JP2010038946A - Side emitting fiber and manufacturing method therefor and liquid crystal display device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a side emitting fiber which can improve efficiency in extracting light from the side of the fiber, and to provide a manufacturing method therefor, and a liquid crystal display device. <P>SOLUTION: A metal layer 50 is formed at the side of each fiber 40. An opening 60 for extracting light is formed in part of the metal layer 50 in its circumferential direction so as to extend in the lengthwise direction of the fiber 40. Thereby efficiency in extracting light from the side is improved. A metal pattern 80 for polarization control can be provided in the opening 60. A back light for a liquid crystal display device is formed of the side emitting fibers 21. Alternatively, the side emitting fibers 21 are embedded in the counter electrode side substrate of the liquid crystal display device, thereby imparting a back light function to the substrate. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a side emitting fiber suitable for a backlight for liquid crystal, a method for manufacturing the side emitting fiber, and a liquid crystal display device using the side emitting fiber.

  In recent years, liquid crystal display devices such as mobile phones, laptop computers, and large televisions for home use have been widely used. Among them, the thinning of liquid crystal display devices has become lighter (resource saving) or has a variety of designs. It has been increasingly demanded.

  The biggest problem in considering the thinning of the liquid crystal display device is the thickness of the backlight. In recent years, development has been shifting from fluorescent tubes to LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes), but a certain amount of thickness is required to ensure uniform brightness over all planes. When the light source is placed on the back, a few centimeters is the limit. When making it thinner, there is generally a method of obtaining a uniform illumination with a thin light guide plate by placing the light source on the side, but for now, The thinness of several mm is the limit.

In order to realize a thinner backlight of 1 mm or less, it is considered promising with a laser as a light source. For example, in Patent Document 1, a planar light emitting plate composed of a number of waveguides that emit RGB light is formed, a semiconductor laser is disposed as an excitation light source at the end of the waveguide, and light generated in the waveguide is guided to the waveguide. Is taken out in the direction of the display screen from the side.
JP 2007-165663 A

  However, in the configuration of Patent Document 1, in order to extract light from the side of the waveguide, a scattering structure is formed on the surface of the waveguide (specifically, irregularities are formed or particles for scattering are applied). The light extraction efficiency has become low. For this reason, it has been difficult to sufficiently increase the light utilization efficiency of the liquid crystal display device. In addition, since light is emitted in the waveguide, the structure of the waveguide and the manufacturing process become complicated, and the cost of the waveguide increases.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a side-emitting fiber, a method for manufacturing the same, and a liquid crystal display device that can increase the light extraction efficiency from the side surface.

The side emitting fiber according to the present invention has the following constituents (A) to (C).
(A) Fiber having a cladding layer around the core layer (B) Metal layer formed on the side surface of the fiber (C) Light provided to extend in the longitudinal direction of the fiber on a part of the circumferential direction of the metal layer Opening for removal

The method for producing a side emitting fiber according to the present invention includes the following steps (A) to (F).
(A) Forming a fiber having a clad layer around the core layer (B) Forming a negative type resist film on the side surface of the fiber (C) Drawing the fiber in the longitudinal direction and simultaneously exposing or drawing the resist film (D) forming a resist pattern extended in the longitudinal direction of the fiber in a part of the circumferential direction of the fiber by developing the resist film (E) a metal on the side surface of the fiber and the surface of the resist pattern Step of forming material film (F) The metal material film formed on the resist pattern is lifted off to form a metal layer on the side surface of the fiber, and at the part of the metal layer in the circumferential direction, the length of the fiber Providing an opening for light extraction extended in a direction

  A first liquid crystal display device according to the present invention includes a liquid crystal panel having a liquid crystal layer between a first substrate and a second substrate, a first substrate side of the liquid crystal panel, and a side emitting fiber and a side emitting fiber. And a backlight having a laser coupled to one end, and the side emitting fiber is constituted by the side emitting fiber of the present invention.

  A second liquid crystal display device according to the present invention includes a first substrate, a second substrate having a side-emitting fiber embedded therein, a laser coupled to one end of the side-emitting fiber, a first substrate, and a second substrate. The side emitting fiber includes a liquid crystal layer provided between the substrates, and the side emitting fiber is constituted by the side emitting fiber of the present invention.

  In the side emitting fiber of the present invention, a metal layer is formed on the side surface of the fiber, and an opening for light extraction is provided in a part of the metal layer in the circumferential direction so as to extend in the longitudinal direction of the fiber. Therefore, the light that has passed through the fiber is extracted outside only from the opening of the metal layer. Therefore, the light extraction efficiency from the side surface is improved.

  In the first liquid crystal display device according to the present invention, the backlight is composed of the side emitting fiber of the present invention having high light extraction efficiency from the side surface, so that the light utilization efficiency is improved.

  In the second liquid crystal display device according to the present invention, since the side emitting fiber of the present invention having high light extraction efficiency from the side surface is embedded in the second substrate having the counter electrode, the light utilization efficiency is improved. In addition, the second substrate can be provided with a function as a backlight, which is extremely advantageous for thinning.

  According to the side emitting fiber of the present invention, a metal layer is formed on the side surface of the fiber, and an opening for light extraction is provided in a part of the circumferential direction of the metal layer so as to extend in the longitudinal direction of the fiber. Therefore, the light extraction efficiency from the side surface can be increased.

  According to the first liquid crystal display device of the present invention, since the backlight is constituted by the side emitting fiber of the present invention, the side emitting fiber of the present invention has high light extraction efficiency from the side surface. The light use efficiency of the liquid crystal display device can be increased.

  According to the second liquid crystal display device of the present invention, since the side emitting fiber of the present invention is embedded in the second substrate having the counter electrode, the present invention has a high light extraction efficiency from the side surface. This side-emitting fiber improves the light utilization efficiency of the liquid crystal display device and allows the second substrate to have a function as a backlight, which is extremely advantageous for thinning.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The description will be given in the following order.
1. 1st Embodiment (example which provides the opening for light extraction in the metal layer of a fiber side surface)
2. Second embodiment (example in which a metal pattern for polarization control is provided in the opening)
3. Third Embodiment (Example in which a fiber with a metal pattern for polarization control is embedded in a counter substrate)
4). Modified example

<1. First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a liquid crystal display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. This liquid crystal display device is used for a liquid crystal television device, a notebook personal computer display, a portable information terminal display, and the like. For example, a lenticular lens sheet 30 is provided between the liquid crystal panel 10 and the backlight 20. It has.

  The liquid crystal panel 10 has a liquid crystal layer 13 between the first substrate 11 and the second substrate 12. The first substrate 11 is composed of, for example, a TFT substrate, and a pixel electrode (not shown) is provided on the liquid crystal layer 13 side, and a polarizing sheet 14 is provided on the opposite side. The second substrate 12 is made of a glass substrate, and a counter electrode (not shown) is provided on the liquid crystal layer 13 side, and a polarizing sheet 15 is provided on the opposite side. The second substrate 12 does not require a color filter as will be described later.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of the overall configuration of the backlight 20. The backlight 20 is a so-called side emitting fiber sheet in which a plurality of, for example, three side emitting fibers 21 are arranged in a predetermined arrangement and fixed by an embedded layer 22 such as resin or glass. Is located immediately below each pixel of the liquid crystal panel 10.

  A red laser 23R, a green laser 23G, and a blue laser 23B are coupled to one end of each of the three side emitting fibers 21, and a reflecting mirror 24 is disposed at the other end. The red laser 23R, the green laser 23G, and the blue laser 23B are desirably semiconductor lasers having a relatively short coherence length. It is desirable that red is about 630 to 650 nm and blue is about 440 to 460 nm. For green, an SHG (Second Harmonic Generation) conversion laser 532 nm is generally used, but it is desirable if a semiconductor can be oscillated. A laser may be arranged in place of the reflecting mirror 24.

  It is desirable that a speckle noise removal mechanism 25 is provided in the vicinity of the red laser 23R, the green laser 23G, and the blue laser 23B. The speckle noise removing mechanism 25 is for suppressing a screen glare (speckle noise) caused by high coherency of laser light, and is configured by, for example, a vibration mechanism. As for the vibration method, a driving force is not so required, so that a piezoelectric element or a magnetostrictive element can be used. The frequency of vibration received by the laser light by the speckle noise removing mechanism 25 is determined while observing the actual speckle noise reduction effect, but the effect can be obtained from several tens Hz to several hundreds kHz. However, in reality, resonance with the housing and human audible range should be considered.

  The lenticular lens sheet 30 shown in FIG. 1 is for efficiently illuminating the pixels of the liquid crystal panel 10 with the light extracted from the side emitting fiber 21, and is made of, for example, resin or glass. The lenticular lens sheet 30 is preferably provided with a shielding layer 31 as a black stripe corresponding to the area between the pixels of the liquid crystal panel 10.

  FIG. 3 illustrates a cross-sectional configuration of the side emitting fiber 21 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. The side emitting fiber 21 includes a fiber 40 having a cladding layer 42 around the core layer 41. The core layer 41 is made of, for example, quartz, and the cladding layer 42 is made of, for example, a material obtained by adding a light element such as fluorine (F) to quartz. The diameter of the fiber 40 is, for example, about 150 μm to 200 μm.

  A metal layer 50 is formed on the side surface of the fiber 40, and an opening 60 for extracting light is formed at a part of the metal layer 50 in the circumferential direction, that is, at a position facing the liquid crystal panel 10. The opening 60 has, for example, a width W of about 10 μm and is provided so as to extend in the longitudinal direction of the fiber 40 (direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 3). Thereby, in this liquid crystal display device, the light extraction efficiency from the side surface of the side emitting fiber 21 can be increased, and the light utilization efficiency can be improved.

  For example, the metal layer 50 has a thickness of about several thousand angstroms (several hundreds of nanometers) and is made of aluminum (Al) or an alloy containing aluminum (Al).

  This liquid crystal display device can be manufactured, for example, as follows.

  FIG. 4 shows a flow of a manufacturing method of the side emitting fiber 21 shown in FIG. 3, and FIGS. 5 to 10 show this manufacturing method in the order of steps. First, as shown in FIG. 5, the fiber 40 having the clad layer 42 around the core layer 41 is formed (step S101).

  Next, as shown in FIG. 6, resist coating is performed on the side surface of the fiber 40 to form a negative type resist film 71 (step S102).

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 7, the fiber 40 is pulled in the longitudinal direction (a direction orthogonal to the paper surface in FIG. 7), and at the same time, an opening formation scheduled position 71A of the resist film 71 is exposed or electronically drawn (step S103).

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 8, by developing the resist film 71, a resist extended in a longitudinal direction of the fiber 40 (a direction orthogonal to the paper surface in FIG. 8) is partially formed in the circumferential direction of the fiber 40. A pattern 71B is formed (step S104).

  After forming the resist pattern 71B, as shown in FIG. 9, a metal material film 50A for forming the metal layer 50 made of the above-described material is formed on the side surface of the fiber 40 and the surface of the resist pattern 71B by, for example, vapor deposition. Form (step S105).

  After the metal material film 50A is formed, the metal material film 50A formed on the resist pattern 71B is lifted off, thereby forming the metal layer 50 on the side surface of the fiber 40 as shown in FIG. An opening 60 extended in the longitudinal direction of the fiber 40 is provided in a part of the circumferential direction of the layer 50 (step S106). Thereby, the side emitting fiber 21 shown in FIG. 3 is formed.

  After the side emitting fiber 21 is formed, the side emitting fiber sheet is configured by arranging the three side emitting fibers 21 at predetermined positions and fixing them with the embedded layer 22. A red laser 23R, a green laser 23G, and a blue laser 23B are coupled to one end of each of the three side emitting fibers 21, and a reflecting mirror 24 is disposed at the other end. Further, a speckle noise removing mechanism 25 is provided in the vicinity of the red laser 23R, the green laser 23G, and the blue laser 23B. Thereby, the backlight 20 shown in FIG. 2 is formed.

  After the backlight 20 is formed, the liquid crystal panel 10 is formed by a normal manufacturing method, the lenticular lens sheet 30 is bonded to the polarizing sheet 14 of the liquid crystal panel 10, and the backlight 20 is installed on the back surface thereof. Thus, the liquid crystal display device shown in FIG. 1 is completed.

  In this liquid crystal display device, red, green, and blue light respectively generated by the red laser 23R, the green laser 23G, and the blue laser 23B pass through the side emitting fibers 21 and reach the back surface of the liquid crystal panel 10, and the side Irradiation from the side surface of the emitting fiber 21 toward the liquid crystal panel 10. This light is modulated by the liquid crystal layer 13 and a color image display is performed on the liquid crystal panel 10. Here, a metal layer 50 is formed on the side surface of the fiber 40 of the side emitting fiber 21, and an opening 60 for extracting light is formed in a part of the metal layer 50 in the circumferential direction in the longitudinal direction of the fiber 40. Since the extension is provided, the light that has passed through the fiber 40 is extracted outside only from the opening 60 of the metal layer 50. Therefore, the light extraction efficiency from the side surface is improved, and the light use efficiency of the liquid crystal display device is improved.

  As described above, in the side emitting fiber 21 according to the present embodiment, the metal layer 50 is formed on the side surface of the fiber 40, and the opening 60 for extracting light is formed in a part of the metal layer 50 in the circumferential direction. Therefore, the light extraction efficiency from the side surface can be increased. Therefore, the light utilization efficiency of the liquid crystal display device can be enhanced by configuring the backlight 20 of the liquid crystal display device with the side emitting fiber 21.

<2. Second Embodiment>
FIG. 11 shows a cross-sectional configuration of a liquid crystal display device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. This liquid crystal display device is the same as that of the first embodiment except that a metal pattern 80 for polarization control is provided in the opening 60 and the polarizing sheet 14 (see FIG. 1) of the first substrate 11 is omitted. It has the same composition as. Therefore, the same components as those in the first embodiment will be described with the same reference numerals.

  The liquid crystal panel 10 is configured in the same manner as in the first embodiment except that the liquid crystal panel 10 does not have the polarizing sheet 14. The lenticular lens sheet 30 is configured in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

  FIG. 12 illustrates a cross-sectional configuration of the side emitting fiber 21 of the present embodiment. The metal pattern 80 is for giving the aperture 60 a polarization maintaining function. For example, a plurality of parallel patterns arranged at intervals (for example, several tens of nm to several tens of nm) of light extracted from the aperture 60. It is a wire grid consisting of lines. By providing the metal pattern 80, the polarizing sheet 14 of the first substrate 11 can be omitted, and the polarizing sheet 15 is provided only on the second substrate 12. Therefore, the number of parts can be reduced.

  This liquid crystal display device can be manufactured, for example, as follows.

  13 to 18 show this manufacturing method in the order of steps. Since the flow of the manufacturing method is the same as that in FIG. 4 of the first embodiment, the following description will be given with reference to FIG. First, as shown in FIG. 13, the fiber 40 having the cladding layer 42 around the core layer 41 is formed (step S101).

  Next, as shown in FIG. 14, resist coating is performed on the side surface of the fiber 40 to form a negative type resist film 71 (step S102).

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 15, the fiber 40 is pulled in the longitudinal direction (a direction orthogonal to the paper surface in FIG. 15), and at the same time, the opening formation planned position 71 </ b> A of the resist film 71 is less than the wavelength of the light extracted from the opening 60. Are exposed or electronically drawn (step S103).

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 16, by developing the resist film 71, a resist extended in a longitudinal direction of the fiber 40 (a direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 8) in a part of the circumferential direction of the fiber 40. A pattern 71B is formed (step S104). The resist pattern 71B is formed as a pattern of a plurality of parallel lines arranged at intervals (for example, several tens of nm to several tens of nm) of light extracted from the opening 60.

  After forming the resist pattern 71B, as shown in FIG. 17, a metal material film 50A for forming the metal layer 50 made of the above-described material is formed on the side surface of the fiber 40 and the surface of the resist pattern 71B by, for example, vapor deposition. Form (step S105).

  After the metal material film 50A is formed, the metal material film 50A formed on the resist pattern 71B is lifted off, thereby forming the metal layer 50 on the side surface of the fiber 40 as shown in FIG. An opening 60 extended in the longitudinal direction of the fiber 40 is provided in a part of the circumferential direction of the layer 50 (step S106). In the opening 60, a metal pattern 80 composed of a plurality of parallel lines arranged at intervals equal to or less than the wavelength of the light extracted from the opening 60 is formed. Thereby, the side emitting fiber 21 shown in FIG. 12 is formed.

  After the side emitting fiber 21 is formed, the backlight 20 is formed in the same manner as in the first embodiment. Finally, the lenticular lens sheet 30 is bonded to the first substrate 11 of the liquid crystal panel 10, and the backlight 20 is installed on the back surface thereof. Thus, the liquid crystal display device shown in FIG. 11 is completed.

  In this liquid crystal display device, red, green, and blue light respectively generated by the red laser 23R, the green laser 23G, and the blue laser 23B pass through the side emitting fibers 21 and reach the back surface of the liquid crystal panel 10, and the side Irradiation from the side surface of the emitting fiber 21 toward the liquid crystal panel 10. This light is modulated by the liquid crystal layer 13 and a color image display is performed on the liquid crystal panel 10. Here, a metal pattern 80 composed of a plurality of parallel lines arranged at intervals equal to or smaller than the wavelength of the light extracted from the opening 60 is formed in the opening 60. Polarization control of light extracted from the side surface is performed.

  As described above, in the side emitting fiber 21 of the present embodiment, the metal pattern 80 composed of a plurality of parallel lines arranged at intervals equal to or less than the wavelength of the light extracted from the opening 60 is formed in the opening 60. The polarization of the light extracted from the side surface of the side emitting fiber 21 can be controlled by the metal pattern 80. Therefore, by forming the backlight 20 of the liquid crystal display device with the side emitting fiber 21, the polarizing sheet 14 of the liquid crystal display device can be omitted, which is advantageous for thinning.

<3. Third Embodiment>
FIG. 19 shows a cross-sectional configuration of a liquid crystal display device according to the third embodiment of the present invention. This liquid crystal display device has the same configuration as that of the second embodiment except that the side emitting fiber 21 is embedded in the second substrate 12. Therefore, the same components as those in the first embodiment will be described with the same reference numerals.

  As in the first embodiment, the first substrate 11 is composed of, for example, a TFT substrate, and a pixel electrode (not shown) is formed on the liquid crystal layer 13 side. In addition, the first substrate 11 includes a polarization functional layer 11C made of, for example, a wire grid in the same layer as the TFT 11B, so that the polarization sheet 14 is unnecessary. The wire grid of the polarization functional layer 11 </ b> C is formed in a polarization direction orthogonal to the polarization direction of the metal pattern 80 formed in the side emitting fiber 21. A shielding layer 11D as a black stripe is provided outside the first substrate 111.

  A counter electrode 13A is formed on the surface of the second substrate 12 on the liquid crystal layer 13 side, as in the first embodiment. As described above, the second substrate 12 has a configuration in which the side emitting fiber 21 is embedded in the embedded layer 22 made of a glass substrate. As a result, in this liquid crystal display device, the second substrate 12 can be provided with a function as the backlight 20 and can be extremely advantageous for thinning.

  The side emitting fiber 21 is preferably embedded in the second substrate 12 rather than the first substrate 11 having the TFTs 11B and the like. This is because, in the process of manufacturing the TFT 11B, there is a risk of being affected by irregular reflection on the glass such as an exposure step. On the other hand, if the side emitting fiber 21 is embedded in the second substrate 12, the counter electrode 12A can be formed by printing, and there is no possibility of being affected by the side emitting fiber 21 embedded therein. . In this embodiment, the illumination is performed from the second substrate 12 side. However, if the optical design is performed in consideration of the shaded portion, the illumination is performed from the second substrate 12 side without impairing the efficiency. be able to. On the contrary, the higher the black ratio on the front side, the higher the contrast of the screen.

  The side emitting fiber 21 is configured in the same manner as in the second embodiment except that the collimation lens 90 is disposed on the metal pattern 80 of the opening 60. The core layer 41 and the collimation lens 90 are made of a high refractive index material (n to 1.56), and the cladding layer 42 and the buried layer 22 made of a glass substrate are made of a low refractive index material (n to 1.51). Yes.

  As in the first embodiment, a red laser 23R, a green laser 23G, and a blue laser 23B are coupled to one end of the side emitting fiber 21, and a reflecting mirror 24 is disposed at the other end. . A laser may be arranged in place of the reflecting mirror 24. Further, it is desirable that a speckle noise removing mechanism 25 is provided in the vicinity of the red laser 23R, the green laser 23G, and the blue laser 23B, as in the first embodiment.

  This liquid crystal display device can be manufactured, for example, as follows.

  First, the side emitting fiber 21 is formed as in the second embodiment, and the collimation lens 90 is disposed on the metal pattern 80 in the opening 60. Next, the side emitting fiber 21 is embedded in the embedded layer 22 made of a glass substrate to form the second substrate 12. Also, the first substrate 11 is formed by a normal manufacturing method, and liquid crystal is sealed between the first substrate 11 and the second substrate 12 to form the liquid crystal layer 13. Thus, the liquid crystal display device shown in FIG. 19 is completed.

  In this liquid crystal display device, red, green, and blue light respectively generated by the red laser 23R, the green laser 23G, and the blue laser 23B pass through the side emitting fibers 21 and reach the back surface of the liquid crystal layer 30, and the side The liquid crystal layer 13 is irradiated from the side surface of the emitting fiber 21. This light is modulated by the liquid crystal layer 13 and a color image display is performed. Here, a metal layer 50 is formed on the side surface of the fiber 40 of the side emitting fiber 21, and an opening 60 for extracting light is formed in a part of the metal layer 50 in the circumferential direction in the longitudinal direction of the fiber 40. Since the extension is provided, the light that has passed through the fiber 40 is extracted outside only from the opening 60 of the metal layer 50. Therefore, the light extraction efficiency from the side surface is improved, and the light use efficiency of the liquid crystal display device is improved.

  In addition, since the metal pattern 80 composed of a plurality of parallel lines arranged at intervals equal to or less than the wavelength of the light extracted from the opening 60 is formed in the opening 60, the metal pattern 80 allows the side emitting fiber 21 to be Polarization control of light extracted from the side surface is performed.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, since the side emitting fiber 21 is embedded in the second substrate 12 having the counter electrode 12A, the side emitting fiber 21 having high light extraction efficiency from the side surface allows the liquid crystal display. The light utilization efficiency of the apparatus can be improved, and the second substrate 12 can have a function as a backlight, which is extremely advantageous for thinning.

  In addition, since the metal pattern 80 composed of a plurality of parallel lines arranged at intervals equal to or less than the wavelength of the light extracted from the opening 60 is formed in the opening 60, the metal pattern 80 allows the side emitting fiber 21 of the side emitting fiber 21 to be formed. Polarization control of light extracted from the side surface can be performed. Therefore, by forming the backlight 20 of the liquid crystal display device with the side emitting fiber 21, the polarizing sheet 14 of the liquid crystal display device can be omitted, which is advantageous for thinning.

<4. Modification>
While the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made. For example, as shown in FIG. 20, the backlight 20 may be configured by more than three (for example, six) side emitting fibers 21.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 21, the backlight 20 may be configured by a single basic fiber 21 </ b> A and a large number of branch fibers 21 </ b> B connected thereto. It is desirable to provide a reflection mechanism 26 at the tip of the branch fiber 21B.

  Further, the speckle noise removal mechanism 25 can be realized by a wavelength superposition mechanism as shown in FIG. Since the spread of the wavelength of the laser is about 2 nm in half width, it is desirable to combine two or more lasers with a wavelength of 5 nm to 10 nm apart. For example, in the case of red, three red lasers 23R1, 23R2, and 23R3 having wavelengths of 635 nm, 645 nm, and 655 nm (center wavelength of 645 nm ± 10 nm) can be combined. In this case, a bundle fiber is used, but even when a bundle fiber is used, the core diameter can be suppressed to hundreds of tens of μm or less, so that there is no problem in reducing the thickness. A wavelength superposition function can also be obtained by combining a step mirror or a wavelength selective mirror (dichroic mirror) conventionally used for coupling an array laser and a fiber.

  Although the necessity of the polarizing sheet is not changed, speckle noise can be removed by superimposing the polarized light of the light source.

It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the liquid crystal display device which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure showing the structure of the backlight shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing showing the structure of the side emitting fiber shown in FIG. It is a figure showing the flow of the manufacturing method of the side emitting fiber shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing showing the manufacturing method shown in FIG. 4 in order of a process. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a process following FIG. 5. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a process following FIG. 6. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional diagram illustrating a process following the process in FIG. 7. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional diagram illustrating a process following the process in FIG. 8. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional diagram illustrating a process following the process in FIG. 9. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the liquid crystal display device which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing showing the structure of the side emitting fiber shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing showing the manufacturing method of the side emitting fiber shown in FIG. 12 in order of a process. FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional diagram illustrating a process following the process in FIG. 13. FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a process following FIG. 14. FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional diagram illustrating a process following the process in FIG. 15. FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional diagram illustrating a process following the process in FIG. 16. FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional diagram illustrating a process following the process in FIG. 17. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the liquid crystal display device which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure showing the other structure of the backlight shown in FIG. It is a figure showing the further another structure of the backlight shown in FIG. It is a figure showing the other structure of the speckle noise removal mechanism shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Liquid crystal panel, 11 ... 1st board | substrate (TFT board | substrate), 12 ... 2nd board | substrate, 13 ... Liquid crystal layer, 14, 15 ... Polarizing sheet, 20 ... Back light, 21 ... Side-emitting fiber, 22 ... Embedded layer

Claims (7)

A fiber having a cladding layer around the core layer;
A metal layer formed on a side surface of the fiber;
A side emitting fiber comprising: an opening for light extraction provided in a part of a circumferential direction of the metal layer so as to extend in a longitudinal direction of the fiber. The side emitting fiber according to claim 1, wherein the opening is provided with a metal pattern including a plurality of parallel lines arranged at intervals equal to or less than a wavelength of light extracted from the opening. Forming a fiber having a cladding layer around the core layer;
Forming a negative type resist film on the side of the fiber;
A step of exposing or electronically drawing the resist film simultaneously with drawing the fiber in a longitudinal direction;
Developing the resist film to form a resist pattern extending in the longitudinal direction of the fiber in a part of the circumferential direction of the fiber; and
Forming a metal material film on the side surface of the fiber and the surface of the resist pattern;
By lifting off the metal material film formed on the resist pattern, a metal layer is formed on the side surface of the fiber, and is extended in the longitudinal direction of the fiber to a part of the circumferential direction of the metal layer. And a step of providing an opening for extracting light. The method of manufacturing a side emitting fiber according to claim 3, wherein a pattern of a plurality of parallel lines arranged at intervals equal to or less than a wavelength of light extracted from the opening is formed as the resist pattern. A liquid crystal panel having a liquid crystal layer between the first substrate and the second substrate;
A backlight that is provided on the first substrate side of the liquid crystal panel and includes a side-emitting fiber and a laser coupled to one end of the side-emitting fiber;
The side emitting fiber is
A fiber having a cladding layer around the core layer;
A metal layer formed on a side surface of the fiber;
A liquid crystal display device comprising: a portion of the metal layer in a circumferential direction; an opening for light extraction provided to extend in a longitudinal direction of the fiber. The opening is provided with a metal pattern composed of a plurality of parallel lines arranged at intervals equal to or less than the wavelength of light extracted from the opening,
The liquid crystal display device according to claim 5, wherein a polarizing sheet is provided on the second substrate. A first substrate;
A second substrate having a side-emitting fiber embedded therein;
A laser coupled to one end of the side emitting fiber;
A liquid crystal layer provided between the first substrate and the second substrate,
The side emitting fiber is
A fiber having a cladding layer around the core layer;
A metal layer formed on a side surface of the fiber;
An opening for light extraction provided in a part of the circumferential direction of the metal layer and extending in the longitudinal direction of the fiber;
A liquid crystal display device comprising: a metal pattern including a plurality of parallel lines arranged at intervals equal to or less than a wavelength of light extracted from the opening.

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