JP2009237009A - Liquid crystal device, electronic apparatus, and method for manufacturing liquid crystal device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a structure suppressing the degradation of display quality in a liquid crystal device having a first electrode and a second electrode on the first substrate side of liquid crystal when a conductor layer comprising a transparent conductor is provided on the second substrate side of the liquid crystal. <P>SOLUTION: The liquid crystal device includes a first substrate 11, a second substrate 12 facing the first substrate 11, liquid crystal 30 disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate, a first electrode 14 and a second electrode 16 formed on the liquid crystal side of the first substrate to impart an electric field to the liquid crystal, and a light-transmissive conductor layer 26 formed on the second substrate. The liquid crystal device has a display region provided with a plurality of pixels or sub pixels G which is constituted to be able to control an alignment direction of the liquid crystal by forming an electric field between the first electrode and the second electrode, and the conductor layer is provided throughout the display region and has openings 26a at least partially open respective pixels or sub pixels. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal device, an electronic apparatus, and a manufacturing method of the liquid crystal device, and in particular, a liquid crystal in which a first electrode and a second electrode for applying an electric field to the liquid crystal are disposed on one side of the liquid crystal. It relates to the structure of the device.

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a liquid crystal device is a pixel or sub-pixel configured to arrange a liquid crystal between transparent substrates made of glass or the like, and to control light transmittance by applying a predetermined electric field to the liquid crystal by a pair of electrodes. It has. This pixel or sub-pixel becomes a constituent unit of an image or a plurality of control units in the constituent unit when constituting a liquid crystal display for displaying an image.

As the above-described liquid crystal device, the first electrode and the second electrode are provided on the inner surface of one of the pair of substrates sandwiching the liquid crystal, and the first electrode and the second electrode are horizontally disposed. A liquid crystal device that can be said to be a lateral electric field control type configured to control the alignment direction of the liquid crystal by forming an electric field in the direction or oblique direction, for example, an IPS (In-Plane Switching) type, or an FFS (Fringe)
Field Switching type liquid crystal devices are known.

Such a lateral electric field control type liquid crystal device has the advantage of having a wide viewing angle. On the other hand, no electrode is formed on the inner surface of the other substrate. The orientation state is affected, so that it is impossible to realize a high-quality display. In addition, since no electrode is formed on the other substrate, static electricity cannot be easily removed once charged. Therefore, in order to prevent charging of the other substrate, a metal conductor layer also serving as a light shielding layer on the outer surface of the other substrate, a conductor layer made of a transparent conductive film such as ITO (indium tin oxide), Or the conductor layer etc. which served as the polarizing plate in which the electroconductive particle was mixed are formed (for example, refer the following patent documents 1). These conductor layers are set to a predetermined constant potential or a floating potential.

On the other hand, as a liquid crystal device, an illumination unit such as a backlight is provided, and a transmissive liquid crystal display that enables display by illumination light from the illumination unit, and display by reflected light using external light is enabled. There is a reflection type liquid crystal display, but a transflective type liquid crystal display in which a light transmission region and a light reflection region are provided in a pixel or a sub-pixel is known in order to achieve a configuration that combines the advantages of both. . Such a transflective display structure is also used in the above-described lateral electric field control type liquid crystal device (see, for example, Patent Documents 2 and 3 below).
JP 2001-51263 A JP 2003-344837 A JP 2006-276110 A

However, among the conductor layers described in Patent Document 1 described above, the one using a light shielding layer has many restrictions because the formation range of the conductor layer needs to coincide with the light shielding range, and a polarizing plate is used. However, if the amount of mixed conductive particles is small, the effect is thin and increasing the amount of mixed particles affects the optical function and increases the manufacturing cost. There is a problem that it is not suitable.

On the other hand, the method of forming a conductor layer using a transparent conductor such as ITO on the other substrate is easy to adopt because there is no problem as described above. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, a liquid crystal 3 is arranged between a first substrate 1 and a second substrate 2 made of glass or the like, and a common electrode 4 and a pixel electrode 5 are provided on the inner surface of the first substrate 1. In the liquid crystal device provided with the polarizing plates 6 and 7 on the outer surfaces of the substrates 1 and 2, the conductor layer 8 made of a transparent conductor such as ITO is formed on the entire outer surface of the second substrate 2. . Here, the common electrode 4 is a transmission electrode portion 14t made of a transparent conductor such as ITO in the light transmission region Gt in the sub-pixel G, and a reflection electrode made of a metal such as aluminum in the light reflection region Gr. By using the portion 14r, a transflective liquid crystal display is formed.

However, in the configuration as described above, the conductor layer 8 made of a transparent conductor has a refractive index larger than that of the substrate 2 made of glass or the like, so that the illumination light Ls emitted from the illumination unit is transmitted through the subpixel G. When the light passes through the region Gt, the illumination light Ls is reflected at the interface between the second substrate 2 and the conductor layer 8 and re-reflected by the common electrode 4 constituting the reflection layer of the light reflection region Gr. G
The stray light Ls ′ is generated by exiting from r. Therefore, the sub-pixel G is in the black display state (
When in the light shielding state, stray light Ls' enters and a problem arises in that the contrast is greatly reduced. This is a cause of greatly impairing display quality particularly in reflective display. Further, when the conductor layer 8 made of the transparent conductor is present, there is a problem that the display contrast is lowered due to the reflection of the external light Lo on the surface of the conductor layer 8 and the generation of the surface reflected light Lo ′. These problems have a significant effect on display quality, especially considering that reflective displays are inherently low contrast and that even black light leaks can cause significant deterioration in visibility. It can be said that it is a serious problem.

Therefore, the present invention solves the above problems, and the problem is that the first electrode and the second electrode
In the lateral electric field control type liquid crystal device having the first electrode on the first substrate side of the liquid crystal,
An object of the present invention is to provide a structure capable of suppressing deterioration of display quality when a conductive layer made of a transparent conductive material is provided on the substrate side.

In view of such a situation, the liquid crystal device of the present invention includes a first substrate and a second substrate facing the first substrate.
A substrate, a liquid crystal disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate, a first electrode formed on the liquid crystal side of the first substrate for applying an electric field to the liquid crystal, and a first electrode 2 and a light-transmitting conductor layer formed on the second substrate, the first electrode and the second electrode
In the liquid crystal device having a display region provided with a plurality of pixels or sub-pixels configured to control the alignment direction of the liquid crystal by forming an electric field between the electrode and the electrode, the conductor layer is the display An opening provided in the region and opening at least a part of the plurality of pixels or sub-pixels is provided.

According to this invention, by providing an opening that opens at least a part of a pixel or a sub-pixel in a light-transmitting conductive layer, reflection at the interface or surface of the conductive layer can be reduced. A reduction in contrast due to stray light, surface reflected light, or the like can be suppressed, and display quality can be improved.

In one aspect of the present invention, the conductor layer is disposed on the surface of the second substrate opposite to the liquid crystal. According to this, the inner surface reflection light and the outer surface reflection light of the light-transmitting conductor layer are strong because the conductor layer is disposed on the surface (that is, the outer surface) opposite to the liquid crystal of the second substrate. Therefore, the above configuration of the present invention is particularly effective.

In another aspect of the present invention, the pixel or sub-pixel includes a light transmission region and a light reflection region, the opening is provided in the light transmission region, and is provided in at least a part of the light reflection region. Not. According to this, by providing the opening of the conductor layer in the light transmission region,
Since there is no conductor layer in the opening, stray light caused by reflection of the transmitted light traveling in the light transmission region by the conductor layer is reduced, so that the influence on the reflective display can be reduced.
In addition, since the opening of the conductor layer is not provided in at least a part of the light reflecting region, the formation area of the conductor layer in the display region can be increased and the conductivity can be increased. Can be further reduced. In this case, it is more preferable for the display quality to be further improved that the opening of the conductor layer is formed in the entire light transmission region. In addition, it is more preferable that the opening of the conductor layer is not provided in any of the light reflection regions in order to increase the conductivity of the conductor layer and further reduce the influence of static electricity.

In another aspect of the present invention, the pixel or sub-pixel includes a light transmission region and a light reflection region, the opening is provided in the light reflection region, and is provided in at least a part of the light transmission region. Not. According to this, the opening of the conductor layer is provided in the light reflection region,
Since there is no conductor layer in the opening, the deterioration of visibility due to reflection of the external light incident on the light reflection region by the conductor layer is suppressed, thereby reducing the adverse effect on display quality. it can. In addition, the opening of the conductor layer is not provided in at least a part of the light transmission region,
Since the formation area of the conductor layer in the display region can be increased and the conductivity can be increased,
The influence of static electricity can be further reduced. In this case, it is more preferable for the display quality to be further improved that the opening of the conductor layer is formed over the entire light reflection region. Further, it is more preferable that the opening of the conductor layer is not provided in any of the light transmission regions in order to increase the conductivity of the conductor layer and further reduce the influence of static electricity.

In still another aspect of the invention, the opening is provided for each pixel or sub-pixel. According to this, since an opening is provided in the conductor layer for each pixel or sub-pixel, a conductor layer exists between the pixels or sub-pixels, so that the formation area of the conductor layer in the display region The electrical conductivity of the conductor layer can be increased and the influence of static electricity can be more effectively prevented.

In a different aspect of the present invention, the opening is provided integrally over two or more of the pixels or sub-pixels. According to this, since the opening is integrally provided over two or more pixels or sub-pixels, the opening range is configured to be larger than that provided for each pixel or sub-pixel. It is possible to reduce the influence due to the positional deviation between the sub-pixel and the sub-pixel, and to obtain the above-described effect of the present invention more reliably.

Next, an electronic apparatus according to the present invention includes any of the liquid crystal devices described above and a control unit for the liquid crystal device. Although the electronic device is not particularly limited, it is preferably a display device in terms of improving display quality, and is preferably applied to a transflective liquid crystal device, such as a mobile phone, an electronic watch, a portable information terminal, etc. It is preferable to be a portable electronic device.

Next, the manufacturing method of the liquid crystal device of the present invention is arranged between the first substrate, the second substrate facing the first substrate, and the first substrate and the second substrate. A liquid crystal, a first electrode and a second electrode which are formed on the liquid crystal side of the first substrate and apply an electric field to the liquid crystal;
A light-transmitting conductive layer formed on the substrate, and an orientation of the liquid crystal can be controlled by forming an electric field between the first electrode and the second electrode. In the method of manufacturing a liquid crystal device having a display region in which a plurality of configured pixels or sub-pixels are provided, a conductor layer forming step of forming the conductor layer on the second substrate on the display region; An opening forming step of forming an opening in at least a part of the pixel or the sub-pixel in the conductor layer.

In one aspect of the present invention, in the opening forming step, an etching agent is selectively applied to a predetermined opening portion of the conductor layer, and the conductor layer is removed by the etching agent.

In another aspect of the present invention, in the opening forming step, an etching mask that selectively exposes the planned opening is formed on the conductor layer, and the conductor layer is removed through the etching mask. Is done. The etching mask can be formed using a photolithography technique, an inkjet technique, or the like.

In another aspect of the present invention, the method further comprises an alignment mark forming step of forming an alignment mark for forming at least a part of the pixel or sub-pixel on the first substrate or the second substrate, and the opening In the forming step, the opening is formed using the alignment mark as a position reference. According to this, the alignment mark for forming at least a part of the pixel or sub-pixel (for example, at least one of the first electrode, the second electrode, the light shielding layer, the active element, the reflective layer, the color filter, etc.) Since the opening is provided by patterning the conductor layer using the layer, the opening can be provided at a position aligned with the structure of the pixel or the sub-pixel.

According to still another aspect of the invention, the opening forming step is performed after the pixel or sub-pixel is formed, and in the opening forming step, at least a part of the structure constituting the pixel or sub-pixel is formed. The opening is formed using as a position reference. According to this, the position accuracy of the opening can be further increased by using at least a part of the structure forming the actually formed pixel or sub-pixel as a position reference.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the internal structure of a subpixel G of an embodiment of a liquid crystal device according to the present invention, and FIG.
It is an enlarged plan view which shows a partial structure on a 1st board | substrate among these internal structures.

The liquid crystal device according to this embodiment includes a transparent first substrate 11 and a second substrate made of glass, plastic, or the like.
The substrate 21 is bonded with a sealing material (not shown), and the liquid crystal 30 is disposed therebetween. A scanning line 31 and a capacitor line 32 made of a metal such as aluminum are formed on the second substrate 11, and a semiconductor layer 3 made of polycrystalline silicon or the like via an insulating film 12 made of silicon oxide or the like.
3. A capacitor electrode 34 and a signal line 36 made of the same metal as described above are formed. Further, a common electrode 14 is formed via the interlayer insulating film 13. The common electrode 14 includes a transmissive electrode portion 14t made of a transparent conductor such as ITO and a reflective electrode portion 14r made of aluminum, silver, or the like, and these are integrally formed. In the illustrated example, the common electrode 14 is shown as being integrally formed across a plurality of sub-pixels G. However, each sub-pixel G is independently formed in an island shape and is electrically connected to a common line (not shown). You may comprise.

Note that, in the above structure, between the scanning line 31, the semiconductor layer 33, the signal line 36, and the capacitor electrode 34, the portion of the scanning line 31 that overlaps the semiconductor layer 33 in plan view is the gate electrode, and the scanning line 31 and the semiconductor layer 33. A transistor (a thin film transistor in the illustrated example) having a part of the insulating film 12 therebetween as a gate insulating film is configured, and an active element (a pixel electrode 1 described later) provided for each sub-pixel G.
6 functioning as a switching element for supplying power to 6). In addition, the capacitive line 32 and the capacitive electrode 34
Constitutes a storage capacitor across the insulating film 12.

An interlayer insulating film 15 is formed on the structure, and a pixel electrode 16 made of a metal such as aluminum is formed thereon. The pixel electrode 16 includes a plurality of extended electrode portions 16a extending through the light transmitting region Gt and the light reflecting region Gr, and the plurality of extended electrode portions 16a are arranged in parallel with an interval therebetween. In the case of the illustrated example, each extended electrode portion 16a of the pixel electrode 16 extends in the illustrated vertical direction (hereinafter simply referred to as Y direction), and these extended electrode portions 16a are mutually in the horizontal direction illustrated (hereinafter simply referred to as X direction). .). These extended electrode portions 16a are integrally connected and conductively connected to the capacitor electrode 34 through the contact hole 35. Note that the common electrode 14 is formed with an opening that avoids the region where the contact hole 35 is formed, so that the pixel electrode 16 and the common electrode 14 are not short-circuited. The columnar spacer 37 is an internal spacer for maintaining a distance between the first substrate 11 and the second substrate 21.

In the light reflection region Gr, a dielectric layer 17 is formed on the pixel electrode 16, and the dielectric layer 17 reduces the voltage applied to the liquid crystal 30 in the light reflection region Gr.
A difference in display mode between t and the light reflection region Gr is reduced. An alignment film 18 made of polyimide resin or the like is formed on the uppermost layer, and the alignment film 18 aligns the liquid crystal 30 at a predetermined azimuth angle in a plane parallel to the surface of the first substrate 11. Further, a polarizing plate 28 is disposed on the outer surface of the first substrate 11.

On the other hand, on the inner surface of the second substrate 21, a color filter 22 in which color filter layers having chromaticity corresponding to each sub-pixel G are arranged is formed, and a transparent protective film 23 is formed thereon. . Further, an internal retardation plate 24 is formed on the light reflection region Gr. The internal retardation plate 24 is provided with retardation that the liquid crystal 30 gives to the transmitted light Lt (backlight illumination light) in the light transmission region Gt, and external light that the liquid crystal 30 enters in the light reflection region Gr from the reciprocating light Lr (viewing side incident). ) To adjust the relationship with retardation. Further, an alignment film 25 similar to the above is formed thereon. Furthermore, a conductor layer 26 made of a transparent conductor such as ITO is formed on the outer surface of the second substrate 21, and a polarizing plate 29 is further disposed thereon. Note that the conductor layer 26 may be provided on the liquid crystal side of the second substrate 21. In this case, since the conductor layer can be formed in the manufacturing process of the substrate, the manufacturing process can be simplified.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the polarization transmission axis 2 in which the polarizing plates 28 and 29 are orthogonal to each other.
8a and 29a, and the initial alignment direction of the molecules of the liquid crystal 30 (the alignment direction when no voltage is applied, solid line in FIG. 2) so as to be substantially parallel to one of the polarization transmission axes 28a and 29a. ) Is set. At this time, since the retardation by the liquid crystal 30 does not occur with respect to the transmitted light Lt and the reciprocating light Lr, the light is shielded by the polarizing plates 28 and 29 and a black display (light shielding state) is obtained. On the other hand, a predetermined potential difference is given between the common electrode 14 and the pixel electrode 16, and a lateral electric field (
When an oblique electric field is generated, the molecular axis of the liquid crystal 30 is directed in the X direction as indicated by the dotted line in FIG. 2, and this causes retardation in the transmitted light Lt and the reciprocating light Lr shown in FIG. By 28 and 29, white display which is a light transmission state is obtained.

In the case of the present embodiment, the FFS in which the common electrode 14 and the pixel electrode 16 partially overlap in plan view.
A liquid crystal device having an IPS type pixel structure in place of the present embodiment, which has the same type of pixel structure but is similar to the IPS type pixel structure in which the common electrode and the pixel electrode are installed in parallel. Can also be configured.

FIG. 3A is a partial plan view showing a part in the display area in which the sub-pixels G of the present embodiment are arranged, and FIG. 3B corresponds to a part in the display area shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a part of a conductor layer 26. In the present embodiment, a plurality of the sub-pixels G are arranged in a matrix form vertically and horizontally in the display area. Sub-pixels G (R), G (G), and G (B) including R (red), G (green), and B (blue) color filter layers (not shown) are sequentially arranged in the X direction. Then, sub-pixels G including the same color filter layer (not shown) in the Y direction are arranged. That is, in the illustrated example, a stripe type color filter pattern is formed. However, the color filter pattern is not limited to the stripe type, and may be an arbitrary configuration such as an oblique mosaic pattern or a delta pattern. In the case of the illustrated example, three sub-pixels G (R), G (G), G including R (red), G (green), and B (blue) color filter layers (not shown) adjacent to each other in the X direction. (B) constitutes one pixel (pixel) P, and the pixel P constitutes a display unit region having a predetermined hue and lightness as a basic unit of an image formed in the display region.

In the present embodiment, the conductor layer 26 has an opening 26a for each pixel P as shown in FIG. The opening 26a exists in the light transmission region Gt, but is not formed in the light reflection region Gr. That is, the conductor layer 26 is formed over almost the entire light transmission region Gt,
It is not formed in any of the light reflection regions Gr. Since the opening 26a is formed for each pixel P as described above, it is formed integrally with the three sub-pixels G. The conductor layer 26 is preferably electrically connected to a predetermined potential (for example, a ground potential or a constant potential, particularly a potential supplied to the panel) by providing a conductive path (not shown). A sufficient effect can also be obtained by setting the potential.

In the present embodiment, since the opening 26a is provided in the conductor layer 26 and this opening 26a is disposed in the light transmission region Gt, the stray light Ls ′ shown in FIG. Can be suppressed. That is, since the conductor layer 26 made of a transparent conductor such as ITO has a higher refractive index than the second substrate 21 made of glass or the like, light is liquid crystal at the interface between the second substrate 21 and the conductor layer 26. In the conventional structure, stray light Ls ′ is easily reflected to the 30 side.
In particular, in the reflective display, the display brightness itself is inherently small, and in the black display, even a slight stray light greatly affects the contrast. Therefore, when the stray light Ls ′ is generated, the contrast is significantly reduced. However, in the present embodiment, the stray light Ls ′ itself is not generated by providing the opening 26a, so that it is possible to prevent the display contrast from being lowered due to the above reason. In particular, the effect when using the reflective display is extremely great.

In the present embodiment, since the opening 26a is not provided in the light reflection region Gr, the opening area of the conductor layer 26 can be suppressed and the formation range of the conductor layer 26 can be widened.
The conductivity of the conductor layer 26 in the display area can be increased. Although transparent conductors such as ITO and tin oxide have a certain conductivity, they have a higher resistance than metals such as aluminum, so only a certain thickness (usually about 100 to 200 mm) is required. It is necessary to form as wide a range as possible. In this embodiment, since it is necessary to provide the opening 26a in the conductor layer 26, it is inherently disadvantageous in securing the conductivity of the conductor layer 26 necessary for preventing the second substrate 21 from being charged. However, since the formation range of the opening 26a is limited as described above, it is easy to ensure necessary conductivity.

In this embodiment, since the opening 26a is formed for each pixel P composed of a plurality of subpixels G, the alignment accuracy of the opening 26a may be ensured according to the size of the pixel P. However, if there is no problem with the alignment accuracy, an opening 26a may be formed for each subpixel G as indicated by a dotted line in FIG.

Unlike the above-described embodiment, even when the opening 26a is formed only in a part of the light transmission region Gt or the opening 26a is not formed only in a part of the light reflection region Gr, The above effects can be obtained with different degrees. Further, one opening may be provided so as to cover a plurality of pixels (or sub-pixels), or pixels (or sub-pixels) provided with openings and pixels (or sub-pixels) not provided are formed. Furthermore, the density of the openings may be changed within the display area. This is the same in the following examples.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view of a modified example having a conductor layer 26 ′ different from the above. Other configurations are the same as those in the above embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4B, the conductor layer 26 'has an opening 26a' for each pixel P as in the above embodiment, but the opening 26a 'is provided over almost the entire light reflection region Gr. However, it is not provided in the light transmission region Gt. In this case,
By providing the opening 26a ′ in the light reflection region Gr, it is possible to prevent display visibility from being deteriorated due to the surface reflected light Lo ′ shown in FIG.

Also in this example, as shown by the dotted line in FIG.
It is also possible to provide a ′. Further, even when the opening 26a 'is formed only in a part of the light reflection region Gr or the opening 26a' is not provided only in a part of the light transmission region Gt, there is a difference in degree. However, the above effect can be obtained.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged plan view of a modified example having a further different conductor layer 26 ″. The other configuration is the same as that of the above embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5B, the conductor layer 26 ″. As in the above embodiment, each pixel P has an opening 26a ", but the opening 26a" has a light transmission region G.
It is provided over almost the entire t and light reflection region Gr. In this case, both the stray light Ls ′ and the surface reflected light Lo ′ can be prevented and high display quality can be obtained. On the other hand, the conductivity of the conductor layer 26 ″ in the display region is reduced to some extent. To do.

In this example as well, an opening 26a is provided for each sub-pixel G as indicated by a dotted line in FIG.
It is also possible to provide '. Further, the opening 26a ″ is formed in the light transmission region Gt and the light reflection region G.
You may comprise so that it may form only in each one part of r. Even in this case, although there is a difference in degree, an effect of improving the display quality can be obtained, and furthermore, a decrease in the conductivity of the conductor layer 26 ″ in the display region can be suppressed to some extent.

FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view showing still another modified example. In this example, the conductor layer 27
27 'are formed on the outer surface of the second substrate 21, and the conductor layers 27, 27' are arranged in the display region D in which the pixels P are arranged, as shown in FIGS. As shown in FIG. 4, the openings 27a and 27a that are integrally formed and extended in the arrangement direction of the plurality of pixels P (the horizontal direction in the drawing).
'Is provided. In this way, the individual opening areas of the openings 27a and 27a ′ are increased, so that there is almost no influence due to the positional deviation with respect to the sub-pixel G and the pixel P, and the conductor layers 27 and 27 ′ with respect to the sub-pixel G and the pixel P. The maximum opening range can be secured stably.

Here, in the example shown in FIG. 6A, the opening 27 a of the conductor layer 27 is integrally provided over all the pixels P arranged in the predetermined arrangement direction of the display region D. On the other hand, in the example shown in FIG.
The openings 27 a ′ of the conductor layer 27 ′ are integrally provided across a plurality of pixels P arranged in the predetermined arrangement direction of the display area D, but the plurality of openings 27 a in the arrangement direction in the drive area D are provided.
'Is formed. In either example, the above-described effects can be obtained although there are differences in degree.

Next, an embodiment of a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
7A and 7B are process cross-sectional views illustrating a method for forming the conductor layer 26 according to this embodiment.

First, as shown in FIG. 7A, a conductor layer 26 made of ITO is formed on the entire surface of at least the display region D on the outer surface of the second substrate 21 by vapor deposition, sputtering, or the like. Next, an etching paste 41 containing ferric chloride / hydrochloric acid aqueous solution, iodic acid aqueous solution, phosphoric acid aqueous solution, hydrochloric acid / nitric acid aqueous solution (aqua regia), oxalic acid aqueous solution, etc. is opened on the conductor layer 26 by printing or the like. Selectively apply to the planned area. The coating method is preferably a printing method such as screen printing. Then, it is left until etching of the conductor layer 26 with the etching paste 41 is completed, or is subjected to heat treatment, and then washed with pure water or the like, thereby opening 26a as shown in FIG. Is formed.

7C and 7D are process cross-sectional views illustrating another method. In this method, first, FIG.
As shown in (c), after forming the conductor layer 26, a photoresist is applied onto the conductor layer 26, exposed using an exposure mask corresponding to the planned opening, and then developed. An etching mask 42 is formed. Since the exposed portion 42a is formed at the planned opening portion of the etching mask 42, the conductor layer 26 is transferred to the ferric chloride / hydrochloric acid aqueous solution, iodic acid aqueous solution, phosphoric acid aqueous solution, hydrochloric acid / nitric acid aqueous solution through the etching mask 42. (Aqua regia), an oxalic acid aqueous solution or the like is used for etching to form the opening 26a as shown in FIG. 7 (d). Thereafter, the etching mask 42 is peeled and removed using a stripping solution, so that FIG.
).

FIG. 7E is a process cross-sectional view showing still another method. In this method, the second substrate 21
After the conductor layer 26 is formed thereon, the droplets 44 are ejected from the inkjet head 43,
The droplet 44 is solidified on the second substrate 21 so that an etching paste 45 similar to that shown in FIG. 7A is applied to the planned opening portion, or a planned opening portion similar to that shown in FIG. An etching mask 45 having an exposed portion 45a corresponding to is formed. Subsequent processing in each of these cases is the same as described above.

In the formation process of the conductor layer 26 and the formation process of the opening 26a, the second substrate 21 is formed in the first step.
Or the second substrate 21 may be attached to the first substrate 11.
May be performed after the inner surface structure of each substrate for forming the sub-pixel G and the pixel P is formed.

In the former case, alignment marks 21x and 21y provided on the second substrate 21 shown in FIG. 6 or alignment marks 11x provided on the first substrate 11 in both steps, particularly the step of forming the opening 26a, Alignment is performed with reference to 11y, and the above processing is performed. Here, the alignment marks 21x and 21y or the alignment marks 11x and 11y are the first substrate 11 or the second substrate 21 constituting the sub-pixel G or the pixel P, respectively.
It is an alignment mark used when forming the structure on the inner surface of the. For example, an alignment mark used for forming at least one of the common electrode 14, the pixel electrode 16, the scanning line 31, the capacitor line 32, the color filter 22, or a light shielding layer that is not described.

In the latter case, both of the steps, particularly the step of forming the opening 26a, may be performed using the alignment mark. In addition to this, a part of the structure of the already formed subpixel G or pixel P is used as a position reference. You may carry out as. For example, at least one predetermined portion of the common electrode 14, the pixel electrode 16, the scanning line 31, the capacitor line 32, the color filter 22, or the light shielding layer omitted from the description is used as an alignment mark.

[Electronics]
Finally, an electronic apparatus equipped with the liquid crystal device 100 of the above embodiment will be described. FIG. 8 shows a mobile phone which is an embodiment of an electronic apparatus according to the present invention. A cellular phone 200 shown here includes an operation unit 201 provided with a plurality of operation buttons, a mouthpiece, and the like, and a display unit 202 provided with a mouthpiece and the like. Liquid crystal device 100
Will be incorporated. The display area D of the liquid crystal device 100 can be viewed on the surface (inner surface) of the display unit 202. In this case, a display control circuit, which will be described later, for controlling the liquid crystal device 100 is provided inside the mobile phone 200. This display control circuit sends a predetermined control signal to a known driver circuit 120 to determine the display mode of the liquid crystal device 100.

FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an overall configuration of a control system (display control system) for the liquid crystal device 100 in the electronic apparatus. The electronic device shown here (the mobile phone 200) includes a display information output source 291, a display information processing circuit 292, a power supply circuit 293, and a timing generator 29.
4 and a light source control circuit 295 that supplies power to the illumination unit 130. The liquid crystal device 100 includes a liquid crystal panel 110 that is a liquid crystal display having the above-described configuration, a driver circuit 120 that drives the liquid crystal panel 110, and the liquid crystal panel 1.
And an illumination unit 130 for illuminating 10.

The display information output source 291 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memo).
ry) and the like, a storage unit composed of a magnetic recording disk, an optical recording disk, and the like, and a tuning circuit that tunes and outputs a digital image signal.
The display information is supplied to the display information processing circuit 292 in the form of an image signal or the like of a predetermined format based on various clock signals generated by 94.

The display information processing circuit 292 includes various known circuits such as a serial-parallel conversion circuit, an amplification / inversion circuit, a rotation circuit, a gamma correction circuit, and a clamp circuit, and executes processing of input display information to obtain image information. Is supplied to the driver circuit 120 together with the clock signal CLK. The driver circuit 120 includes a scanning line driving circuit and a signal line driving circuit. The power supply circuit 293 supplies a predetermined voltage to each of the above-described components.

The light source control circuit 295 is based on the voltage supplied from the power supply circuit 293, and the lighting unit 1
Power is supplied to 30 light sources, and whether or not the light sources are turned on and their luminances are controlled based on a predetermined control signal.

In addition to the mobile phone shown in FIG. 8, examples of the electronic apparatus according to the present invention include a liquid crystal television, a car navigation device, an electronic notebook, a calculator, a workstation, a videophone, and a POS terminal. The liquid crystal device according to the present invention can be used as a display portion of these various electronic devices. However, since the present invention has a feature that the display quality of the transflective liquid crystal device 100 can be improved, in particular, a portable display device such as a mobile phone or a portable information terminal, an in-vehicle such as a car navigation or an in-vehicle monitor. This is effective when used in a display device for an automobile.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating a structure of a sub pixel according to an embodiment. FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view illustrating a structure of a sub pixel according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view illustrating a planar configuration of a pixel structure (a) and a conductor layer (b) according to the embodiment. The schematic plan view which shows the planar structure of the pixel structure (a) of another modification, and a conductor layer (b). Furthermore, the schematic plan view which shows the planar structure of the pixel structure (a) of another modification, and a conductor layer (b). The schematic plan views (a) and (b) which show the plane pattern of the conductor layer of a different modification. Process sectional drawing (a) thru | or (e) which show a manufacturing method. The schematic perspective view of an electronic device. The schematic block diagram of the display control system of an electronic device. Explanatory drawing which shows the optical influence by the conductor layer which consists of transparent conductors.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11, 21 ... Board | substrate, 14 ... Common electrode, 14t ... Transmission electrode part, 14r ... Reflection electrode part, 16 ...
Pixel electrode, 22 ... color filter, 26 ... conductor layer, 26a ... opening, 31 ... scanning line, 3
2 ... capacitor line, 35 ... semiconductor layer, 36 ... signal line, D ... display region, G ... sub-pixel, Gt ... light transmission region, Gr ... light reflection region, P ... pixel

Claims (9)

A first substrate, a second substrate facing the first substrate, a liquid crystal disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate, and on the liquid crystal side of the first substrate A first electrode for forming an electric field applied to the liquid crystal, a second electrode, and a light-transmitting conductor layer formed on the second substrate; In a liquid crystal device having a display region composed of a plurality of pixels or sub-pixels configured to control the alignment direction of the liquid crystal by forming an electric field between the first electrode and the second electrode.
The liquid crystal device, wherein the conductor layer is provided in the display region and includes an opening that opens at least a part of the plurality of pixels or sub-pixels. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the conductor layer is disposed on a surface of the second substrate opposite to the liquid crystal. The pixel or the sub-pixel includes a light transmission region and a light reflection region, and the opening is provided in the light transmission region and is not provided in at least a part of the light reflection region. Item 3. The liquid crystal device according to item 1 or 2. The pixel or the sub-pixel region includes a light transmission region and a light reflection region, and the opening is provided in the light reflection region and is not provided in at least a part of the light transmission region. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1 or 2. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the opening is provided for each of the pixels or the sub-pixels. 5. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the opening is provided integrally over two or more of the pixels or the sub-pixels. An electronic apparatus comprising the liquid crystal device according to claim 1 and a control unit for the liquid crystal device. A first substrate, a second substrate facing the first substrate, a liquid crystal disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate, and on the liquid crystal side of the first substrate A first electrode for forming an electric field applied to the liquid crystal, a second electrode, and a light-transmitting conductor layer formed on the second substrate; In the method of manufacturing a liquid crystal device having a display region composed of a plurality of pixels or sub-pixels configured to control the alignment direction of the liquid crystal by forming an electric field between the first electrode and the second electrode.
A conductor layer forming step of forming the conductor layer on the second substrate in the display region;
An opening forming step of forming an opening in at least a part of the pixel or sub-pixel in the conductor layer;
A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device, comprising: 9. The liquid crystal device according to claim 8, wherein, in the opening forming step, an etching agent is selectively applied to a predetermined opening portion of the conductor layer, and the conductor layer is removed by the etching agent. Manufacturing method.

Images