JP2003307607A - Anisotropic phase separation structural body, film and anisotropic phase separation structure using the anisotropic phase separation structural body, and display device with the film stuck thereto - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an element having an irregularity and a non-periodical property in such a degree that no interference fringe or no moire pattern is produced between the element and an optical device constituting a display device. <P>SOLUTION: The phase separation structural body 10 comprises a substrate 1 and a coating part 2 formed by applying a binder composition with nanoparticles into a thin film on the substrate 1. The coating part 2 is characterized in that it has a phase separation structure in which a region containing the nanoparticles and a region having no nanoparticles are formed into stripes and has anisotropy by the phase separation structure. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an anisotropic phase-separated structure which can be used as an anisotropic conductive material or an anisotropic optical material, a film using the anisotropic phase-separated structure, and The present invention relates to a display device to which a film is attached.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, most of anisotropic conductive materials and anisotropic optical materials used for display devices such as liquid crystal displays are
It was usual to form an anisotropic structure by patterning by exposure or transfer, or by stretching.

However, according to such an anisotropic structure forming method, the processing size of the material is limited by the pattern forming means, and depending on the physical properties of the material, stretching and post-processing such as multi-layer lamination cannot be performed. There was a problem.

When an anisotropic structure is formed by patterning by transfer or the like, the formed structure has a high regularity, so that a black matrix of a liquid crystal display or a CRT is used.
In some cases, interference fringes and moire fringes were generated between the shadow mask and other optical devices having a regular structure. Further, in addition to patterning by transfer or the like, shape imparting by etching, printing or the like has periodicity, and thus when used in a display device having regularly arranged pixels such as a liquid crystal display or a plasma display, There is a problem that interference fringes and moire fringes are likely to occur.

Further, interference fringes may occur even with a regular structure which is usually difficult to visually recognize, such as an array pattern of ITO conductive films used for a touch panel.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the problems of the prior art, and does not cause interference fringes or moire fringes with an optical device that constitutes a display device. An object of the present invention is to provide an anisotropic thin film element having a degree of irregularity and aperiodicity.

[0007]

In order to solve the above problems, the inventors of the present invention have earnestly studied, and as a result, by utilizing a phase separation phenomenon, interference fringes and the like with an optical device are not generated. It was found that a somewhat irregular and aperiodic pattern was developed. Furthermore, by appropriately selecting the phase-separated material system (nanoparticles and binder composition) and manufacturing conditions, the refractive index, wettability, etching characteristics, conductivity, adhesion to other substrates, reflection characteristics, etc. It has been found that a phase separation structure that causes anisotropy can be formed. That is,
Optical properties, mechanical properties, surface properties,
It has been found that it is possible to provide a thin film element having anisotropy in conductivity and the like. The present invention has been completed based on the findings of the inventors.

That is, the present invention comprises, as described in claim 1, a base material, and a coating part formed by applying a thin film of nanoparticles on the base material together with a binder composition, The coating part is a phase-separated structure in which a region containing the nanoparticles and a region not containing the nanoparticles are formed in a striped pattern, and the phase-separated structure has anisotropy. An anisotropic phase-separated structure is provided.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the coating part formed by thinly coating the nanoparticles with the binder composition on the substrate contains a region containing the nanoparticles and the nanoparticles. The non-region is a phase-separated structure formed in a striped pattern, and the phase-separated structure has anisotropy.
Therefore, for example, by making the refractive index of the binder composition different from the refractive index of the nanoparticles, an anisotropic optical element that can perform the same function as an optical element such as a diffraction grating, a microlenticular lens, or an anisotropic light scatterer can be easily obtained. And it is possible to obtain at a low price. Further, in the region where the content rate of nanoparticles is high, it is possible to control the surface uneven shape according to the content rate of nanoparticles by utilizing the fact that the volume loss after the binder composition is polymerized is small. Thus, the refraction, diffraction and scattering due to the difference in refractive index, and the refraction, diffraction and scattering due to the surface irregularities, the difference in refractive index between the binder composition and the nanoparticles, the nanoparticle content rate, and the shrinkage rate of the binder composition It is possible to freely design by appropriately setting the above. Furthermore, according to the present invention, an irregular and aperiodic phase separation structure is obtained to the extent that interference fringes and the like are not generated between the device and the optical device that constitutes the display device. There is an advantage that the problem that the display quality is deteriorated due to the stripes hardly occurs.

Preferably, as described in claim 2, the shortest period length of the stripes is 1000 μm or less along a direction orthogonal to the extending direction of the stripes.

[0011] Preferably, as described in claim 3, the stripe extends substantially parallel to a coating direction of the thin film coating.

[0012] Preferably, as described in claim 4, the base material is a transparent resin plate or film, and is light-transmissive.

Alternatively, as described in claim 5, the base material may be a resin plate material or film that scatters and transmits light, and may be configured to have light scattering and transmitting properties.

Alternatively, as described in claim 6, the base material is an opaque metal thin film or a resin plate or film having an opaque metal thin film formed on the surface thereof, and has light scattering reflectivity. It can also be configured as follows.

Preferably, the refractive index difference between the nanoparticles and the binder composition is 0.
It is made larger than 005. The refractive index difference is more preferably larger than 0.01, further preferably larger than 0.1.

Preferably, as described in claim 8, the coated portion has an electric resistance value of 10 ¹¹ Ω so as to have conductivity.
It is considered as follows. The resistance value is more preferably 1
It is set to 0 ¹⁰ Ω or less, more preferably set to 10 ⁹ Ω or less, and most preferably set to 10 ⁸ Ω or less.

Preferably, as described in claim 9, a mechanical or chemical protective layer is formed on the surface of the coated portion. As the mechanical or chemical protective layer, for example, an organic resin material such as an acrylic resin or an epoxy resin, an inorganic thin film material by a sol-gel method, or a protective layer made of an inorganic thin film material by vapor deposition is used. Applicable.

Preferably, as described in claim 10, the surface of the base material on which the coated portion is formed is treated to improve adhesion. Incidentally, as the treatment for improving the adhesion,
For example, in addition to subjecting the base material surface before forming the coating portion to easy adhesion treatment such as corona treatment, saponification treatment, ozone treatment, UV treatment, and solvent treatment, a coupling material or the like is applied. Increasing the wettability of the surface of the base material and enhancing the affinity when forming the coated portion are also included.

The phase-separated structure according to the present invention, when the phase-separated structure is arranged on the display surface of a display device, is rubbed by a human finger, a hard handkerchief, or the like, or by sweat, oil, water, or the like. It is usually placed in various environments such as being contaminated or trying to wipe off the dirt with a detergent or the like. According to the invention of claim 10, even under such an environment, the surface of the base material on which the coating portion is formed is subjected to the treatment for improving the adhesiveness. It has an advantage that it has excellent adhesiveness with the above, and consequently has improved durability against the environment.

Further, according to the present invention, as described in claim 11, the anisotropic phase-separated structure according to any one of claims 1 to 10 is attached to a film substrate. The optical film is also provided.

Further, according to the present invention, as in claim 12, the antistatic film is formed by adhering the anisotropic phase-separated structure according to claim 8 to a film substrate. Further, as described in claim 13,
There is also provided an electromagnetic wave shielding film, which is formed by adhering the anisotropic phase-separated structure described in 1 above to a film substrate.

Further, according to the present invention, as described in claim 14, the anisotropic phase-separated structure according to any one of claims 1 to 10 and the anisotropy due to the phase-separated structure of the coating portion are provided. The present invention also provides an anisotropic phase-separated structure characterized by comprising another structure formed on the surface of the coating part.

Here, "utilizing the anisotropy due to the phase-separated structure" means effectively utilizing the anisotropy of the phase-separated structure when laminating another structure. . For example, in the case where the phase-separated structure has a highly hydrophilic region (hydrophilic region) and a highly hydrophobic region (hydrophobic region) formed in stripes. Then, when the water-based paint as another structure is applied to the surface of the coated portion having the phase separation structure, the paint is repelled from the hydrophobic region and concentrated on the hydrophilic region. If the drying process is performed in this state, the water-based paint can be efficiently formed into stripes. In addition, after coating the surface of the coated portion of the phase-separated structure having the phase-separated structure with a resin having weak adhesion to the hydrophilic region (strong adhesion to the hydrophobic region) and drying the resin. If adhesive tape, etc. is attached to the resin surface and peeled off, only the part with weak adhesion (resin applied on the hydrophilic area)
While peeling off with the adhesive tape, a portion having a strong adhesive force (resin applied on the hydrophobic region) remains, so that the resin as another structure can be efficiently formed in a striped shape. Further, similarly to the above example, by utilizing the difference between the adhesion force to the region containing nanoparticles and the adhesion force to the region not containing nanoparticles, a metal film as another structure is applied to the coating surface. After forming the striped pattern, the striped metal strip can be efficiently formed by sequentially laminating the metal films on the metal film remaining on the surface of the coated portion by plating or the like. Furthermore, when the nanoparticles forming the phase-separated structure consist of particles having a low UV transmittance, a UV-curable resin is applied to the surface of the coated part, and UV light is applied from the side opposite to the coated part forming side of the base material. UV irradiation cures the resin applied to the region not containing nanoparticles, while the resin applied to the region containing nanoparticles does not easily undergo ultraviolet curing. Therefore, if the uncured resin is washed off after the irradiation of the ultraviolet rays, the ultraviolet curable resin as another structure can be efficiently formed in a stripe shape.

Furthermore, the present invention is a display device including an optical device such as a polarizing plate as described in claim 15, wherein the optical film according to claim 11 is attached to the optical device. The present invention also provides a display device characterized by the above.

Preferably, the display device is a display device according to claim 16.
A liquid crystal display as set forth in claim 1 or 2.
7 is a plasma display or is a field emission display.

[0026]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a schematic structure of an anisotropic phase-separated structure according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the anisotropic phase separation structure 10 according to the present embodiment.
Includes a base material 1 and a coating portion 2 formed on the base material 1.

The coating part 2 is formed by applying a thin film of nanoparticles on the substrate 1 together with the binder composition, and the region containing the nanoparticles and the region not containing the nanoparticles are striped. The formed phase-separated structure has anisotropy due to the phase-separated structure. This phase separation structure is an optical device (black matrix or the like) that constitutes a display device such as a liquid crystal display device in which the anisotropic phase separation structure 10 is used.
It is assumed to have irregularity and non-periodicity to the extent that interference fringes and the like do not occur between and.

Here, the material, size, shape such as secondary aggregation of the nanoparticles forming the coating portion 2 are not particularly limited as long as a phase separation structure can be formed, but Zr
Φ composed of O ₂ , SnO ₂ , ATO, AZO, TiO ₂ etc.
Nanoparticles having a diameter of about 1 nm to several hundreds of nm can be suitably used for the purpose of imparting high refractive index and conductivity.

Further, the nanoparticles composed of MgF ₂ , CaF ₂ , SiO _2, etc. having a diameter of about Φ1 nm to several hundreds nm are:
It can be suitably used for the purpose of imparting a low refractive index.

Furthermore, nanoparticles having a diameter of Φ1 nm to several hundreds nm, which are made of silver, gold, Cr, platinum, palladium, etc., can be suitably used for the purpose of imparting light reflectivity and conductivity. it can.

The type of the binder composition that constitutes the coating part 2 is not particularly limited as long as it can form a phase-separated structure, but is not limited to acrylic type, epoxy type,
A urethane-based or polysiloxane-based sol-gel reaction film or the like can be preferably used.

The type of the substrate 1 is not particularly limited, but polyethylene terephthalate, polycarbonate, polymethylmethacrylate, methacrylic resin, acrylic resin, cellulose triacetate, norbornene resin, epoxy resin, etc. Can be preferably used.

The refractive index difference (Δnd) between the nanoparticles forming the coating part 2 and the binder composition is not particularly limited, but it causes remarkable optical properties such as refraction, diffraction and scattering. In addition, Δnd> 0.005, more preferably Δnd> 0.01, and further preferably Δnd> 0.1.

However, when the anisotropic phase separation structure 10 is used as a conductive film, on the contrary, it is desirable that the refractive index difference Δnd is small.

As described above, the coating portion 2 has a phase-separated structure in which a region containing nanoparticles and a region not containing nanoparticles are formed in stripes. Here, the shortest cycle length along the direction orthogonal to the extending direction of the stripe is preferably 1000 μm or less for use as an optical element that causes refraction, diffraction, scattering, and the like.

In particular, in order to prevent interference fringes and moire fringes from occurring in the pixels of the liquid crystal cell, it is desirable that the shortest cycle length is equal to or smaller than the pixel size (usually 200 μm or less). Further, when it is desired to obtain a lens effect based on the uneven surface shape or the refractive index difference, it is preferable to set the range to about 200 μm to several μm. Furthermore, the shortest cycle length is several μ
If it is less than m, interference and diffraction are likely to occur. As described above, the shortest period length can be variously set according to the use of the anisotropic phase separation structure 10.

According to the anisotropic phase-separated structure 10 described above, the refractive index of the binder composition is made different from that of the nanoparticles, whereby an optical element such as a diffraction grating, a microlenticular lens, or an anisotropic light-scattering body. It is possible to easily and inexpensively obtain an anisotropic optical element that can achieve the same function as. Further, in the region where the content rate of nanoparticles is high, it is possible to control the surface uneven shape according to the content rate of nanoparticles by utilizing the fact that the volume loss after the binder composition is polymerized is small. In this way, refraction due to the difference in refractive index,
Diffraction and scattering, refraction by surface irregularities, diffraction and scattering, by freely setting the refractive index difference between the binder composition and the nanoparticles, the nanoparticle content rate, the shrinkage rate of the binder composition, etc., freely. It is possible to design. Furthermore, according to the anisotropic phase separation structure 10, an irregular and non-periodic phase separation structure is obtained to the extent that interference fringes and the like are not generated between the anisotropic phase separation structure 10 and the optical device that constitutes the display device. As described above, there is an advantage that the problem that the display quality is deteriorated due to the interference fringes and the moire fringes is unlikely to occur.

If the base material 1 is a smooth reflecting plate or the like,
The phase-separated structure of the coating section 2 makes it possible to obtain a reflector whose directional characteristics are controlled. For example, it is possible to provide a light reflection characteristic suitable for a horizontally long screen and obtain a uniform reflection display.

If the base material 1 has a rough surface, it is possible to impart anisotropy to the rough surface characteristics of the base material 1 due to the phase separation structure of the coating part 2. Such an anisotropic phase-separated structure 1
If 0 is attached to, for example, the antiglare layer of the display device, it is possible to strongly scatter light in a specific direction and reduce the influence on the visibility of the display screen.

If the phase separation structure of the coating portion 2 is formed so as to have anisotropy with respect to wettability, the coating portion 2
It is possible to effectively remove or wipe off contaminants such as condensed water adhering to the surface in a specific direction. Further, when forming another thin film on the surface of the coating portion 2 having anisotropy with respect to the wettability, the difference in wettability can be effectively utilized. Specifically, for example, when a water-based coating material as another thin film is applied to the surface of the coating portion 2, the coating material is applied to the coating portion 2
It will be repelled from the hydrophobic region and concentrated in the hydrophilic region. If the drying process is performed in this state, the water-based paint can be efficiently formed into stripes. In addition, a resin having a weak adhesion to the hydrophilic region of the coating unit 2 (having a strong adhesion to the hydrophobic region) is applied to the surface of the coating unit 2 and dried, and then an adhesive tape or the like. If you stick it to the resin surface and peel it off,
Only the part with weak adhesion (resin applied on the hydrophilic area) will peel off together with the adhesive tape, while the part with strong adhesion (resin applied on the hydrophobic area) will remain. The resin as a thin film can be efficiently formed in a striped pattern.

When a material having light reflectivity is used as the nanoparticles forming the coating part 2, the anisotropic phase separation structure 10 functions as a reflector and, on the other hand, in the region where the content of nanoparticles is low. It is possible to obtain optical transparency. As a result, it is possible to obtain a neutral semi-transmissive semi-reflective plate that does not undergo the absorption loss that occurs in the conventional metal thin film during transmission and has no difference in the spectrum of reflected light and transmitted light. Such an anisotropic phase-separated structure 10 is extremely effective for colorizing a transflective liquid crystal display device.

Further, when a material having conductivity is used as the nanoparticles, unlike the conventional metal thin film, since the transmitted light does not include the absorption spectrum of the metal, a conductive thin film having neutral transmission characteristics can be obtained. . Such an anisotropic phase separation structure 10 can be suitably used, for example, for electromagnetic wave shielding in a plasma display.
Moreover, since no interference fringes or moire fringes are generated between the pixels forming the plasma display, good display quality can be easily obtained.

The characteristics of the present invention will be further clarified by showing examples below.

Example 1 ATO ultrafine particles as nanoparticles (primary particle diameter φ1 to 5 nm, secondary particle diameter φ80 to 9)
0 μm) is dispersed in a siloxane-based sol-gel reaction hard coat binder as a binder composition in an amount of 90% by weight, and a film is formed on a polyethylene terephthalate film having a thickness of 50 μm as a base material by a wire bar coder to form an anisotropic A phase separated structure was formed.

The thickness of the coated portion (thin film) of the anisotropic phase-separated structure of this example was 0.1 μm. The refractive index of the ATO ultrafine particles was about 2.0, and the refractive index of the binder composition was about 1.5.

The phase-separated structure of the coated part in this example is as follows.
As shown in FIG. 2, it was formed in a striped pattern extending substantially parallel to the coating direction, and separated into a high concentration ATO ultrafine particle concentration-containing region and a non-concentration region at a pitch of about 10 μm.

When the anisotropic phase separation structure of this example was irradiated with laser light, a diffraction image as shown in FIG. 3 was formed,
It was found to function as a diffraction grating.

The electric resistance value of the coated portion of the anisotropic phase-separated structure of the present example was 6 × 10 ¹⁰ Ω, and it was found that it had conductivity.

The anisotropic phase-separated structure of this example has an anisotropy of about 10% and has anisotropy.
It was found that the spread of these transmitted light rays becomes an elliptical shape when it is attached to (0%).

Further, it was found that even if the anisotropic phase-separated structure of the present example is arranged on an optical device having a regular pattern which constitutes a display device, moire fringes do not occur between the two. It was

Example 2 The coated portion of the anisotropic phase-separated structure of Example 1 was vapor-deposited with aluminum to a thickness of 0.1 μm. Further, the aluminum vapor deposition film was peeled off by sticking a light release adhesive tape on the surface of the aluminum vapor deposition film and peeling it off.

As a result, the aluminum vapor-deposited film remained only in the area of the coated portion where the content of the ATO ultrafine particles was high, the surface was rough and excellent in wettability, and was peeled in other areas. It was found that the aluminum reflector obtained in this example has a semi-transmissive property (reflectance of 30%, transmittance of about 30%).

(Comparative Example) 100 by mask exposure method
A lenticular lens patterned with a μm pitch and a focal length of 1 mm was prepared. Between this lenticular lens and the black matrix of the liquid crystal display device,
It was confirmed that moire fringes were generated.

[0055]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a coated portion formed by thin-film coating nanoparticles with a binder composition on a substrate has a region containing nanoparticles and a region not containing the nanoparticles. And are phase-separated structures formed in stripes, and the phase-separated structure has anisotropy. Therefore,
For example, by making the refractive index of the binder composition different from that of the nanoparticles, it is possible to easily and inexpensively produce an anisotropic optical element that can perform the same function as an optical element such as a diffraction grating, a microlenticular lens, or an anisotropic light scatterer. It is possible to obtain Further, since an irregular and aperiodic phase separation structure is obtained to the extent that interference fringes and the like do not occur with the optical device that constitutes the display device, display quality is degraded by interference fringes and moire fringes as in the conventional case. The advantage is that the problem that occurs is unlikely to occur.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of an anisotropic phase-separated structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a phase separation structure of a coating section according to Example 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows a diffraction image generated when an anisotropic phase separation structure according to Example 1 of the present invention is irradiated with laser light.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Substrate 2 ... Coating part (nanoparticles, binder composition) 10 ... Anisotropic phase-separated structure

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Claims (18)

[Claims] 1. A base material, and a coating part formed by applying a thin film of nanoparticles onto the base material together with a binder composition, wherein the coating part contains the nanoparticles. An anisotropic phase-separated structure having a phase-separated structure in which a region and a region not containing the nanoparticles are formed in stripes, and having anisotropy due to the phase-separated structure. 2. The anisotropic phase-separated structure according to claim 1, wherein the stripes have a shortest period length of 1000 μm or less along a direction orthogonal to the extending direction of the stripes. 3. The stripes extend substantially parallel to the coating direction of the thin film coating.
Or the anisotropic phase-separated structure according to 2. 4. The anisotropic phase-separated structure according to claim 1, wherein the base material is a transparent resin plate or film and has a light-transmitting property. 5. The substrate is a plate or film made of resin that scatters and transmits light, and has light scattering and transmission properties.
An anisotropic phase-separated structure according to any one of 1. 6. The substrate is an opaque metal thin film or a resin plate or film having an opaque metal thin film formed on the surface thereof, and has light scattering reflectivity. From 3
An anisotropic phase-separated structure according to any one of 1. 7. The anisotropic phase-separated structure according to claim 1, wherein a difference in refractive index between the nanoparticles and the binder composition is larger than 0.005. 8. The anisotropic phase-separated structure according to claim 1, wherein an electric resistance value of the coated portion is 10 ¹¹ Ω or less. 9. The mechanical or chemical protective layer is formed on the surface of the coated portion.
9. The anisotropic phase-separated structure according to any one of 1 to 8. 10. The anisotropic phase-separated structure according to claim 1, wherein the surface of the base material on which the coated portion is formed is treated to improve adhesion. body. 11. An optical film formed by adhering the anisotropic phase-separated structure according to any one of claims 1 to 10 to a film substrate. 12. An antistatic film formed by sticking the anisotropic phase-separated structure according to claim 8 on a film substrate. 13. An electromagnetic wave shielding film, which is formed by adhering the anisotropic phase-separated structure according to claim 8 on a film substrate. 14. An anisotropic phase-separated structure according to any one of claims 1 to 10, and anisotropy due to the phase-separated structure of the coated part are used to form on the surface of the coated part. An anisotropic phase-separated structure, comprising: 15. A display device comprising an optical device, wherein the optical film according to claim 11 is attached to the optical device. 16. The display device according to claim 15, which is a liquid crystal display. 17. The display device according to claim 15, which is a plasma display. 18. The display device according to claim 15, which is a field emission display.