JP2007225858A - Manufacturing method of color filter substrate, manufacturing method of electroluminescence substrate, color filter substrate, electroluminescence substrate, electrooptical device and electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a manufacturing method of color filter substrate which has little limitation concerning the discharge position of a functional liquid and hardly produces a void part in a color element; to provide a manufacturing method of electroluminescence substrate which likewise hardly produces a void part in a light emission layer; to provide a color filter substrate; to provide an electroluminescence substrate; to provide an electrooptical device; and to provide electronic equipment. <P>SOLUTION: The manufacturing method of the color filter substrate 20 comprises: a process (Fig. 2(a)) of forming barrier walls 45 along the array direction on a glass substrate 21; a process of discharging a functional liquid 40A containing a color element material to a recessed part formed by the surface of the glass substrate 21 and the barrier walls 45 by using a droplet discharging device; a process (Fig. 2(b)) of forming a color element 40 by drying the functional liquid 40A; and a process (Fig. 2(c)) of forming a light-shielding part 46 of which the light transmittance is lower than that of the color element 40 by irradiating a band-shaped region extended in the row direction on the surface of the color element 40 with an electromagnetic wave and degenerating the color element 40. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a color filter substrate using a droplet discharge device, a method for manufacturing an electroluminescence substrate, a color filter substrate, an electroluminescence substrate, an electro-optical device including any of these, and the electro-optical device. It is related with the provided electronic equipment.

  A color filter substrate used in an electro-optical device such as a liquid crystal display device generally has a configuration in which color elements are arranged in a matrix. Here, the color element is a substance that can change the transmitted light to a predetermined color (for example, red, green, blue, etc.) by absorbing light having a specific wavelength in incident light. As one of such color filter substrate manufacturing methods, a method including a step of forming a color element using a droplet discharge device such as an ink jet device is known. Specifically, a grid-like partition is formed on a substrate, and a functional liquid containing a color element material is discharged by a droplet discharge device into a rectangular recess formed thereby, and the functional liquid is dried to make a color. It forms the element.

  In the color filter substrate manufactured by such a manufacturing method, there is a problem that a void portion may be generated in the color element, and so-called “white spots” are generated in which the transmitted light is not colored. This is caused by the fact that the functional liquid does not wet and spread in the corners of the concave portions, and as a result, the color elements are not formed at the portions where they should be formed. As means for solving this problem, there is known a technique for adjusting the shape of the concave portion so that the functional liquid is easily spread by weaving the partition walls (see Patent Document 1).

  Note that the above problems and solutions are also applicable in the manufacturing process of an electroluminescent substrate in which a light emitting layer is formed using a droplet discharge device.

JP 2003-266010 A

  However, even if such a solution is taken, in order to uniformly spread the functional liquid into the recess, it is necessary to finely control the discharge position of the functional liquid within the rectangular recess. That is, in order to arrange the functional liquid with a uniform thickness in a rectangular recess surrounded by a partition wall, and to prevent the thickness from differing between the recesses having different thicknesses, a predetermined position is set at a predetermined position of each recess. It is necessary to discharge the functional liquid in the amount of. For this purpose, the droplet discharge device must be finely and accurately controlled. Due to the difficulty, the yield decreases, and the time required for the process for adjusting the droplet discharge device is reduced. There was a problem of becoming longer.

  In view of the above problems, the problem of the present invention is that there are few restrictions on the discharge position of the functional liquid, and there are few restrictions on the manufacturing method of the color filter substrate in which the color element is less likely to generate a void and the discharge position of the functional liquid. And providing a method for manufacturing an electroluminescent substrate in which a void portion is unlikely to occur in a light emitting layer, a color filter substrate manufactured by the manufacturing method, an electroluminescent substrate, an electro-optical device including any of these, and To provide an electronic apparatus including the electro-optical device.

  In order to solve the above problems, a method for manufacturing a color filter substrate according to the present invention is a method for manufacturing a color filter substrate having a plurality of color elements arranged in a matrix along a plurality of rows and columns on the substrate. A functional liquid containing color element material using a droplet discharge device in a step formed on the substrate along the column direction, and a recess formed by the surface of the substrate and the partition. A step of discharging, a step of drying the functional liquid to form the color element, and a portion of the color element is altered by irradiating an electromagnetic wave to a band-like region extending in the row direction of the color element. Forming a light shielding portion having a light transmittance lower than that of the color element.

  According to the above manufacturing method, since the partition wall is formed in the column direction in the step of forming the partition wall, the concave portion in which the functional liquid is to be disposed in the step of discharging the functional liquid is an elongated groove-like shape extending in the column direction. It becomes a recess. And since the functional liquid discharged to the said recessed part does not have the partition which interrupts | blocks about a row direction, it spreads easily and uniformly. For this reason, it is hard to produce a space | gap part in the color element formed by drying a functional liquid. In addition, due to the shape of the concave portion, there are few restrictions particularly on the column direction in the discharge position of the functional liquid by the droplet discharge device. This is because, in the column direction, since the recesses are not separated by the partition walls, the functional liquid goes to the entire groove-like recesses even if the discharge position and the discharge amount vary as compared with the case where the recesses are separated by the partition walls. This is because it is easy to change. Further, by forming the light shielding portion by irradiating the surface of the color element with electromagnetic waves, the light shielding property in the region between the color elements is ensured in both the row and column directions of the matrix arrangement of the color elements. That is, the light shielding property in the region between adjacent columns of color elements is ensured by the partition walls, and the light shielding property in the region between adjacent rows of color elements is ensured by the light shielding unit. Thus, according to the manufacturing method described above, it is possible to manufacture a color filter substrate in which voids are unlikely to occur in the color elements by a manufacturing process with few restrictions on the discharge position of the functional liquid.

  In the method for manufacturing a color filter substrate, the electromagnetic wave is preferably laser light. According to such a manufacturing method, in the step of forming the light shielding portion, a part of the color element is irradiated with the laser light, and thermal energy resulting from the laser light is given. And the color element of this part causes a chemical change such as carbonization by the thermal energy, and becomes a light-shielding portion having a light transmittance lower than that of the color element. By this light shielding portion, light shielding properties are ensured in a region between adjacent rows of color elements.

  In the method for manufacturing a color filter substrate, it is preferable that the color element includes a photosensitive material, and the step of forming the light shielding portion includes a step of modifying the photosensitive material by irradiating the color element with light. . According to such a manufacturing method, light is irradiated to the photosensitive material included in the color element in the light shielding portion forming step. This photosensitive material undergoes a chemical change caused by the light, and the light transmittance becomes a light-shielding portion lower than the color element. By this light shielding portion, light shielding properties are ensured in a region between adjacent rows of color elements.

  The method for manufacturing an electroluminescent substrate of the present invention is a method for manufacturing an electroluminescent substrate having a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix along a plurality of rows and columns on the substrate, wherein the pixels are formed on the substrate. A step of forming a pixel electrode for each step, a step of forming a partition along the column direction on the substrate, and a droplet discharge to a recess formed by the surface of the substrate or the pixel electrode and the partition A step of discharging a functional liquid containing a light emitting material using an apparatus; a step of drying the functional liquid to form a light emitting layer; and a band-like region extending in the row direction of the light emitting layer, Forming a low-luminance light-emitting portion whose emission luminance is lower than that of the light-emitting layer by irradiating an electromagnetic wave to a region including a region where no pixel electrode is formed to alter a part of the light-emitting layer. Characterized in that it.

  According to the above manufacturing method, since the partition wall is formed in the column direction in the step of forming the partition wall, the concave portion in which the functional liquid is to be disposed in the step of discharging the functional liquid is an elongated groove-like shape extending in the column direction. It becomes a recess. And since the functional liquid discharged to the said recessed part does not have the partition which interrupts | blocks about a row direction, it spreads easily and uniformly. For this reason, it is hard to produce a space | gap part in the light emitting layer formed by drying a functional liquid. In addition, due to the shape of the concave portion, there are few restrictions particularly on the column direction in the discharge position of the functional liquid by the droplet discharge device. This is because, in the column direction, since the recesses are not separated by the partition walls, the functional liquid goes to the entire groove-like recesses even if the discharge position and the discharge amount vary as compared with the case where the recesses are separated by the partition walls. This is because it is easy to change. In addition, by forming a low-luminance light-emitting portion by irradiating the surface of the light-emitting layer with electromagnetic waves, unnecessary light emission in the region between the pixels is reduced in both row and column directions in the matrix-like pixel array. . That is, in the region between adjacent columns of pixels, no light emitting layer is disposed due to a partition wall, so that no light emission is performed, and in the region between adjacent rows of pixels, a low-luminance light emitting portion is formed. As a result, unnecessary light emission is reduced. As described above, according to the above manufacturing method, an electroluminescence substrate in which a void portion is unlikely to be generated in the light emitting layer can be manufactured by a manufacturing process with few restrictions on the discharge position of the functional liquid.

  In the method for manufacturing an electroluminescent substrate, the electromagnetic wave is preferably laser light. According to such a manufacturing method, in the formation process of the low-luminance light-emitting portion, a part of the light-emitting layer is irradiated with laser light, and thermal energy resulting from the laser light is given. The light emitting layer at this site undergoes a chemical change such as carbonization by the thermal energy, and hardly causes an electroluminescence phenomenon. That is, it becomes a low-intensity light emitting part whose light emission luminance is lower than that of the light emitting layer. This low-intensity light emitting part reduces unnecessary light emission in the region between adjacent rows of pixels.

  The color filter substrate of the present invention is a color filter substrate having a plurality of color elements arranged in a matrix along a plurality of rows and columns on the substrate, the substrate, and the column direction on the substrate. A partition arranged along the surface of the substrate, a color element disposed in a recess formed by the surface of the substrate and the partition, and a band-shaped region extending at least in the row direction, the region including the surface of the color element And a light-shielding portion formed in the region and having a light transmittance lower than that of the color element.

  In the color filter substrate having the above-described configuration, since the concave portions are not separated by partition walls in the column direction, void portions are not easily generated in the color elements arranged in the concave portions. For this reason, according to the said structure, the color filter board | substrate with few malfunctions, such as a white spot resulting from the space | gap of a color element, is obtained.

  The electroluminescence substrate of the present invention is an electroluminescence substrate having a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix along a plurality of rows and columns on the substrate, and the substrate, the substrate, and the pixels are arranged for each pixel. A pixel electrode disposed on the substrate, a partition disposed along the column direction, a light emitting layer disposed in a recess formed by the substrate or the surface of the pixel electrode and the partition; and A low-luminance light-emitting portion formed by modifying a part of the light-emitting layer, wherein the light-emitting luminance is formed in a band-shaped region extending in the row direction including a region where the pixel electrode is not formed. And a low-luminance light emitting portion lower than the layer.

  In the electroluminescent substrate having the above-described configuration, since the concave portions are not partitioned by the partition walls in the column direction, voids are not easily generated in the light emitting layer disposed in the concave portions. For this reason, according to the said structure, the electroluminescent board | substrate with few display defects resulting from the space | gap of a light emitting layer is obtained.

  An electro-optical device according to the present invention includes the color filter substrate. Such an electro-optical device can perform high-quality display or light emission by using a color filter substrate with less defects such as white spots caused by gaps in color elements.

  The electro-optical device according to the present invention includes the electroluminescence substrate. Such an electro-optical device can perform high-quality display or light emission by using an electroluminescence substrate with few display defects due to the gaps in the light-emitting layer.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic apparatus including the above electro-optical device. Such an electronic apparatus can perform high-quality display or light emission by the electro-optical device.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings shown below, the dimensions and ratios of the components are appropriately different from the actual ones in order to make the components large enough to be recognized on the drawings.

(First embodiment)
<A. Color filter substrate>
The present embodiment relates to a color filter substrate and a method for manufacturing a color filter substrate according to the present invention. FIG. 2C is a schematic plan view showing the structure of the color filter substrate 20 according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in this figure, the color filter substrate 20 has a plurality of color element regions 2R, 2G and 2B (hereinafter collectively referred to as red, green and blue) on the surface of a glass substrate 21 as a “substrate”. (Also referred to as “color element region 2”). Each color element region 2 is partitioned by a partition wall 45 and a light shielding unit 46. In each color element region 2, color elements 40R, 40G, and 40B (hereinafter collectively referred to as “color element 40”) corresponding to red, green, and blue are formed. The color elements 40 are arranged so that the color elements 40 of the same color form a row. In other words, the color filter substrate 20 includes color elements 40 arranged in a stripe shape.

  Here, the color element 40 is formed by discharging and drying three (color) functional liquids containing different color element materials for each color element region 2. As such a functional liquid, a known material may be used. For example, a functional liquid made of an acrylic resin, a polyurethane resin, or the like colored using an inorganic or organic pigment as a color element material may be used. In this article, the functional liquids used for forming the color elements 40R, 40G, and 40B are denoted as functional liquids 40RA, 40GA, and 40BA (see FIG. 3B), respectively. The partition 45 is a light-shielding resin. The light shielding unit 46 is a black material obtained by carbonizing the color element 40 and has a light transmittance lower than that of the color element 40. In other words, the light shielding part 46 also has a light shielding property like the partition wall 45.

  FIG. 3D shows a cross-sectional view of the color filter substrate 20 shown in FIG. As shown in this figure, the glass substrate 21 and the partition 45 form a recess, and each color element 40 is disposed in the recess. Further, the light shielding portion 46 is arranged in a form of being stacked on top of each color element 40. This is because the light-shielding portion 46 is obtained by carbonizing the upper layer portion of the color element 40. FIG. 4A shows a cross-sectional view when the color filter substrate 20 of FIG. 2C is cut along the line DD. As shown in this figure, the color element 40 (40G) is continuously arranged over a plurality of color element areas 2 adjacent in the column direction, and the color element area 2 is formed on the surface of the color element 40 (40G). It is only partitioned by the formed light shielding part 46. However, as shown in FIG. 4B, the light shielding portion 46 can be formed over the entire thickness direction of the color element 40 (40G). A cross-sectional view of the color filter substrate 20 in FIG. 2C when cut at a position parallel to the CC line and not including the light shielding portion 46 corresponds to FIG.

  According to the color filter substrate 20 having such a configuration, the transmitted light can be colored in red, green, or blue in each color element region 2 and transmitted between the adjacent color element regions 2 by the partition wall 45 and the light shielding portion 46. Since the light is shielded, high-quality optical characteristics without color mixing are realized.

<B. Manufacturing method of color filter substrate>
Next, a method for manufacturing the color filter substrate 20 will be described.

<B-1. Overall Configuration of Droplet Discharge Device>
First, the overall configuration of the droplet discharge device 300 used for manufacturing the color filter substrate 20 will be described with reference to FIG. A droplet discharge device 300 shown in FIG. 5 is basically an ink jet device for discharging a liquid material 111 (functional liquid 40RA). More specifically, the droplet discharge device 300 includes a tank 101 that holds a liquid material 111, a tube 110, a ground stage GS, a discharge head unit 103, a stage 106, and a first position control device 104. The second position control device 108, the control unit 112, and the support unit 104a are provided. Note that a droplet discharge device (not shown) for discharging the functional liquids 40GA and 40BA including the color element materials of the color elements 40G and 40B has the structure of the droplet discharge device 300 except that the discharged materials are different. Since it is basically the same as the function, the description is omitted.

  The discharge head unit 103 holds a head 114 (see FIG. 6). The head 114 ejects droplets of the liquid material 111 in response to a signal from the control unit 112. In addition, the head 114 in the discharge head unit 103 is connected to the tank 101 by the tube 110, and thus the liquid material 111 is supplied from the tank 101 to the head 114.

  The stage 106 provides a flat surface for fixing the glass substrate 21. Furthermore, the stage 106 also has a function of fixing the position of the glass substrate 21 using a suction force.

  The first position control device 104 is fixed at a predetermined height from the ground stage GS by the support portion 104a. The first position control device 104 has a function of moving the ejection head unit 103 along the X-axis direction and the Z-axis direction orthogonal to the X-axis direction in accordance with a signal from the control unit 112. Furthermore, the first position control device 104 also has a function of rotating the ejection head unit 103 around an axis parallel to the Z axis. Here, in the present embodiment, the Z-axis direction is a direction parallel to the vertical direction (that is, the direction of gravitational acceleration).

  The second position control device 108 moves the stage 106 on the ground stage GS in the Y-axis direction according to a signal from the control unit 112. Here, the Y-axis direction is a direction orthogonal to both the X-axis direction and the Z-axis direction.

  The configuration of the first position control device 104 and the configuration of the second position control device 108 having the above functions can be realized by using a known XY robot using a linear motor or a servo motor. For this reason, description of those detailed structures is abbreviate | omitted here.

  As described above, the ejection head unit 103 is moved in the X-axis direction by the first position control device 104. Then, the glass substrate 21 is moved in the Y-axis direction together with the stage 106 by the second position control device 108. As a result, the relative position of the head 114 with respect to the glass substrate 21 changes. More specifically, by these operations, the ejection head unit 103, the head 114, or the nozzle 118 (see FIG. 6) sets a predetermined distance in the Z-axis direction with respect to the glass substrate 21 fixed to the stage 106. While maintaining, relatively move in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, that is, relatively scan. “Relative movement” or “relative scanning” means that at least one of the side on which the liquid material 111 is discharged and the side on which the discharged material lands (discharged part) moves relative to the other. To do.

  The control unit 112 is configured to receive ejection data representing a relative position at which droplets of the liquid material 111 are to be ejected from an external information processing apparatus. The control unit 112 stores the received discharge data in an internal storage device, and controls the first position control device 104, the second position control device 108, and the head 114 in accordance with the stored discharge data. To do. The ejection data is data for applying the liquid material 111 in a predetermined pattern on the glass substrate 21. In the present embodiment, the ejection data has the form of bitmap data.

  The droplet discharge device 300 having the above configuration moves the nozzle 118 of the head 114 relative to the glass substrate 21 according to the discharge data, and discharges the liquid material 111 from the nozzle 118 toward the discharge target portion. .

<B-2. Head>
As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the head 114 in the droplet discharge device 300 is an inkjet head having a plurality of nozzles 118. Specifically, the head 114 includes a vibration plate 126 and a nozzle plate 128 that defines the opening of the nozzle 118. A liquid pool 129 is located between the vibration plate 126 and the nozzle plate 128, and the liquid material 111 supplied to the liquid pool 129 from an external tank (not shown) through the hole 131. Is always filled.

  A plurality of partition walls 122 are positioned between the diaphragm 126 and the nozzle plate 128. A portion surrounded by the diaphragm 126, the nozzle plate 128, and the pair of partition walls 122 is the cavity 120. Since the cavities 120 are provided corresponding to the nozzles 118, the number of the cavities 120 and the number of the nozzles 118 are the same. The liquid material 111 is supplied to the cavity 120 from the liquid pool 129 through the supply port 130 positioned between the pair of partition walls 122. In the present embodiment, the nozzle 118 has a diameter of about 27 μm.

  Now, each vibrator 124 is positioned on the vibration plate 126 corresponding to each cavity 120. Each of the vibrators 124 includes a piezoelectric element 124C and a pair of electrodes 124A and 124B sandwiching the piezoelectric element 124C. When the control unit 112 applies a driving voltage between the pair of electrodes 124A and 124B, the droplet D of the liquid material 111 is ejected from the corresponding nozzle 118. Here, the volume of the material discharged from the nozzle 118 is variable between 0 pl and 42 pl (picoliter). The shape of the nozzle 118 is adjusted so that the droplet D of the liquid material 111 is ejected from the nozzle 118 in the Z-axis direction.

  In this specification, a portion including one nozzle 118, a cavity 120 corresponding to the nozzle 118, and a vibrator 124 corresponding to the cavity 120 may be referred to as “ejection unit 127”. According to this notation, one head 114 has the same number of ejection units 127 as the number of nozzles 118. The discharge unit 127 may include an electrothermal conversion element instead of the piezo element. That is, the discharge unit 127 may have a configuration for discharging a material by utilizing thermal expansion of the material by the electrothermal conversion element.

<B-3. Control unit>
Next, the configuration of the control unit 112 will be described. As shown in FIG. 7, the control unit 112 includes an input buffer memory 200, a storage device 202, a processing unit 204, a scan driving unit 206, and a head driving unit 208. The input buffer memory 200 and the processing unit 204 are connected so that they can communicate with each other. The processing unit 204, the storage device 202, the scan driving unit 206, and the head driving unit 208 are connected to be communicable with each other via a bus (not shown).

  The scanning drive unit 206 is connected to the first position control device 104 and the second position control device 108 so as to communicate with each other. Similarly, the head drive unit 208 is connected to the head 114 so as to communicate with each other.

  The input buffer memory 200 receives ejection data for ejecting droplets of the liquid material 111 from an external information processing apparatus (not shown) located outside the droplet ejection apparatus 300. The input buffer memory 200 supplies the ejection data to the processing unit 204, and the processing unit 204 stores the ejection data in the storage device 202. In FIG. 7, the storage device 202 is a RAM.

  The processing unit 204 gives data indicating the relative position of the nozzle 118 to the discharge target unit to the scan driving unit 206 based on the discharge data in the storage device 202. The scanning drive unit 206 gives a stage drive signal corresponding to this data and the ejection cycle to the first position control device 104 and the second position control device 108. As a result, the relative position of the ejection head unit 103 with respect to the ejected part changes. On the other hand, the processing unit 204 gives a discharge signal necessary for discharging the liquid material 111 to the head 114 based on the discharge data stored in the storage device 202. As a result, the droplet D of the liquid material 111 is ejected from the corresponding nozzle 118 in the head 114.

  The control unit 112 is a computer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and a bus. Therefore, the function of the control unit 112 is realized by a software program executed by a computer. Of course, the control unit 112 may be realized by a dedicated circuit (hardware).

<B-4. Liquid material>
The above-mentioned “liquid material 111” refers to a material having a viscosity that can be ejected as a droplet D from the nozzle 118 of the head 114. Here, it does not matter whether the liquid material 111 is aqueous or oily. It is sufficient if it has fluidity (viscosity) that can be discharged from the nozzle 118, and even if a solid substance is mixed, it is sufficient if it is a fluid as a whole. Here, the viscosity of the liquid material 111 is preferably 1 mPa · s or more and 50 mPa · s or less. When the viscosity is 1 mPa · s or more, the peripheral portion of the nozzle 118 is not easily contaminated by the liquid material 111 when the droplet D of the liquid material 111 is ejected. On the other hand, when the viscosity is 50 mPa · s or less, the clogging frequency in the nozzle 118 is small, and thus smooth discharge of the droplet D can be realized. The “liquid material 111” is also referred to as “functional liquid” because it performs a specific function after being applied to the discharged portion.

  40RA, 40GA, and 40BA used in the present embodiment are liquid materials 111 (functional liquids) that satisfy the above-described conditions. The functional liquids 40RA, 40GA, and 40BA are liquids obtained by dissolving red, green, and blue color element materials in a solvent, respectively. A colorant such as a pigment or a dye can be used as the color element material, and an acrylic resin or the like can be used as the solvent.

<B-5. Manufacturing method>
Next, a method for manufacturing the color filter substrate 20 using the above-described droplet discharge device 300 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a process diagram showing a manufacturing method of the color filter substrate 20, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the color filter substrate 20 in each process of the manufacturing method, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are each process of the manufacturing method. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the color filter substrate 20 in FIG.

  First, in step P11, a resin organic thin film is applied on the glass substrate 21, and this is patterned by a photolithography method, thereby forming the partition walls 45 as shown in FIG. FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. As shown in these drawings, the partition wall 45 is formed only along the column direction except for the region to be the outer periphery. As a result, a long rectangular recess having a long surface in the column direction is formed on the glass substrate 21 with the surface of the glass substrate 21 as the bottom and the partition walls 45 as the side walls.

  Next, in the process P12, the functional liquid 40RA containing the color element material that is the material of the color element 40R is discharged to the bottom of the recess (see FIG. 3B). Specifically, first, the glass substrate 21 on which the partition walls 45 are formed is carried to the stage 106 of the droplet discharge device 300. Then, the droplet discharge device 300 discharges the functional liquid 40RA from the discharge unit 127 of the head 114 to the bottom of the recess. At this time, the functional liquid 40RA spreads out easily and uniformly because there is no partition wall that blocks the functional liquid 40RA in the column direction. In addition, since the concave portion is a long rectangle, the discharge position of the functional liquid 40RA is not particularly limited in the column direction. That is, in the column direction, since the recesses are not separated by the partition walls 45, the functional liquid 40RA is entirely formed in the groove-like recesses even if the discharge position and the discharge amount vary as compared with the case where the recesses are partitioned by the partition walls 45. Easy to go to. Thereafter, the discharged functional liquid 40RA is temporarily solidified or temporarily cured by performing pre-baking (temporary baking) by drying or baking at a low temperature (for example, 60 ° C.).

  Similarly, in the process P13, the functional liquid 40GA and the functional liquid 40BA in the process P14 are discharged into different recesses, respectively. After each discharging step, pre-baking is performed as in the case of the functional liquid 40RA.

  In the subsequent process P15, the glass substrate 21 on which the functional liquids 40RA, 40GA, and 40BA (hereinafter collectively referred to as “functional liquid 40A”) have been discharged is left to stand in a high-temperature environment and fired. After the baking step, the solvent in the functional liquid 40A evaporates, and as shown in FIG. 2B, the color elements 40 are formed in the areas where the functional liquid 40A is discharged. A cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 2B corresponds to FIG. As described above, since the functional liquid 40A is uniformly elongated as a result of the concave portion having a long rectangular shape, void portions are not easily formed in the color element 40 after being baked and dried in Step P15.

  Next, in step P16, a predetermined region on the surface of the color element 40 is irradiated with laser light. Here, the predetermined area is a band-like area in the row direction and includes an area between adjacent color element areas 2. In other words, it is a partitioned area when the color element area 2 is partitioned in the column direction. The portion of the color element 40 that is irradiated with the laser light is altered by the thermal energy of the laser light, and becomes a light-shielding portion 46 having a transmittance lower than that of the color element 40. More specifically, the color element 40 is carbonized by the thermal energy and becomes a black light shielding portion 46 (see FIG. 2C). As described above, the cross-sectional view taken along the line CC in FIG. 2C corresponds to FIG. 3D, and the cross-sectional view taken along the line DD corresponds to FIG. By forming the light shielding portion 46 in this manner, the light shielding performance in the region between the color elements 40 is ensured in both the row and column directions in the matrix-like arrangement of the color elements 40. In other words, the light shielding property in the region between adjacent columns of the color elements 40 is ensured by the partition wall 45, and the light shielding property in the region between adjacent rows of the color elements 40 is ensured by the light shielding unit 46.

  The color filter substrate 20 is completed through the above steps. According to such a manufacturing method, it is possible to manufacture the color filter substrate 20 in which a gap portion is unlikely to occur in the color element 40 even though there are few restrictions on the ejection position of the functional liquid 40RA.

(Application example to electro-optical device)
The color filter substrate 20 to which the present invention is applied can be used for the liquid crystal display device 1 as an “electro-optical device” as shown in FIG. 8, for example. The liquid crystal display device 1 is an active matrix type display device using TFT elements as switching elements, and includes an element substrate 10 and a color filter substrate 20 which are fixed to each other with a sealant 35 therebetween. The sealing agent 35 is formed in the vicinity of the outer edge portion of the color filter substrate 20. Liquid crystal (not shown) is sealed in the space formed by the element substrate 10, the color filter substrate 20, and the sealant 35. A driver 39 for driving the liquid crystal is mounted on the element substrate 10.

  The liquid crystal display device 1 having such a configuration is a device that modulates transmitted light by the action of liquid crystal and performs display in the display region 32. The display area 32 includes pixels arranged in a matrix, and the driver 39 outputs a drive signal for driving the liquid crystal to a desired state for each of these pixels. Here, the shape of the color element region 2 of the color filter substrate 20 is substantially equal to the shape of the pixel of the liquid crystal display device 1. Thereby, the transmitted light used for display is transmitted through the color element 40 of the color filter substrate 20 and is colored at that time. Here, since the color element 40 of the color filter substrate 20 has a small gap as described above, there are few defects such as white spots caused by the gap. For this reason, the liquid crystal display device 1 can perform high-quality display with less defects such as white spots.

  The color filter substrate 20 can be applied to various liquid crystal display devices other than the liquid crystal display device 1. For example, the color filter substrate 20 uses a TFD (Thin Film Diode) as a switching element, or a passive matrix drive type. The liquid crystal mode can be applied to any of TN (Twisted Nematic) mode or STN (Super Twisted Nematic) mode. Further, in addition to the liquid crystal display device, the present invention can be applied to various electro-optical devices having a color filter substrate such as an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) panel and a DMD (Digital Micromirror Device).

(Example of mounting on electronic equipment)
The liquid crystal display device 1 including the color filter substrate 20 can be mounted and used in, for example, a mobile phone 500 as an “electronic device” as shown in FIG. The mobile phone 500 includes a display unit 510 and operation buttons 520. The display unit 510 uses the liquid crystal display device 1 incorporated therein to display a variety of information including the contents input with the operation buttons 520 and incoming information, and display high-quality without white spots in the pixels. be able to.

  The liquid crystal display device 1 to which the present invention is applied can be used in various electronic devices such as a mobile computer, a digital camera, a digital video camera, an in-vehicle device, an audio device, and a projector in addition to the mobile phone 500 described above.

(Second Embodiment)
<A. Electroluminescence substrate>
The present embodiment relates to an electroluminescent substrate and a method for manufacturing an electroluminescent substrate according to the present invention. FIG. 11D is a schematic plan view showing the structure of the electroluminescence substrate 30 of the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the electroluminescence substrate 30 has a plurality of pixels 3R, 3G, 3B corresponding to red, green, and blue on the surface of a glass substrate 21 as a “substrate” (hereinafter collectively referred to as “ Pixel 3 ”). Each pixel 3 is partitioned by a partition wall 45 and a low luminance light emitting unit 47. Each pixel 3 is formed with light emitting layers 41R, 41G, and 41B (hereinafter collectively referred to as “light emitting layer 41”) that emit light of respective colors of red, green, and blue. The light emitting layers 41 are arranged so that the light emitting layers 41 of the same color form a row. That is, the electroluminescence substrate 30 includes light emitting layers 41 arranged in a stripe shape.

  A cross-sectional view of the completed electroluminescent substrate 30 taken along a line segment including the light emitting layers 41R, 41G, and 41B corresponds to FIG. As shown in this figure, a transparent pixel electrode 31 made of ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) is formed between the glass substrate 21 and the light emitting layer 41. Since the partition wall 45 is formed from above the pixel electrode 31, the partition wall 45 partially overlaps the pixel electrode 31. The light emitting layer 41 is disposed in a recess formed by the pixel electrode 31 and the partition wall 45. Further, a cathode 37 made of metal and a sealing member 38 made of resin are formed in this order so as to cover the partition wall 45 and the light emitting layer 41. A circuit element layer including a TFT element as a switching element is further formed on the surface of the glass substrate 21, but the illustration is omitted in this paper.

  The light emitting layer 41 is a layer of an organic light emitting material that exhibits an electroluminescence phenomenon. When a current flows through the light emitting layer 41 in accordance with a voltage applied between the pixel electrode 31 and the cathode 37, the magnitude of the current is increased. It emits light with a brightness corresponding to. A part of the light from the light emitting layer 41 passes through the pixel electrode 31 and the glass substrate 21, and a part of the light is reflected by the cathode 37 and then passes through the pixel electrode 31 and the glass substrate 21. In any case, the light from the light emitting layer 41 is emitted from the glass substrate 21 side.

  The light emitting layer 41 is formed by discharging and drying three types (colors) of functional liquid containing different light emitting materials for each pixel 3. As such a functional liquid, a known material may be used. For example, an organic light emitting material such as a polyfluorene derivative, a polyparaphenylene vinylene derivative (PPV), or a polyparaphenylene derivative (PPP) is used as the light emitting material. A functional liquid made of an acrylic resin, a polyurethane resin or the like in which is dissolved or diffused can be used. In this article, functional liquids used for forming the light emitting layers 41R, 41G, and 41B are referred to as functional liquids 41RA, 41GA, and 41BA, respectively.

  The partition 45 is a light-shielding resin. The low-luminance light-emitting portion 47 is a substance obtained by altering the light-emitting layer 41 and has a feature that the light emission efficiency is significantly lower than that of the light-emitting layer 41. Here, the light emission efficiency refers to the ratio of the light emission luminance to the current flowing through the element. The low luminance light emitting portion 47 is mainly formed in a region where the pixel electrode 31 is not arranged, but an electric field from the pixel electrode 31 may circulate in such a region and current may flow. Further, since the low-luminance light-emitting portion 47 is formed on a part of the pixel electrode 31, a current similar to that of the light-emitting layer 41 flows in such a region. As described above, a current may flow through the low-luminance light emitting layer 47. However, even if the light emitting layer 41 emits light, the light emission brightness is low or no light is emitted at all, so that the observer recognizes the pixel 3 as a black mask that partitions the pixels 3 as with the partition wall 45.

  As described above, the electroluminescence substrate 30 having the above-described configuration can emit red, green, or blue light in each pixel 3, and the presence of the partition wall 45 and the low luminance light emitting portion 47 between the adjacent pixels 3. Since no light is emitted or very little, color mixing or the like between adjacent pixels 3 does not occur, and high-quality optical characteristics are realized.

<B. Manufacturing method of electroluminescent substrate>
Next, a method for manufacturing the electroluminescent substrate 30 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 10 is a process diagram showing a method for manufacturing the electroluminescent substrate 30, FIG. 11 is a plan view of the electroluminescent substrate 30 in each step of the manufacturing method, and FIGS. 12 and 13 are each step of the manufacturing method. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the electroluminescence substrate 30 in FIG.

  First, in step P21, a pixel electrode 31 made of ITO is formed on a circuit element layer (not shown) on the glass substrate 21 and formed in a region corresponding to the pixel 3 by using a known film forming technique (FIG. 11 (a)). FIG. 12A is a cross-sectional view taken along line EE in FIG. The pixel electrode 31 is formed in a state of being electrically connected to a TFT element (not shown) in the circuit element layer.

  Next, in process P22, a resin organic thin film is applied on the glass substrate 21, and this is patterned by a photolithography method, thereby forming the partition wall 45 as shown in FIG. 11B. FIG. 12B is a sectional view taken along line FF in FIG. As shown in these drawings, the partition wall 45 is formed only along the column direction except for the region to be the outer periphery. The width of each partition 45 is wider than the width of the region between adjacent columns of the pixel electrodes 31. That is, the partition wall 45 is formed so as to partially overlap the pixel electrode 31. As a result, on the glass substrate 21, a long rectangular recess that is long in the column direction is formed with the surface of the pixel electrode 31 and the glass substrate 21 as the bottom and the partition 45 as the side wall.

  Next, in step P23, a functional liquid 41RA containing a light emitting material that is a material of the light emitting layer 41R is discharged to the bottom of the recess (see FIG. 12C). Specifically, first, the glass substrate 21 on which the partition walls 45 are formed is carried to the stage 106 of the droplet discharge device 300. Then, the droplet discharge device 300 discharges the functional liquid 41RA from the discharge unit 127 of the head 114 to the bottom of the recess. At this time, the functional liquid 41RA easily and uniformly spreads in the recesses from which the functional liquid 41RA is discharged because there are no partition walls blocking in the column direction. In addition, since the concave portion is an oblong rectangle, the discharge position of the functional liquid 41RA is not particularly limited in the column direction. That is, in the row direction, since the recesses are not separated by the partition walls 45, the functional liquid 41RA is entirely removed from the groove-like recesses even if the discharge position and the discharge amount vary as compared with the case where the recesses are partitioned by the partition walls 45. Easy to go to. Thereafter, the discharged functional liquid 41RA is temporarily solidified or temporarily cured by performing pre-baking (temporary baking) by drying or baking at a low temperature (for example, 60 ° C.).

  Similarly, in the process P24, the functional liquid 41GA and the functional liquid 41BA in the process P25 are discharged into different recesses, respectively. After each discharging step, pre-baking is performed as in the case of the functional liquid 41RA.

  In the subsequent process P26, the glass substrate 21 on which the functional liquids 41RA, 41GA, and 41BA (hereinafter collectively referred to as “functional liquid 41A”) are discharged is left to stand in a high-temperature environment and fired. After the firing step, the solvent in the functional liquid 41A evaporates, and as shown in FIG. 11C, the light emitting layers 41 are formed in the areas where the functional liquid 41A is discharged. A cross-sectional view taken along line GG in FIG. 11C corresponds to FIG. As described above, in the functional liquid 41A, since the concave portion is an oblong rectangle, the functional liquid 41A is uniformly spread over the concave portion. Therefore, the light emitting layer 41 after being baked and dried in the process P26 is unlikely to have a void portion.

  Next, in step P27, a predetermined region on the surface of the light emitting layer 41 is irradiated with laser light. Here, the predetermined area is a band-like area in the row direction and includes an area between adjacent pixels 3. In other words, it is a partition area when the pixel 3 is partitioned in the column direction. The portion irradiated with the laser light in the light emitting layer 41 is altered by the thermal energy of the laser light, and becomes a low luminance light emitting portion 47 whose light emission efficiency is significantly lower than that of the light emitting layer 41 (see FIG. 11D). More specifically, the light emitting layer 41 is carbonized by the thermal energy, so that the function of expressing the electroluminescence phenomenon from the light emitting layer 41 is lost, and that portion is defined as the low luminance light emitting portion 47. FIG. 12E is a cross-sectional view taken along the line HH in FIG. 11D, and FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II. As shown in these drawings, the light-emitting layer 41 at the site irradiated with the laser light is transformed into a low-luminance light-emitting portion 47 over the entire thickness direction. This is because the light emitting layer 41 is a very thin layer having a thickness of about 0.1 μm to 0.2 μm.

  By forming the low-luminance light-emitting portion 47 in this manner, unnecessary light emission in the region between the pixels 3 is reduced in both row and column directions in the matrix-like arrangement of the pixels 3. That is, in the region between adjacent columns of the pixels 3, the light emitting layer 41 is not disposed due to the partition 45, so that no light is emitted, and in the region between adjacent rows of the pixels 3, the low-luminance light emitting unit By forming 47, unnecessary light emission is reduced.

  In a subsequent process P28, a cathode 37 made of metal is formed so as to cover the entire partition 45 and the light emitting layer 21. In the subsequent process P29, the sealing member 38 made of resin is formed so as to cover the cathode 37, and the electroluminescent substrate 30 is completed (see FIG. 12F).

  The electroluminescence substrate 30 is completed through the above steps. According to such a manufacturing method, it is possible to manufacture the electroluminescence substrate 30 in which a gap portion is unlikely to be generated in the light emitting layer 41, although there are few restrictions on the discharge position of the functional liquid 41RA. The electroluminescence substrate thus obtained can be used in combination with a drive circuit or the like as an electro-optical device such as an organic electroluminescence display device, a printer line head, a light source for a scanner, and the like. Similar to the embodiment, it can be mounted and used in various electronic devices.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, various deformation | transformation can be added with respect to the said embodiment in the range which does not deviate from the meaning of this invention. As modifications, for example, the following can be considered.

(Modification 1)
Although each said embodiment forms the light-shielding part 46 or the low-intensity light emission part 47 by irradiating the color element 40 or the light emitting layer 41 with a laser beam, the electromagnetic waves to irradiate are not restricted to a laser beam. For example, a photosensitive material is mixed in the color element 40 or the light emitting layer 41, and the color element 40 or the light emitting layer 41 is altered by irradiating light having a wavelength to which the photosensitive material reacts, so that the light shielding portion 46 or the low luminance light emission. The portion 47 may be formed.

(Modification 2)
In the color filter substrate 20 of the first embodiment, an overcoat made of a transparent resin or the like may be formed on the outermost surface as necessary. According to such a configuration, the color element 40 can be protected, and surface unevenness due to the height imbalance between the color element 40 and the partition wall 45 can be flattened.

(Modification 3)
The color filter substrate 20 according to the first embodiment includes the color elements 40 and the color element regions 2 of three colors of red, green, and blue. Instead, the color elements and color element regions of four or more colors are included. The structure which has may be sufficient. For example, it can be configured by four colors of red, green, blue, and cyan. In these configurations, the color arrangement order is not limited to that described above, and can be any arrangement order.

(Modification 4)
In the electroluminescent substrate 30 of the second embodiment, one or two of an electron injection layer, an electron transport layer, an electron block layer, a hole injection layer, and a hole transport layer are formed on the upper layer or the lower layer of the light emitting layer 41. The structure by which two or more were laminated | stacked may be sufficient. The layer including these in the light emitting layer 41 is also included in the “light emitting layer” in the present invention. Therefore, the method for manufacturing the electroluminescent substrate according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a step of forming the low-intensity light-emitting portion 47 by irradiating the electron transport layer laminated on the light-emitting layer 41 with laser light, for example. Also good.

(Modification 5)
In each of the above embodiments, the color element 40 or the light emitting layer 41 is irradiated with laser light from the surface opposite to the glass substrate 21, but the laser light can also be irradiated from the glass substrate 21 side. The light shielding part 46 or the low luminance light emitting part 47 can also be formed by such a method.

Process drawing of the manufacturing method of the color filter board | substrate which concerns on embodiment of this invention. (A) to (c) are plan views in the manufacturing process of the color filter substrate. (A) to (d) are cross-sectional views in the manufacturing process of the color filter substrate. (A) And (b) is sectional drawing in the manufacturing process of a color filter substrate. The model perspective view which shows a droplet discharge device. A part of head in a droplet discharge apparatus is shown, (a) is a model perspective view, (b) is sectional drawing. The functional block diagram of the control part in a droplet discharge apparatus. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a liquid crystal display device according to an embodiment of an electro-optical device of the invention. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a mobile phone according to an embodiment of an electronic device of the present invention. Process drawing of the manufacturing method of the electroluminescent board | substrate which concerns on embodiment of this invention. (A) to (d) are plan views in the manufacturing process of the electroluminescence substrate. (A) to (f) are cross-sectional views in the manufacturing process of the electroluminescence substrate. Sectional drawing in the manufacturing process of an electroluminescent board | substrate.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Liquid crystal display device, 2, 2R, 2G, 2B ... Color element area | region, 3, 3R, 3G, 3B ... Pixel, 20 ... Color filter board | substrate, 21 ... Glass substrate as a "substrate", 30 ... Electroluminescent board | substrate, 31 ... Pixel electrode, 37 ... Cathode, 38 ... Sealing member, 40, 40R, 40G, 40B ... Color element, 40A, 40RA, 40GA, 40BA ... Functional liquid, 41, 41R, 41G, 41B ... Light emitting layer, 41A, 41RA, 41GA, 41BA ... functional liquid, 45 ... partition, 46 ... light-shielding part, 47 ... low-luminance light emitting part, 300 ... droplet discharge device, 500 ... mobile phone.

Claims (10)

A method of manufacturing a color filter substrate having a plurality of color elements arranged in a matrix along a plurality of rows and columns on a substrate,
Forming a partition along the column direction on the substrate;
A step of discharging a functional liquid containing a color element material into a recess formed by the surface of the substrate and the partition using a droplet discharge device;
Drying the functional liquid to form the color element;
A step of forming a light-shielding portion having a light transmittance lower than that of the color element by irradiating electromagnetic waves to a band-like region extending in the row direction among the color elements to alter a part of the color element; A method for producing a color filter substrate, comprising: It is a manufacturing method of the color filter substrate according to claim 1,
The method of manufacturing a color filter substrate, wherein the electromagnetic wave is laser light. It is a manufacturing method of the color filter substrate according to claim 1,
The color element includes a photosensitive material;
The step of forming the light-shielding portion includes a step of irradiating the color element with light to denature the photosensitive material. A method of manufacturing an electroluminescent substrate having a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix along a plurality of rows and columns on a substrate,
Forming a pixel electrode for each of the pixels on the substrate;
Forming a partition along the column direction on the substrate;
Discharging a functional liquid containing a light emitting material into a recess formed by the surface of the substrate or the pixel electrode and the partition using a droplet discharge device;
Drying the functional liquid to form a light emitting layer;
Luminance of light emission by altering a part of the light emitting layer by irradiating an electromagnetic wave to a region including a region in the light emitting layer extending in the row direction and including the region where the pixel electrode is not formed. Forming a low-luminance light emitting portion lower than the light emitting layer. A method for producing an electroluminescent substrate, comprising: A method for producing an electroluminescent substrate according to claim 4,
The method of manufacturing an electroluminescent substrate, wherein the electromagnetic wave is laser light. A color filter substrate having a plurality of color elements arranged in a matrix along a plurality of rows and columns on the substrate,
The substrate;
Partitions disposed on the substrate along the column direction;
A color element disposed in a recess formed by the surface of the substrate and the partition;
A color filter substrate comprising: a light-shielding portion having a light transmittance lower than that of the color element, which is formed in a belt-like region extending in the row direction and including at least a surface of the color element. An electroluminescent substrate having a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix along a plurality of rows and columns on the substrate,
The substrate;
A pixel electrode disposed for each of the pixels on the substrate;
Partitions disposed on the substrate along the column direction;
A light emitting layer disposed in a recess formed by the substrate or the surface of the pixel electrode and the partition;
A low-luminance light-emitting portion formed by modifying a part of the light-emitting layer, wherein the light-emitting luminance is formed in a band-shaped region extending in the row direction including a region where the pixel electrode is not formed. An electroluminescence substrate comprising: a low-luminance light emitting portion lower than the light emitting layer.   An electro-optical device comprising the color filter substrate according to claim 6.   An electro-optical device comprising the electroluminescence substrate according to claim 7. An electronic apparatus comprising the electro-optical device according to claim 8.

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