is different from a region where a plurality of columnar spacers are formed. However, the present invention, for example, a transmissive liquid crystal device,
The present invention is also applicable to a reflection type liquid crystal device having a reflection plate outside one of the substrates (the side opposite to the liquid crystal). However, in such a liquid crystal device, it is not necessary to form irregularities inside the substrate (liquid crystal side). Therefore, in this case, the plate-like member 21
When etching a (the plate member 61a in the second embodiment), a treatment liquid capable of removing the surface of the plate member 21a at a uniform speed may be used as an etchant.

<Modification 6> The method of forming the irregularities on the substrate is not limited to the method described in each of the above embodiments, and various known methods for forming a scattering surface can be used. An example is as follows. That is, first, after the surface of the plate-shaped member (the surface on which the unevenness is to be formed) is roughened with an abrasive, FIG. 3A or FIG.
Is formed. Then, wet etching is performed on the polished surface.
As a result, irregularities reflecting the irregularities formed on the polished surface are formed in the regions removed by the etching, and the remaining portions without being removed by the etching become a plurality of columnar spacers.

Further, in each of the above embodiments, the unevenness is formed simultaneously in the step of forming the columnar spacer. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the step of forming the columnar spacer (that is, the columnar spacer of the plate member) is not limited to this. (A step of removing a region other than a region where a plurality of columnar spacers are to be formed) and a step of forming unevenness in a region different from the region where a plurality of columnar spacers are formed in this step. For example, the photoresist 200 shown in FIG.
The surface of the plate-like member 21a on which is formed is subjected to etching using a treatment liquid capable of removing the plate-like member at an even speed as an etchant, and a region other than a region where a columnar spacer is to be formed is subjected to a predetermined process. After removing only the thickness, a thin film of polyimide or the like covering the removed region may be formed, and the thin film may be subjected to photolithography, etching, or the like to form irregularities.

<Modification 7> In each of the above embodiments and the above modifications, the case where the present invention is applied to a liquid crystal device using a liquid crystal as an electro-optical material is exemplified. However, the present invention can be applied. The device is not limited to an electroluminescent device (E)
L) and the like, and can be applied to various devices that perform display by the electro-optical effect.

[0055]

As described above, in the liquid crystal device according to the present invention, a plurality of columnar spacers are formed integrally with a member including a surface on which each of them is formed. The effect of having mechanical strength and being hard to peel off from a substrate is obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically illustrating a configuration of a liquid crystal device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line A-A 'in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating a manufacturing process of the liquid crystal device.

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating a manufacturing process of the liquid crystal device.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a detailed structure of a plate-like member.

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating a manufacturing process of the liquid crystal device.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a configuration of a liquid crystal device according to a second embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a view illustrating a manufacturing process of the liquid crystal device.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a substrate of a liquid crystal device according to a modified example of the invention.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a rear substrate of a liquid crystal device according to a modified example of the invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Front substrate 11 ... Substrate 12 ... Transparent electrode 13 ... Alignment film 2, 2 '... Back substrate 21 ... Substrate 211 ... Columnar spacer 212 ... Unevenness 21a ... Plate member 22 ... Reflection Electrode 22a Metal film 23 Alignment film 3 Liquid crystal (electro-optical material) 4 Sealing material 5 Element substrate 51 Substrate 52 Switching element 53 Pixel electrode 6 Counter substrate 61 ...... substrate 611 ... columnar spacer 612 ... irregularities 62 ... counter electrode 62a ... metal film 63 ... alignment film 101 ... liquid crystal device (electro-optical device) 200 ... photoresist

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G09F 9/30 343 G09F 9/30 343Z F term (Reference) 2H089 LA04 LA09 LA16 NA14 NA24 PA06 QA02 QA14 TA01 TA02 TA09 TA17 2H090 JA03 JB02 JC03 LA01 LA02 LA20 2H091 FA16Y FB08 FC02 FC26 FD04 GA02 GA08 LA02 5C094 AA36 AA42 AA43 AA48 AA55 BA03 BA27 BA43 CA19 DA12 EA06 EC03 ED11 ED13 FA01 FA02 GB10 JA08

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. An electro-optical device in which an electro-optical material is sandwiched between a pair of opposed substrates, wherein at least one of the pair of substrates is integrally formed with a surface facing the other substrate. An electro-optical device comprising a plurality of columnar spacers formed and partially abutting the other substrate. 2. An uneven surface is formed in a region of the surface facing the other substrate which is different from a region in which a plurality of columnar spacers are formed, and at least a part of the region in which the uneven surface is formed has reflection. The electro-optical device according to claim 1, wherein a film is formed. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the other substrate has an electrode, and the reflection film is an electrode for applying a predetermined voltage to the electro-optical material together with the electrode of the other substrate. 3. The electro-optical device according to 2. 4. The columnar spacer according to claim 2, wherein the distance from the top of the projection to the other substrate in the region where the unevenness is formed is 3 μm or more and 8 μm or less. Electro-optical device. 5. A method for manufacturing an electro-optical device, comprising: a pair of substrates opposed to each other via a plurality of columnar spacers of at least one substrate, and an electro-optical material sandwiched between the two substrates. A spacer forming step of integrally forming the plurality of columnar spacers on a surface of at least one of the substrates facing the other substrate; and a part of the plurality of columnar spacers of at least one of the substrates comes into contact with the other substrate And a bonding step of bonding the pair of substrates as described above. 6. In the spacer forming step, a region other than a region where the plurality of columnar spacers is to be formed on a surface of one substrate facing the other substrate is removed by a predetermined thickness. The method according to claim 5, wherein the plurality of columnar spacers are formed. 7. The electric device according to claim 6, wherein in the spacer forming step, a part of a surface of the one substrate facing the other substrate is removed by using a chemical etching method. A method for manufacturing an optical device. 8. In the spacer forming step, a region other than a region where the plurality of columnar spacers is to be formed on a surface of one substrate facing the other substrate is removed by a predetermined thickness, and the spacer is removed. Forming irregularities on the surface of the portion where the irregularities are formed, at least a part of the region where the irregularities are formed,
The method for manufacturing an electro-optical device according to claim 6, further comprising a conductive film forming step of forming a reflective film. 9. An unevenness forming step of forming unevenness in a region of one substrate facing the other substrate which is different from a region where a plurality of columnar spacers are formed; At least in part,
8. The method for manufacturing an electro-optical device according to claim 6, further comprising a step of forming a reflective film. 10. The method according to claim 8, wherein in the conductive film forming step, the conductive film is formed by using a sputtering method, an ion plating method, or an evaporation method. Method.