JP2003262878A - Electrooptic device and electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid crystal display device having a structure in which electric conduction between substrates can be held and the gap between substrates can be easily controlled. <P>SOLUTION: In the liquid crystal display device, a liquid crystal 16 is sealed between a TFT array substrate 7 and a counter substrate 15 by using a sealing material 29 and an injection port 34 to be an aperture part of the sealing material 29 is encapsulated by using an end-sealing material 40 including a conductive spacer 37 to form a conduction part 35 between substrates. The electric conduction between the TFT array substrate 7 and the counter substrate 15 and the gap between the substrates are properly held by the conduction part 35 between substrates. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electro-optical device and an electronic apparatus, and more particularly, an injection port for injecting an electro-optical material between substrates is sealed by an inter-substrate conducting portion that maintains electrical conduction between the substrates. It relates to a substrate structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 13 shows an example of a conventional liquid crystal display device. In the liquid crystal panel 100, a plurality of data lines and scanning lines 101 are formed in a grid pattern, and a pixel electrode and a thin film transistor (Th.
in film transistor (hereinafter abbreviated as “TFT”), an element substrate 102 (TFT array substrate) in which switching elements and the like are arranged in a matrix, and an opposite substrate 104 in which an opposite electrode 103 is arranged are arranged at a predetermined interval. It has been done. Element substrate 102 and counter substrate 10
4 is the sealing material 1 so that the electrode forming surfaces face each other.
It is pasted together by 05. This sealing material 105
In a region between the substrates partitioned by the liquid crystal 106, a spacer 107 is arranged while being enclosed.
The space between the substrate 102 and the substrate 104 is maintained at a predetermined size. A common electrode 108 is formed outside the liquid crystal enclosing area on the electrode formation surface of the element substrate 102, and a conducting portion 109 made of silver paste is formed on the common electrode 108.
Are arranged so that electrical conduction can be established between the element substrate 102 and the counter substrate 104.
Polarizing plates 110 are attached to the outer surfaces of the element substrate 102 and the counter substrate 104, respectively.

Although not shown, the element substrate 102
A data line driving IC for supplying a data signal to each data line and a scanning line driving IC for supplying a scanning signal to each scanning line 101 are mounted on the terminal portion protruding from the upper counter substrate 104. Has been done.

Further, in this example, a backlight unit 111 is provided on the lower surface side of the element substrate 102 via a cushioning material 112 such as silicon rubber. The backlight unit 111 is a linear fluorescent tube 1 that emits light.
13 and the light guide plate 1 by reflecting the light from the fluorescent tube 113.
A reflection plate 115 that guides the light to the light guide plate 14; a diffusion plate 116 that uniformly diffuses the light guided to the light guide plate 114 to the liquid crystal panel 100;
Reflector 11 for reflecting the light emitted from the light guide plate 114 in the direction opposite to the liquid crystal panel 100 to the liquid crystal panel 100 side.
It is composed of 5 and.

In order to manufacture a liquid crystal display device of this type, first, a necessary electrode layer and a drive circuit layer are formed on each of the element substrate 102 and the counter substrate 104 by using a technique such as photolithography, and the like. , For example, the element substrate 10
Spacers 107 for maintaining a constant gap between the two substrates are scattered on the second electrode formation surface, while the counter substrate 104 is provided.
A sealing material 105 for sealing the liquid crystal is formed on the electrode forming surface of the screen by screen printing or the like. Next, the element substrate 102
The counter substrate 104 and the counter substrate 104 are attached to each other, the liquid crystal 106 is injected into the gap between the two substrates from the liquid crystal injection port which is the opening of the sealing material 105, and the liquid crystal injection is further sealed by the sealing material 105, and the both surfaces The liquid crystal panel 100 is completed by attaching the polarizing plate. Finally, a backlight unit, various driving substrates, etc. are mounted on the liquid crystal panel 100 and housed in a case to complete a liquid crystal display device. As a conventional example, for example, JP-A-61-15
The technique described in Japanese Patent No. 3622 may be mentioned.

[0006]

The conducting portion 109 for establishing electrical conduction between the upper and lower substrates is formed by curing a conductive paste. This conductive paste is a resin in which a metal powder having good conductivity (for example, silver powder), a conductive filler, or the like is dispersed in a resin. When forming the conductive portion 109, a dropping device such as a dispenser is used to drop a predetermined amount of the conductive paste at a predetermined position on the electrode formation surface of the element substrate 102, and then a resin is applied by an appropriate means such as heating or light irradiation. A method of curing the resin is used.

Although such a conducting portion 109 can be manufactured at low cost, there is a problem in that the positional accuracy and the quantitative accuracy when the conductive paste is dropped are limited. In addition, the paste point applied by the dispenser is, for example, 0.5 mm
Since it occupies an area of about 0.5 mm square, there has been a problem that it is not suitable for a narrow frame in a liquid crystal device in recent years. Further, there has been a problem that the electrical resistance value is not constant because the pressure-bonding density and the pressure-bonding area of the formed conductive portion 109 to the substrate are changed depending on the dropping state of the conductive paste and the curing conditions thereof.

Further, at least one liquid crystal injection port is provided in one liquid crystal display device, and the opening width and the number of the liquid crystal injection ports to be installed are set depending on the size of the substrates and the viscosity of the liquid crystal injected between the substrates. If the opening width of the injection port is set to be large, it is convenient because a liquid crystal having a large molecular weight and high viscosity can be easily injected, but on the other hand, since there is no spacer for holding a predetermined distance between the substrates at this injection port, When the opening width is made large, there is a problem that the stress between the substrate and the like narrows the gap between the substrates at or near the injection port.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to dispose a space between board-to-board conducting portions capable of stably maintaining electric conduction between boards in an electro-optical device. In addition, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electro-optical device having a structure capable of easily controlling a gap between substrates at a liquid crystal injection port and an electronic device using the electro-optical device.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, an electro-optical device comprising an electro-optical material sandwiched between a pair of substrates facing each other, wherein the electro-optical material is interposed between the pair of substrates. The injection port for injecting is characterized in that a conductive spacer is sealed by a sealing material provided in an adhesive material. According to such a configuration of the present invention, if the diameter of the conductive spacer is adjusted to a predetermined value that is the distance between the substrates in advance, the gap between the two substrates is inevitably achieved. Can be done easily. Also, due to the electrical characteristics of the conductive spacer,
It is possible to maintain electrical continuity between the substrates.

The electro-optical device of the present invention is an electro-optical device in which an electro-optical material is sandwiched between a pair of substrates facing each other, and a conductive portion is provided on the inner surface of each of the substrates forming the pair of substrates. The injection ports provided respectively for injecting the electro-optical material between the pair of substrates are sealed with a sealing material in which a conductive spacer is disposed in an adhesive material, and the sealing material is the pair of sealing materials. Is a board-to-board conducting section that maintains electrical continuity between the boards, and the board-to-board conducting sections are electrically connected to each other. The "conductive portion provided on the inner surface of each substrate" as used herein includes an electrode, a wiring, and the like. The conductive spacer not only has the function of controlling the gap between the substrates at the injection port, but also has the function of reliably and stably maintaining the electrical conduction between the conductive portions of the respective substrates due to its conductivity. Therefore, it is possible to easily control the gap between the substrates and maintain the electrical continuity. In addition, the frame portion other than the image display portion can be made small by providing the inter-substrate conductive portion at the inlet instead of at the peripheral portion of the image display portion. According to this configuration, since the configuration of the pixel region is completely the same as the conventional one, it is possible to maintain the degree of freedom of the pixel pattern design as usual and to maintain the reliable electrical conduction between the substrates. Further, since the inter-substrate conductive portion can be formed at the same time when the injection port is sealed, it can be formed by slightly changing the normal manufacturing process conditions.

Further, the conductive spacer may be formed by coating the spacer with a conductive layer. With this configuration, the gap between the substrates at the injection port can be easily adjusted to a desired interval by adjusting the spacer diameter. The spacer may be a particulate spacer having various compositions such as acrylic particles or silica beads, or a substrate-integrated spacer having a convex portion provided on one substrate. In particular, a particle-shaped spacer is suitable as the spacer of the present invention because it is not only easy to manufacture, but also its diameter distribution is easily adjusted. By coating the surface of such a spacer with a conductive layer, a function of maintaining electrical continuity between the substrates can be imparted.

It is preferable that the conductive layer of the board-to-board conductive portion is made of a metal film. With the metal film, more stable conductivity can be obtained, and the electrical characteristics between the substrates can be stabilized. Further, the metal film can be easily and inexpensively formed on the surface of the spacer with a predetermined film thickness by various film forming techniques such as electroless plating, and the cost can be reduced.

Further, the injection port may be sealed by an insulating material not including a conductive spacer and an adhesive material including a conductive spacer, which are arranged in order from the electro-optical material side. According to this configuration, it is possible to eliminate a defect such as a short circuit between the inter-substrate conductive portion and the electro-optical material.

A liquid crystal can be used as the electro-optical material. With this configuration, it is possible to realize a liquid crystal display device in which electrical continuity between the substrates is stably maintained and the cell gap is surely controlled.

An electronic apparatus of the present invention is characterized by including the electro-optical device of the present invention. According to the present invention, since the electro-optical device according to the present invention is provided, it is possible to realize an electronic device including a display unit with high display quality.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION [Structure of Liquid Crystal Device According to First Embodiment] A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is an equivalent circuit of various elements, wirings, and the like in a plurality of pixels forming the image display area of the liquid crystal device of this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a plan view of a plurality of adjacent pixel groups on a TFT array substrate on which data lines, scanning lines, pixel electrodes, etc. are formed. FIG. 3 is a plan view of a counter substrate having a color filter formed thereon. Figure 4
FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line AA ′ of FIGS. 2 and 3.
5A to 5C are process cross-sectional views for explaining the manufacturing process of the TFT array substrate. FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the overall configuration of the liquid crystal device. In the above drawings, in order to make each layer and each member recognizable in the drawing, the scales such as the plane dimension and the film thickness are appropriately changed for each layer and each member.

[Structure of Main Parts of Liquid Crystal Device] As shown in FIG. 1, in the liquid crystal device of the present embodiment, a plurality of pixels formed in a matrix form an image display region are a pixel electrode 1 and the pixel. A plurality of TFTs 2 for controlling the electrodes 1 are formed in a matrix, and a data line 3 for supplying an image signal is electrically connected to a source region of the TFT 2. Image signals S1 and S to be written in the data line 3
, ..., Sn may be supplied line-sequentially in this order, or may be supplied for each group to a plurality of adjacent data lines 3. Further, the scanning line 4 is electrically connected to the gate electrode of the TFT 2, and the scanning signal G is pulsed to the scanning line 4 at a predetermined timing.
, Gm are applied line-sequentially in this order. The pixel electrode 1 is electrically connected to the drain region of the TFT 2, and by turning on the switching element TFT 2 for a certain period, the image signals S1, S2, ..., Sn supplied from the data line 3 are predetermined. Write at the timing of.

The image signals S1, S2, ..., Sn having a predetermined level written in the liquid crystal through the pixel electrode 1 are held for a certain period of time with the counter electrode (described later) formed on the counter substrate (described later). Retained. Here, in order to prevent the held image signal from leaking, the storage capacitor section 5 is added in parallel with the liquid crystal capacitor formed between the pixel electrode 1 and the counter electrode. Reference numeral 6 is a capacitance line that forms an upper electrode of the storage capacitance unit 5.

As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of pixel electrodes 1 are formed on the TFT array substrate 7 which is one of the substrates of the liquid crystal device.
(Outline is shown by broken lines) are arranged in a matrix, and data lines 3 (outline is shown by chain double-dashed lines) are provided along the sides of the pixel electrodes 1 that extend in the vertical direction of the drawing and extend in the horizontal direction of the drawing. A scanning line 4 and a capacitance line 6 (both of which are outlined by solid lines) are provided along the sides. When the liquid crystal device is a transmissive liquid crystal device, the pixel electrode 1 is formed of a transparent conductive film such as indium tin oxide (hereinafter abbreviated as ITO). When the liquid crystal device is a reflective liquid crystal device, the pixel electrode 1 is formed of a metal thin film such as aluminum (Al). When the liquid crystal device is a transflective liquid crystal device, the pixel electrode 1 is formed of, for example, a laminated film of a transparent conductive film and a metal thin film. In the present embodiment, the semiconductor layer 8 made of a polysilicon film (outline is indicated by a chain line)
Is formed in a U-shape near the intersection of the data line 3 and the scanning line 4, and one end of the U-shaped portion 8a is adjacent to the data line 3.
In the direction (rightward on the paper surface) and in the direction along the data line 3 (upward direction on the paper surface). Contact holes 9 and 10 are formed at both ends of the U-shaped portion 8a of the semiconductor layer 8. One of the contact holes 9 is a source contact hole for electrically connecting the data line 3 and the source region of the semiconductor layer 8. Therefore, the other contact hole 10 is a drain contact hole that electrically connects the drain electrode 11 (outline is indicated by a chain double-dashed line) and the drain region of the semiconductor layer 8. A pixel contact hole 12 for electrically connecting the drain electrode 11 and the pixel electrode 1 is formed at an end of the drain electrode 11 opposite to the side where the drain contact hole 10 is provided.

In the TFT 2 of the present embodiment, the U-shaped portion 8a of the semiconductor layer 8 intersects the scanning line 4, and the semiconductor layer 8 and the scanning line 4 intersect twice.
A TFT having two gates on one semiconductor layer, that is, a so-called dual gate type TFT is configured. Further, the capacitance line 6 extends along the scanning line 4 so as to penetrate the pixels arranged in the horizontal direction of the paper surface, and the branched portion 6 a extends along the data line 3 in the vertical direction of the paper surface. Therefore, the storage capacitor portion 5 is formed by the semiconductor layer 8 and the capacitance line 6 which both extend along the data line 3.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, on the counter substrate 15, R (red), G (green), B forming color filters are formed.
The color material layers 22 respectively corresponding to the three primary colors (blue) are TFTs.
A first light-shielding film 2 which is provided corresponding to each pixel region of the array substrate 7 and shields the boundary portion of these color material layers 22 in a grid pattern.
1 (black matrix) is provided.

As shown in FIG. 4, the liquid crystal device of this embodiment has a pair of transparent substrates 13 and 14, one of which is a TFT array substrate 7 and the other is arranged to face it. The counter substrate 15 which is the other substrate is provided, and the liquid crystal 16 is sandwiched between the substrates 7 and 15 together with the spacer 23. The transparent substrates 13 and 14 are made of, for example, a glass substrate or a quartz substrate, a spacer 23 is interposed between these substrates, and the diameter of the spacer 23 holds the substrates at a predetermined distance. The spacer 23 is made of silica beads, for example.

A base insulating film 17 is formed on the TFT array substrate 7.
And a film thickness of, for example, 30 to 1 is formed on the base insulating film 17.
A semiconductor layer 8 made of a polysilicon film having a thickness of about 00 nm is provided, and a film thickness of 30 to 150 is provided so as to cover the semiconductor layer 8.
An insulating thin film 18 forming a gate insulating film of about nm is formed on the entire surface. A TFT 2 that controls switching of each pixel electrode 1 is provided on the base insulating film 17, and the TFT 2 is
A scanning line 4 made of a metal such as tantalum or Al, a channel region 8c of a semiconductor layer 8 in which a channel is formed by an electric field from the scanning line 4, an insulation forming a gate insulating film for insulating the scanning line 4 and the semiconductor layer 8 from each other. A thin film 18, a data line 3 made of metal such as aluminum (not shown in FIG. 4),
The semiconductor layer 8 has a source region 8b and a drain region 8d.

Further, on the TFT array substrate 7 including the scanning lines 4 and the insulating thin film 18, the source contact hole 9 leading to the source region 8b and the drain contact hole 10 leading to the drain region 8d (both shown in FIG. 4). The first interlayer insulating film 19 is formed. That is, the data line 3 has the semiconductor layer 8 through the source contact hole 9 penetrating the first interlayer insulating film 19.
Is electrically connected to the source region 8b.

Further, a drain electrode 11 made of a metal in the same layer as the data line 3 is formed on the first interlayer insulating film 19, and a pixel contact hole 12 (not shown in FIG. 4) leading to the drain electrode 11 is formed. The formed second interlayer insulating film 20 is formed. In other words, the pixel electrode 1 is connected to the drain region 8 of the semiconductor layer 8 via the drain electrode 11.
It is electrically connected to d.

A storage capacitor portion 5 is formed on the side of the TFT 2 in FIG. In this portion, the base insulating film 17 is provided on the transparent substrate 13, and the T
An impurity-doped semiconductor layer 8 integral with the semiconductor layer 8 of the FT 2 is provided, and an insulating thin film 18 is formed on the entire surface so as to cover the semiconductor layer 8. A capacitance line 6 made of metal in the same layer as the scanning line 4 is formed on the insulating thin film 18, and a first interlayer insulating film 19 is formed on the entire surface so as to cover the capacitance line 6.

The second interlayer insulating film 20 is used as a flattening film, and for example, an acrylic film, which is a kind of resin film having high flatness, is formed to a thickness of about 2 μm. The pixel electrode 1 is formed on the surface of the second interlayer insulating film 20.
Further, an alignment film 25 made of polyimide or the like is provided on the uppermost surface of the TFT array substrate 7 in contact with the liquid crystal 16.

On the other hand, on the counter substrate 15 side, a first light-shielding film 21 made of, for example, a metal film such as chromium or a resin black resist is formed on the transparent substrate 14, and a color material layer 22 is formed on the first light-shielding film 21. Are formed. And on the whole surface of the substrate,
Similar to the pixel electrode 1, a counter electrode 24 made of a transparent conductive film such as ITO and an alignment film 26 are sequentially formed. And T
A spacer 2 is provided between the FT array substrate 7 and the counter substrate 15.
3, the liquid crystal 16 and the liquid crystal 3 are sealed by a sealing material. Further, the injection port, which is the opening of the sealing material when the liquid crystal is injected between the substrates, is sealed by the inter-substrate conduction part.

[Manufacturing Process of Liquid Crystal Device] Next, a manufacturing process of the liquid crystal device having the above structure will be described with reference to FIG. 5A to 5C are process sectional views showing a manufacturing process of the TFT array substrate 7. First, as shown in step (1) of FIG. 5, a base insulating film 17 is formed on a transparent substrate 13 such as a glass substrate, and an amorphous silicon layer is laminated thereon. After that, the amorphous silicon layer is recrystallized by performing a heat treatment such as a laser annealing treatment on the amorphous silicon layer, for example, a film thickness of 30 to 30
A crystalline polysilicon layer 27 having a thickness of about 100 nm is formed.

Next, as shown in step (2) of FIG. 5, the formed polysilicon layer 27 is patterned so as to have the above-mentioned pattern of the semiconductor layer 8, and a film thickness of, for example, about 30 to 150 nm is formed thereon. An insulating thin film 18 which will become the gate insulating film is formed. After that, in the display area, the area other than the area where the connection between the TFT 2 and the storage capacitor 5 and the lower electrode of the storage capacitor 5 is to be masked with a resist such as polyimide, and then PH3 / H2 ions as a donor are used, for example. Is doped into the polysilicon layer through the insulating thin film. The ion implantation conditions at this time are, for example, an ion dose amount of ³¹ P of about 3 × 10 ^{14 to} 5 × 10 ¹⁴ ions / cm ² ,
Acceleration energy needs to be about 80 keV.

After removing the resist, the scanning lines 4 and the capacitance lines 6 are formed on the insulating thin film 18 as shown in step (3) of FIG. To form the scanning lines 4 and the like, a metal such as tantalum or Al is sputtered or vacuum-deposited, then a resist pattern of the scanning lines 4 and the like is formed, etching is performed using the resist pattern as a mask, and the resist pattern is peeled off. By doing. Then, after forming the scanning lines 4 and the capacitance lines 6 and forming a resist pattern for covering the storage capacitance portion 5, PH3 / H2 ions are implanted. The ion implantation conditions at this time are, for example, an ion dose amount of ³¹ P of about 5 × 10 ^{14 to} 7 × 10 ¹⁴ ions / cm ² , and an acceleration energy of about 80 keV. Through the above step (3), the source region 8b and the drain region 8d of the TFT 2 are formed.

Next, after removing the resist pattern, FIG.
As shown in the step (4) of (1), the first interlayer insulating film 19 is laminated, and thereafter, the positions to be the source contact hole 9 and the drain contact hole 10 (neither is shown in FIG. 5) are opened, and thereafter, The data line 3 and the drain electrode 11 are formed by sputtering or evaporating a metal such as aluminum.
A resist pattern having the shape of 1 is formed, and etching is performed using this as a mask to form the data line 3 (not shown) and the drain electrode 11. Then the second
The interlayer insulating film 20 is stacked, and a position to be the pixel contact hole 12 is opened.

Then, as shown in step (5) of FIG.
A transparent conductive thin film of ITO or the like having a film thickness of about 50 to 200 nm is formed thereon, and this is patterned to form the pixel electrode 1, and finally, the alignment film 25 is formed on the entire surface.
Through the above steps, the TFT array substrate 7 of the present embodiment
Is completed. The above description has been given along the steps of the transmissive liquid crystal device. However, in the case of the reflective liquid crystal device, the pixel electrode 1 is formed of a metal thin film such as aluminum (Al) and is a transflective liquid crystal device. In the case of a liquid crystal device, the pixel electrode 1 is formed of, for example, a laminated film of a transparent conductive film and a metal thin film.

On the other hand, for the counter substrate 15 shown in FIG. 4, although illustration of the process diagram is omitted, the transparent substrate 14 such as a glass substrate is first prepared, and the first light shielding film 21 and the second light shielding film 28 as a frame are provided. (See FIG. 6) is formed, for example, by sputtering metal chrome, followed by a photolithography process and an etching process. In addition, these light-shielding films 2
1, 28 are Cr (chromium), Ni (nickel), Al
In addition to metallic materials such as (aluminum), carbon and Ti
May be formed from a material such as resin black dispersed in photoresist.

Next, the color material layer 22 to be a color filter.
Is formed by a known method such as a dyeing method, a pigment dispersion method, or a printing method, and then a transparent conductive thin film such as ITO is formed on the entire surface of the counter substrate 15 by sputtering or the like to a thickness of about 50 to 200 n.
The counter electrode 24 is formed by depositing it to a thickness of m. Then, the alignment film 26 is formed on the entire surface of the counter electrode 24.

Finally, the T on which each layer was formed as described above.
The FT array substrate 7 and the counter substrate 15 are arranged so as to face each other, the spacers 23 are uniformly dispersed on one of the substrates, and then these substrates are bonded by a sealing material to form an empty panel. At this time, at least one opening is provided in the sealing material to bond the substrates to each other, and the liquid crystal 16 is injected into the empty panel using the opening of the sealing material as the injection port 34 (see FIG. 6). Depending on the characteristics of the liquid crystal 16, a plurality of injection ports 34 may be provided. After the liquid crystal is injected, the injection port 34 is sealed to form the liquid crystal panel of the present invention.
The sealing material that seals the inlet 34 is composed of a conductive spacer and an adhesive material, and this serves as the inter-substrate conductive portion 35.

[Overall Structure of Liquid Crystal Device] Next, the liquid crystal device 4
The overall configuration of 0 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 6, a sealing material 29 is provided along the edge of the TFT array substrate 7, and a second light-shielding film 28 as a frame is provided inside the sealing material 29 in parallel. Seal material 2
In the region outside 9, the data line drive circuit 30 and the external circuit connection terminal 31 are provided along one side of the TFT array substrate 7, and the scanning line drive circuit 32 is provided along two sides adjacent to this side. It is provided. It goes without saying that the scanning line driving circuit 32 may be provided on only one side if the delay of the scanning signal supplied to the scanning line 4 does not matter. Further, the data line driving circuits 30 may be arranged on both sides along the side of the image display area. For example, the odd-numbered data lines 3 supply an image signal from a data-line driving circuit arranged along one side of the image display area, and the even-numbered data lines 3 are opposite sides of the image display area. The image signal may be supplied from the data line driving circuit arranged along the line.
By thus driving the data lines 3 in a comb shape, the occupied area of the data line driving circuit can be expanded, and a complicated circuit can be configured. Further, a plurality of wirings 33 for connecting the scanning line driving circuits 32 provided on both sides of the image display area are provided on the remaining one side of the TFT array substrate 7. The counter substrate 15 having substantially the same contour as the sealing material 29 is fixed to the TFT array substrate 7 by the sealing material 29.

A common electrode 36 (see FIG. 8) for enabling the application of a voltage to the counter electrode 24 of the counter substrate 15 is provided at the inlet 34 which is the opening of the sealing material 29. The common electrode 36 and the counter electrode 24 are connected by the inter-substrate conductive portion 35. Further, the common electrode 36 is connected to the common terminal by wiring, and it is possible to apply a uniform voltage without delay to the counter electrode 24 according to the input from the common terminal.

The schematic configuration of the inter-substrate conducting section 35 in the liquid crystal device shown in FIG. 6 is shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, and the inter-substrate conducting section 35 will be described in more detail. FIG. 7 schematically shows a sealing state by the inter-substrate conduction portion 35 of the liquid crystal panel shown in FIG. 6, including switching elements such as TFTs and alignment films described in detail with reference to FIGS. The configurations that are not directly related to the connection between the substrates are omitted. FIG. 8 shows B- of the board-to-board conducting portion 35 shown in FIG.
It is the schematic sectional drawing in line B '. 7 and 8, the TFT array substrate 7 and the counter substrate 15
Are fixed to each other with a sealing material 29 that seals the liquid crystal 16, and a liquid crystal injection port 34 that is an opening of the sealing material 29.
Is sealed by the inter-substrate conducting portion 35.

The inter-substrate conduction section 35 seals the injection port 34,
In addition, the sealing material 40, which is an adhesive, holds electrical conduction between the TFT array substrate 7 and the counter substrate 15, and is an adhesive.
The conductive spacers 37 are dispersed therein.
The shape and material of the conductive spacer 37 are not particularly limited as long as the conductive spacer 37 has a diameter capable of holding the gap of the injection port 34 and is conductive enough to maintain conduction between the substrates. In addition to the metal particles, the surface of the injection port spacer 38 made of an insulator may be coated with the conductive layer 39. At this time, the sum of the diameter of the injection port spacer 38 and the film thickness of the conductive layer 39 may be set to be equal to the inter-substrate gap of the injection port. Inlet spacer 3
Even if 8 is an insulator, by bringing the conductive layer 39 into contact with the common electrode 36 and the counter electrode 24, electrical conduction between the electrodes can be maintained.

The material for forming the conductive layer 39 is not particularly limited as long as it has conductivity, and silver, copper,
In addition to a metal such as nickel or aluminum, it may be composed of a transparent conductive film such as ITO. Such a conductive layer 39 can be easily formed on the surface of the injection port spacer 38 by various film forming techniques such as vacuum deposition and electroless plating. On the other hand, the injection port spacer 38 is preferably in the form of particles such as silica beads in addition to resin particles such as acrylic beads, but the shape is not particularly limited, and for example, a rod-shaped filler or fiber may be used. You may use. Alternatively, it may be a substrate-integrated spacer including a convex portion provided on one substrate. By using the injection port spacer 38 having such a convex portion, the injection port spacer 38 can be formed at the same time when the substrate is manufactured, so that the process can be further simplified.

Since the sealing material 40 seals the injection port 34 of the sealing material 29, it may be of the same material as the sealing material 29 or of a different material. As such a sealing material 40, various adhesives made of, for example, a thermosetting resin or a photocurable resin are suitable.

According to the structure of the electro-optical device of the present invention, not only the inter-substrate gap can be easily controlled by the conductive spacer 37, but also the conductive spacer 37 prevents the injection port 34 from being crushed. You can Further, the conductive spacer 37 having a diameter equal to the gap of the injection port 34, as compared with the case where the injection port 34 is sealed only by the adhesive material.
Since the sealing strength of the liquid crystal 16 is also improved by intervening, the liquid crystal 16 can be prevented from seeping out from the injection port 34. Further, according to the configuration of the present invention, since the inter-substrate conductive portion 35 is provided in the injection port 34,
The conventional image display area can be provided in a space-saving manner without changing the design, and the frame of the liquid crystal panel can be narrowed. Furthermore, such a board-to-board conducting portion 3
5 has not only a stable conductivity as compared with the conventional conductive portion, but also the entire injection port 34 functions as a conductive portion, so that a large contact area with the counter substrate can be obtained, and the input area can be increased. It is possible to apply a stable voltage without delay from a signal, and it is possible to display a clearer image.

[Structure of Liquid Crystal Device According to Second Embodiment] A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10. The liquid crystal device according to the present embodiment is different from the liquid crystal device according to the first embodiment in that an insulating portion 41 is provided at a portion where the inter-substrate conduction portion 35 and the liquid crystal 16 are in contact with each other. The insulating portion 41 does not include the conductive spacer 37, electrically separates the inter-substrate conductive portion 35 and the liquid crystal 16, and is of the same quality as the sealing material 40 forming the inter-substrate conductive portion 35. Or may be composed of different materials.
Considering the simplification of the manufacturing process, it is preferable that the resin adhesive has the same quality as that of the sealing material 40 that forms the inter-substrate conductive portion 35. With such a configuration, the distance between the conductive layer 39, which is a substantial conductive portion, and the liquid crystal 16 becomes large. Therefore, when a voltage is applied to the inter-substrate conductive portion 35, the liquid crystal 16 is affected by an electric field or the like. Can be reduced as much as possible.

Further, the insulating layer 41 is connected to the inter-substrate conducting portion 35.
The inter-substrate conducting portion 35 may be sandwiched between the insulating layers 41 so that the inter-substrate conducting portion 35 is also provided in the portion in contact with the outside air. With such a structure, the inter-substrate conductive portion 35 is prevented from coming into contact with the outside air, and the adhesive strength between the substrates can be improved. Further, it is possible to prevent the current of the board-to-board conducting portion 35 from leaking to the external terminal, which is preferable.

[Electronic Equipment] Specific examples of electronic equipment equipped with the liquid crystal device of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing an example of a mobile phone. In FIG.
Reference numeral 1000 indicates a mobile phone body, and reference numeral 1001 indicates a liquid crystal display unit using the above liquid crystal device. 12
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an example of a wrist watch type electronic device. In FIG. 12, reference numeral 1100 indicates a watch body, and reference numeral 1
Reference numeral 101 denotes a liquid crystal display unit using the above liquid crystal device. FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing an example of a portable information processing device such as a word processor and a personal computer. In FIG.
Reference numeral 1200 is an information processing apparatus, reference numeral 1202 is an input unit such as a keyboard, reference numeral 1204 is an information processing apparatus main body, and reference numeral 1206 is a liquid crystal display unit using the above liquid crystal device. Since the electronic device shown in FIGS. 11 to 13 includes the liquid crystal display section using the above liquid crystal device, it is possible to realize an electronic device with high display quality.

The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the first and second embodiments, one board-to-board conducting section is provided. However, regarding the formation position, the number of formations, and the shape thereof, in addition to those illustrated in the above-described embodiment,
The design can be changed as appropriate. In the above embodiment, T
Although an active matrix type liquid crystal device using FT as a switching element has been illustrated, the invention can also be applied to an active matrix type liquid crystal device using a thin film transistor (TFD) as a switching element or a passive matrix type liquid crystal device. . Further, the present invention can be applied to other electro-optical devices such as electroluminescence and plasma display.

[0049]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, since the inter-substrate conduction portion including the conductive spacer and the adhesive is provided in the injection port which is the opening of the sealing material,
Not only is it possible to maintain stable electrical continuity between the substrates, but it is not necessary to set an installation space for the inter-substrate conducting portion, and it is possible to narrow the frame. Further, since the gap between the substrates at the injection port can be held by the conductive spacer, it is possible to prevent the injection port from being crushed. Further, by disposing the conductive spacer in the inlet, it is possible to prevent the liquid crystal from seeping out from the inlet.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an equivalent circuit of various elements, wirings, and the like in a plurality of pixels forming an image display area of a liquid crystal device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a plurality of adjacent pixel groups on the TFT array substrate of the liquid crystal device.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the counter substrate of the liquid crystal device.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA ′ of FIGS. 2 and 3.

FIG. 5 is a process sectional view for explaining the manufacturing process for the TFT array substrate of the liquid crystal device.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing an overall configuration of the same liquid crystal device.

7 is a plan view showing a connection between substrates of the liquid crystal device of FIG.

8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line B-B ′ of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a connection between substrates of a liquid crystal device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

10 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line C-C ′ of FIG.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing an example of an electronic apparatus using the liquid crystal device of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing another example of an electronic apparatus using the liquid crystal device of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing still another example of an electronic device using the liquid crystal device of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a conventional liquid crystal display device.

[Explanation of symbols]

7 TFT array substrate 13 Transparent substrate 14 Transparent substrate 15 Counter substrate 16 liquid crystal 24 Counter electrode 29 Seal material 35 board-to-board conducting section 37 conductive spacer 39 Conductive layer 40 sealing material

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An electro-optical device comprising an electro-optical material sandwiched between a pair of substrates facing each other, wherein an injection port for injecting the electro-optical material between the pair of substrates comprises:
An electro-optical device characterized in that a conductive spacer is sealed by a sealing material provided in an adhesive material. 2. An electro-optical device in which an electro-optical material is sandwiched between a pair of substrates facing each other, wherein conductive portions are respectively provided on the inner surfaces of the substrates forming the pair of substrates, The injection port for injecting the electro-optical material between the substrates is sealed by a sealing material in which a conductive spacer is disposed in an adhesive material, and the sealing material electrically connects the pair of substrates. An electro-optical device, characterized in that the conductive portions of the substrates are electrically connected to each other via the inter-substrate conductive portion. 3. The electro-optical device according to claim 1, wherein the conductive spacer has a spacer surface coated with a conductive layer. 4. The electro-optical device according to claim 3, wherein the conductive layer is a metal film. 5. The injection port is sealed by an insulating material not including a conductive spacer and an adhesive material including a conductive spacer, which are sequentially arranged from the electro-optical material side. The electro-optical device according to claim 1. 6. The electro-optical device according to claim 1, wherein the electro-optical material is liquid crystal. 7. An electronic apparatus comprising the electro-optical device according to claim 1. Description: