JP2008145664A - Liquid crystal device and electronic device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a lateral electric field type transflective liquid crystal device for obtaining display of high quality by both the reflection display and the transmission display. <P>SOLUTION: The transflective liquid crystal device for performing reflection display and transmission display in a single sub-pixel region is provided with a TFT array substrate 10 and a counter substrate (second substrate) 20 facing each other, while sandwiching a liquid crystal layer 50. The liquid crystal device 100 is provided with a pixel electrode 9 (first electrode) and a common electrode 19 (second electrode) for applying an electric field of a direction of an approximate substrate face on the liquid crystal layer 50 in the sub-pixel region in the side of the liquid crystal layer 50 of the TFT array substrate 10; a transflective reflection polarization layer 49 for transmitting a polarization component, parallel to a transmission axis by having the transmission axis and a reflection axis intersected to the transmission axis on the counter substrate 20; and a light scattering means 29 for scattering display light on the side of the liquid crystal layer 50 of the reflection polarization layer 49. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid crystal device and an electronic apparatus.

As one form of a liquid crystal device, there is known a method of controlling the alignment of liquid crystal molecules by applying an electric field in the substrate surface direction to a liquid crystal layer (hereinafter referred to as a transverse electric field method), and applying an electric field to the liquid crystal. There are known what is called an IPS (In-Plane Switching) system, an FFS (Fringe-Field Switching) system, or the like depending on the form of electrodes to be used (see Patent Document 1, for example).
JP 2003-131248 A

By the way, since a portable information terminal such as a cellular phone is used in various environments, a transflective liquid crystal device is used for its display unit. Therefore, the present inventor has studied a transflective liquid crystal device of a type in which liquid crystal is driven by a horizontal electric field. In the IPS mode or FFS mode liquid crystal device, a reflective layer is partially formed in the pixel region. It was found that transflective display could not be performed even if provided.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a transflective liquid crystal device of a horizontal electric field type capable of obtaining a high quality display in both a reflective display and a transmissive display.

In order to solve the above problems, a liquid crystal device according to the present invention includes a first substrate and a second substrate that are opposed to each other with a liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween, and a reflective display region and a transmissive display region are provided in one pixel region. A transflective liquid crystal device in which a first electrode and a second electrode are provided on the liquid crystal layer side of the first substrate to apply an electric field in a substantially plane direction of the substrate to the liquid crystal layer in the pixel region. A reflective polarizing layer that selectively reflects light of a predetermined polarization component of incident light in the reflective display area, a light scattering means that scatters reflected light, and the light scattering means in the formation area of the light scattering means. And a liquid crystal layer thickness adjusting layer that makes the thickness of the liquid crystal layer different from the layer thickness of the liquid crystal layer in the non-formation region of the light scattering means.
In this liquid crystal device, a lateral electric field adopting an IPS system that drives a liquid crystal by applying an electric field substantially in the direction of the substrate surface formed between the first electrode and the second electrode formed on the first substrate to the liquid crystal layer. This is a liquid crystal device of the type. In the liquid crystal device of the present invention, by providing a transflective reflective polarizing layer, both transmissive display and reflective display are good, and a horizontal electric field type transflective liquid crystal using a simple configuration is provided. The device can be realized. In particular, according to the present invention, since the light scattering means is provided on the liquid crystal layer side of the reflective polarizing layer, the reflected light can be scattered without being attenuated. In addition to preventing the phenomenon of deteriorating the characteristics, the contrast of black display can be improved. In addition, in the transmissive mode, the light use efficiency from the backlight can be further improved, and a bright display can be realized.

  In the present specification, for example, a color liquid crystal device corresponds to a case where one pixel is configured by three sub-pixels of R (red), G (green), and B (blue). The display area that is the smallest unit is referred to as a “sub-pixel area”. Further, the “reflective display region” provided in the sub-pixel region refers to a region capable of display using light incident from the display surface side of the liquid crystal device, and the “transmissive display region” refers to the liquid crystal device. The area | region which can display using the light which injects from the back side (opposite side to the said display surface) is said.

  In addition, if the light scattering means is configured to include an insulator protrusion formed in the reflective display region and a reflective film formed on the surface of the insulator protrusion, the light scattering means is a simple process. Light scattering means can be formed in the reflective display area.

  Further, if the light scattering means also serves as the liquid crystal layer thickness adjusting layer, the liquid crystal device can be manufactured at low cost by increasing the efficiency of the manufacturing process.

  The light scattering means may be formed in a non-formation region of the reflective polarizing layer in the reflective display region. With such a configuration, since the reflective polarizing layer and the light scattering means are partitioned in a plane, the degree of freedom in forming the light scattering means is increased.

  The light scattering means may be partially formed on the liquid crystal layer side of the reflective polarizing layer. With such a configuration, it is not necessary to change the shape of the reflective polarizing layer, which is advantageous in terms of manufacturability.

  The difference between the phase difference of the liquid crystal layer in the formation region of the light scattering means and the phase difference of the liquid crystal layer in the non-formation region of the light scattering means is an abbreviation of the wavelength (λ) of light incident on the pixel region. It is preferable that it is 1/4. With such a configuration, linearly polarized light can be used for reflective display using a reflective polarizing layer, and circularly polarized light can be used for reflective display using a light scattering means. Can be realized.

  It is preferable that a retardation layer that imparts a phase difference of approximately λ / 4 to the transmitted light is formed in a region overlapping the light scattering means of the second substrate. By adopting such a configuration, it is possible to obtain high light use efficiency in both the reflective display using the light scattering means and the reflective display using the reflective polarizing layer, so that a bright reflective display can be realized.

  A phase difference plate is provided on the second substrate side of the liquid crystal layer to give a phase difference of approximately λ / 4 with respect to transmitted light, and is within the pixel region excluding the region where the light scattering means is formed. In addition, a configuration in which a retardation layer that gives a phase difference of approximately λ / 4 to transmitted light may be formed on the liquid crystal layer side of the first substrate with respect to the reflective polarizing layer. With such a configuration, it is not necessary to selectively dispose the retardation layer (retardation plate) with respect to the region where the light scattering means is formed, which is an effective configuration for improving manufacturability.

The liquid crystal layer thickness in the light scattering means formation region may be smaller than the liquid crystal layer thickness in the light scattering means non-formation region. In this case, it is preferable that the liquid crystal layer thickness in the formation region of the light scattering unit is approximately ½ of the liquid crystal layer thickness of the reflective display region in the non-formation region of the light scattering unit.
With such a configuration, a liquid crystal device capable of obtaining a highly efficient reflective display with a simple configuration can be obtained.

  The layer thickness of the liquid crystal layer in the transmissive display region is preferably substantially the same as the layer thickness of the liquid crystal layer in the non-formation region of the light scattering means in the reflective display region. With such a configuration, display optimization can be easily realized in both the transmissive display region and the reflective display region using the reflective polarizing layer. In addition, since no step is formed between the transmissive display region and the reflective display region, occurrence of liquid crystal alignment disorder in the pixel region can be suppressed, and a high-contrast display can be obtained.

  The reflective polarizing layer may be a metal film having a fine slit-like opening. Further, the reflective polarizing layer may be a dielectric multilayer film in which a plurality of dielectric films having a prism shape are laminated.

The liquid crystal device of the present invention includes a first substrate and a second substrate that are opposed to each other with a liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween, and a reflective display region and a transmissive display region are provided in one pixel region. A transflective liquid crystal device in which a first electrode and a second electrode for applying an electric field in a substantially substrate plane direction to the liquid crystal layer in the pixel region are provided on the liquid crystal layer side, wherein the reflective display region A reflective polarizing layer that selectively reflects light of a predetermined polarization component of incident light and a reflective layer that reflects the incident light are partitioned, and the liquid crystal layer in the formation region of the reflective polarizing layer is partitioned. The layer thickness is different from the layer thickness of the liquid crystal layer in the reflective layer formation region.
According to this configuration, it is possible to easily realize a liquid crystal device that performs reflective display using a reflective polarizing layer and reflective display using a reflective layer in the reflective display region. Since the reflective polarizing layer is difficult to produce as compared with a normal reflective film, its formation position, shape, or formation method may be limited. Therefore, in the present invention, in order to eliminate the difference in display mode between the reflective display using the reflective polarizing layer and the reflective display using the reflective layer, an area where the normal reflective layer is formed is provided in the reflective display area. The liquid crystal layer thickness on the reflective layer is different from the liquid crystal layer thickness in other regions. By adopting such a configuration, it becomes possible to form a reflective polarizing layer while ensuring the brightness of the reflective display, and to improve the degree of freedom in designing and manufacturing a transflective liquid crystal device using the reflective polarizing layer. Can be increased.

  Moreover, the structure by which the liquid-crystal layer thickness adjustment layer which consists of dielectric protrusions is formed on the said 1st board | substrate corresponding to the formation area of the said reflection layer may be sufficient. With such a configuration, it is possible to prepare and accurately adjust the thickness of the liquid crystal layer.

  The reflective layer is preferably a light scattering means for generating scattered reflected light. With such a configuration, visibility can be improved by the light scattering function.

  The first electrode and the second electrode each include a plurality of strip electrodes extending in the sub-pixel region, and the strip electrode of the first electrode and the strip electrode of the second electrode are , And can be arranged alternately in the sub-pixel region. With this configuration, when a voltage is applied between the first electrode and the second electrode, the liquid crystal in the sub-pixel region can be aligned in the width direction of the strip electrode, The viewing angle can be easily expanded.

  A polarizing plate is provided on a surface of the first substrate and the second substrate opposite to the liquid crystal layer of the substrate constituting the display surface of the liquid crystal device, the transmission axis of the polarizing plate, and the reflective polarizing layer It is preferable that the transmission axis is arranged substantially in parallel. With such a configuration, the transmittance / reflectance of light incident on the reflective polarizing layer can be maximized, and a bright display can be obtained.

  It is preferable that the strip electrodes of the first electrode and the second electrode are arranged substantially parallel to each other, and the extending direction of the strip electrode is a direction intersecting the transmission axis of the reflective polarizing layer. With such a configuration, the alignment direction of the liquid crystal when a voltage is applied to the electrodes can be dispersed in the substrate surface, and the viewing angle of the display can be easily widened.

  The angle formed by the extending direction of the strip electrode and the transmission axis of the reflective polarizing layer is preferably approximately 30 °. If the angle is 30 °, the viewing angle range can be expanded while suppressing the movement width of the liquid crystal when a voltage is applied to the electrodes.

  The reflective polarizing layer may be partially formed in the sub-pixel region. In the liquid crystal device having such a configuration, a reflective display area is configured by an area where the reflective polarizing layer is partially formed in the sub-pixel area, and a transmissive display area is configured by the remaining non-formed area. In this case, since the transmissive display area and the reflective display area are clearly divided, the optical design can be optimized in each of the reflective display and the transmissive display, which is advantageous in obtaining a higher-quality liquid crystal device. .

  The reflective polarizing layer may be formed on substantially the entire surface of the sub-pixel region. In the liquid crystal device having such a configuration, the reflective polarizing layer partially transmits the incident polarization component and reflects a part of the polarization component. Since the reflective polarizing layer can be formed in a solid shape within the sub-pixel region, the structure is excellent in terms of ease of manufacturing and yield. In addition, as compared with the case where the sub-pixel region is divided into a reflective display region and a transmissive display region, the region can be widely used, and the optical design of the pixel becomes easy.

  A color filter may be provided on the reflective polarizing layer of the second substrate. With such a configuration, it is possible to prevent color differences in reflective display, and when the reflective polarizing layer is made of a conductive material, it is possible to prevent the electric field applied to the liquid crystal layer from being affected, so that the display has high image quality. Can be realized.

  It is preferable that an insulating film is further formed between the color filter and the liquid crystal layer. With such a configuration, it is possible to further reduce the influence on the liquid crystal layer when the reflective polarizing layer is made of a conductive material. In addition, since the unevenness on the surface of the color filter can be flattened by the insulating film, display characteristics can be improved by uniformizing the liquid crystal layer thickness. Furthermore, it is preferable to form an insulating film between the light scattering means and the liquid crystal layer. When the light scattering means includes a metal reflection layer, it is possible to propose an influence on the liquid crystal layer due to the conductivity of the metal reflection layer.

  An electronic apparatus according to the present invention includes the liquid crystal device according to the present invention described above. According to this configuration, it is possible to realize an electronic apparatus including a display unit capable of high luminance, high contrast, wide viewing angle transmission display and reflection display.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a liquid crystal device according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The liquid crystal device according to the present embodiment includes an IPS (In-Plane Switching) method among horizontal electric field methods that display an image by applying an electric field (lateral electric field) in the substrate surface direction to the liquid crystal and controlling the alignment. This is a liquid crystal device that employs a so-called method.
In addition, the liquid crystal device of this embodiment is a color liquid crystal device having a color filter on a substrate, and three subpixels that output light of each color of R (red), G (green), and B (blue). Each pixel is configured. Therefore, a display area which is a minimum unit constituting display is referred to as a “sub-pixel area”, and a display area including a set (R, G, B) of sub-pixels is referred to as a “pixel area”.

FIG. 1 is a circuit configuration diagram of a plurality of sub-pixel regions formed in a matrix that constitutes the liquid crystal device of the present embodiment. FIG. 2A is a plan configuration diagram in an arbitrary one sub-pixel region of the liquid crystal device 100, and FIG. 2B is an explanatory diagram showing an arrangement relationship of optical axes of each optical element constituting the liquid crystal device 100. is there. 3A is a partial cross-sectional configuration diagram along line AA ′ in FIG. 2A, and FIG. 3B is a partial cross-sectional configuration along line BB ′ in FIG. FIG.
In each drawing, each layer and each member are displayed in different scales so that each layer and each member can be recognized on the drawing.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a pixel electrode 9 and a TFT 30 for switching control of the pixel electrode 9 are formed in a plurality of sub-pixel areas formed in a matrix that constitutes an image display area of the liquid crystal device 100. The data line 6 a extending from the data line driving circuit 101 is electrically connected to the source of the TFT 30. The data line driving circuit 101 supplies image signals S1, S2,..., Sn to each pixel via the data line 6a. The image signals S1 to Sn may be supplied line-sequentially in this order, or may be supplied for each group to a plurality of adjacent data lines 6a.

  Further, the scanning line 3a extending from the scanning line driving circuit 102 is electrically connected to the gate of the TFT 30, and the scanning signal G1 is supplied from the scanning line driving circuit 102 to the scanning line 3a in a pulse manner at a predetermined timing. , G2,..., Gm are applied to the gate of the TFT 30 in the order of lines in this order. The pixel electrode 9 is electrically connected to the drain of the TFT 30. The TFT 30 serving as a switching element is turned on for a certain period by the input of scanning signals G1, G2,..., Gm, so that the image signals S1, S2,. Writing is performed on the pixel electrode 9.

  Image signals S1, S2,..., Sn written to the liquid crystal via the pixel electrode 9 are held for a certain period between the pixel electrode 9 and the common electrode opposed via the liquid crystal. Here, in order to prevent the held image signal from leaking, a storage capacitor 70 is provided in parallel with the liquid crystal capacitor formed between the pixel electrode 9 and the common electrode. The storage capacitor 70 is provided between the drain of the TFT 30 and the capacitor line 3b.

  Next, a detailed configuration of the liquid crystal device 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. The liquid crystal device 100 has a configuration in which a liquid crystal layer 50 is sandwiched between a TFT array substrate (first substrate) 10 and a counter substrate (second substrate) 20 as shown in FIG. The TFT array substrate 10 and the counter substrate 20 are sealed between the substrates 10 and 20 by a seal material (not shown) provided along an edge of a region where the TFT array substrate 10 and the counter substrate 20 face each other. A backlight (illuminating device) 90 including a light guide plate 91 and a reflecting plate 92 is provided on the back side (the lower side in the drawing) of the counter substrate 20.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in the sub-pixel region of the liquid crystal device 100, a data line 6a extending along the longitudinal direction (Y-axis direction) of the sub-pixel region and a direction orthogonal to the data line 6a (X-axis direction) And a scanning line 3a extending in a straight line. Capacitance lines 3b extending along the edge on the side opposite to the scanning lines 3a in the sub-pixel region are formed. A pixel electrode (first electrode) 9 having a substantially comb-tooth shape in plan view and extending in the extending direction (Y-axis direction) of the data line 6a, and a common electrode (second electrode) 19 having a substantially comb-tooth shape in plan view. And are provided. A columnar spacer 40 is erected at the upper left corner of the sub-pixel region in the drawing to hold the TFT array substrate 10 and the counter substrate 20 at a predetermined interval.

  The pixel electrode 9 includes a plurality of (in the drawing, five) strip electrodes 9c extending along the extending direction (Y-axis direction) of the data line 6a, and the capacitance line 3b side (−Y side) of the plurality of strip electrodes 9c. A base end portion 9a connected to each end portion and extending along the extending direction (X-axis direction) of the capacitor line 3b, and a contact portion extending from the center portion of the base end portion 9a toward the capacitor line 3b. 9b.

The common electrodes 19 are arranged alternately with the strip electrodes 9c of the pixel electrode 9, and extend in parallel (in the Y-axis direction) with the strip electrodes 9c (two in the figure), and scanning lines of the strip electrodes 19c. The main line portion 19a is connected to the end portion on the 3a side and extends along the extending direction (X-axis direction) of the scanning line 3a. The common electrode 19 is a substantially comb-like electrode member in plan view extending across a plurality of sub-pixel regions arranged in the X-axis direction.
In the sub-pixel region shown in FIG. 2, a voltage is applied between the three strip electrodes 9c extending along the data line 6a and the two strip electrodes 19c arranged between the strip electrodes 9c. An electric field (lateral electric field) in the substrate surface direction is applied to the liquid crystal in the sub-pixel region.

  A TFT 30 is provided in the vicinity of the intersection of the data line 6a and the scanning line 3a. The TFT 30 includes a semiconductor layer 35 made of amorphous silicon partially formed in a planar region of the scanning line 3a, a source electrode 6b formed partially overlapping the semiconductor layer 35, and a drain electrode 32. ing. The scanning line 3 a functions as a gate electrode of the TFT 30 at a position overlapping the semiconductor layer 35 in plan view.

  The source electrode 6b of the TFT 30 is formed in a substantially inverted L shape in plan view extending from the data line 6a and extending to the semiconductor layer 35, and the drain electrode 32 is electrically connected to the connection wiring 31a at the end on the pixel electrode 9 side. Connected. The connection wiring 31a extends from the TFT 30 to the capacity line 3b side via the outside of the pixel electrode 9, and is electrically connected to the capacity electrode 31 located on the capacity line 3b. The capacitive electrode 31 is a conductive member having a substantially rectangular shape in plan view, which is formed so as to overlap the capacitive line 3b in plan view. On the capacitor electrode 31, the contact portion 9 b of the pixel electrode 9 is disposed so as to overlap in a planar manner, and a pixel contact hole 45 is provided at a position where both overlap. The capacitor electrode 31 and the pixel electrode 9 are electrically connected through the pixel contact hole 45. In addition, a storage capacitor 70 having the capacitor electrode 31 and the capacitor line 3b facing each other in the thickness direction is formed in a region where the capacitor electrode 31 and the capacitor line 3b overlap in a plane.

  Further, the sub-pixel region shown in FIG. 2 includes a color filter 22 having substantially the same planar shape as the sub-pixel region, and a reflective polarizing layer 49 occupying about a half of the planar region on the capacitor line 3b side of the sub-pixel region. Is provided. Although the details will be described later, the reflective polarizing layer 49 is a reflective polarizing layer made of a light reflective metal film (metal reflective film) having a fine slit structure, and is formed on the counter substrate 20 together with the color filter 22. Has been. Further, a substantially dome-shaped light scattering means 29 is scattered on the reflective polarizing layer 49 with the top thereof facing the liquid crystal side. As shown in FIG. 2, among the regions where the strip electrodes 9c and 19c are alternately arranged, the formation region of the reflective polarizing layer 49 is the reflective display region R of the sub-pixel region, and the remaining region is the transmissive display. This is a region T.

  3A, the liquid crystal layer 50 is sandwiched between the TFT array substrate 10 and the counter substrate 20 that are arranged to face each other. Polarizing plates 14 and 24 are disposed on the outer surface side (the side opposite to the liquid crystal layer 50) of the TFT array substrate 10 and the counter substrate 20, respectively. A plurality of retardation plates 26 are disposed between the TFT array substrate 10 and the polarizing plate 14 on the display surface side of the reflective display region R of the TFT array substrate 10.

The TFT array substrate 10 has a translucent substrate body 10A made of glass, quartz, plastic, or the like as a base, and scanning lines 3a and capacitance lines 3b are formed on the inner surface side (the liquid crystal layer 50 side) of the substrate body 10A. A gate insulating film 11 made of a transparent insulating film such as silicon oxide is formed so as to cover the scanning lines 3a and the capacitor lines 3b.
An amorphous silicon semiconductor layer 35 is formed on the gate insulating film 11, and a source electrode 6 b and a drain electrode 32 are provided so as to partially run over the semiconductor layer 35. The drain electrode 32 is formed integrally with the connection wiring 31 a and the capacitor electrode 31. The semiconductor layer 35 is disposed to face the scanning line 3 a via the gate insulating film 11, and the scanning line 3 a constitutes the gate electrode of the TFT 30 in the facing region.
The capacitor electrode 31 is disposed to face the capacitor line 3b with the gate insulating film 11 interposed therebetween, and the capacitor electrode 31 and the capacitor line 3b are used as a pair of electrodes and the gate insulating film 11 is used as a dielectric film. A capacitor 70 is formed.

  An interlayer insulating film 12 made of silicon oxide or the like is formed so as to cover the semiconductor layer 35, the source electrode 6b, the drain electrode 32, and the capacitor electrode 31. A pixel electrode 9 and a common electrode 19 made of a transparent conductive material such as ITO are formed on the interlayer insulating film 12. A pixel electrode 9 made of a transparent conductive material such as ITO is formed on the interlayer insulating film 12. A pixel contact hole 45 penetrating the interlayer insulating film 12 and reaching the capacitor electrode 31 is formed. By partially burying the contact portion 9b of the pixel electrode 9 in the pixel contact hole 45, the pixel electrode 9 and the capacitor electrode 31 are electrically connected. An alignment film 18 made of polyimide or the like is formed so as to cover the pixel electrode 9 and the common electrode 19.

  3B, the strip electrode 9c of the pixel electrode 9 and the strip electrode 19c of the common electrode 19 are alternately arranged in the same layer on the interlayer insulating film 12. As shown in FIG. The horizontal electric field in the X-axis direction in FIG. 2 is generated between the strip electrode 9c and the strip electrode 19c by the voltage written to the pixel electrode 9 through the TFT 30, and the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer 50 is generated by the lateral electric field. The state can be controlled.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, a reflective polarizing layer 49 is partially provided on the liquid crystal layer 50 side (inner surface side) of the substrate body 20 </ b> A that is the base of the counter substrate 20. A plurality of light scattering means 29 are scattered on the reflective polarizing layer 49. The light scattering means 29 has a substantially dome shape with the top portion facing the liquid crystal layer 50 side. A color filter 22 is provided so as to cover the light scattering means 29 and the reflective polarizing layer 49, and an alignment film 28 is laminated on the color filter 22. A polarizing plate 24 is provided on the outer surface side of the counter substrate 20. As described above, the formation region of the reflective polarizing layer 49 constitutes the reflective display region R, and the non-formation region of the reflective polarizing layer 49 constitutes the transmissive display region T.

  The light scattering means 29 is formed by coating the surface of an insulator projection 29a made of resin or the like with a reflective layer 29b made of a metal thin film such as aluminum. The shape, size, and number of the light scattering means 29 are not particularly limited, but the height from the bottom surface to the top of the light scattering means 29 is about half the thickness d of the liquid crystal layer 50, and its reflection. It is preferable to set the rate to be 80 to 90%. More specifically, the height of the light scattering means 29 is preferably 0.5 to 1 μm, and the distance between the tops of the adjacent light scattering means 29 is preferably in the range of 8 to 10 μm.

  By arranging the light scattering means 29 in this way, the average thickness of the liquid crystal layer 50 in the region where the light scattering means 29 is formed is about half (d / 2) of the liquid crystal layer thickness d in the other regions. Become. Therefore, the predetermined phase difference (λ / 2) given to the light transmitted through the liquid crystal layer 50 having the thickness d in the reflection mode of the liquid crystal device 100 is half that in the region where the light scattering means 29 is disposed (λ / 4). Thus, the light scattering means 29 in the present embodiment also functions as a liquid crystal layer thickness adjusting layer that makes the layer thickness of the liquid crystal layer 50 different from other regions depending on its own thickness (projection height).

  In FIGS. 2 and 3, the light scattering means 29, the pixel electrode 9 and the common electrode 19 are arranged so as not to overlap with each other in order to make the drawings easy to see. A part of the pixel electrode 9 and the common electrode 19 may be arranged at the overlapping position. In the present embodiment, the light scattering means 29 functions as a liquid crystal layer thickness adjusting layer. However, a liquid crystal layer thickness adjusting layer may be provided as a member different from the light scattering means 29. For example, as a configuration in which a resin layer is selectively formed on the reflective polarizing layer 49 and the light scattering means 29 is formed on the resin layer, the liquid crystal layer thickness may be adjusted by the thickness of the resin layer. Moreover, the structure which laminated | stacked the resin layer as a liquid-crystal layer thickness adjustment layer on the light-scattering means 29 may be sufficient.

Such light scattering means 29 can be formed by the following manufacturing process.
First, a photosensitive resin material is applied on the insulating coating covering the surface of the reflective polarizing layer 49, and the coating film made of the photosensitive resin is exposed and developed to form columnar protrusions on the reflective polarizing layer 49. Then, the insulator protrusion 29a is formed by blunting the corners of the columnar protrusions by heating to form a substantially dome shape. Then, after a metal film such as aluminum is formed by vapor deposition or the like, the region where the light scattering means 29 is to be formed is masked, and the metal film is removed by various etchings to reflect the insulator protrusion 29a. Layer 29b is formed.

  The color filter 22 is preferably configured to be divided into two types of regions having different color densities in the pixel region. As a specific example, a first color material region is provided corresponding to the planar region of the transmissive display region T, and a second color material region is provided corresponding to the planar region of the reflective display region R. A configuration in which the color density of the first color material region is higher than the color density of the second color material region can be employed. By adopting such a configuration, it is possible to prevent the color of the display light from being different between the transmissive display region T where the display light is transmitted only once through the color filter 22 and the reflective display region R where the display light is transmitted twice. The display quality can be improved by aligning the appearance of the reflective display and the transmissive display.

  In addition, an insulating film made of a transparent resin material or the like is preferably laminated on the color filter 22. Since the color filter 22 is formed so as to cover the reflective polarizing layer 49, the color filter 22 can prevent the electric field from being distorted by the reflective polarizing layer 49 made of a metal film such as aluminum. This effect can be further ensured by laminating the layers.

Here, FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the configuration and operation of the reflective polarizing layer 49, FIG. 4 (a) is a plan configuration diagram of the reflective polarizing layer 49, and FIG. 4 (b) is FIG. It is a side block diagram which follows the JJ 'line | wire of ().
As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the reflective polarizing layer 49 is mainly composed of a metal film 71 made of a light-reflecting metal such as aluminum, and the metal film 71 has a stripe shape in plan view at a predetermined pitch. A plurality of fine slits (openings) 72 are formed. An insulating film made of a transparent resin material or the like may be formed on the entire surface of the metal film 71 so as to cover the irregularities formed by the slits 72. The plurality of slits 72 are formed in parallel with each other and have the same width. The width of the slit 72 is about 30 nm to 300 nm, and the line width of the metal film 71 that is linear as a result of the formation of the plurality of slits 72 at a predetermined pitch is about 30 nm to 300 nm.

  As shown in FIG. 4B, when the light E is incident from the upper surface side of the reflective polarizing layer 49 having the above configuration, the polarization component parallel to the length direction of the slit 72 is reflected as the reflected light Er. Then, the polarization component parallel to the width direction of the slit 72 is transmitted as transmitted light Et. That is, the reflective polarizing layer 49 has a reflection axis parallel to the extending direction of the slit 72 and a transmission axis in a direction perpendicular to the reflection axis.

As shown in the arrangement diagram of the optical axis in FIG. 2B, the reflective polarizing layer 49 has a transmission axis (direction orthogonal to the extending direction of the slit 72) 157 in the liquid crystal device 100, and the TFT array substrate 10 side. The polarizing plate 14 is arranged so as to be parallel to the transmission axis 153, and is arranged in a direction orthogonal to the transmission axis 155 of the polarizing plate 24 on the counter substrate 20 side. In the liquid crystal device 100 of this embodiment, the alignment films 18 and 28 are rubbed in the same direction in plan view, and the direction is a rubbing direction 151 shown in FIG. Therefore, the transmission axis 157 of the reflective polarizing layer 49 and the rubbing direction 151 of the alignment films 18 and 28 are arranged in parallel.
The rubbing direction 151 forms an angle of about 30 ° with respect to the extending direction of the strip electrodes 9c and 19c extending in parallel to the pixel arrangement direction (Y-axis direction) of the liquid crystal device 100.

  The liquid crystal device 100 having the above-described configuration is an IPS liquid crystal device, and an image signal (voltage) is applied to the pixel electrode 9 via the TFT 30, whereby the substrate surface is interposed between the pixel electrode 9 and the common electrode 19. An electric field is generated in the direction (X-axis direction in FIG. 2 in plan view), the liquid crystal is driven by the electric field, and the transmittance / reflectance of each subpixel is changed to display an image. As shown in FIG. 2B, since the alignment films 18 and 28 facing each other with the liquid crystal layer 50 interposed therebetween are rubbed in the same direction in plan view, in a state where no voltage is applied to the pixel electrode 9, Liquid crystal molecules constituting the liquid crystal layer 50 are horizontally aligned between the substrates 10 and 20 along the rubbing direction 151. Then, when an electric field formed between the pixel electrode 9 and the common electrode 19 is applied to such a liquid crystal layer 50, it follows the width direction (X-axis direction) of the strip electrodes 9c and 19c shown in FIG. The liquid crystal molecules are aligned. The liquid crystal device 100 performs bright and dark display using birefringence based on the difference in the alignment state of liquid crystal molecules.

  Next, the operation of the liquid crystal device 100 having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory diagram of the liquid crystal device 100. FIG. 3 shows only the components necessary for explanation among the components shown in FIG. The polarizing plate 14, the retardation plate 26, the liquid crystal layer 50, the light scattering means 29, the reflective polarizing layer 49, the polarizing plate 24, and the backlight 90 are shown in order from the upper side in the drawing (panel display surface side).

First, transmissive display (transmission mode) using the transmissive display region T shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 will be described.
As shown in “transmission display” on the left side of FIG. 5, in the liquid crystal device 100, the light emitted from the backlight 90 is transmitted through the polarizing plate 24, and thus a straight line in the vibration direction parallel to the transmission axis 155 of the polarizing plate 24. It becomes polarized light and enters the liquid crystal panel. The light incident on the liquid crystal panel enters the liquid crystal layer 50 through the non-formation region (opening region) of the reflective polarizing layer 49. If the liquid crystal layer 50 is in an on state (a selection voltage is applied between the pixel electrode 9 and the common electrode 19), the incident light has a predetermined phase difference (λ / 2) by the liquid crystal layer 50. And is converted into linearly polarized light having a vibration direction parallel to the transmission axis 153 of the polarizing plate 14. Thereby, the light transmitted through the polarizing plate 14 is visually recognized as display light, and the sub-pixels are brightly displayed.

On the other hand, if the liquid crystal layer 50 is in an off state (a state where the selection voltage is not applied), incident light reaches the polarizing plate 14 while maintaining the polarization state, and an absorption axis (transmission axis) parallel to the incident light. Is absorbed by the polarizing plate 14 having an optical axis orthogonal to 153, and the sub-pixels are darkly displayed.
In addition, the light that has entered the reflective polarizing layer 49 out of the light transmitted through the polarizing plate 24 is reflected by the reflective polarizing layer 49 having a reflection axis parallel to the linearly polarized light, so Returned to the light 90 side. Since this reflected light is linearly polarized light in a vibration direction parallel to the transmission axis of the polarizing plate 24, it passes through the polarizing plate 24 and reaches the reflecting plate 92 of the backlight 90, and between the reflecting plate 92 and the reflecting polarizing layer 49. Repeat the reflection. If light that repeats such reflection enters the aperture region where the reflective polarizing layer 49 is not formed, it can be used as display light for transmissive display. Therefore, the light utilization efficiency of the backlight 90 is increased, and the luminance of the transmissive display is increased. Can be improved.

Next, a reflective display using the reflective polarizing layer 49 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 will be described.
In the reflective display of the portion labeled “reflective display (reflective polarizing layer)” in the center of FIG. 5, light incident on the liquid crystal panel from above the polarizing plate 14 (panel display surface side) is transmitted through the polarizing plate 14. Thus, the light is converted into linearly polarized light parallel to the transmission axis 153 of the polarizing plate 14 and enters the liquid crystal layer 50. At this time, if the liquid crystal layer 50 is in an on state, the incident light is given a predetermined phase difference (λ / 2) by the liquid crystal layer 50 and is converted into linearly polarized light having a vibration direction orthogonal to that at the time of incidence. 49 is incident. Here, as shown in FIG. 2B, the reflective polarizing layer 49 has a transmission axis 157 parallel to the transmission axis 153 of the polarizing plate 14 and a reflection axis perpendicular to the transmission axis 153. The light transmitted through the liquid crystal layer 50 and incident on the reflective polarizing layer 49 is reflected while maintaining its polarization state. The reflected light incident on the liquid crystal layer 50 again returns to the polarization state at the time of incidence (linearly polarized light in a vibration direction parallel to the transmission axis of the polarizing plate 14) by the action of the liquid crystal layer 50 and enters the polarizing plate 14. Thereby, the reflected light transmitted through the polarizing plate 14 is visually recognized as display light, and the sub-pixels are brightly displayed.

  On the other hand, if the liquid crystal layer 50 is in the OFF state, the light incident on the liquid crystal layer 50 from the polarizing plate 14 enters the reflective polarizing layer 49 while maintaining the polarization state, and has a transmission axis 157 parallel to the light. The reflective polarizing layer 49 is transmitted. Then, the light is absorbed by the polarizing plate 24 having an absorption axis parallel to the light (perpendicular transmission axis), and the sub-pixel is darkly displayed.

Next, a reflective display using the light scattering means 29 (reflective layer 29b) shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 will be described.
In the reflective display of the portion labeled “reflective display (reflective layer)” on the right side of FIG. 5, the light incident on the liquid crystal panel from above the polarizing plate 14 (panel display surface side) is transmitted through the polarizing plate 14. The light is converted into linearly polarized light having a vibration direction parallel to the transmission axis 153 of the polarizing plate 14, further passes through the phase difference plate 26, is converted into counterclockwise circularly polarized light, and enters the liquid crystal layer 50. Here, in the formation region of the light scattering means 29, the layer thickness of the liquid crystal layer 50 is partially reduced by the thickness of the insulator protrusion 29a, and other regions (the transmissive display region T and the reflective polarizing layer). The layer thickness (d / 2) is approximately half of the layer thickness d of the region above 49. Therefore, the phase difference given by the liquid crystal layer 50 when the liquid crystal layer 50 is in the ON state is a half phase difference (λ / 4) of the light incident on the reflective polarizing layer 49. Thereby, the incident light is converted into linearly polarized light having a vibration direction orthogonal to the transmission axis 153 of the polarizing plate 14 and is incident on the light scattering means 29 (reflective layer 29b). This linearly polarized light is reflected while maintaining its polarization state, but becomes light scattered by the convex shape of the reflective layer 29b. Thereafter, the reflected light is incident again on the liquid crystal layer 50, and further becomes counterclockwise circularly polarized light by the action of the liquid crystal layer 50 and enters the phase difference plate 26. Then, the light passes through the phase difference plate 26 to become linearly polarized light having a vibration direction parallel to the transmission axis 153 of the polarizing plate 14 and passes through the polarizing plate 14. This reflected light is visually recognized as display light, and the sub-pixels are brightly displayed. In addition, since a part of the reflected light is scattered by the light scattering means 29, the reflected light of the liquid crystal device 100 does not have an intensity distribution biased in a specific direction, and a display with high visibility can be realized.

  On the other hand, if the liquid crystal layer 50 is in the off state, the light incident on the liquid crystal layer 50 from the retardation plate 26 enters the light scattering means 29 while maintaining its polarization state, and is reflected by the reflective layer 29b. At this time, since the traveling direction of the incident light that is counterclockwise circularly polarized light is reversed, the rotation direction viewed from the polarizing plate 14 side is reversed, and the light enters the liquid crystal layer 50 again as clockwise circularly polarized light. Then, it passes through the liquid crystal layer 50 and enters the phase difference plate 26, passes through the phase difference plate 26, enters the polarizing plate 14 as linearly polarized light in the vibration direction orthogonal to the transmission axis 153 of the polarizing plate 14, and Absorbed by the polarizing plate 14. Thereby, the sub-pixel is darkly displayed.

  In the formation region of the light scattering means 29, the liquid crystal layer thickness is thinner than the other regions. In this embodiment, the layer thickness is approximately half the liquid crystal layer thickness d of the other regions. In a horizontal electric field type liquid crystal device, the effective driving voltage changes depending on the thickness of the liquid crystal layer, so the phase difference value that the liquid crystal layer imparts to the transmitted light may change more than the change in the liquid crystal layer thickness. . In such a case, the height of the insulator projection 29a of the light scattering means 29 is adjusted to adjust the thickness of the liquid crystal layer on the light scattering means 29 so that the phase difference in the region is different from the phase difference in the other region. What is necessary is just to adjust so that it may become half ((lambda) / 4).

  The liquid crystal device 100 of the present embodiment employs a configuration in which the reflective polarizing layer 49 is partially provided in the sub-pixel region, so that a high-contrast reflective display and transmissive display can be obtained with a simple configuration. Yes. Further, since the light scattering means 29 is provided on the reflective polarizing layer 49, a part of the reflected light can be scattered, so that the reflected luminance in the front direction of the panel can be secured, and the reflective display area It is possible to prevent the visibility of the reflective display from being lowered due to regular reflection of external light at R. Accordingly, it is possible to obtain a display with excellent visibility in both the reflective display and the transmissive display.

  By the way, a structure for imparting light scattering properties to a reflective layer of a reflective liquid crystal device is conventionally known. For example, by forming a reflective layer on a resin film having a concavo-convex shape on the surface, the light scattering property is improved. It is possible to realize a reflective layer having the same. If such a concavo-convex structure is adopted for the reflective polarizing layer 49, it is possible to produce a reflective polarizing layer having light scattering properties. However, in order to produce the reflective polarizing layer 49 used in this embodiment, it is necessary to form grid-like fine lines with a fine line width of several tens of nanometers as described above. It is extremely difficult to form a thin line with an accurate line width on the uneven surface. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, after the reflective polarizing layer 49 is formed, the insulating protrusion 29a is formed on the reflective polarizing layer 49 directly or via another layer, and the insulating protrusion 29a is reflected. The light scattering means 29 is formed by covering with the layer 29b. Therefore, since the reflective polarizing layer 49 can be formed on a flat surface, the thin lines constituting the reflective polarizing layer can be formed with an accurate line width, and a reflective polarizing layer having good polarization selectivity can be produced. In addition, since the light scattering means 29 can be formed on the flat reflective polarizing layer 49, the height of the insulator protrusion 29a for controlling the thickness of the liquid crystal layer can be adjusted accurately, and reflection display can be achieved without causing a decrease in contrast. Light scattering can be imparted.

Further, in the liquid crystal device 100 of the present embodiment, the liquid crystal layer thickness is constant between the transmissive display region T that is a main display unit and the region that displays using the reflective polarizing layer 49 in the reflective display region R. There is no difference in drive voltage between the two regions, and the display state does not differ between the reflective display and the transmissive display.
Furthermore, since the pixel electrode 9 and the common electrode 19 are formed using a transparent conductive material, external light that has passed through the liquid crystal layer 50 and entered the TFT array substrate 10 is irregularly reflected by the pixel electrode 9 and the common electrode 19. Can also be prevented, and excellent visibility can be obtained.

  In the first embodiment described above, the case where the retardation plate 26 is partially provided between the substrate body 10A of the TFT array substrate 10 and the polarizing plate 14 has been described, but the function equivalent to that of the retardation plate 26 is provided. The retardation layer having the same may be formed on the liquid crystal layer 50 side of the TFT array substrate 10. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a partial cross-sectional configuration of the reflective display region R when the inner surface retardation layer 26 a is formed on the liquid crystal layer 50 side of the TFT array substrate 10. Further, in the illustrated configuration example, since the inner surface retardation layer 26a is selectively formed on the TFT array substrate 10 on the liquid crystal layer 50 side, the surface of the counter substrate 20 in the formation region of the inner surface retardation layer 26a is the liquid crystal layer. Projects to the 50 side. That is, the inner phase difference layer 26 a functions as a liquid crystal layer thickness adjusting layer on the light scattering means 29.

  Further, when the liquid crystal layer thickness can be adjusted due to the layer thickness of the inner surface retardation layer 26a, the height of the light scattering means 29 is reduced as in the counter substrate 20 of FIG. The color filter 22 may relieve unevenness on the surface of the counter substrate 20 caused by the light scattering means 29. In this way, since the surface of the counter substrate 20 is substantially flat, the liquid crystal layer thickness can be controlled easily and with high accuracy.

  In the case where the inner surface retardation layer 26a is formed on the liquid crystal layer side of the TFT array substrate 10, the surface of the TFT array substrate 10 may be planarized by forming a planarizing film that covers the inner surface retardation layer 26a. In this case, the counter substrate 20 having the same configuration as shown in FIG. 3 may be used, and the light scattering means 29 may be configured to function as the liquid crystal layer thickness adjusting layer.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a liquid crystal device according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 7 is a circuit configuration diagram of a plurality of sub-pixel areas arranged in a matrix that constitutes the liquid crystal device 200 of the present embodiment. FIG. 8A is a plan configuration diagram showing an arbitrary one sub-pixel region in the liquid crystal device 200 of the present embodiment, and FIG. 8B is an explanation showing an optical axis arrangement in the liquid crystal device 200 of the present embodiment. FIG. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional configuration diagram taken along the line DD ′ of FIG.

  The liquid crystal device 200 of the present embodiment is an active matrix liquid crystal device using a TFD (Thin Film Diode) element as a pixel switching element. Further, as in the first embodiment, an IPS-type electrode configuration is provided. Note that, in the liquid crystal device 200 of the present embodiment, a detailed description of the configuration common to the liquid crystal device 100 of the first embodiment is omitted, and the liquid crystal of the first embodiment is also shown in the drawings referred to below. Components common to the apparatus 100 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

As shown in FIG. 7, the sub-pixels 55 are arranged in a matrix in a plan view in the image display area of the liquid crystal device 200. The liquid crystal device 200 includes a first drive circuit 201 and a second drive circuit 202, and a plurality of first wirings 56 and a plurality of second wirings 66 intersecting with the first wirings 56 are provided. . The first wiring 56 supplies a signal from the first driving circuit 201, and the second wiring 66 supplies a signal from the second driving circuit 202 to each subpixel 55. In each sub-pixel 55, the TFD element 60 and the pixel electrode 59 are connected in series to the second wiring 66, and the common electrode 69 electrically connected to the first wiring 56 and the pixel electrode 59 are connected. Between the two, a liquid crystal layer (liquid crystal capacitor) 50 is formed. In the subpixel 55, a storage capacitor 52 is provided between the first wiring 56 and the pixel electrode 59.
With the circuit configuration as described above, the liquid crystal is driven and controlled based on the switching characteristics of the TFD element 60, and light and dark are displayed for each sub-pixel 55 based on the driving of the liquid crystal, and an image is displayed in the display area of the liquid crystal device 200. Display is to be performed.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 8A, a pixel electrode (second electrode) 59, a common electrode (first electrode) 69, and a sub-pixel region (a planar region of the sub-pixel 55) of the liquid crystal device 200 are provided. , And a TFD element 60 are provided. A first wiring 56 extending in the longitudinal direction (Y-axis direction) of the sub-pixel region and a second wiring 66 extending in the short direction (Y-axis direction) are provided, and the TFD element 60 includes the first wiring 56. And in the vicinity of the intersection of the second wiring 66. The color filter 22 and the reflective polarizing layer 39 are formed so as to cover the entire surface of the sub-pixel region in a planar manner. A columnar spacer 40 is provided in the sub-pixel region.

The pixel electrode (first electrode) 59 includes a base end portion 59a extending from the TFD element 60 along the extending direction (X-axis direction) of the second wiring 66, and a tip end portion of the base end portion 59a opposite to the TFD element 60. And two strip electrodes 59c and 59c extending from the vicinity of the TFD element 60 to the center side (−Y side) of the sub-pixel. The tips of the strip electrodes 59c and 59c extending from the base end portion 59a are electrically connected to the capacitive electrode 59b having a rectangular shape in plan view.
The common electrode (second electrode) 69 includes a base end portion 69a extending in the extending direction (X-axis direction) of the second wiring 66, and a central portion (+ Y) of the sub-pixel from the central portion and the front end portion of the base end portion 69a. And two strip electrodes 69c, 69c extending to the side). Further, the base end portion 69 a of the common electrode 69 is electrically connected to the first wiring 56 at one end thereof.

The two strip electrodes 59c and 59c of the pixel electrode 59 are disposed between the two strip electrodes 69c and 69c of the common electrode 69, and between the strip electrode 69c in the center of the figure and the first wiring 56, respectively. , Extending in parallel with each strip electrode 69c. The end portion of the base end portion 59a is electrically connected to the TFD element 60.
The capacitor electrode 59b is disposed so as to overlap the base end portion 69a of the common electrode 69 in plan view, and forms the storage capacitor 52 at the position together with the base end portion 69a.

  The TFD element 60 includes an electrode film 63 having a long rectangular shape along the first wiring 56, a second wiring 66 that intersects the electrode film 63, and a base end portion 59 a of the pixel electrode 59. More specifically, the TFD element 60 is formed at the intersection of the first element portion 61 formed at the intersection of the electrode film 63 and the second wiring 66, and the intersection of the electrode film 63 and the base end portion 59a. A TFD element having a so-called back-to-back structure in which the first element part 61 and the second element part 62 are connected back to back (electrically in opposite directions) is included.

Next, referring to the partial cross-sectional structure shown in FIG. 9, in the liquid crystal device 200, the element substrate (first substrate) 110 and the counter substrate (second substrate) 120 are arranged to face each other with the liquid crystal layer 50 interposed therebetween. It has a configuration.
The element substrate 110 includes a substrate main body 10A made of a light-transmitting substrate such as glass or quartz and a base, and the electrode substrate 63 made of tantalum or an alloy thereof and the first wiring 56 are shared on the substrate main body 10A. An electrode 69 is formed. The surface of the electrode film 63 is covered with an element insulating film 63a made of, for example, a tantalum oxide film. Further, a wiring insulating film 56 a made of, for example, a tantalum oxide film is formed on the surface of the first wiring 56, and a capacitive insulating film 69 d made of, for example, a tantalum oxide film is formed on the surface of the common electrode 69. In the present embodiment, the element insulating film 63a is formed thinner than the wiring insulating film 56a and the capacitive insulating film 69d, and the wiring insulating film 56a and the capacitive insulating film 69d are formed to have substantially the same film thickness. ing.

A second wiring 66 made of, for example, chromium is formed to extend across the first wiring 56 covered with the wiring insulating film 56a, and the second wiring 66 and the electrode film 63 are interposed via the element insulating film 63a. The first element portion 61 is formed at the opposing position. The first wiring 56 and the second wiring 66 are insulated by a wiring insulating film 56 a that covers the first wiring 56.
A second element portion 62 is formed at a position where the base end portion 59a of the pixel electrode 59 and the electrode film 63 face each other with the element insulating film 63a interposed therebetween. A capacitor electrode 59b is formed on the base end portion 69a of the common electrode 69 via the capacitor insulating film 69d. The base end portion 69a and the capacitor electrode 59b are used as electrodes, and the capacitor insulating film 69d is used as a dielectric film. A storage capacitor 52 is formed.

  An alignment film 18 made of polyimide or the like is formed on the entire surface of the substrate body 10A covering the second wiring 66, the pixel electrode 59, the common electrode 69, and the like. Further, a retardation film 26 is partially provided on the outer surface side (the side opposite to the liquid crystal layer 50) of the substrate body 10A, and the polarizing plate 14 is further covered so as to cover the retardation film 26 and the substrate body 10A. Is arranged.

  The counter substrate 120 includes a substrate body 20A, a reflective polarizing layer 39 formed on the entire inner surface side (liquid crystal layer 50 side) of the substrate body 20A, a light scattering means 29 disposed on the reflective polarizing layer 39, A color filter 22 formed so as to cover the light scattering means 29 and the reflective polarizing layer 39, and an alignment film 28 made of polyimide or the like formed so as to cover the color filter 22, are provided. A polarizing plate 24 is provided on the outer surface side (the side opposite to the liquid crystal layer 50).

Here, FIG. 10A is a perspective configuration diagram of the reflective polarizing layer 39 provided with the light scattering means 29, and FIG. 10B is a side configuration for explaining the operation of the reflective polarizing layer 39. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 10A, the reflective polarizing layer 39 provided in the liquid crystal device 200 of the present embodiment is made of a thermosetting or photocurable transparent resin such as an acrylic resin formed on the substrate body 20A. And a dielectric interference film 85 formed by alternately laminating two types of dielectric films having different refractive indexes.

The prism array 81 has a plurality of triangular prisms (prism-shaped) ridges 82 having two inclined surfaces, and the plurality of ridges 82 are formed continuously and periodically to form a triangular waveform. A prism array is configured. The dielectric interference film 85 is a prism-like dielectric multilayer film in which dielectric films made of two materials having different refractive indexes are alternately stacked in a shape that follows the slopes of the plurality of ridges 82. It can be formed by alternately laminating seven layers of TiO ₂ films and SiO ₂ films.
The upper surface of the dielectric interference film 85 is flattened by forming a resin layer (not shown), and a plurality of light scattering means 29 are scattered on the flat surface as shown in FIG.

  As described above, the dielectric interference film 85 formed on the prism array has anisotropy in light propagation characteristics, and light (natural light) E is incident from the upper surface side in FIG. In this case, the polarization component parallel to the extending direction of the ridge 82 is reflected, and the polarization component perpendicular to the extending direction of the ridge 82 is transmitted. That is, the reflective polarizing layer 39 shown in FIGS. 8A and 9 has a reflection axis parallel to the extending direction of the ridges 82 and a transmission axis perpendicular to the extending direction of the ridges 82. become.

  In the liquid crystal device 200 of the present embodiment, linearly polarized light parallel to the reflection axis of the reflective polarizing layer 39 is incident from the backlight 90 side to perform transmissive display, as shown in FIG. By arranging the transmission axis 155 of the polarizing plate 24 and the transmission axis 159 of the reflective polarizing layer 39 to be orthogonal to each other, the transmission axis 155 of the polarizing plate 24 and the reflective axis of the reflective polarizing layer 39 (the extension of the ridges 82) are arranged. Are arranged so as to be substantially parallel to each other. Further, the transmission axis 153 of the polarizing plate 14 and the rubbing direction 151 of the alignment films 18 and 28 are arranged in parallel to the transmission axis 159 of the reflective polarizing layer 39.

The film thickness of one dielectric film constituting the dielectric interference film 85 is about 10 nm to 100 nm, and the total film thickness of the dielectric interference film 85 is about 300 nm to 1 μm. The height of the ridges 82 of the prism array 81 is 0.5 μm to 3 μm, and the pitch between the adjacent ridges 82 and 82 is about 1 μm to 6 μm. As a material for the dielectric film, Ta ₂ O ₅ , Si, or the like can be used in addition to TiO ₂ and SiO ₂ .

  Note that the stacking pitch of the dielectric films constituting the dielectric interference film 85 and the pitch of the ridges 82 are appropriately adjusted to optimum values according to the characteristics of the target reflective polarizing layer 39. In other words, the reflective polarizing layer 39 having the above configuration can control the transmittance (reflectance) according to the number of laminated dielectric films constituting the dielectric interference film 85, and by reducing the number of laminated layers, the reflection axis ( The transmittance of linearly polarized light parallel to the extending direction of the ridges 82 can be increased, and the reflectance can be lowered. However, when a predetermined number or more of dielectric films are stacked, most of the linearly polarized light parallel to the reflection axis is reflected. The reflective polarizing layer 39 according to the present embodiment is set to reflect about 70% of the linearly polarized light parallel to the incident reflection axis and transmit the remaining about 30% by adjusting the dielectric interference film 85. ing.

  Next, the operation of the liquid crystal device 200 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 11, the polarizing plate 14, the phase difference plate 26, the liquid crystal layer 50, the light scattering means 29, the reflective polarizing layer 39, the polarizing plate 24, and the backlight 90, which are necessary components for the following operation description, are illustrated. They are shown in order from the upper side (panel display surface side).

First, “transparent display” (transmission mode) shown on the left side of FIG. 11 will be described.
In the liquid crystal device 200, the light emitted from the backlight 90 passes through the polarizing plate 24, becomes linearly polarized light having a vibration direction parallel to the transmission axis 155 of the polarizing plate 24, and enters the reflective polarizing layer 39 to be reflected. A part (approximately 30%) of this incident light, which is linearly polarized light parallel to the reflection axis of the polarizing layer 39 (optical axis orthogonal to the transmission axis 159), passes through the reflective polarizing layer 39 and enters the liquid crystal layer 50. . If the liquid crystal layer 50 is in an on state (a selection voltage is applied between the pixel electrode 9 and the common electrode 19), the incident light has a predetermined phase difference (λ / 2) by the liquid crystal layer 50. And is converted into linearly polarized light having a vibration direction parallel to the transmission axis 153 of the polarizing plate 14 and transmitted through the polarizing plate 14. Light transmitted through the polarizing plate 14 is visually recognized as display light, and the sub-pixels are brightly displayed.

On the other hand, if the liquid crystal layer 50 is in an off state (a state where the selection voltage is not applied), the light transmitted through the reflective polarizing layer 39 and incident on the liquid crystal layer 50 remains in the polarization state while maintaining the polarization state. And is absorbed by the polarizing plate 14 having an absorption axis parallel to the incident light (an optical axis orthogonal to the transmission axis 153), and the sub-pixel is darkly displayed.
Of the light that passes through the polarizing plate 24 and enters the reflective polarizing layer 39, about 70% of the light is reflected by the reflective polarizing layer 39, but the reflected light passes through the polarizing plate 14 again. Is returned to the backlight 90 side. The return light is reflected by the reflecting plate 92 of the backlight 90 and reused as light directed toward the liquid crystal panel again. Therefore, the amount of light that actually passes through the reflective polarizing layer 39 is transmitted through the reflective polarizing layer 39. The utilization efficiency of the illumination light is not significantly lowered.

  In the liquid crystal device according to the present embodiment, a part of the linearly polarized light transmitted through the reflective polarizing layer 39 is incident on the back side (substrate body 10A side) of the light scattering means 29. Also for this light, if the insulator projection 29a of the light scattering means 29 is formed using a transparent material, the linearly polarized light is reflected by the reflection layer 29b of the light scattering means 29 and returned to the backlight 90 side. The light is reused in the same manner as the light reflected by the reflective polarizing layer 39.

Next, the “reflection display (reflection polarizing layer)” shown in the center of FIG. 11 will be described.
In the reflective display using the reflective polarizing layer 39, the light incident from above (outside) the polarizing plate 14 is transmitted through the polarizing plate 14 to become linearly polarized light having a vibration direction parallel to the transmission axis 153 of the polarizing plate 14. Incident on the liquid crystal layer 50. At this time, if the liquid crystal layer 50 is in an ON state, the incident light is given a predetermined phase difference (λ / 2) by the liquid crystal layer 50 and enters the reflective polarizing layer 39. As shown in FIGS. 8B and 10, the reflective polarizing layer 39 has a transmission axis 159 parallel to the transmission axis 153 of the polarizing plate 14 and a reflection axis perpendicular to the transmission axis 153. Part of the light (approximately 70%) that is transmitted through the liquid crystal layer 50 and incident on the reflective polarizing layer 39 is reflected while maintaining the polarization state, and the remaining part (approximately 30%) is transmitted through the reflective polarizing layer 39. . The light reflected by the reflective polarizing layer 39 and incident on the liquid crystal layer 50 again is returned to the polarization state at the time of incidence (linearly polarized light parallel to the transmission axis of the polarizing plate 14) by the action of the liquid crystal layer 50 and enters the polarizing plate 14. Incident. Thereby, the reflected light transmitted through the polarizing plate 14 is visually recognized as display light, and the sub-pixels are brightly displayed.

  By the way, the linearly polarized light component incident from the liquid crystal layer 50 in the on state and transmitted through the reflective polarizing layer 39 is transmitted through the polarizing plate 24 having the transmission axis 155 parallel to the polarization direction and incident on the backlight 90. The light incident on the backlight 90 is reflected by the reflecting plate 92 and returned to the liquid crystal layer 50 side, and part of the light is transmitted through the reflective polarizing layer 39 and incident on the liquid crystal layer 50. Used as light. Therefore, in the liquid crystal device 200 of the present embodiment, the reflectance of linearly polarized light parallel to the reflection axis in the reflective polarizing layer 39 is set to about 70%, but is transmitted through the reflective polarizing layer 39 to the backlight 90 side. Since the lost light can also be used as display light, a bright reflective display can be obtained.

  On the other hand, if the liquid crystal layer 50 is in the off state, the light incident on the liquid crystal layer 50 from the polarizing plate 14 enters the reflective polarizing layer 39 while maintaining the polarization state, and has a transmission axis 159 parallel to the light. The reflective polarizing layer 39 is transmitted. And it absorbs by the polarizing plate 24 which has an absorption axis parallel to this light, and a sub pixel becomes a dark display.

  Next, in the reflective display of the portion labeled “reflective display (reflective layer)” on the right side of FIG. 11, light incident on the liquid crystal panel from above the polarizing plate 14 (panel display surface side) is transmitted through the polarizing plate 14. As a result, the light is converted into linearly polarized light having a vibration direction parallel to the transmission axis 153 of the polarizing plate 14, further passes through the phase difference plate 26, is converted into counterclockwise circularly polarized light, and enters the liquid crystal layer 50. Here, in the formation region of the light scattering means 29, the layer thickness of the liquid crystal layer 50 is partially reduced due to the thickness of the insulator protrusion 29a, and is approximately half the layer thickness d of the other region. The thickness is (d / 2). Therefore, the phase difference given by the liquid crystal layer 50 when the liquid crystal layer 50 is in the ON state is a phase difference (λ / 4) that is half that of the light incident on the reflective polarizing layer 39. Thereby, the incident light is converted into linearly polarized light having a vibration direction orthogonal to the transmission axis 153 of the polarizing plate 14 and is incident on the light scattering means 29 (reflective layer 29b). This linearly polarized light is reflected while maintaining its polarization state, but becomes light scattered by the convex shape of the reflective layer 29b. Thereafter, the reflected light is incident again on the liquid crystal layer 50, and further becomes counterclockwise circularly polarized light by the action of the liquid crystal layer 50 and enters the phase difference plate 26. Then, the light passes through the phase difference plate 26 to become linearly polarized light having a vibration direction parallel to the transmission axis 153 of the polarizing plate 14 and passes through the polarizing plate 14. Thereby, the reflected light transmitted through the polarizing plate 14 is visually recognized as display light, and the sub-pixels are brightly displayed. In addition, since a part of the reflected light is scattered by the light scattering means 29, the reflected light of the liquid crystal device 100 does not have an intensity distribution biased in a specific direction, and a display with high visibility can be realized.

  On the other hand, if the liquid crystal layer 50 is in the off state, the light incident on the liquid crystal layer 50 from the retardation plate 26 enters the light scattering means 29 while maintaining its polarization state, and is reflected by the reflective layer 29b. At this time, since the traveling direction of the incident light that is counterclockwise circularly polarized light is reversed, the rotation direction viewed from the polarizing plate 14 side is reversed, and the light enters the liquid crystal layer 50 again as clockwise circularly polarized light. Then, it passes through the liquid crystal layer 50 and enters the phase difference plate 26, passes through the phase difference plate 26, enters the polarizing plate 14 as linearly polarized light in the vibration direction orthogonal to the transmission axis 153 of the polarizing plate 14, and Absorbed by the polarizing plate 14. Thereby, the sub-pixel is darkly displayed.

  In the formation region of the light scattering means 29, the liquid crystal layer thickness is thinner than the other regions. In this embodiment, the layer thickness is approximately half the liquid crystal layer thickness d of the other regions. In a horizontal electric field type liquid crystal device, the effective driving voltage changes depending on the thickness of the liquid crystal layer, so the phase difference value that the liquid crystal layer imparts to the transmitted light may change more than the change in the liquid crystal layer thickness. . In such a case, the height of the insulator projection 29a of the light scattering means 29 is adjusted to adjust the thickness of the liquid crystal layer on the light scattering means 29 so that the phase difference in the region is different from the phase difference in the other region. What is necessary is just to adjust so that it may become half ((lambda) / 4).

In the liquid crystal device 200 having the above-described configuration, the reflective polarizing layer 39 is formed in a flat solid shape on the lower layer side (the substrate body 20A side) of the color filter 22, so that the reflective polarizing layer 39 is aligned with the sub-pixel region. Is not required and can be formed at a low cost by a simple process.
Moreover, since the TFD element 60 is provided as a pixel switching element, it can be manufactured by a simple process, which is advantageous in terms of manufacturing cost. In addition, since a storage capacitor is provided in the sub-pixel, a favorable storage characteristic can be obtained even when the liquid crystal capacitance is reduced as the pixel becomes higher in definition, and a high-quality display can be obtained. it can.
Further, like the liquid crystal device 100 of the first embodiment, the light scattering means 29 is arranged in the sub-pixel region, so that the reflected light is scattered to improve the brightness of the reflective display and the visibility. realizable.

  In this embodiment as well, the light scattering means 29, the pixel electrode 9 and the common electrode 19 are displayed so as not to overlap in a plane for easy viewing of the drawing, but the pixel electrode 9 is placed on the light scattering means 29. Of course, a configuration in which a part of the common electrode 19 is arranged may be used. Further, in the present embodiment, the configuration shown in FIG. 6 may be adopted.

(Third embodiment)
Next, a liquid crystal device according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 12 is a plan view showing an arbitrary one sub-pixel region in the liquid crystal device 300 of the present embodiment. 13 is a cross-sectional view taken along line FF ′ of FIG. FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the liquid crystal device 300 of this embodiment.

  The basic configuration of the liquid crystal device 300 of this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, and FIG. 12 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 2A in the first embodiment. 13 and 14 are views corresponding to FIGS. 3 and 5 in the first embodiment, respectively. Accordingly, in each drawing referred to in the present embodiment, the same reference numerals are given to the same components as those of the liquid crystal device 100 of the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, and description thereof will be omitted below as appropriate. To do.

As shown in FIG. 12, a pixel electrode (first electrode) 9, a common electrode (second electrode) 19, and a pixel electrode 9 with a capacitance electrode 31 interposed in a sub-pixel region of the liquid crystal device 300 of the present embodiment. TFT 30 which is electrically connected to each other.
A drain electrode 32 extending from the capacitor electrode 31 and a source electrode 6b branched from the data line 6a extending in the Y-axis direction in the drawing are electrically connected to the amorphous silicon semiconductor layer 35 constituting the TFT 30. A scanning line 3 a that is arranged on the back side of the semiconductor layer 35 and extends in the X-axis direction in the drawing constitutes a gate electrode of the TFT 30 at a position where it overlaps the semiconductor layer 35 in a plan view. The capacitor electrode 31 and the capacitor line 3b extending in parallel with the scanning line 3a at a position overlapping the capacitor electrode 31 in a plane form a storage capacitor 70 in the sub-pixel region.
Then, a reflective polarizing layer 49 is partially formed in the sub-pixel region shown in FIG. 12, and a substantially flat solid phase difference layer 79 is formed over substantially the entire surface of the sub-pixel region.

  Looking at the cross-sectional structure shown in FIG. 13, the liquid crystal device 300 includes a TFT array substrate (first substrate) 10 and a counter substrate (second substrate) 20 that are opposed to each other with the liquid crystal layer 50 interposed therebetween. A backlight 90 is provided on the back side (the bottom side in the figure) of the substrate 20. The TFT array substrate 10 according to the present embodiment includes a film-like retardation plate 76 disposed between the substrate body 10A and the polarizing plate 14.

  On the substrate body 10A that forms the base of the TFT array substrate 10, a gate insulating film 11 is formed so as to cover the scanning lines 3a and the capacitor lines 3b. A semiconductor layer 35, a source electrode 6 b (data line 6 a) and a drain electrode 32 (capacitance electrode 31) electrically connected to the semiconductor layer 35 are formed on the gate insulating film 11. An interlayer insulating film 12 is formed so as to cover the semiconductor layer 35, the source electrode 6 b, the drain electrode 32, and the like, and the pixel electrode 9 and the common electrode 19 are formed on the interlayer insulating film 12. An alignment film 18 is formed so as to cover the pixel electrode 9 and the common electrode 19.

  A reflective polarizing layer 49 is partially formed on the liquid crystal layer 50 side of the substrate body 20A constituting the counter substrate 20. The reflective polarizing layer 49 may be a reflective polarizing layer made of a metal film having a slit-shaped opening shown in FIG. 4, or a reflective polarizing layer made of a prism-like dielectric multilayer film shown in FIG. There may be.

A substantially planar solid phase difference layer 79 is formed so as to cover the reflective polarizing layer 49. The phase difference layer 79, like the phase difference plate 76 of the counter substrate 20, imparts a phase difference of approximately λ / 4 to the transmitted light, and is composed of a polymer liquid crystal aligned in a predetermined direction. can do. The phase difference layer 79 and the phase difference plate 76 have an optical axis arrangement so as to compensate each other.
Light scattering means 29, which are substantially dome-shaped (substantially hemispherical) protrusions, are scattered in a region on the retardation layer 79 corresponding to the formation region of the reflective polarizing layer 49. A color filter 22 is formed so as to cover the light scattering means 29, and an alignment film 28 is formed so as to cover the color filter 22.

  The optical axis arrangement of each optical element in the liquid crystal device 300 of the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment. That is, as shown in FIG. 14, the transmission axis 155 of the polarizing plate 24 and the transmission axis 157 of the reflective polarizing layer 49 are arranged so as to be orthogonal to each other. Further, the rubbing directions of the transmission axis 153 of the polarizing plate 14 and the alignment films 18 and 28 are arranged in parallel to the transmission axis 157 of the reflective polarizing layer 49.

  Next, the operation of the liquid crystal device 300 having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 14 shows only the components necessary for the description from among the components shown in FIG. 13, and the polarizing plate 14, the phase difference plate 76, and the liquid crystal layer 50 in order from the upper side in the drawing (panel display surface side). , A light scattering means 29, a retardation layer 79, a reflective polarizing layer 49, a polarizing plate 24, and a backlight 90 are shown.

First, transmission display (transmission mode) using a light transmission region (transmission display region T) outside the reflective polarizing layer 49 will be described.
As shown in “transmission display” on the left side of FIG. 14, in the liquid crystal device 300, the light emitted from the backlight 90 is transmitted through the polarizing plate 24, and thus a straight line in the vibration direction parallel to the transmission axis 155 of the polarizing plate 24. It becomes polarized light and enters the liquid crystal panel. The light incident on the liquid crystal panel is incident on the phase difference layer 79 to be given a predetermined phase difference (λ / 4), converted into clockwise circularly polarized light, and incident on the liquid crystal layer 50. If the liquid crystal layer 50 is in an on state (a selection voltage is applied between the pixel electrode 9 and the common electrode 19), the incident light has a predetermined phase difference (λ / 2) by the liquid crystal layer 50. Is applied to the phase difference plate 76 as counterclockwise circularly polarized light. The light incident on the phase difference plate 76 is given a predetermined phase difference (λ / 4) by the phase difference plate 76 and converted into linearly polarized light having a vibration direction parallel to the transmission axis 153 of the polarizing plate 14. Thereby, the light transmitted through the polarizing plate 14 is visually recognized as display light, and the sub-pixels are brightly displayed.

  On the other hand, if the liquid crystal layer 50 is in an off state (a state where the selection voltage is not applied), the light incident on the liquid crystal layer 50 from the retardation layer 79 reaches the retardation plate 76 while maintaining its polarization state. By passing through the phase difference plate 76, it becomes linearly polarized light having a vibration direction parallel to the absorption axis of the polarizing plate 14 (optical axis orthogonal to the transmission axis 153) and enters the polarizing plate 14 and is absorbed there. Thereby, the sub-pixel is darkly displayed.

  Of the light transmitted through the polarizing plate 24, the light incident on the reflective polarizing layer 49 is reflected by the reflective polarizing layer 49 having a reflection axis parallel to the linearly polarized light, so that it does not enter the liquid crystal layer 50. It is returned to the backlight 90 side. Since this reflected light is linearly polarized light in a vibration direction parallel to the transmission axis of the polarizing plate 24, it passes through the polarizing plate 24 and reaches the reflecting plate 92 of the backlight 90, and between the reflecting plate 92 and the reflecting polarizing layer 49. Repeat the reflection. If light that repeats such reflection enters the light transmission region of the liquid crystal panel, it can be used as display light for transmissive display, so that the light utilization efficiency of the backlight 90 can be increased and the luminance of transmissive display can be improved.

Next, reflective display using the reflective polarizing layer 49 will be described.
In the reflective display of the portion indicated as “reflective display (reflective polarizing layer)” in the center of FIG. 14, light incident on the liquid crystal panel from above the polarizing plate 14 (panel display surface side) is transmitted through the polarizing plate 14. Thus, it becomes linearly polarized light parallel to the transmission axis 153 of the polarizing plate 14 and enters the phase difference plate 76. Next, the light passes through the phase difference plate 76 and becomes counterclockwise circularly polarized light and enters the liquid crystal layer 50. At this time, if the liquid crystal layer 50 is in an ON state, the incident light is given a predetermined phase difference (λ / 2) by the liquid crystal layer 50 and is converted into clockwise circularly polarized light opposite to that at the time of incidence, and the phase difference layer. 79 is incident. The clockwise circularly polarized light incident on the retardation layer 79 becomes linearly polarized light having a vibration direction parallel to the reflection axis of the reflective polarizing layer 49 (axis orthogonal to the transmission axis 157), and is incident on the reflective polarizing layer 49. Reflected while maintaining the polarization state. The reflected light incident on the retardation layer 79 again becomes clockwise circularly polarized light by the retardation layer 79 and enters the liquid crystal layer 50, and becomes counterclockwise circularly polarized light by the action of the liquid crystal layer 50. Is incident on. Then, the phase difference plate 76 converts the light into a linearly polarized light having a vibration direction parallel to the transmission axis of the polarizing plate 14, enters the polarizing plate 14, and the reflected light transmitted through the polarizing plate 14 is visually recognized as display light. Display.

On the other hand, if the liquid crystal layer 50 is in the OFF state, the light (left-handed circularly polarized light) incident on the liquid crystal layer 50 from the polarizing plate 14 via the phase difference plate 76 maintains the polarization state and the retardation layer 79. Is incident on the reflective polarizing layer 49 by the retardation layer 79 as linearly polarized light having a vibration direction parallel to the transmission axis of the reflective polarizing layer 49. Then, after passing through the reflective polarizing layer 49, it is absorbed by the polarizing plate 24 having an absorption axis parallel to this light (transmission axis perpendicular to the light), and the sub-pixel is darkly displayed.
The external light incident on the transmissive display region T outside the reflective polarizing layer 49 becomes linearly polarized light having a vibration direction perpendicular to the transmission axis of the polarizing plate 24 when the liquid crystal layer 50 is in an off state. Since it is incident, it is absorbed by the polarizing plate 24. Therefore, unnecessary external light reflection does not occur in the liquid crystal device of this embodiment.

  Next, as shown in the portion labeled “reflection display (reflection layer)” on the right side of FIG. 18, the light incident on the liquid crystal panel from above the polarizing plate 24 (panel display surface side) is transmitted through the polarizing plate 24. As a result, the light is converted into linearly polarized light having a vibration direction parallel to the transmission axis 153 of the polarizing plate 24, further transmitted through the phase difference plate 76, converted into counterclockwise circularly polarized light, and incident on the liquid crystal layer 50. At this time, if the liquid crystal layer 50 is in the on state, the incident light is converted into linearly polarized light in a vibration direction orthogonal to the transmission axis 153 of the polarizing plate 24 and is incident on the light scattering means 29 (reflective layer 29b). This linearly polarized light is reflected while maintaining its polarization state, but becomes light scattered by the convex shape of the reflective layer 29b. Thereafter, the reflected light reenters the liquid crystal layer 50, and enters the retardation plate 26 as counterclockwise circularly polarized light by the action of the liquid crystal layer 50. Then, the light passes through the retardation plate 26 and becomes linearly polarized light having a vibration direction parallel to the transmission axis 153 of the polarizing plate 24, and is transmitted through the polarizing plate 24. Thereby, the reflected light transmitted through the polarizing plate 24 is visually recognized as display light, and the sub-pixels are brightly displayed.

  On the other hand, if the liquid crystal layer 50 is in the off state, the light incident on the liquid crystal layer 50 from the retardation plate 76 enters the light scattering means 29 while maintaining its polarization state, and is reflected by the reflective layer 29b. At this time, since the traveling direction of the incident light that is counterclockwise circularly polarized light is reversed, the rotation direction viewed from the polarizing plate 14 side is reversed, and the light enters the liquid crystal layer 50 again as clockwise circularly polarized light. Then, it passes through the liquid crystal layer 50 and enters the phase difference plate 76, passes through the phase difference plate 76, becomes linearly polarized light in the vibration direction orthogonal to the transmission axis 153 of the polarizing plate 14, and enters the polarizing plate 14. Absorbed by the polarizing plate 14. Thereby, the sub-pixel is darkly displayed.

  The liquid crystal device 300 of the present embodiment employs a configuration in which the reflective polarizing layer 49 is partially provided in the sub-pixel region, so that a high-contrast reflective display and transmissive display can be obtained with a simple configuration. Yes. Further, since the light scattering means 29 is provided on the reflective polarizing layer 49, a part of the reflected light can be scattered, so that the reflected luminance in the front direction of the panel can be secured, and the reflective display area It is possible to prevent the visibility of the reflective display from being lowered due to regular reflection of external light at R. Accordingly, it is possible to obtain a display with excellent visibility in both the reflective display and the transmissive display.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13, a retardation layer 79 is provided on the liquid crystal layer 50 side of the TFT array substrate 10. By adopting a configuration in which the inner surface-arranged phase difference layer is provided in this way, a phase difference plate 76 having substantially the same size as the substrate body 20A can be used for the counter substrate 20. That is, since the alignment between the phase difference plate and the light scattering means 29 is not required, the configuration is advantageous in terms of manufacturability even compared with the liquid crystal device of the first embodiment.

  The light scattering means 29 can be formed on any wiring layer of the counter substrate 20 as long as it is closer to the liquid crystal layer 50 than the reflective polarizing layer 49, but the retardation layer 79 is formed from the light scattering means 29. In the case where the liquid crystal layer 50 is also disposed, the retardation layer 79 on the light scattering means 29 needs to be removed. Therefore, in the present embodiment, a substantially planar solid phase difference layer 79 is formed so as to cover the reflective polarizing layer 49, and the light scattering means 29 is formed on the phase difference layer 79. It is unnecessary to remove the retardation layer, and the productivity is excellent even in the step of forming the retardation layer.

  Note that the configuration including the inner surface-arranged retardation layer 79 used in the liquid crystal device 300 of the present embodiment can also be suitably used for the liquid crystal device 200 of the second embodiment. In this case, in the configuration shown in FIG. 9, a retardation layer may be disposed between the reflective polarizing layer 39 and the light scattering means 29. For the TFT array substrate 10, a sheet-like retardation plate 76 is disposed instead of the illustrated retardation plate 26.

(Electronics)
FIG. 15 is a perspective configuration diagram of a mobile phone which is an example of an electronic apparatus provided with the liquid crystal device according to the present invention in a display portion. The mobile phone 1300 uses the liquid crystal device of the present invention as a small-size display portion 1301. A plurality of operation buttons 1302, an earpiece 1303, and a mouthpiece 1304.
The liquid crystal device of the above embodiment is not limited to the mobile phone, but an electronic book, a personal computer, a digital still camera, a liquid crystal television, a viewfinder type or a monitor direct-view type video tape recorder, a car navigation device, a pager, an electronic notebook, It can be suitably used as an image display means for devices such as calculators, word processors, workstations, videophones, POS terminals, touch panels, etc. In any electronic device, high luminance, high contrast, wide viewing angle transmission display And a reflective display can be obtained.

1 is a diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of a liquid crystal device according to a first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a plan configuration diagram and an optical axis arrangement diagram of an arbitrary one sub-pixel region. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional configuration diagram taken along line A-A ′ of FIG. 2. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional configuration diagram taken along line B-B ′ of FIG. 2. The plane block diagram and side surface block diagram of a reflective polarizing layer. FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory diagram of the liquid crystal device of the first embodiment. The figure which shows the circuit structure of the liquid crystal device of 2nd Embodiment. FIG. 3 is a plan configuration diagram and an optical axis arrangement diagram of an arbitrary one sub-pixel region. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional configuration diagram taken along line D-D ′ in FIG. 8. The perspective block diagram and side block diagram of a reflective polarizing layer. Explanatory drawing of operation | movement of the liquid crystal device of 2nd Embodiment. FIG. 10 is a plan configuration diagram of a sub-pixel region in a liquid crystal device according to a third embodiment. FIG. 13 is a sectional configuration view taken along line F-F ′ in FIG. 12. Operation | movement explanatory drawing of the liquid crystal device of 3rd Embodiment. FIG. 11 is a perspective configuration diagram illustrating an example of an electronic device.

Explanation of symbols

100, 200, 300 Liquid crystal device, 10 TFT array substrate (first substrate), 20 Counter substrate (second substrate), 9,59 Pixel electrode (first electrode), 9c, 19c Strip electrode, 19, 69 Common electrode ( Second electrode), 29 light scattering means, 39, 49 reflective polarizing layer, 60 TFD element, 26, 76 retardation plate, 79 retardation layer, 90 backlight (illumination device)

Claims (17)

A first substrate and a second substrate facing each other with a liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween are provided, and a reflective display region and a transmissive display region are provided in one pixel region, and the liquid crystal layer side of the first substrate is A transflective liquid crystal device provided with a first electrode and a second electrode for applying an electric field in a substantially substrate plane direction to the liquid crystal layer in a pixel region,
In the reflective display area, a reflective polarizing layer that selectively reflects light of a predetermined polarization component of incident light, a light scattering means that scatters the reflected light, and a layer of the liquid crystal layer in the formation area of the light scattering means A liquid crystal device comprising: a liquid crystal layer thickness adjusting layer having a thickness different from a layer thickness of the liquid crystal layer in a non-formation region of the light scattering means.   2. The light scattering unit according to claim 1, wherein the light scattering unit includes an insulator protrusion formed in the reflective display region and a reflection film formed on a surface of the insulator protrusion. Liquid crystal device.   The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the light scattering unit also serves as the liquid crystal layer thickness adjusting layer.   4. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the light scattering unit is formed in a non-formation region of the reflective polarizing layer in the reflective display region. 5.   4. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the light scattering means is partially formed on the liquid crystal layer side of the reflective polarizing layer. 5.   The difference between the phase difference of the liquid crystal layer in the formation region of the light scattering means and the phase difference of the liquid crystal layer in the non-formation region of the light scattering means is an abbreviation of the wavelength (λ) of light incident on the pixel region. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid crystal device is ¼.   The phase difference layer which provides the phase difference of about (lambda) / 4 with respect to transmitted light is formed in the area | region which planarly overlaps with the said light-scattering means of the said 2nd board | substrate. LCD device. A phase difference plate is provided on the second substrate side of the liquid crystal layer to give a phase difference of approximately λ / 4 to transmitted light,
In the pixel region excluding the region where the light scattering means is formed, a phase difference of approximately λ / 4 is given to transmitted light closer to the liquid crystal layer than the reflective polarizing layer of the first substrate. The liquid crystal device according to claim 6, wherein a retardation layer is formed.   9. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein a thickness of the liquid crystal layer in a region where the light scattering unit is formed is smaller than a thickness of the liquid crystal layer in a region where the light scattering unit is not formed.   10. The liquid crystal according to claim 9, wherein the liquid crystal layer thickness in the region where the light scattering unit is formed is approximately ½ of the liquid crystal layer thickness of the reflective display region in the region where the light scattering unit is not formed. apparatus.   11. The layer thickness of the liquid crystal layer in the transmissive display region is substantially the same as the layer thickness of the liquid crystal layer in the non-formation region of the light scattering means in the reflective display region. The liquid crystal device according to any one of the above.   The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the reflective polarizing layer is a metal film having a fine slit-shaped opening.   12. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the reflective polarizing layer is a dielectric multilayer film in which a plurality of dielectric films having a prism shape are stacked. A first substrate and a second substrate facing each other with a liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween are provided, and a reflective display region and a transmissive display region are provided in one pixel region, and the liquid crystal layer side of the first substrate is A transflective liquid crystal device provided with a first electrode and a second electrode for applying an electric field in a substantially substrate plane direction to the liquid crystal layer in a pixel region,
In the reflective display region, a reflective polarizing layer that selectively reflects light of a predetermined polarization component of incident light and a reflective layer that reflects the incident light are partitioned.
The liquid crystal device, wherein a thickness of the liquid crystal layer in the reflective polarizing layer formation region and a thickness of the liquid crystal layer in the reflective layer formation region are different from each other.   15. The liquid crystal device according to claim 14, wherein a liquid crystal layer thickness adjusting layer made of a dielectric protrusion is formed on the first substrate corresponding to the formation region of the reflective layer.   16. The liquid crystal device according to claim 14, wherein the reflective layer is a light scattering unit that generates scattered reflected light.   An electronic apparatus comprising the liquid crystal device according to claim 1.

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