JP2004045757A - Manufacturing method for color filter, electrooptical device and electronic appliance - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a manufacturing method for a transreflective color filter substrate capable of improving the efficiency of a production process and securing both of the brightness of a reflection type and the saturation of transmission type display. <P>SOLUTION: The transreflective color filter substrate is provided with a transmission type color filter part and a reflection type color filter part for one pixel region. Light from a back light passes through a coloring layer once in a transmission mode and external light made incident on a display device is made to pass through the coloring layer twice by a reflector arranged in a lower layer in a reflection mode. Thus, by examining the color filter film thickness of a transmission region and a reflection region, the saturation and brightness of an electrooptical display device are improved. In this invention, by using a halftone mask, a color filter film thickness difference between the transmission region and the reflection region can be increased though the number of masks is same as before. Thus, a transreflective electrooptical device of high display quality is obtained without increasing processes. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a transflective color filter formed by forming a plurality of color picture elements such as RGB on a substrate. Further, the present invention relates to an electro-optical device and an electronic apparatus configured using the color filters.
[0002]
[Background Art]
The reflection type liquid crystal display device has an advantage that power consumption is small because it does not have a light source such as a backlight, and it is excellent in portability because it can be made thin. For this reason, it has been widely used for display units of various portable electronic devices and the like. However, the reflection type liquid crystal display device has a drawback that visibility is reduced in a dark place because display is performed by using external light such as natural light or illumination light.
[0003]
Therefore, in a bright place, an external light is used in the same way as a normal reflective liquid crystal display device, and in a dark place, a liquid crystal display with improved visibility is provided by using a light source such as a backlight attached to the display device. A device has been proposed. That is, this liquid crystal display device employs a display system having both a reflective type and a transmissive type, and can switch between a reflective display mode and a transmissive display mode in accordance with ambient brightness. . A transflective liquid crystal display device having both a reflective type and a transmissive type enables high-quality display even when the surroundings are dark while reducing power consumption.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the spread of portable electronic devices and the like, demand for colorization of liquid crystal display devices has been increasing. The same applies to an electronic device provided with the above-mentioned transflective liquid crystal display device. As a color transflective liquid crystal display device that meets this demand, a transflective liquid crystal display device having a color filter substrate is used.
[0005]
In the case of such a transflective color liquid crystal display device, in the reflective display mode, external light incident on the liquid crystal display device passes through a color filter, is reflected by a reflector provided below the color filter, and is again emitted. The light passes through a color filter and reaches an observer. In short, it passes through the color filter twice. In the transmissive display mode, light from a backlight source or the like passes through the color filter once and reaches the viewer. Therefore, when a common color filter substrate is used in both the transmissive display mode and the reflective display mode, there is a problem that the saturation and brightness of a display image in each mode are insufficient.
[0006]
That is, if a color filter having a low dye density is used so that the optimum saturation is obtained in the reflection display mode, the saturation of the display image becomes insufficient in the transmission display mode. On the other hand, when a color filter having a high dye density is used so as to obtain the optimum saturation in the transmissive display mode, the brightness of the displayed image tends to be insufficient in the reflective display mode.
[0007]
For this reason, in JP-A-11-105184 and JP-A-11-201905, the thickness of the color filter in the reflective display area is made thinner than that of the color filter in the transmissive display area, so that the transflective type is used. A method for improving display characteristics of a liquid crystal display device has been proposed.
[0008]
However, in the above method, there is a limit in increasing the film thickness ratio between the transmission display color filter region and the reflection display color filter region. Therefore, the brightness is insufficient in the reflective display mode, and it is difficult to obtain the optimum saturation in the transmissive display mode.
[0009]
In addition, in the conventional color filter, a large step occurs at the boundary between the transmissive display color filter and the reflective display color filter, and it is difficult to sufficiently cover even if an overcoat layer is formed. Therefore, patterning of the ITO film 11 used as a transparent electrode becomes difficult, and disconnection of the wiring of the transparent electrode is likely to occur. Further, in an STN (Super Twisted Nematic) system or the like in which flatness of the substrate surface is regarded as important, there is a possibility that unevenness in alignment of liquid crystal due to a step portion of a color filter may occur.
[0010]
The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a color filter that can obtain brightness in a reflective display mode and preferable saturation in a transmissive display mode.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In one aspect of the present invention, in a method of manufacturing a color filter, a step of defining a transmissive display area and a reflective display area on a substrate; and a step of forming a colored layer in the transmissive display area and the reflective display area. Patterning the colored layer using a mask having a total transmissive area, an intermediate transmissive area, and a light-blocking area so that the transmissive display area and the reflective display area have different thicknesses.
[0012]
According to the method for manufacturing a color filter described above, a transmissive display area and a reflective display area are defined on a substrate such as glass. Next, a colored layer is formed on those regions using a color filter material or the like. Then, the colored layer is patterned using a mask having a total transmission region, an intermediate transmittance region, and a light-shielding region so that the thicknesses of the transmission display region and the reflection display region are different. Thereby, the coloring layer can be formed in the transmissive display region and the reflective display region so as to have different film thicknesses by one process.
[0013]
In one embodiment of the method for manufacturing a color filter, the transmissive display area is patterned by exposure through an entire transmissive area of the mask, and the reflective display area is patterned by exposure through an intermediate transmissivity area of the mask. According to this, it is possible to vary the exposure amount of the colored layer according to the difference in light transmittance between the entire transmission region and the intermediate transmittance region of the mask, and adjust the colored film thickness of the transmission display region and the reflection display region. it can. In a preferred example, the transmittance of the intermediate transmittance region can be in a range of 10% to 50%.
[0014]
In another aspect of the above-described method for manufacturing a color filter, patterning is performed such that the thickness of the coloring layer in the transmissive display region is larger than the thickness of the coloring layer in the reflective display region. More specifically, it is preferable that the patterning is performed so that the thickness of the colored layer in the transmissive display area is 2 to 5 times the thickness of the colored layer in the reflective display area.
[0015]
Still another aspect of the method for manufacturing a color filter described above includes a step of forming a reflective film having an opening on the substrate, defining an area where the opening is formed as the transmissive display area, An area other than the area where the opening is formed is defined as the reflective display area. That is, the area of the opening formed in the reflective film can be set as the transmissive display area, and the other area can be set as the reflective display area.
[0016]
In still another aspect of the method for manufacturing a color filter, in the mask, the intermediate transmittance region is provided as a rectangular region in the light-shielding region, and the total transmission region is rectangular in the intermediate transmittance region. It can be provided as a region. In this case, the total transmission region may have the same rectangular shape as the opening, and the total transmission region may have a rectangular shape smaller than the opening, thereby providing a transmission display region and a reflection display region. And the flatness of the colored layer can be improved at the boundary between the two.
[0017]
An electro-optical device can be configured using the color filter substrate manufactured by the above-described method for manufacturing a color filter, and an electronic apparatus including the electro-optical device can be configured.
[0018]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, a case where a color filter substrate is used as a component for a liquid crystal display panel which is an example of an electro-optical device will be described. It should be noted that the embodiments to be described below are merely examples for understanding the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.
[0019]
[Color filter substrate]
Hereinafter, an example of a color filter substrate manufactured by applying the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, the color filter layer is formed by a photolithography process. In this case, one feature is that the thickness ratio of the color filter region for transmissive display and the color filter region for reflective display is increased by using, for example, a halftone mask as the mask.
[0020]
(Mask structure)
First, a mask used when forming a color filter layer will be described. FIG. 1 shows a mask 100 used when manufacturing a color filter layer in this embodiment. The mask 100 uses a halftone mask. The halftone mask is a photolithography mask using a phase shift method, and the method will be described below.
[0021]
Light travels through a substance at a slower propagation speed, and the phase changes by that amount. Therefore, when a transparent thin film is provided on a mask, it is possible to locally change the phase. This transparent film is called a phase shifter in the sense that it converts the phase. In this method, a portion (shifter) for changing the phase of light is provided on a mask on which a pattern to be transferred is formed, and light whose phase has changed after passing through the shifter and light whose phase has not changed without passing through the shifter. This is a method that utilizes the interference.
[0022]
The halftone mask uses the above-described phase shifter method, and allows a part of light to pass through by an absorber corresponding to a light shielding portion. The phase of the light that has passed partially and the light that has passed as it is are inverted. For this reason, the light intensity decreases due to the phase inversion, and a photolithography process different from the conventional one can be performed. Examples of the material of the halftone film include chromium, molybdenum, tungsten, and silicon.
[0023]
Using the mask 100 described above, a transmissive display color filter region and a reflective display color filter region for a transflective color filter substrate are manufactured at a time, and in each region, a color filter having suitable color filter characteristics is provided. A substrate can be manufactured.
[0024]
In this embodiment, a negative type color resist is used as a color filter material, but a positive type color resist can also be used.
[0025]
The mask 100 shown in FIG. 1 includes a total transmission region 1 having a light transmittance of 100%, a light shielding region 2 not transmitting light at all, and a region 3 transmitting light at a predetermined ratio (range of 10% to 50%). Hereinafter, it is referred to as “intermediate transmittance region”). In this embodiment, a mask having a light transmittance of 40% in the intermediate transmittance region is used. Using the mask 100, a photolithography process is performed for each of R, G, and B to produce a desired color filter layer.
[0026]
(Structure of color filter substrate)
FIG. 2 is a plan view of a color filter substrate 200 manufactured using the above-described mask 100. FIG. The color filter substrate 200 includes a plurality of dot portions 19, each of which corresponds to one of R, G, and B. In the example of FIG. 2, the dot portions 19 of the same color are arranged in the vertical direction. It has a striped arrangement. Each of the dot portions 19 is formed with one of R, G, and B colored layers 7, 8, and 9, on which an overcoat layer (not shown) is formed, and on which the transparent electrode 11 is formed. In the drawing, one color pixel is constituted by three dot portions 19 of R, G, and B repeatedly arranged in the horizontal direction. In the color filter substrate manufactured by applying the present invention, each colored layer can be formed not only in the stripe arrangement as described above but also in various arrangements such as a delta arrangement and a diagonal arrangement.
[0027]
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB ′ of one color pixel, that is, three dot portions 19 in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the color filter substrate 200 has a reflective film 6 such as an Al (aluminum) film formed on a substrate 4 made of glass or plastic. The reflection film 6 has an opening 13 near the center of one dot portion 19. The area of the opening 13 corresponds to a transmission display color filter area.
[0028]
A transparent resist 5 made of a transparent resin such as acryl is formed on the reflection film 6. The transparent resist 5 is provided for adjusting the saturation and brightness of the color filters in the transmissive display area and the reflective display area when the color filter substrate 200 is used, for example, as a substrate constituting a liquid crystal display panel. I have. That is, the transparent resist 5 optimizes the retardation when light from a backlight source or the like passes through the liquid crystal layer in the transmissive display area, and when external light reciprocates in the liquid crystal layer in the reflective display area, It has a function of optimizing color reproducibility in the transmissive display area and the reflective display area.
[0029]
In the reflective display region where the reflective film 6 is formed, in the color filter layer, that is, the region where the colored layers 7, 8, and 9 are formed, the external light R1 passes through the colored layers 7, 8, and 9 and is reflected. The light reaches the film 6, is reflected by the reflection film 6, passes through the coloring layers 7, 8, and 9 again, and reaches the outside of the color filter substrate 200 as reflected light R2. In the transmissive display area, illumination light (transmitted light) T1 from a backlight light source or the like (not shown) passes through the opening 13, passes through the coloring layers 7, 8, and 9 once, and , 8, and 9 as colored light corresponding to the respective colors.
[0030]
The thickness L2 of the reflective display color filter according to the present embodiment can be smaller than the thickness L1 of the transmissive display color filter. Therefore, even in the reflection display mode, the observer can visually recognize a display image having sufficient brightness. It is preferable that the thickness L1 of the color filter for transmission display is 2 to 5 times the thickness L2 of the color filter for reflection display.
[0031]
(Method of manufacturing color filter substrate)
Next, an example of a process for forming the color filter substrate of this embodiment is shown in FIG. FIGS. 5 and 6 show a forming process in the case of forming a portion corresponding to one color pixel shown in FIG. 3, that is, three dot regions 19. FIG.
[0032]
First, a metal such as aluminum, an aluminum alloy, a silver alloy, or chromium is formed into a thin film on a substrate 4 such as glass or plastic by a vapor deposition method, a sputtering method, or the like, and then patterned by photolithography. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 5A, the reflection film 6 having the opening 13 is formed (Step P1). The opening 13 is formed corresponding to the transmissive display area, and its width is indicated by X.
[0033]
Next, as shown in FIG. 5B, a transparent resist 5 is formed in a portion of the reflection film 6 excluding the opening 13 (Step P2). The transparent resist 5 can be formed, for example, by selectively removing the portion immediately above the opening 13 on the surfaces of the substrate 4 and the reflective film 6 by photolithography or the like. In addition, as a material of the transparent resist 5, for example, a transparent acrylic resin or an epoxy resin can be used.
[0034]
Note that the laminated state of the reflective film 6 and the transparent resist 5 may be such that the transparent resist 5 is below and the reflective film 6 is above.
[0035]
Next, using the mask 100 shown in FIG. 1, a red coloring layer 7, a green coloring layer 8, and a blue coloring layer 9 of a color filter are sequentially formed (Step P3).
[0036]
Specifically, first, as shown in FIG. 5C, a red coloring material 15 is applied to the substrate 4, and patterning is performed using a mask 100 by a photolithography method. The width of the entire transmission region 1 in the mask 100 is defined as X-2Y. Here, Y is a mask overlay margin for the process.
[0037]
The total transmission region 1 is a region through which 100% of the irradiated light is transmitted. In the total transmission region 1, the thickness of the coloring layer 7 formed is large because the exposure amount is large. This is the color filter area for transmissive display. On the other hand, since the intermediate transmittance region 3 has a transmittance of 40%, the exposure amount of the coloring material 15 decreases accordingly, and as a result, the film thickness of the coloring layer 7 corresponding to the intermediate transmittance region 3 decreases. . The region having a small film thickness is a color filter region for reflective display. In this way, as shown in FIG. 6A, the colored layer 7 is formed.
[0038]
Similarly, a green coloring layer 8 and a blue coloring layer 9 are formed, and a light-shielding layer (black mask) BM is formed between adjacent dot regions. Through the above steps, three colored layers 7 to 9, ie, a color filter layer, are formed as shown in FIG. Note that the light-shielding layer BM may be formed as a so-called overlapping light-shielding layer in which three colored layers 7 to 9 are superposed, instead of the resin black.
[0039]
As described above, the photolithography process can be performed by using the mask 100 including the intermediate transmittance region (halftone mask region) and adjusting the exposure amount by lowering the light intensity. The filter region can be made thinner.
[0040]
In this embodiment, in the photolithography process, when the entire mask 100 is irradiated with an exposure amount of 250 mJ, the exposure amount becomes 250 mJ in the color filter region for transmissive display, and the color filter portion for transmissive display in the color filter region for reflective display. The mask is designed so that it can be exposed with 40% of the irradiation light, that is, 100 mJ. However, this condition is not limited to 40%, and a desired suitable film thickness can be obtained under other conditions within the range of 10% to 50%. If this condition is less than 10% or greater than 50%, that is, if the light transmittance of the intermediate transmittance region is out of the range of 10% to 50%, in the reflective display color filter region, However, a suitable film thickness cannot be obtained. When the light transmittance of the intermediate transmittance region is less than 10%, the film thickness corresponding to the reflective display color filter region is formed too thin. In other words, although sufficient brightness can be obtained, desired saturation cannot be obtained. On the other hand, when the light transmittance exceeds 50%, the film thickness corresponding to the reflective display color filter region is formed too thick. That is, contrary to the case where the light transmittance of the intermediate transmittance region is less than 10%, although sufficient saturation can be obtained, desired brightness cannot be obtained. As described above, when the light transmittance is out of the range of 10% to 50%, a suitable film thickness cannot be obtained in the reflective display color filter region.
[0041]
The ratio of the film thickness of the color filter substrate manufactured by the conventional manufacturing method (color filter region for transmission display / color filter region for reflection display) is generally about 1.4, but the ratio according to the present invention is changed. In the color filter substrate manufactured by the manufacturing method, the film thickness ratio L1 / L2 can be as high as 2 to 5.
[0042]
In addition, by performing patterning using a separate mask 100 in which the light transmittance of the intermediate transmittance region 3 is adjusted for each of R, G, and B colors, a suitable film thickness ratio is individually formed for each color. It is also possible.
[0043]
After the colored layers 7 to 9 of the respective colors are thus formed, the overcoat layer 10 is formed as shown in FIG. In the color filter substrate according to the present invention, the thickness of the reflective display color filter region can be reduced, so that the step between the transmissive display color filter region and the reflective display color filter region can be reduced. Therefore, the upper surface of the overcoat layer 10 formed thereon can be planarized, and as a result, the color filter substrate can be planarized.
[0044]
As described later, a transparent electrode is formed on the overcoat layer. In this case, the flatness of the upper surface of the overcoat layer is high, so that the transparent electrode can be formed stably.
[0045]
Therefore, in comparison with a reflective display color filter region manufactured by a conventional method, the present invention can realize a thinner reflective display color filter region. Further, in order to obtain a suitable saturation in the transmissive display mode, a color filter material having a high density can be used. Therefore, in this embodiment, a color filter substrate having bright and vivid color characteristics can be manufactured.
[0046]
Further, in this embodiment, since the photolithography method using the halftone mask is used, the step at the boundary between the color filter region for the transmissive display and the color filter region for the reflective display should be reduced as compared with the related art. Can be. Therefore, the formation of the overcoat layer 10 can sufficiently cover the substrate surface. Therefore, the probability of occurrence of disconnection of the wiring of the transparent electrode and the like is reduced, and uneven alignment of the liquid crystal is less likely to occur. As a result, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a transflective liquid crystal display device in which both the reflective display and the transmissive display have high quality.
[0047]
(Modified example of mask)
Next, a modified example of the mask 100 will be described. FIG. 7A shows a cross section AA ′ of the mask 100 shown in FIG. 1 and a cross section CC ′ of the color filter substrate shown in FIG.
[0048]
The mask 100 shown in FIG. 1 has a total transmission area 1, an intermediate transmittance area 3, and a light shielding area 2. The width of the total transmission region 1 is slightly smaller than the width X of the opening 13 of the reflection film 6, and can be set to a value of X-2Y. Here, Y is a mask overlay margin for the process. As described above, by using the mask 100 of this size, a good color filter substrate can be obtained. However, depending on the exposure conditions for producing the selected color filter, the transmission display color filter and the reflection display color filter may be used. There is a possibility that a convex pattern defect will occur at the boundary portion of. That is, in the vicinity of the boundary between the total transmission region 1 and the intermediate transmittance region 3, the amount of transmitted light changes sharply, and therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. Can occur.
[0049]
In order to solve this problem, in designing the mask 100, there is a method of making the width Z of the entire transmission region 1 smaller than X-2Y as in the mask 100A shown in FIG. 7B. By doing so, it is possible to prevent a sharp change in the amount of exposure at the boundary between the transmission display color filter and the reflection display color filter, and to prevent the boundary between the transmission display color filter region and the reflection display color filter region. In some parts, the surface of the coloring layer can be smoothed.
[0050]
[LCD panel]
Next, a configuration of a liquid crystal display panel using the above-described color filter substrate will be described.
[0051]
In FIG. 8, a liquid crystal display panel 300 has a substrate 31 and a substrate 32 made of glass, plastic, or the like bonded together with a sealant 33 interposed therebetween, and a liquid crystal 34 is sealed inside the panel. Further, on the outer surface of the substrate 32, a retardation plate 35 and a polarizing plate 36 are arranged in order, and on the outer surface of the substrate 31, a retardation plate 37 and a polarizing plate 38 are arranged. Note that a backlight 39 that emits illumination light when performing transmissive display is provided below the polarizing plate.
[0052]
[Method of manufacturing liquid crystal display panel]
Next, a method of manufacturing the liquid crystal display panel 300 shown in FIG. 8 using the color filter substrate thus obtained will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a manufacturing process of the display panel 300.
[0053]
First, the substrate 31 on which the color filter layer according to the embodiment is formed is manufactured by the method described above (step S1). Further, a transparent conductive film is formed on the overcoat layer by a sputtering method, and patterning is performed by a photolithography method to form a transparent electrode 11 (Step S2).
[0054]
Thereafter, an alignment film made of a polyimide resin or the like (not shown) is formed on the transparent electrode, and a rubbing process or the like is performed (step S3).
[0055]
On the other hand, the counter substrate 32 is manufactured (Step S4), a transparent electrode is formed by the same method (Step S5), an alignment film (not shown) is formed on the transparent electrode, and a rubbing process is performed (Step S6).
[0056]
Then, the above-mentioned substrate 31 and substrate 32 are bonded together via the sealing material 33 to form a panel structure (step S7). The substrate 31 and the substrate 32 are bonded to each other with a spacer or the like (not shown) dispersed between the substrates so as to have a substantially specified substrate interval.
[0057]
Thereafter, the liquid crystal 34 is injected from an opening (not shown) of the sealing material 33, and the opening of the sealing material is sealed with a sealing material such as an ultraviolet curable resin (Step S8). After the main panel structure is completed in this way, a retardation plate, a polarizing plate, and the like are attached as necessary to the outer surface of the panel structure by a method such as sticking (step S9), and the liquid crystal display panel 400 shown in FIG. 8 is completed. I do.
[0058]
[Electronics]
Next, an embodiment in which a liquid crystal display panel using a high-quality color filter according to the present invention is used as a display device of an electronic device will be described. FIG. 10 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating the overall configuration of the present embodiment. The electronic device shown here has a liquid crystal display panel 400 similar to the liquid crystal display panel 300 described above, and control means 410 for controlling the same. Here, the liquid crystal display panel 400 is conceptually divided into a panel structure 400A and a driving circuit 400B including a semiconductor IC or the like. Further, the control unit 410 has a display information output source 411, a display information processing circuit 412, a power supply circuit 413, and a timing generator 414.
[0059]
The display information output source 411 includes a memory such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) or a RAM (Random Access Memory), a storage unit such as a magnetic recording disk or an optical recording disk, and a tuning circuit for synchronizing and outputting a digital image signal. The display information is supplied to the display information processing circuit 412 in the form of an image signal in a predetermined format based on various clock signals generated by the timing generator 414.
[0060]
The display information processing circuit 412 includes various known circuits such as a serial-parallel conversion circuit, an amplification / inversion circuit, a rotation circuit, a gamma correction circuit, and a clamp circuit. Is supplied to the drive circuit 400B together with the clock signal CLK. The driving circuit 400B includes a scanning line driving circuit, a data line driving circuit, and an inspection circuit. The power supply circuit 413 supplies a predetermined voltage to each of the above-described components.
[0061]
Next, a specific example of an electronic device to which the liquid crystal display panel according to the present invention can be applied will be described with reference to FIG.
[0062]
First, an example in which the liquid crystal display panel according to the present invention is applied to a display unit of a portable personal computer (so-called notebook computer) will be described. FIG. 11A is a perspective view showing the configuration of the personal computer. As shown in the figure, the personal computer 510 includes a main body 512 having a keyboard 511 and a display 513 to which the liquid crystal display panel according to the present invention is applied.
[0063]
Subsequently, an example in which the liquid crystal display panel according to the present invention is applied to a display unit of a mobile phone will be described. FIG. 11B is a perspective view showing the configuration of the mobile phone. As shown in the figure, the mobile phone 520 includes a plurality of operation buttons 521, an earpiece 522, a mouthpiece 523, and a display unit 524 to which the liquid crystal display panel according to the present invention is applied.
[0064]
In addition, as the electronic apparatus to which the liquid crystal display panel according to the present invention can be applied, in addition to the personal computer shown in FIG. 11A and the mobile phone shown in FIG. -A video tape recorder, a car navigation device, a pager, an electronic organizer, a calculator, a word processor, a workstation, a videophone, a POS terminal, a digital still camera, etc., of a monitor direct-view type.
[0065]
[Modification]
The present invention is further applied to a transflective liquid crystal display device having a multi-gap structure in which the thickness of a liquid crystal layer in a transmissive display region and a reflective display region is adjusted by adopting a multi-type gap structure. It is also possible to improve the brightness and color tone of the image.
[0066]
Further, the electro-optical device of the present invention is not limited to a passive matrix type liquid crystal display panel, but also includes an active matrix type liquid crystal display panel (for example, a liquid crystal display panel having a TFT (thin film transistor) or TFD (thin film diode) as a switching element). ) Can be similarly applied. The present invention is applicable not only to a liquid crystal display panel but also to various electro-optical devices such as an electroluminescence device, an organic electroluminescence device, a plasma display device, an electrophoretic display device, and a field emission display (field emission display device). The same can be applied.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 shows an example of a mask used for manufacturing a color filter substrate of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an example of a plan view of a color filter substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a color filter substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a view showing a process of forming a color filter substrate of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a manufacturing process of a color filter substrate according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 is another view showing the example of the manufacturing process of the color filter substrate according to the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a structure of a mask used in the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a structure of a liquid crystal display panel to which the present invention is applied.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal display panel to which the present invention is applied.
FIG. 10 shows a configuration of an electronic device using a liquid crystal display panel to which the present invention is applied.
FIG. 11 illustrates an example of an electronic apparatus including a liquid crystal display panel to which the present invention is applied.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Total transmission area
2 Shading area
3 Intermediate transmittance area
4 Substrate
5 Transparent resist
6 Reflective film
7 Red coloring layer (color filter layer)
8 Green coloring layer (color filter layer)
9 Blue colored layer (color filter layer)
10 Overcoat layer
11 Transparent electrode
12. Color filter area for reflective display
13 opening
15 16 17 Color filter material (RGB)
100 mask
200 color filter substrate

Claims (12)

Defining a transmissive display area and a reflective display area on the substrate;
Forming a colored layer in the transmissive display area and the reflective display area;
Patterning the colored layer so that the thicknesses in the transmissive display area and the reflective display area are different using a mask having a total transmissive area, an intermediate transmissive area, and a light-shielding area. A method of manufacturing a color filter. Exposing the colored layer corresponding to the transmissive display area through all transmissive areas of the mask;
Exposing the colored layer corresponding to the reflective display area through an intermediate transmittance area of the mask;
The method for manufacturing a color filter according to claim 1, further comprising: 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transmittance of the intermediate transmittance region is in a range of 10% to 50%. The patterning is performed so that the thickness of the colored layer in the transmissive display area is greater than the thickness of the colored layer in the reflective display area. Method for manufacturing a color filter. The color filter according to claim 4, wherein the patterning is performed such that the thickness of the colored layer in the transmissive display area is 2 to 5 times the thickness of the colored layer in the reflective display area. Manufacturing method. Forming a reflective film having an opening on the substrate, defining a region in which the opening is formed as the transmissive display region, and defining a region other than the region in which the opening is formed as the reflective display region. The method for manufacturing a color filter according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the method is defined. The said mask WHEREIN: The said intermediate transmittance | permeability area | region is provided as a rectangular area | region in the said light shielding area | region, The said all transmission area | region is provided as a rectangular area | region in the said intermediate transmittance | permeability area | region. Item 7. The method for manufacturing a color filter according to any one of Items 1 to 6. In the mask, the intermediate transmittance region is provided as a rectangular region in the light shielding region, the total transmission region is provided as a rectangular region in the intermediate transmittance region, and the total transmission region is The method for manufacturing a color filter according to claim 1, wherein the color filter has the same rectangular shape as the opening. In the mask, the intermediate transmittance region is provided as a rectangular region in the light shielding region, the total transmission region is provided as a rectangular region in the intermediate transmittance region, and the total transmission region is The method according to claim 1, wherein the color filter has a rectangular shape smaller than the opening. A color filter substrate manufactured by the method for manufacturing a color filter according to claim 1. An electro-optical device comprising the color filter substrate according to claim 10. An electronic apparatus comprising the electro-optical device according to claim 11.

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