JP2009288483A - Liquid crystal device, manufacturing method thereof, and electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable good display characteristics to be obtained while preventing alignment defects in an effective pixel region. <P>SOLUTION: A non-pixel region N adjacent to an effective pixel region S is provided, and a light shielding film 11 is formed so that the effective pixel region S and the non-pixel region N are surrounded with an edge frame portion 11a and lattice portions 11b extend like stripes along one direction, and an inorganic alignment film is formed in a part of the effective pixel region S and the non-pixel region N, and furthermore, film-forming particles of the inorganic alignment film are deposited on a substrate surface from an oblique direction so that the film thickness of the inorganic alignment film is made gradually thinner toward one end side in one direction in the non-pixel region N. In this case, a part shadowed by the edge frame portion 11a is generated in the non-pixel region N adjacent to the effective pixel region S, and thus, the inorganic alignment film can be formed on the effective pixel region S with an approximately uniform film thickness without being affected by steps due to the edge frame portion 11a and the lattice portions 11b even when the inorganic alignment film is not deposited on the shadowed part or a non-uniform film thickness is caused on the shadowed part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid crystal device, a manufacturing method thereof, and an electronic apparatus.

  Conventionally, a liquid crystal device is used for a light valve mounted on a projection display device such as a liquid crystal projector, a liquid crystal display panel mounted on a direct view display device such as a display panel of a mobile phone, and the like.

  In general, a liquid crystal device includes a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between a pair of substrates arranged to face each other, and includes an electrode and an alignment film on surfaces of the pair of substrates facing the liquid crystal layer. Then, the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer sealed between the pair of substrates are aligned at a predetermined pretilt angle by the alignment film, and the alignment state of the liquid crystal molecules is changed by the driving voltage applied between the electrodes. Is supposed to do.

  Among these, as an alignment film, an organic film made of polyimide or the like is formed, and the surface thereof is rubbed in a predetermined direction with a cloth or the like. . However, in the case of a light valve mounted on a projection display device or the like, since the intensity of irradiated light is strong, the alignment film may be gradually decomposed by light or heat. This is particularly noticeable when a polyimide film having an imide bond that is easily decomposed by light or heat is used as the alignment film. In this case, the liquid crystal alignment control function of the alignment film is deteriorated, and it becomes impossible to align liquid crystal molecules at a predetermined pretilt angle when no voltage is applied, thereby causing problems such as deterioration in display quality.

  In order to solve such problems, there has been proposed a liquid crystal device that uses an inorganic alignment film made of an inorganic material such as silicon oxide as the alignment film and aligns liquid crystal molecules by the surface shape effect of the inorganic alignment film. . This inorganic alignment film is superior in light resistance and heat resistance as compared with an organic film such as polyimide, and can improve the durability of the liquid crystal device.

  By the way, a step portion is formed on the surface of the substrate serving as the base of the alignment film by laminating a pixel electrode, a color filter, a light shielding film, and the like. The inorganic alignment film is formed by depositing film-forming particles (inorganic material) from an oblique direction with respect to the substrate surface using vapor deposition or sputtering.

  However, when film-forming particles are deposited on the surface on which such a stepped portion is formed from an oblique direction, a region where the film-forming particles are difficult to deposit or a region where no deposit is deposited is generated in the shadowed portion of the stepped portion. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1). In such a region, the alignment regulating force of the liquid crystal molecules is weakened or the alignment regulating force is not generated, so that the contrast ratio is lowered due to light leakage or a decrease in transmittance.

  Therefore, in order to prevent such a poor formation of the inorganic alignment film, the substrate surface on the array substrate side in which the pixel electrodes and the switching elements are arranged in a matrix shape is flattened among the pair of substrates constituting the liquid crystal device, It has been proposed to form an alignment film on the planarized surface (see Patent Document 2).

  However, if a base film that also serves as a planarizing layer is formed as the base of the alignment film, and the stepped portion is eliminated to some extent in this base film, and then an inorganic alignment film is formed thereon, the base film is formed. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare a device for forming the alignment film and a device for forming the alignment film separately, and there is a problem that the manufacturing cost increases.

  On the other hand, a film forming chamber and a vapor deposition means for vapor-depositing an inorganic material on the substrate in the film forming chamber by a physical vapor deposition method are provided. , Having a base film forming area to be the base of the alignment film, having an alignment film forming area obliquely above the vapor deposition source in the vapor deposition means in the film forming chamber, and having an inorganic material in the alignment film forming area It is proposed to provide a light-shielding plate with slit-shaped openings for selective vapor deposition, and to perform the formation of the base film and the alignment film in parallel by the same vapor deposition means on different substrates. (See Patent Document 3). However, even in this case, there is a problem that the manufacturing cost increases because the apparatus becomes complicated.

  On the other hand, an inorganic material is obliquely vapor-deposited from one direction on a substrate having a base layer having a stepped portion on the surface to form a first inorganic oblique vapor-deposited film, and then the first inorganic oblique vapor-deposited film is formed. Proposed a method of obliquely depositing inorganic material from a direction different from the deposition direction in the in-plane direction, and forming a second inorganic obliquely deposited film on the region near the step and the first inorganic obliquely deposited film (See Patent Document 4).

  Further, a vertical vapor deposition film is formed on the entire top surface of the reflective pixel electrode and the entire bottom surface of the inter-pixel groove, and the entire upper surface of the reflective pixel electrode and a part of the adjacent inter-pixel groove are formed through the vertical vapor deposition film. Furthermore, it has been proposed to suppress alignment defects and alignment unevenness due to the structure of the inter-pixel grooves by forming an obliquely deposited alignment film from an oblique direction with respect to the substrate surface of the pixel electrode substrate (Patent). (Ref. 5).

  However, although the methods disclosed in Patent Documents 4 and 5 can prevent a film formation failure in a region that is a shadow of a stepped portion, it is necessary to perform oblique vapor deposition twice or more from different directions. The increase in the membrane process causes a problem that the manufacturing cost increases.

In contrast, oblique deposition at a predetermined deposition angle is performed on a substrate surface having a stripe-shaped step in at least one of a pair of substrates, with the step extending in the plane of the substrate surface as a reference. There has also been proposed a method of forming an alignment film along the vapor deposition direction set within a range in which the alignment failure of the liquid crystal molecules due to the above does not occur (see Patent Document 6).
JP 2003-165175 A JP 2004-184495 A JP 2007-25116 A JP 2002-277879 A JP-A-2005-77900 JP 2005-326679 A

  However, particularly when forming an inorganic alignment film for horizontal alignment, it is necessary to set the incident angle of the film-forming particles to the substrate surface to an extremely low angle. Since the portion is generated, the above-described poor formation of the inorganic alignment film may occur.

Here, FIG. 12 is an enlarged plan view showing a main part of the conventional counter substrate, and FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of the counter substrate taken along line III-III ′ shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 12, on the inner surface of the counter substrate 100 facing the array substrate, there is an edge frame portion 101a that shields the periphery of the effective pixel region S, and a space between adjacent pixels on the inner side of the edge frame portion 101a. A light-shielding film (BM: black matrix) 101 having a stripe-shaped lattice portion 101b that shields light along the direction is provided.

  In this case, as shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 13, even if the deposited particles of the inorganic alignment film 102 are deposited by oblique vapor deposition from the direction along the lattice portion 101b, it is positioned at the extreme end of the effective pixel region S. In the pixel region D, a shadowed portion of the edge frame portion 101a is generated, and an unattached region X ′ of the inorganic alignment film 102 and a region Y ′ in which the film thickness of the inorganic alignment film 102 is nonuniform are generated in this portion. Will do.

  The present invention has been proposed in view of such conventional circumstances, a liquid crystal device capable of obtaining good display characteristics while preventing alignment defects in the effective pixel region, a manufacturing method thereof, and An object is to provide an electronic apparatus including such a liquid crystal device.

  In order to achieve the above object, a liquid crystal device according to the present invention includes a pair of substrates disposed opposite to each other, and a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between the pair of substrates, and in a matrix form in a plane. A liquid crystal device in which an effective pixel region is configured by a plurality of arranged pixels, and an edge frame portion and a plurality of pixels that shield the periphery of the effective pixel region on a surface of at least one substrate facing the liquid crystal layer A light shielding film including a lattice portion that shields light between each of the pixel columns arranged in one direction, and an inorganic alignment film that aligns the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer at a predetermined pretilt angle. A non-pixel region adjacent to the effective pixel region is provided on one end side in the direction of the grid, and the lattice portion is striped along one direction so that the edge frame portion surrounds the effective pixel region and the non-pixel region. A light-shielding film is formed to extend The inorganic alignment film is formed in a part of the effective pixel region and the non-pixel region, and the thickness of the inorganic alignment film in the non-pixel region is gradually reduced toward one end in one direction. It is characterized by.

  In this liquid crystal device, the inorganic alignment film can be uniformly formed without being affected by the stepped portion due to the edge frame portion or the lattice portion in the effective pixel region. Therefore, in this liquid crystal device, it is possible to obtain good display characteristics while preventing alignment failure in the effective pixel region.

  The non-pixel region is preferably provided for at least one pixel on one end side in one direction. As a result, it is possible to sufficiently secure a non-pixel region that allows non-adhesion of the inorganic alignment film and non-uniform film thickness to occur, and in the effective pixel region, the effect of the step portion due to the edge frame portion or the lattice portion is affected. An inorganic alignment film can be formed uniformly without receiving.

The inorganic alignment film may be a horizontal alignment inorganic alignment film that horizontally aligns liquid crystal molecules in a liquid crystal layer along one direction.
In this case, even when the incident angle of the film-forming particles with respect to the substrate surface is set to an extremely low angle, the inorganic alignment film is uniformly formed in the effective pixel region without being affected by the stepped portion by the edge frame portion or the lattice portion. be able to.

Furthermore, the pretilt angle at which the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer are aligned by the inorganic alignment film may be 10 ° or less with respect to the substrate surface.
Also in this case, the inorganic alignment film can be uniformly formed in the effective pixel region without being affected by the stepped portion by the edge frame portion or the lattice portion.

In addition, in the method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to the present invention, pixels arranged in one direction among a plurality of pixels and an edge frame portion that shields the periphery of the effective pixel region on a surface facing the liquid crystal layer of at least one substrate. Forming a light-shielding film including a lattice portion that shields light between each of the columns, and forming an inorganic alignment film that aligns liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer at a predetermined pretilt angle, and includes at least one of the pixel columns A non-pixel region adjacent to the effective pixel region is provided on one end side in the direction, and the lattice portion extends in a stripe shape along one direction so that the edge frame surrounds the effective pixel region and the outside of the non-pixel region. In this way, the light shielding film is formed, the inorganic alignment film is formed in a part of the effective pixel region and the non-pixel region, and the thickness of the inorganic alignment film gradually increases toward one end in one direction in the non-pixel region. Particles of inorganic alignment film so as to be thin And wherein the depositing obliquely to the substrate surface.
In this method of manufacturing a liquid crystal device, even when film-forming particles of an inorganic alignment film are deposited obliquely with respect to the substrate surface, a portion that is a shadow of an edge frame portion in a non-pixel region located outside the effective pixel region Therefore, even if the inorganic alignment film is not attached or non-uniform in thickness in this part, the inorganic alignment film is not affected by the stepped portion by the edge frame portion or the lattice portion in the effective pixel region. It can be formed uniformly.
Therefore, in this method of manufacturing a liquid crystal device, a liquid crystal device capable of obtaining good display characteristics while preventing alignment defects in the effective pixel region can be manufactured at low cost without using a complicated manufacturing process or manufacturing device. can do.

In the method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to the present invention, it is preferable that the non-pixel region is provided for at least one pixel on one end side in one direction.
As a result, it is possible to sufficiently secure a non-pixel region that allows non-adhesion of the inorganic alignment film and non-uniform film thickness to occur, and in the effective pixel region, the effect of the step portion due to the edge frame portion or the lattice portion is affected. An inorganic alignment film can be formed uniformly without receiving.

In the method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to the present invention, the inorganic alignment film can be formed by sputtering or vapor deposition.
Also in this case, in the effective pixel region, the inorganic alignment film can be uniformly formed without being affected by the step portion due to the edge frame portion or the lattice portion.

Further, the incident angle of the film-forming particles with respect to the substrate surface can be set to 10 ° or less.
Also in this case, the inorganic alignment film can be uniformly formed in the effective pixel region without being affected by the stepped portion by the edge frame portion or the lattice portion.

In addition, an electronic apparatus according to the present invention includes any one of the above liquid crystal devices.
Thereby, an electronic device with high display quality can be provided at low cost.

Hereinafter, a liquid crystal device to which the present invention is applied, a manufacturing method thereof, and an electronic apparatus will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
In addition, in the drawings used in the following description, in order to make the features easy to understand, there are cases where the portions that become the features are enlarged for the sake of convenience, and the dimensional ratios of the respective components are not always the same as the actual ones. Absent.

(Liquid crystal device)
First, a liquid crystal device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the overall configuration of the liquid crystal panel according to the present embodiment. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the liquid crystal panel shown in FIG. 1 taken along a cutting line II ′. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the counter substrate of the liquid crystal panel.

  The liquid crystal device according to the embodiment of the present invention is a liquid crystal panel with a built-in driving circuit that employs, for example, a TFT active matrix driving method. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the liquid crystal panel includes a TFT array substrate 1 and a counter substrate 2 that are arranged to face each other. A liquid crystal layer 3 is provided between the TFT array substrate 1 and the counter substrate 2. The liquid crystal layer 3 is formed by sealing liquid crystal in a space formed by sealing the peripheral edges of the TFT array substrate 1 and the counter substrate 2 with a sealing material 4.

  The sealing material 4 is made of, for example, an ultraviolet curable resin, a thermosetting resin, or the like to bond the substrates 1 and 2 together. After being applied on the TFT array substrate 1 in the manufacturing process, the sealing material 4 is cured by ultraviolet irradiation, heating, or the like. It is a thing. Further, a gap material such as glass fiber or glass bead is dispersed in the sealing material 4 in order to set the distance (inter-substrate gap) between the TFT array substrate 1 and the counter substrate 2 to a predetermined value.

  In addition, an effective pixel region (image display region) S is configured by a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix in the plane of the liquid crystal panel. Further, in the peripheral area of the effective pixel area S, outside the area where the sealing material 4 is disposed, the data line driving circuit 5 and the external circuit connection terminal 6 along one side of the TFT array substrate 1, A scanning line driving circuit 7 is provided along two adjacent sides. Furthermore, in order to connect the two scanning line driving circuits 7 provided on both sides of the effective pixel region S, a plurality of wirings 8 are provided along the remaining side of the TFT array substrate 1.

On the opposing surface of the TFT array substrate 1, pixel electrodes 9 are provided in an upper layer of wiring such as pixel switching TFTs and scanning line data lines. An inorganic alignment film 10 that aligns liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer 3 at a predetermined pretilt angle is provided on the opposing surface of the TFT array substrate 1. The inorganic alignment film 10 is made of an inorganic material, such as SiO ₂ , SiO, Al ₂ O ₃ or the like, which is formed obliquely by sputtering or vapor deposition.

  On the opposite surface of the TFT array substrate 1, in addition to the data line driving circuit 5, the scanning line driving circuit 7, etc., a sampling circuit for sampling the image signal on the image signal line and supplying it to the data line, a plurality of data A precharge circuit for supplying a precharge signal of a predetermined voltage level to the line in advance of the image signal, an inspection circuit for inspecting the quality, defects, etc. of the electro-optical device during manufacturing or at the time of shipment are formed. May be.

  On the other hand, a light shielding film 11 is provided on the opposing surface of the opposing substrate 2 as shown in FIGS. The light-shielding film 11 has a frame-shaped edge frame portion 11a that shields the periphery of the effective pixel region S and a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix in the effective pixel region S (for example, a liquid crystal panel). A grid portion 11b extending in a stripe shape in one direction so as to shield light between the pixel columns arranged in the width direction), and the grid portion 11b is in one direction inside the edge frame portion 11a. Are provided in a row in a direction perpendicular to the height (the height direction of the liquid crystal panel). A part or all of such a light shielding film 11 may be provided on the TFT array substrate 1 side. Further, the one direction can be set in the height direction of the liquid crystal panel.

On the light shielding film 11, a counter electrode 12 is provided as shown in FIG. The counter electrode 12 is made of a transparent conductive film such as an ITO film, for example, like the pixel electrode 9. Further, an inorganic alignment film 13 for aligning liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer 3 at a predetermined pretilt angle is provided on the counter electrode 12. The inorganic alignment film 13 is made of an inorganic material, such as SiO ₂ , SiO, or Al ₂ O ₃ , which is formed obliquely by sputtering or vapor deposition.

  Vertical conduction members 14 functioning as vertical conduction terminals between the two substrates are disposed at the four corners of the counter substrate 2. Correspondingly, the TFT array substrate 1 is also provided with vertical conduction terminals (not shown) in regions facing these four corners. As a result, the TFT array substrate 1 and the counter substrate 2 can be electrically connected.

  In the liquid crystal panel configured as described above, the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer 3 are predetermined by the inorganic alignment film 10 and the inorganic alignment film 13 in a state where no electric field is applied between the pixel electrode 9 and the counter electrode 12. The orientation state is taken. Then, an electric field is applied between the pixel electrode 9 and the counter electrode 12 to change the alignment state of the liquid crystal molecules.

(Manufacturing method of liquid crystal device)
Next, the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal panel will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 4 and FIGS.
Note that the materials, dimensions, and the like exemplified in the following description are merely examples, and the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto, and can be implemented with appropriate modifications within a range that does not change the gist thereof. .

  As shown in FIG. 4, the liquid crystal panel has a step of forming a laminated structure on the TFT array substrate 1 (step S <b> 1) and a step of forming the laminated structure on the counter substrate 2 in parallel with or before or after this step. A process of forming (step S2), a process of attaching the TFT array substrate 1 on which these laminated structures are formed, and the counter substrate 2 to each other and bonding them with a sealing material 4 (step S3), and forming between the substrates 1 and 2 For example, a liquid crystal material having a positive dielectric anisotropy and having a positive dielectric anisotropy and injecting a TN mode (Twisted Nematic) liquid crystal material is injected into the formed space to form a liquid crystal layer 3 having a predetermined thickness (step S4). Is done.

In step S1, a laminated structure is formed on the TFT array substrate 1, for example, through the following steps.
That is, when the TFT array substrate 1 is manufactured, first, a glass substrate or a quartz substrate to be the TFT array substrate 1 is prepared, and a metal such as Ti, Cr, W, Ta, Mo, and Pd, or a metal is formed thereon. A scanning line made of a metal alloy film such as silicide is patterned by sputtering, photolithography and etching. Further thereon, a lower insulating film made of NSG is formed by, for example, normal pressure or low pressure CVD.

  Next, a polysilicon film is formed on the base insulating film, and a semiconductor layer having a predetermined pattern is formed by photolithography and etching. The surface of the semiconductor layer is thermally oxidized to form a gate insulating film, and then a gate electrode is formed by photolithography and etching. Further, impurity ions are doped using the gate electrode as a mask to form a source region and a drain region in the semiconductor layer, thereby forming a pixel switching TFT.

  Next, after forming a first interlayer insulating film made of an NSG film on the TFT, phosphorus (P) is thermally diffused into the polysilicon film to form a lower electrode, and a high temperature silicon oxide film (HTO film) or silicon nitride is formed. A dielectric film made of a film and a capacitor electrode made of a conductive polysilicon film are laminated to form a storage capacitor.

  Next, after forming a second interlayer insulating film made of an NSG film, data lines and the like are formed. Next, after forming a third interlayer insulating film, the upper surface thereof is planarized by CMP treatment. Specifically, for example, by rotating a liquid surface containing a silica particle (chemical polishing liquid) on a polishing pad fixed on a polishing plate and rotating the substrate surface fixed to the spindle, the third The upper surface of the interlayer insulating film is polished.

Next, an ITO film is deposited on the third interlayer insulating film by sputtering or the like, and the pixel electrode 9 is formed by performing photolithography and etching. Further, an inorganic material such as SiO ₂ , SiO, Al ₂ O ₃ is obliquely deposited on the entire surface of the TFT array substrate 1 to form the inorganic alignment film 10 having a thickness of about 50 nm (500 mm).

  The vapor deposition apparatus applied in this case is, for example, a vacuum vapor deposition apparatus as shown in FIG. In addition, FIG. 5 is sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of a vapor deposition apparatus. This vapor deposition apparatus includes an evaporation source 90 and a pelger 91 capable of sealing the inside and configured to support a vapor deposition substrate at a predetermined angle θ. The central axis X2 of the TFT array substrate 1 is arranged to be inclined at an angle θ (0 ° <θ <90 °) with respect to the X1 axis indicating the straight direction from the evaporation source 90. That is, at this time, the substrate surface of the TFT array substrate 1 is inclined by the angle θ from the traveling direction of the evaporation material. As a result, the material deposited on the TFT array substrate 1 grows so that columnar crystals with a predetermined angle are arranged. The inorganic alignment film 10 thus obtained can align the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer 3 by the surface shape effect. The inorganic alignment film 10 is made of an inorganic material and thus has excellent light resistance and heat resistance, and contributes to improving the durability of the electro-optical device as a light valve.

In step S2, a laminated structure is formed on the counter substrate 2, for example, through the following steps.
That is, when the counter substrate 2 is manufactured, first, a glass substrate or the like to be the counter substrate 2 is prepared, and metal chrome or the like is sputtered on the entire surface, and photolithography and etching are performed. Thereby, the light shielding film 11 including the frame-shaped edge frame portion 11a and the stripe-shaped lattice portion 11b is patterned. The film thickness of the light shielding film 11 is, for example, about 100 nm.

  Here, a non-pixel region N adjacent to the effective pixel region S is provided on one end side in one direction of the pixel column, as shown in FIG. This non-pixel region N is provided for one pixel on one end side in one direction. Note that the length of one side of one pixel is, for example, about 10 μm. Therefore, the width of the non-pixel region N is also secured about 10 μm. The light shielding film 11 is patterned so that the lattice portion 11b extends in a stripe shape along one direction so that the edge frame portion 11a surrounds the outside of the effective pixel region S and the non-pixel region N. .

Next, the counter electrode 12 is formed on the counter surface of the counter substrate 2 by depositing an ITO film to a thickness of about 50 to 200 nm by sputtering, for example. Then, for example, SiO ₂ film-formation particles are obliquely deposited so as to cover the entire surface of the counter substrate 2 to form the inorganic alignment film 13 having a film thickness of about 50 nm (500 mm). The inorganic alignment film 13 can be formed using the above-described vapor deposition apparatus shown in FIG.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 7, a stripe-shaped stepped portion H exists on the surface of the counter electrode 12 serving as a base of the inorganic alignment film 13 due to the presence of the lattice portion 11 a of the light shielding film 11 described above. In the present invention, the inorganic alignment film 13 is formed obliquely along the extending direction of the stepped portion H.

  Specifically, when the inorganic alignment film 13 is formed, as shown in FIG. 8, the incident direction (evaporation direction) X3 of the film formation particles (inorganic material) with respect to the substrate surface is set to extend the stripe-shaped stepped portion H. The direction is set along the current direction (the one direction described above). Furthermore, in this invention, as shown in FIG. 9, the film-forming particle | grains are entered from the non-pixel area | region N side of the edge frame part 11a mentioned above. Thereby, the inorganic alignment film 13 is formed in a part of the effective pixel region S and the non-pixel region N, and in the non-pixel region N, the film thickness is gradually reduced toward one end in one direction. Formed to be. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along the cutting line II-II ′ of the counter substrate shown in FIG.

  As described above, in the present invention, when the film-forming particles of the inorganic alignment film 13 are deposited from the oblique direction with respect to the substrate surface, the shadow of the edge frame portion 11a is formed in the non-pixel region N adjacent to the effective pixel region S. Therefore, even if the inorganic alignment film 13 is not attached to the portion X or a non-uniform film thickness is generated in the portion X, in the effective pixel region S, the step portion H of the edge frame portion 11a or the lattice portion 11b is formed. The inorganic alignment film 13 can be formed with a substantially uniform film thickness without being affected.

  The inorganic alignment film 13 is formed at a deposition angle δ shown in FIG. The vapor deposition angle δ corresponds to the tilt angle θ of the substrate shown in FIG. 5. For example, the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer 3 are dispersed by 10 by the horizontal alignment inorganic alignment film 13 that horizontally aligns the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer 3. In the case of aligning at a pretilt angle of not more than 0 °, the incident angle (90 ° -δ) of the film-forming particles with respect to the substrate surface when forming the inorganic alignment film 13 may be set to 10 ° or less.

  In the present invention, even when the incident angle of such film-forming particles with respect to the substrate surface is set to a very low angle, the effective pixel region S is not affected by the stepped portion H by the edge frame portion 11a or the lattice portion 11b. The inorganic alignment film 13 can be formed uniformly.

  As described above, in the present invention, the inorganic alignment film 13 can be uniformly formed in the effective pixel region S without being affected by the stepped portion H caused by the edge frame portion 11a and the lattice portion 11b. Therefore, according to the present invention, a liquid crystal panel capable of obtaining good display characteristics while preventing alignment failure in the effective pixel region S is manufactured at low cost without using a complicated manufacturing process or manufacturing apparatus. It is possible.

In addition, this invention is not necessarily limited to the thing of the said embodiment, A various change can be added in the range which does not deviate from the meaning of this invention.
For example, in the counter substrate 2 shown in FIG. 6, one end of the lattice portion 11 b extends to the non-pixel region N side and is connected to the edge frame portion 11 a surrounding the non-pixel region N. The light shielding film 11 is not limited to such a shape. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, one end of the lattice portion 11 b is not connected to the edge frame portion 11 a surrounding the non-pixel region N, and the effective pixel region S It is good also as a shape extended to one end of.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 10, the light shielding film 11 is provided with a protruding portion 11 c that slightly protrudes between adjacent pixels of the lattice portion 11 b in a direction orthogonal to one direction. However, since the protruding amount of the protruding portion 11c is very small, even if the film-forming particles of the inorganic alignment film 13 described above are incident in the extending direction of the stepped portion H, the film-forming particles around the protruding portion 11c. By depositing so as to wrap around, there is almost no influence on the formation of the inorganic alignment film 13.

  In addition, the vapor deposition direction X3 is preferably completely matched with the extending direction of the stepped portion H in terms of eliminating the influence of the stepped portion H from the film formation state, but from the extending direction of the stepped portion H. Even if it is slightly deviated, substantial effects and effects can be sufficiently expected. Therefore, the vapor deposition direction X3 may be set within the range in which the alignment film 13 to be formed does not cause alignment failure in the liquid crystal layer 3 (that is, the defect in display quality is within an allowable range). Specifically, if the vapor deposition direction X3 is within ± 5 ° with respect to the extending direction of the stepped portion, display spots due to the alignment failure of the liquid crystal layer 3 hardly occur.

  The inorganic alignment film 10 on the TFT array substrate 1 side is not applied in the present invention because the third interlayer insulating film subjected to CMP is used as a base surface, and film formation failure due to a stepped portion hardly poses a problem. However, when unevenness of the base surface becomes a problem, it may be formed by the same method as the inorganic alignment film 13.

  The present invention is not limited to the configuration in which the non-pixel region N adjacent to the effective pixel region S is provided at one end in the one direction, but the non-pixel region N adjacent to the effective pixel region S at both ends in the one direction. The light shielding film 11 may be formed so that the non-pixel region N is surrounded by the edge frame portion 11a.

  The present invention is preferably used particularly when an inorganic alignment film for horizontal alignment is formed, that is, when the incident angle of the film-forming particles with respect to the substrate surface is set to an extremely low angle. The present invention is also applicable when forming an inorganic alignment film for alignment.

(Electronics)
Next, as an example of an electronic apparatus to which the present invention is applied, a projector 1100 in which the liquid crystal panel shown in FIG. 11 is applied to a light valve will be described. FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram of the liquid crystal projector 1100.

  Inside the projector 1100, as shown in FIG. 11, a lamp unit 1102 made of a white light source such as a halogen lamp is provided. The projection light emitted from the lamp unit 1102 is separated into three primary colors of RGB by four mirrors 1106 and two dichroic mirrors 1108 arranged in the light guide, and light valves 100R and 100B corresponding to the respective primary colors. And 100G.

  Here, the liquid crystal panels are applied to the light valves 100R, 100B, and 100G, and light modulation is performed based on R, G, and B primary color signals supplied from the image signal processing circuit. The light modulated by the light valves 100R, 100B, and 100G is incident on the dichroic prism 1112 from three directions. In the dichroic prism 1112, R and B light is refracted by 90 degrees, while G light travels straight. As a result, the images of the respective colors are combined, and a color image is projected onto the screen 1120 and the like via the projection lens 1114.

  In the present invention, by applying the liquid crystal panel to the above-described light valves 100R, 100B, and 100G, it is possible to provide a projector 1100 having high display quality at low cost.

  Note that the liquid crystal panel can also be applied to a direct-view or reflective color display device other than a projector. In this case, an RGB color filter may be formed together with the protective film in a region facing the pixel electrode 9 on the counter substrate 2. Alternatively, it is also possible to form a color filter layer with a color resist or the like under the pixel electrodes 9 facing the RGB on the TFT array substrate 1. Furthermore, if the microlens corresponding to the pixel on the counter substrate 2 is provided on a one-to-one basis, the light collection efficiency of incident light can be improved and the display luminance can be improved. Furthermore, a dichroic filter that creates RGB colors using light interference may be formed by depositing a number of interference layers having different refractive indexes on the counter substrate 2. According to the counter substrate 2 with the dichroic filter, brighter display is possible.

It is a top view which shows the whole structure of the liquid crystal panel which concerns on embodiment. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the liquid crystal panel shown in FIG. 1 along a cutting line I-I ′. It is sectional drawing which shows the opposing board | substrate of a liquid crystal panel. It is a flowchart which shows the manufacturing process of a liquid crystal panel. It is sectional drawing showing schematic structure of a vapor deposition apparatus. It is a top view which expands and shows the principal part of a counter substrate. It is a perspective view showing the vapor deposition angle of the inorganic alignment film of a counter substrate. It is a top view showing the vapor deposition direction of the inorganic alignment film of a counter substrate. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along a cutting line II-II ′ of the counter substrate shown in FIG. 6. It is a top view which shows the modification of a light shielding film. It is a block diagram of the liquid crystal projector shown as an example of an electronic device. It is a top view which expands and shows the principal part of the conventional counter substrate. FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view taken along the cutting line III-III ′ of the counter substrate shown in FIG. 12.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... TFT array substrate 2 ... Opposite substrate 3 ... Liquid crystal layer 11 ... Light shielding film 11a ... Edge frame part 11b ... Grid part 12 ... Corresponding electrode 13 ... Inorganic alignment film S ... Effective pixel area N ... Non-pixel area H ... Step part

Claims (9)

A liquid crystal comprising a pair of substrates disposed opposite to each other and a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between the pair of substrates, wherein an effective pixel region is composed of a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix in a plane. A device,
On the surface of at least one substrate facing the liquid crystal layer, an edge frame that shields the periphery of the effective pixel region and a grid that shields between each of the pixel rows arranged in one direction among the plurality of pixels. And an inorganic alignment film that aligns the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer at a predetermined pretilt angle,
A non-pixel region adjacent to the effective pixel region is provided on at least one end side in the one direction of the pixel column,
The light shielding film is formed so that the lattice portion extends in a stripe shape along the one direction so that the edge frame portion surrounds the outside of the effective pixel region and the non-pixel region,
The inorganic alignment film is formed in a part of the effective pixel region and the non-pixel region, and the film thickness of the inorganic alignment film is gradually reduced toward one end in the one direction in the non-pixel region. A liquid crystal device characterized by comprising:   The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the non-pixel region is provided for at least one pixel on one end side in the one direction.   The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the inorganic alignment film horizontally aligns liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer along the one direction.   The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the pretilt angle is 10 ° or less with respect to the substrate surface. A liquid crystal comprising a pair of substrates disposed opposite to each other and a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between the pair of substrates, wherein an effective pixel region is composed of a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix in a plane. A device manufacturing method comprising:
On the surface of at least one substrate facing the liquid crystal layer, an edge frame portion that shields the periphery of the effective pixel region and a lattice portion that shields between each of the pixel columns arranged in one direction among the plurality of pixels. Forming a light shielding film including:
Forming an inorganic alignment film for aligning liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer at a predetermined pretilt angle,
A non-pixel region adjacent to the effective pixel region is provided on at least one end side of the pixel column in the one direction, and the edge frame part surrounds the effective pixel region and the non-pixel region. Forming the light-shielding film so that the lattice portion extends in a stripe shape along the one direction;
The inorganic alignment film is formed in a part of the effective pixel region and the non-pixel region, and the film thickness of the inorganic alignment film is gradually reduced toward one end in the one direction in the non-pixel region. As described above, a method for producing a liquid crystal device, comprising depositing film-forming particles of the inorganic alignment film from an oblique direction with respect to a substrate surface.   6. The method of manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to claim 5, wherein the non-pixel region is provided for at least one pixel on one end side in the one direction.   The method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to claim 5, wherein the inorganic alignment film is formed by sputtering or vapor deposition.   The method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to claim 7, wherein an incident angle of the film-forming particles with respect to the substrate surface is 10 ° or less.   An electronic apparatus comprising the liquid crystal device according to claim 1.

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