JP2002162632A - Liquid crystal display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid crystal cell having excellent uniformity by reducing display defects generated in a display pixel and to provide a liquid crystal display device. SOLUTION: In the liquid crystal cell provided with a liquid crystal layer interposed between a first and a second substrates and a thickness controlling element for controlling the thickness of the liquid crystal layer, the thickness controlling element includes a first spacer formed on the first substrate and a second spacer formed on the second substrate, both the spacers are abutted against each other to control the thickness of the liquid crystal layer and the spacers are formed in non-display regions between dots. The liquid crystal display device is formed by using the liquid crystal cell.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device having a spacer function, and more particularly to a liquid crystal display device suitable for a vertical alignment type ECB mode liquid crystal display device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional liquid crystal display device,
Generally, a liquid crystal is sandwiched between two glass substrates on which a transparent electrode is formed, and a spherical or cylindrical or fibrous spacer made of glass or plastic is used as a spacer for controlling the gap. These spacers are generally scattered and arranged on an electrode substrate that has been subjected to an alignment treatment, and then bonded to the other substrate. Thereafter, liquid crystal is injected to form a liquid crystal display device. FIG. 8 shows a vertical alignment type ECB (Electrically Controlled).
An example of an lled birefringence mode liquid crystal display device (ECB-LCD) 90 is shown. The vertical alignment type ECB-LCD 90 has a liquid crystal layer 9 having a negative dielectric anisotropy.
5, a liquid crystal cell 98 sandwiched between a pair of glass substrates 93;
It comprises a pair of polarizing plates 91 arranged outside the liquid crystal cell.

When no voltage is applied, the liquid crystal molecules 96 are oriented perpendicular to the upper and lower substrates 93 as shown in FIG. For this reason, there is no optical anisotropy in the in-plane direction of the substrate, and the black level of the orthogonal polarizer is obtained as it is by sandwiching the polarizers with orthogonal Nicols arranged polarizers arranged orthogonal to each other. It is easy to obtain contrast display. On the other hand, light that is obliquely incident exhibits optical anisotropy, so that light leakage occurs. Therefore, by providing an optical compensator 92 having a negative (uniaxial) refractive index anisotropy, the optical anisotropy of the liquid crystal layer 95 is compensated and the viewing angle of black display is compensated. When a voltage is applied from the driving power supply 97, the liquid crystal molecules begin to fall from the center of the liquid crystal molecules between the upper and lower substrates of the liquid crystal cell, and at the same time, the retardation of the liquid crystal layer changes and the transmittance increases. In FIG. 8, reference numeral 94 denotes a transparent electrode and a vertical alignment film for controlling the liquid crystal layer of the vertical alignment type ECB-LCD, and the spacer is omitted.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned vertical alignment type ECB-LCD, spherical or cylindrical or fibrous spacers made of glass or plastic are used as spacers for controlling the gap substantially uniformly over the entire surface of the liquid crystal cell 98. Is dispersed. Therefore, the spacer exists in the display pixel. When a spacer is present in a display pixel, a black cross is generated from the spacer as a starting point, and the uniformity of the display is remarkably deteriorated particularly when the viewing angle is changed in the horizontal direction from the normal direction of the substrate.
The black cross refers to a dark portion in a valid pixel when a voltage is applied, that is, a display defect in which the liquid crystal molecule alignment is parallel or orthogonal to the polarization axis of the polarizing plate.

By the way, such a vertical alignment type ECB-
In an LCD, when a pixel electrode is formed to obtain a display, an oblique electric field is generated due to a difference in electrode shape in a display area where the electrodes formed on the upper and lower substrates intersect, and liquid crystal molecules around the display area are tilted according to the oblique electric field. Is shown. Therefore, as described in Japanese Patent Application No. 2-57783 filed by the present applicant, a slit is formed in the electrode of each display pixel of the dot matrix display by positively utilizing this property, and the alignment of the liquid crystal molecules due to the oblique electric field is controlled. There has also been proposed a liquid crystal display device in which the viewing angle is widened by forming a multi-domain in which each pixel is mainly divided into four by using the same. Although the viewing angle could be widened by forming the multi-domain, the black level is reduced due to the oblique electric field at the edge of the pixel.

[0006] A liquid crystal display device has been proposed in which each pixel is multi-domain by using a vector having a different orientation in each pixel, instead of performing an alignment process in which each pixel has a uniform orientation. However, in such a multi-domain vertical alignment type ECB-LCD, on the contrary, the alignment deformation occurs near the pixel edge near the threshold voltage, and this is a main factor of the black level rise at the time of high duty multiplex driving. .

FIG. 9 shows a simple vertical alignment type ECB-LCD in which a 20 μm φ circular slit is formed in an electrode on one substrate side (in the center of the pixel in the figure) and a multi-domain is formed by utilizing the above-mentioned influence of the oblique electric field. This is an observation of the intersection of the dot matrix electrodes. (A) to (c) are the results of observation by a polarizing microscope of a vertical alignment type ECB-LCD,
In (b), the orientation is disturbed by the spacer, and a black cross starting from the spacer is generated. In addition, although (a) shows a good multi-domain orientation, when the polarization state is changed and observed, a black spot due to the spacer as shown in (c) is observed. As described above, there are problems of display pixel uniformity and light leakage caused by the spacer.

In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid crystal cell having improved display quality uniformity in a display pixel with a simple configuration. Another object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal display device in which light leakage hardly occurs when black display is performed when no voltage is applied, and to provide a liquid crystal display device capable of obtaining good multi-domain alignment. The purpose is.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid crystal display device comprising: (1) a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between a first substrate and a second substrate; A thickness control element, the thickness control element includes a first spacer formed on a first substrate and a second spacer formed on a second substrate. Is achieved by controlling the thickness of the liquid crystal cell.

In the first aspect, since the spacer layers are provided on the inner surfaces of both substrates, the thickness of the liquid crystal layer is controlled to be equal to the thickness of the first spacer + the second spacer. The thickness of the entire liquid crystal cell can be controlled uniformly and easily. In addition, the display quality can be improved because the black cross that appears by the scattered spacers does not occur as in the related art. Further, in a place where the first spacer or the second spacer is present but does not abut on the other spacer, a gap having a height equal to that of the other spacer is provided although one of the spacers is present. It can be injected into the cell.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, (2) the spacer includes a multilayer-structured spacer, and in the multilayer-structured spacer, the opposite substrate-side spacer layer formed on the substrate-side spacer layer is used as the substrate-side spacer. Is achieved by making the liquid crystal cell narrower than the width of the liquid crystal cell. In the second embodiment, light leakage at the spacer boundary can be reduced as a multilayer structure. Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, (3) in the spacer having the multilayer structure, the liquid crystal cell in which the spacer layer closest to the substrate has a low transmittance. In the third aspect, the spacer layer on the substrate side, which is the widest in the multilayer structure spacer layer, can shield light leakage occurring at a boundary portion of the upper substrate side spacer layer, thereby further shielding the light. A liquid crystal cell with reduced light leakage can be obtained.

Further, according to a fourth aspect of the present invention,
(4) The liquid crystal cell according to any one of (1) to (3), wherein the liquid crystal cell has a dot matrix structure, and a spacer is formed in a non-display area between dots. Is achieved by In this aspect, since the spacer is present in the non-display area, there is no light leakage due to the spacer in the effective display area, and a liquid crystal cell with excellent display quality can be provided. In particular, when a low-transmittance spacer is used, it also acts as a black mask, so that the display contrast can be improved and a liquid crystal cell with better display quality can be obtained.

According to another aspect of the present invention, (5) a vertical alignment type ECB-LCD using the liquid crystal cell according to any one of the above (1) to (4) and a polarizing plate. (6) The above ECB
The vertical alignment type E according to (5), wherein the LCD is a simple dot matrix type or an active dot matrix type;
The above object can be achieved by the CB-LCD. According to these aspects, it is possible to obtain a high-contrast liquid crystal display device that effectively utilizes the black level of the orthogonal polarizer using the above-described liquid crystal cell.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 show a vertical alignment type ECB having a simple matrix as one embodiment of the liquid crystal display device according to the present invention.
-Shows a liquid crystal cell of an LCD. The liquid crystal cell 10 includes a first glass substrate 1 on which a row electrode 8 formed of a striped ITO transparent electrode is formed, and a second glass substrate 2 formed with a column electrode 9 formed of a striped ITO transparent electrode.
Peripheral portions are adhered to each other with the overlapping seal 5 so that the row electrodes 8 and the column electrodes 9 are arranged to face each other at right angles. A liquid crystal layer 6 is sandwiched between the substrates 1 and 2, and the surfaces of the substrates 1 and 2 that are in contact with the liquid crystal layer are subjected to an alignment treatment such as formation of a vertical alignment film (not shown) so that the liquid crystal molecules 7 are not subjected to voltage imprint. In the added state, it is oriented vertically.

First glass substrate 1 and second glass substrate 2
The material is not limited to glass as long as it is a light-transmitting substrate, and may be plastic or the like. A glass substrate provided with an SiO ₂ undercoat is preferable. The row electrode 8 and the column electrode 9 drive and control the liquid crystal molecules at the locations where they intersect with each other. The row electrode 8 and the column electrode 9 may be made of a transparent electrode material other than ITO, or may be provided with a non-translucent electrode material. May be. Preferably, the surface is subjected to an alignment treatment for applying a vertical alignment film of about 500 angstroms. The liquid crystal layer 6 has a vertical alignment type E
In order to form a liquid crystal cell of a CB-LCD, a liquid crystal material having a negative dielectric anisotropy, for example, SLM430 manufactured by Merck Japan Ltd.
2 is provided under the condition of d / p = 0.

The above configuration is a conventional vertical alignment type ECB-
Although the configuration is the same as that of the liquid crystal cell of the LCD, the configuration of the liquid crystal cell 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention is different in the following points. That is, in order to control the inter-substrate distance of the liquid crystal cell 10, in the conventional liquid crystal cell, spherical or cylindrical or fibrous spacers made of glass or plastic are scattered and arranged on the electrode substrate that has been subjected to the alignment treatment. Although the spacers having the same thickness as the liquid crystal layer 7 are substantially uniformly dispersed over the entire surface of the liquid crystal cell 10, in the embodiment of the present invention, the first substrate spacer 3 is provided on the inner surface side of the first glass substrate 1. The second spacer 4 is similarly formed on the inner surface of the second glass substrate, and the first spacer 3 and the second spacer 4 intersect at a substantially uniform ratio over the entire surface of the liquid crystal cell 10. It has a configuration.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, a non-conductive first spacer 3 is provided between the row electrodes 8 of the first glass substrate 1.
Are formed in a stripe shape, and a non-conductive second spacer 4 is also formed in a stripe shape between the column electrodes 9 of the second glass substrate 2. Thereby, at the place where both spacers intersect in the liquid crystal cell 10, the first spacer 3 and the second spacer 4 are overlapped as shown in FIG. 2 to control the gap of the liquid crystal cell 10. In addition,
Since the first spacer 3 and the second spacer 4 do not intersect as shown in FIG. 3 in a place where the two spacers do not intersect, the second spacer 4 (or the first spacer 3) is connected to the other substrate 1 (or the substrate 2). ).

The spacers 3, 4 are made of a non-conductive material.
Various types that can be selectively provided at desired locations
Can be used. For example, polymerization by ultraviolet rays
To make spacers using high quality photosensitive resin
In this case, the surface of the glass substrate
A film is formed on the surface with a spinner, etc.
Forming a striped spacer through the development process
And can be. SiO ₂Use a non-photosensitive material such as
When creating a pacer, set a striped opening.
SiO using a vacuum deposition mask₂Vacuum deposition
Can be formed. Also, spacer
The shape of the key is not limited to stripes,
It is not limited to simple dot matrix liquid crystal display devices.
No. For example, a TFT switching element is used as a first glass substrate.
Element and a number of rectangular display pixels connected to the element and its gate
Alternatively, a first electrode provided so as to be scattered on the source electrode line
Using a substrate with a spacer and a second glass substrate
Color filter corresponding to each pixel and the shape between the pixels.
Metal black mask and above metal black mask
Box surrounding the color filter of each pixel
A liquid crystal cell is fabricated using a substrate having a
It may be made.

The liquid crystal cell 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention is configured as described above. A desired liquid crystal is formed by the intersection of the first spacer 3 and the second spacer 4 formed on the inner surface of each of the opposing substrates. It is assumed that a cell gap can be obtained, and a spacer to be dispersed separately is not required. In addition, since spacers scattered separately are not required, alignment defects and non-driving portions due to spacers scattered separately in display pixels are eliminated, and the aperture ratio can be increased by that amount, and contrast can be improved. It can be improved. Further, black cross does not occur, the uniformity of display pixels is improved, and the display quality is improved.

However, when the above-described liquid crystal cell 10 was formed using the photosensitive resin spacers 3 and 4, new light leakage was observed although it was smaller than in the prior art. FIG.
Is formed by using a photosensitive resin made of an acrylic organic material on each surface of the first glass substrate on which the striped row electrodes 8 are formed and the second glass substrate on which the striped row electrodes 9 are formed. The substrate on which the first spacer 3 and the second spacer 4 are formed is prepared by changing the above conditions, the first glass substrate and the second glass substrate are opposed to each other, and the peripheral portions thereof are bonded with a seal 5. In this figure, a liquid crystal display device in which a polarizing plate is provided in a crossed Nicols arrangement in the injected and sealed liquid crystal cell 10 is observed with no voltage applied. (C) is a liquid crystal display device in which the thickness of each of the first spacer 3 and the second spacer 4 is 2.7 μm, and the thickness of the liquid crystal layer is about 5.4 μm. (B) is the first spacer 3
And the thickness of the liquid crystal layer in the liquid crystal display device in which the thickness of each of the second spacers 4 is 2.1 μm is about 4.2 μm. (A)
Is a liquid crystal display device in which the thickness of each of the first spacer 3 and the second spacer 4 is 1.7 μm, and the vertical alignment type E is a simple dot matrix having a liquid crystal layer thickness of about 3.4 μm.
It is a CB-LCD.

As can be seen from FIGS. 4 (a), 4 (b) and 4 (c), no light leakage is observed in each pixel of the liquid crystal display device since there is no spacer as in the prior art. Is good. However, light leakage was observed at the boundary of each pixel, that is, at the boundary between the first spacer 3 and the second spacer 4 and each pixel. The degree of light leakage is large when the film thickness (a) is large, and (b) and (c).
Although light leakage decreases as the thickness decreases, light leakage does not disappear. Although the film thickness tended to be less noticeable by reducing the film thickness, the degree of light leakage also changed when trying to control the film thickness to obtain a predetermined retardation value,
Light leakage differs depending on the retardation.

When the cause was considered, it was found from the shape observation (observation with an external microscope and observation with a cross-sectional microscope) and measurement that the spacer had a tapered cross section. FIG. 5 shows the results of measuring the shape of each spacer of FIG. 4 with a stylus type surface roughness measuring device (3030 manufactured by DEKTAK, stylus tip radius 0.3 μm), and the first or second spacer is (a). 2.7 in the order of (b) and (c)
It has a height of μm, 2.1 μm, 1.7 μm, and has a tapered side surface. When the alignment state of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal cell was observed with an optical microscope or the like, the liquid crystal molecules 7a in a region in contact with the first spacer or the second spacer were inclined along the taper on the side surface of the spacer, thereby causing light leakage. It is thought that it is. In a conventional liquid crystal display device using a scattered spacer, such a phenomenon was not conspicuous because the shape of the spacer was spherical or cylindrical, but in the embodiment of the present invention having a tapered side surface, such a problem is noticeable. It is estimated that

Therefore, in order to solve such a problem, a liquid crystal cell was prepared using each of the first spacer and the second spacer as a two-layer spacer. FIG. 6 shows a liquid crystal cell 20 of a second embodiment employing a two-layered spacer. The same components as those of the previous embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted. Liquid crystal cell 2
0 is a row electrode 8 made of a striped ITO transparent electrode
I in the form of a stripe like the first glass substrate 1 on which
A second glass substrate 2 on which a column electrode 9 made of a TO transparent electrode is formed, and a peripheral portion is pasted together by an overlapping seal 5 so that a row electrode 8 and a column electrode 9 are arranged to face each other at right angles.
A liquid crystal layer 26 is sandwiched between the two substrates 1 and 2. The surfaces of the substrates 1 and 2 that are in contact with the liquid crystal layer are subjected to an alignment treatment such as forming a vertical alignment film (not shown), so that the liquid crystal molecules 27 are formed.
Are oriented vertically when no voltage is applied.

The configuration up to this point is the same as that of the previous embodiment, but the liquid crystal cell 10 according to the second embodiment of the present invention is different in the following points.
That is, the first substrate spacer 23 of the liquid crystal cell 20 is
A two-layer structure of a substrate-side spacer layer 23a and an opposite substrate-side spacer layer 23b having a width smaller than the width of the upper surface thereof;
Similarly, the second spacer 2 formed on the inner surface of the second glass substrate
4 also has a two-layer structure of a substrate-side spacer layer 24a and an opposite substrate-side spacer layer 24b having a width smaller than the width of the upper surface thereof.

In the liquid crystal display device using such a liquid crystal cell 20, the liquid crystal molecules 27a in the regions in contact with the substrate-side spacer layers 23a, 24a are formed on the tapered side surfaces of the substrate-side spacer layers 23a, 24a as in the first embodiment. The liquid crystal molecules 27b in the region in contact with the opposite substrate-side spacer layers 23b and 24b are similarly inclined along the tapered side surfaces of the opposite substrate-side spacer layers 23b and 24b. At this time, since the opposite substrate-side spacer layers 23b and 24b have a smaller width than the substrate-side spacer layers 23a and 24a, the opposite substrate-side spacer layers 23b and 24b are positioned in the shadow of the substrate-side spacer layers 23a and 24a. And it is hardly observed. Therefore, the total amount of oblique liquid crystal molecules that can be observed is reduced, and light leakage is reduced.

The liquid crystal cell 10 having the configuration of the above embodiment,
20 is created by, for example, the following method. (Example 1) substrate preparation step: 150 × 150 × 1.1mm SiO ₂
Sheet resistance of 10Ω on undercoated glass substrate
Is formed in a stripe pattern (330 μm pitch, distance between stripes: 20 μm) by patterning to form electrodes 8, 9.
Was formed to prepare a first glass substrate 1 and a second glass substrate 2. Spacer forming step: A coating film of Fuji Film Olin's pigment-dispersed negative resist CK-6020L is formed on the first and second glass substrates after the substrate preparing step by a spinner, and is subjected to mask exposure and patterning. A first spacer 3 and a second spacer 4 of 2.5 μm were formed on the surface of the substrate. When the shape of the spacer was measured using a stylus type surface roughness measuring instrument, the width of the bottom surface in contact with the substrate was about 40 μm, and the width of the top surface was about 20 μm, and the side face was tapered. Although the spacer showed a transmittance of several percent near 700 nm, it showed good light shielding properties with a transmittance of 1% or less in the visible region. Liquid crystal cell forming step: A vertical alignment film is formed to a thickness of about 500 angstroms using a flexo printing machine on both substrates after the spacer forming step, and the first glass substrate 1 and the second glass substrate are formed.
The glass substrate 2 was overlapped with the row electrode 8 and the column electrode 9 so as to intersect with each other, and the periphery thereof was bonded and fixed with a sealant mixed with a silica ball spacer. Thereafter, liquid crystal having a negative dielectric constant is injected by a vacuum injection method to obtain d / p = 0 and a thickness of 5 μm.
The liquid crystal layer 7 was provided, and a liquid crystal cell 10 was formed.

Example 2 A liquid crystal cell 20 was prepared with the same substrate preparation step and liquid crystal cell forming step as in Example 1, and the spacer forming step was a two-layer spacer layer as follows. Spacer forming step: A carbon-based negative resist CK-A made by Fuji Film Ohrin using a spinner on the first glass substrate 1 and the second glass substrate 2 after the substrate preparing step.
A coating film of No. 029 was formed, subjected to mask exposure, and patterned, to form substrate-side spacer layers 23a and 24a of 1.2 μm on each substrate surface. Further, a coating film of JSR Optmer NN700 is formed thereon by a spinner, and patterning is performed by mask exposure, and a 2.0 μm opposite substrate side spacer layer is formed on the surface of the substrate side spacers 23a and 24a of each substrate. 23b and 24b were formed. The shape of the spacer was measured using a stylus-type surface roughness measuring instrument.
4a has a trapezoidal shape having a bottom surface width of about 40 μm and a top surface width of about 30 μm on the side in contact with the substrate, and the opposite substrate side spacers 23b and 24b have a trapezoidal shape having a bottom surface width of about 20 μm and a top surface width of about 15 μm. And each had a tapered side surface. Further, the substrate-side spacer had a transmittance of 0.2% or less in the visible region, and exhibited high light-shielding properties.

FIGS. 7 (a) and 7 (b) show the results of observing the pixel area of each of the liquid crystal cells 10 and 20 of the first and second embodiments when no voltage is applied in a crossed-collar arrangement with a polarizing microscope. As can be seen from (a), in the liquid crystal cell 10, light leakage is observed along the spacer edge.
Since the spacer material has a light-shielding property, light leakage observed by the tapered side surface becomes less noticeable when the viewing angle is changed, as compared with the case where the spacer is formed using a material that does not exhibit the light-shielding property. But light leakage occurs. On the other hand, in Example 2 in which the spacer had a two-layer structure as shown in (b), almost no light leakage was observed. Although slight light leakage occurs in some areas,
This is presumed to be caused by poor patterning properties when forming the layered spacer. The opposite substrate-side spacer layers 23b and 24b are
When the ratio of the width of the bottom surface of the spacer layer on the side opposite to the substrate / the top width of the spacer layer on the substrate side is set to 1/2 or less, preferably about 2/5 to 1/10, Leakage can be reduced to a level that does not substantially cause a problem. Also, the substrate side spacers 23a, 24
If “a” is reduced to reduce the number of the liquid crystal molecules 27 a near the substrate-side spacer layer, light leakage can be further reduced.

Although the above-described embodiment is a preferred specific example of the present invention, various technically preferable limitations are provided, but the scope of the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. . For example, the first spacer and the second spacer are not formed to have substantially the same thickness, but the spacer on one substrate side is formed to be thick, or only the spacer layer on one substrate side is composed of two or three or more layers. The present invention also encompasses various modifications such as a multi-layered spacer of the above, or a thick black mask formed between colored pixels on a color filter substrate to serve also as a spacer function. Further, a liquid crystal display device in which a display pixel is divided into multi-domains is naturally included.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a liquid crystal cell controlled at a predetermined cell interval without dispersing a separate spacer or the like, thereby improving the uniformity in a display pixel. be able to. Further, the uniformity over the entire surface of the liquid crystal display device can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a liquid crystal cell according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view schematically showing a cross section taken along line AA of the liquid crystal cell of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a cross section taken along line BB of the liquid crystal cell of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the liquid crystal display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention when observed.

FIG. 5 shows a result of measuring a shape of a spacer of the liquid crystal display device according to the first embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view schematically showing a second embodiment of the liquid crystal cell according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a microscopic observation result of observing a display pixel portion in Example 1 and Example 2 according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a display principle of a conventional vertical alignment type ECB-LCD.

FIG. 9 is a microscope observation result of observing a display pixel portion of a conventional vertical alignment type ECB-LCD.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 1st glass substrate 2 2nd glass substrate 3,23 1st spacer 4,24 2nd spacer 5 Seal 6,26,95 Liquid crystal layer 7,27,96 Liquid crystal molecule 8 Row electrode 9 Column electrode 10,20,98 Liquid crystal Cell 23a, 24a Substrate spacer 23b, 24b Opposite substrate spacer 90 Vertical alignment type ECB-LCD 91 Polarizer 92 Optical compensator 93 Glass substrate 94 Transparent electrode and vertical alignment film 97 Power supply for driving

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A liquid crystal cell comprising a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between a first substrate and a second substrate, and a thickness control element for controlling the thickness of the liquid crystal layer, wherein the thickness control element is formed on the first substrate. A liquid crystal cell, comprising: a first spacer formed on a substrate; and a second spacer formed on a second substrate, wherein both spacers are in contact with each other to control the thickness of the liquid crystal layer. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the spacer includes a spacer having a multilayer structure, and in the spacer having a multilayer structure, an opposite substrate-side spacer layer formed on the substrate-side spacer layer is narrower than a width of the substrate-side spacer. Item 2. The liquid crystal cell according to item 1. 3. The spacer having the multilayer structure,
3. The liquid crystal cell according to claim 2, wherein the spacer layer closest to the substrate has a low transmittance. 4. The liquid crystal cell according to claim 1, wherein the liquid crystal cell has a dot matrix structure, and a spacer is formed in a non-display area between dots.
A liquid crystal cell according to any one of the above. 5. A vertical alignment type ECB using the liquid crystal cell according to claim 1 and a polarizing plate.
LCD. 6. The vertical alignment type ECB according to claim 4, wherein the ECB-LCD is a simple dot matrix type or an active dot matrix type.
-LCD.