JP2013097025A - Liquid crystal device and electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid crystal device in which one phase difference compensation element is provided outside a liquid crystal panel without occupying a large space even though the phase difference compensation element performs viewing angle compensation, and provide an electronic apparatus including the liquid crystal device.SOLUTION: In a liquid crystal panel 11 of a liquid crystal device 3, a liquid crystal layer 33 provided between a counter substrate 31 and an element substrate 32 has negative dielectric anisotropy and a liquid crystal molecule 33B is tilted from a normal direction with respect to a substrate surface. Outside the liquid crystal panel 11 is provided a first phase difference compensation element 12 having negative uniaxial refractive index anisotropy and having the optical axis along a thickness direction. Inside the liquid crystal panel 11 is provided integrally a second phase difference compensation element 50 having a structural birefringence layer with a slow axis orthogonal to the slow axis of the liquid crystal layer 33 on one of the counter substrate 31 and the element substrate 32.

Description

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

  In recent years, a liquid crystal device using a VA (Vertical Alignment) mode liquid crystal panel has attracted attention because it has excellent contrast when viewed from the front and a wide viewing angle can be obtained by simple viewing angle compensation. In particular, in a projection display device, a wide viewing angle means that the contrast becomes high in the angle range incident on the projection optical system, so that there is an effect of increasing the contrast of the projected image.

  Further, when performing viewing angle compensation in a VA mode liquid crystal device, a liquid crystal television or the like uses a phase difference compensation element (so-called C plate) having a negative uniaxial refractive index anisotropy along the thickness direction of the optical axis. The viewing angle is compensated. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9, in the VA mode liquid crystal device, the in-plane refractive index of the liquid crystal molecules 33B is smaller than the refractive index in the film thickness direction (nx = ny <nz), In contrast, the in-plane refractive index of the C plate is larger than the refractive index in the film thickness direction (nx ′ = ny ′> nz ′). Therefore, if the product (retardation) of the amount of birefringence and the thickness are equal to each other, the birefringences cancel each other when observed from an oblique direction, so that high contrast can be obtained in a wide angle range.

  On the other hand, the VA mode liquid crystal device used for the light valve in the projection display device has a very high definition. Therefore, the orientation control means (protrusions and electrode openings) used in the liquid crystal television are very small. Cannot be provided in a pixel. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 10A, the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules 33B is controlled so that the liquid crystal molecules 33B are inclined by several degrees from the normal direction of the substrate. When viewing angle compensation is not performed in such a VA mode liquid crystal device, FIG. As shown in FIG. 6B, the maximum contrast deviates from the center of the figure (normal direction with respect to the liquid crystal panel). Further, in the VA mode liquid crystal device in which the liquid crystal molecules 33B are pretilted, as shown in FIG. 10 (c), the viewing angle characteristic is shown in FIG. 10 (d) even when the C plate is arranged in parallel with the liquid crystal panel. As a result, the maximum contrast deviates from the center of the figure (normal direction to the liquid crystal panel).

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 11A, viewing angle compensation using a C plate and a phase difference compensation element (so-called O plate) having biaxial refractive index anisotropy has been proposed (Patent Document). 1). The O plate has biaxiality in a relationship of nx ″> ny ″> nz ″, and the axis is inclined from the film surface so that the phase difference of the VA mode liquid crystal panel including the viewing angle is compensated. According to this configuration, the viewing angle characteristic can be enhanced in the normal direction with respect to the liquid crystal panel as shown in FIG.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 11C, it has been proposed to perform viewing angle compensation by arranging the C plate in a posture inclined with respect to the liquid crystal panel (see Patent Document 2). According to such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 11D, the front phase difference can be compensated by the obliquely arranged C plate as shown in FIG. 11D, so that a high contrast and wide viewing angle characteristic can be obtained. In addition, in the viewing angle characteristics shown in FIGS. 10B and 10D and FIGS. 11B and 11D, the numerical value given to each region is a value indicating the logarithm of contrast.

  Further, it has been proposed that a structural birefringent layer is integrally provided on one of a pair of substrates constituting a liquid crystal panel, and the phase difference of the liquid crystal layer is compensated by the structural birefringent layer (see Patent Document 3). ).

JP 2008-164754 A JP 2009-37025 A Japanese Patent No. 4289597

  However, the configuration shown in FIG. 11A has a problem that the cost increases because two expensive phase difference compensation elements (C plate and O plate) need to be used. Further, in the configuration shown in FIG. 11C, there is a problem that it cannot be adopted when there is not enough space for the C plate to be properly tilted. Further, as in the configuration described in Patent Document 3, in the configuration in which the structural birefringent layer integrally provided on the pair of substrates constituting the liquid crystal panel is used as the phase difference compensation element, the structure birefringent layer is formed. Since it is difficult to form a desired phase difference compensation element due to process limitations and the like, it is difficult to perform sufficient phase difference compensation only with a phase difference compensation element made of a structural birefringence layer. is there.

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal device in which one phase difference compensation element is provided outside a liquid crystal panel without occupying a large space even when viewing angle compensation is performed using a phase difference compensation element. And providing an electronic apparatus including the liquid crystal device.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a first substrate, a second substrate disposed opposite to the first substrate, and the first substrate and the second substrate having negative dielectric anisotropy. A liquid crystal panel provided with a liquid crystal layer having a liquid crystal layer inclined obliquely from a normal direction to the substrate surface of the first substrate and the substrate surface of the second substrate, and disposed opposite to the liquid crystal panel, and having an optical axis Is provided integrally with at least one of the first substrate and the second substrate, the first retardation compensation element having negative uniaxial refractive index anisotropy along the thickness direction, And a second retardation compensation element comprising a structural birefringent layer having a slow axis perpendicular to the slow axis of the liquid crystal layer in a plan view of the liquid crystal panel.

  In the present invention, the first retardation compensation element is disposed outside the liquid crystal panel so as to face the liquid crystal panel, and at least one of the first substrate and the second substrate has a structural birefringence layer. The second phase difference compensation element is integrally provided, and the second phase difference compensation element has a slow axis orthogonal to the slow axis of the liquid crystal layer. For this reason, the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer can be compensated by the second phase difference compensation element. Therefore, if the front phase difference of the second phase difference compensation element is equal to the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer, the first phase difference compensation element may be arranged in parallel to the liquid crystal panel. Further, when the front phase difference of the second phase difference compensation element and the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer are different, the first phase difference compensation element is inclined with respect to the liquid crystal panel. Even in such a case, the inclination of the first phase difference compensation element with respect to the liquid crystal panel may be small. Therefore, even when one phase difference compensation element (first phase difference compensation element) is provided outside the liquid crystal panel and appropriate phase difference compensation is performed, the first phase difference compensation element does not occupy a large space.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that the front phase difference of the second phase difference compensation element and the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer are equal, and the first phase difference compensation element is arranged in parallel to the liquid crystal panel. According to such a configuration, the space occupied by the first phase difference compensation element can be minimized.

  In the present invention, the front phase difference of the second phase difference compensation element and the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer are different, and the first phase difference compensation element is disposed obliquely with respect to the liquid crystal panel. Can be adopted.

  In this case, the front phase difference of the second phase compensation element is smaller than the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer, and the first phase difference compensation element has the optical axis and the major axis of the liquid crystal molecules parallel to each other. It is preferable to incline in the direction or the orthogonal direction. Depending on the magnitude relationship between the front phase difference of the second phase difference compensation element and the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer, the orientation of the central axis when the first phase difference compensation element is tilted differs by 90 °. If the front phase difference of the phase difference compensation element is made smaller than the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer, the orientation of the central axis when the first phase difference compensation element is tilted is uniquely determined. For this reason, there is an advantage that work efficiency at the time of assembling the liquid crystal device can be improved.

  In the present invention, the liquid crystal panel is a reflective liquid crystal panel, and the first retardation compensation element is inclined in a direction in which the optical axis and the major axis of the liquid crystal molecules are parallel or orthogonal to each other. Can be adopted. In the case of a reflective liquid crystal panel, the viewing angle is originally wide, so that the first phase difference compensation element has a sufficient viewing angle regardless of whether the optical axis is tilted in a direction parallel to or orthogonal to the major axis of the liquid crystal molecules. Can be obtained.

  In the present invention, the liquid crystal panel may be a transmissive liquid crystal panel, and the first retardation compensation element may employ a configuration in which the optical axis and the major axis of the liquid crystal molecules are inclined in a parallel direction. it can. According to such a configuration, a wide viewing angle can be obtained.

  The liquid crystal device according to the present invention can be used in an electronic device such as a direct-view display device or a projection display device. When the electronic device is a projection display device, the projection display device supplies the liquid crystal device. A light source that emits light; and a projection optical system that projects light modulated by the liquid crystal device.

It is a schematic block diagram of the projection type display apparatus as an electronic device using the reflective liquid crystal device to which the present invention is applied. It is explanatory drawing of the liquid crystal device which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the 2nd phase difference compensation element which consists of a structure birefringence layer comprised by the liquid crystal device to which this invention is applied. 4 is a graph showing viewing angle characteristics of the liquid crystal device and the like according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing of the liquid crystal device which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram of the projection type display apparatus as an electronic device using the transmissive | pervious liquid crystal device to which this invention is applied. It is explanatory drawing of the liquid crystal device which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the liquid crystal device which concerns on Embodiment 4 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the liquid crystal device of VA mode. It is explanatory drawing of the VA mode liquid crystal device which attached the liquid crystal molecule to the pretilt. It is explanatory drawing of viewing angle compensation with respect to the liquid crystal device of VA mode which attached the pretilt to the liquid crystal molecule.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings to be referred to below, in order to make each component easy to see, the dimensional scale may be changed depending on the component.

[Embodiment 1: Application Example 1 to Reflective Liquid Crystal Device]
(Configuration of projection display device)
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a projection display device as an electronic apparatus using a reflective liquid crystal device to which the present invention is applied.

  A projection type display device 1 shown in FIG. 1 is a projector including three reflective liquid crystal light valves (reflective liquid crystal panels), and includes red light (R light), green light (G light), and blue light ( Illumination device 2 that emits light of three colors composed of B light), three sets of liquid crystal devices 3R, 3G, and 3B that form an image of each color light, and a color composition element 4 that synthesizes the three colors of light (color composition) An optical system) and a projection optical system 5 that projects the combined light onto a projection surface (not shown) such as a screen. The illumination device 2 includes a light source 6, an integrator optical system 7, and a color separation optical system 8. The liquid crystal devices 3R, 3G, and 3B include a polarizer 9, a wire grid polarization beam splitter 10, a reflective liquid crystal panel 11R, 11G, and 11B (light valve), a first phase difference compensation element 12, and an analyzer 13. And.

  In the projection display device 1, the white light emitted from the light source 6 enters the integrator optical system 7. The white light incident on the integrator optical system 7 is emitted with uniform illuminance and with the polarization state aligned with a predetermined linearly polarized light. The white light emitted from the integrator optical system 7 is separated into R, G, and B color lights by the color separation optical system 8 and enters different sets of liquid crystal devices 3R, 3G, and 3B for each color light. The color light incident on each of the liquid crystal devices 3R, 3G, and 3B becomes modulated light that is modulated based on an image signal of an image to be displayed. The three colors of modulated light emitted from the three sets of liquid crystal devices 3R, 3G, and 3B are combined by the color combining element 4 (color combining optical system) to become multicolor light and enter the projection optical system 5. The polychromatic light incident on the projection optical system 5 is projected onto a projection surface such as a screen. In this way, a full color image is displayed on the projection surface.

  In the projection display device 1 configured as described above, the light source 6 includes a light source lamp 15 and a paraboloid reflector 16. The light emitted from the light source lamp 15 is reflected in one direction by the parabolic reflector 16 to become a substantially parallel light beam, and enters the integrator optical system 7 as light source light. The light source lamp 15 is composed of, for example, a metal halide lamp, a xenon lamp, a high-pressure mercury lamp, a halogen lamp, or the like. Instead of the parabolic reflector 16, the reflector may be constituted by an elliptical reflector, a spherical reflector, or the like. A collimating lens that collimates the light emitted from the reflector may be used according to the shape of the reflector.

  The integrator optical system 7 includes a first lens array 17, a second lens array 18, a polarization conversion element 19, and a superimposing lens 20. The first lens array 17 has a plurality of microlenses 21 arranged on a surface substantially orthogonal to the optical axis L1 of the light source 6. Similar to the first lens array 17, the second lens array 18 has a plurality of microlenses 22. The microlenses 21 and 22 are arranged in a matrix, and the planar shape in a plane perpendicular to the optical axis L1 is similar to the illuminated area of the liquid crystal panels 11R, 11G, and 11B (substantially rectangular). The illuminated area is an area where a plurality of pixels are arranged in a matrix in the liquid crystal panels 11R, 11G, and 11B and contribute substantially to display.

  The polarization conversion element 19 has a plurality of polarization conversion units 23. Each polarization conversion unit 23 has a detailed structure, but includes a polarization separation film, a half-phase plate, and a reflection mirror. Each microlens 21 of the first lens array 17 has a one-to-one correspondence with each microlens 22 of the second lens array 18. Each micro lens 22 of the second lens array 18 has a one-to-one correspondence with each polarization conversion unit 23 of the polarization conversion element 19.

  The light source light incident on the integrator optical system 7 is spatially divided and incident on the plurality of microlenses 21 of the first lens array 17 and is collected for each light beam incident on the microlens 21. The light source light collected by each microlens 21 forms an image on the microlens 22 of the second lens array 18 corresponding to the microlens 21. That is, a secondary light source image is formed on each of the plurality of microlenses 22 of the second lens array 18. The light from the secondary light source image formed on the microlens 22 enters the polarization conversion unit 23 corresponding to the microlens 22.

  The light incident on the polarization conversion unit 23 is separated into P-polarized light and S-polarized light with respect to the polarization separation film. One of the separated polarized light (for example, S-polarized light) is reflected by a reflection mirror and then passed through a half-phase plate, so that the polarization state is converted and aligned with the other polarized light (for example, P-polarized light). Here, the polarization state of the light that has passed through the polarization conversion unit 23 is aligned with the polarization state that passes through the polarizer 9 described later. Light emitted from the plurality of polarization conversion units 23 is superimposed on the illuminated areas of the liquid crystal panels 11R, 11G, and 11B by the superimposing lens 20. The luminous fluxes spatially divided by the first lens array 17 illuminate substantially the entire illuminated area, whereby the illuminance distribution is averaged and the illuminance on the illuminated area is made uniform.

  The color separation optical system 8 includes a first dichroic mirror 25, a second dichroic mirror 26, a third dichroic mirror 27, a first reflection mirror 28, and a second reflection mirror 29 having a wavelength selection surface. The first dichroic mirror 25 has a spectral characteristic that reflects the red light LR and transmits the green light LG and the blue light LB. The second dichroic mirror 26 has a spectral characteristic that transmits the red light LR and reflects the green light LG and the blue light LB. The third dichroic mirror 27 has a spectral characteristic that reflects the green light LG and transmits the blue light LB. The first dichroic mirror 25 and the second dichroic mirror 26 are configured such that each wavelength selection surface is substantially orthogonal to each other, and each wavelength selection surface forms an angle of about 45 ° with the optical axis L2 of the integrator optical system 7. Are arranged as follows.

  The red light LR, the green light LG, and the blue light LB included in the light source light incident on the color separation optical system 8 are separated as follows, and are applied to the liquid crystal devices 3R, 3G, and 3B corresponding to the separated color lights. Incident. That is, the red light LR is transmitted through the second dichroic mirror 26, reflected by the first dichroic mirror 25, then reflected by the first reflecting mirror 28, and enters the liquid crystal device 3R for red light. The green light LG is transmitted through the first dichroic mirror 25, reflected by the second dichroic mirror 26, reflected by the second reflecting mirror 29, reflected by the third dichroic mirror 27, and then the liquid crystal device 3G for green light. Is incident on. The blue light LB is transmitted through the first dichroic mirror 25, reflected by the second dichroic mirror 26, then reflected by the second reflecting mirror 29, transmitted through the third dichroic mirror 27, and the liquid crystal device 3B for blue light. Is incident on. Each color light modulated by each liquid crystal device 3R, 3G, 3B is incident on the color composition element 4.

  The color synthesizing element 4 is constituted by a dichroic prism. The dichroic prism has a structure in which four triangular prisms are bonded to each other. The surface to be bonded in the triangular prism becomes the inner surface of the dichroic prism. On the inner surface of the dichroic prism, a mirror surface that reflects red light LR and transmits green light LG and a mirror surface that reflects blue light LB and transmits green light LG are formed orthogonal to each other. The green light LG that has entered the dichroic prism travels straight through the mirror surface and is emitted. The red light LR and the blue light LB incident on the dichroic prism are selectively reflected or transmitted by the mirror surface and emitted in the same direction as the emission direction of the green light LG. In this way, the three color lights (images) are superimposed and synthesized, and the synthesized color lights are enlarged and projected onto the screen or the like by the projection optical system 5. The projection optical system 5 has a first lens group 44 and a second lens group 45.

(Configuration of the liquid crystal device 3)
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the liquid crystal device 3 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2A and 2B are explanatory diagrams showing the positional relationship of each member constituting the liquid crystal device 3, and FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows typically a mode that the liquid crystal device 3 was cut | disconnected along the tilt direction of a liquid crystal molecule. Accordingly, FIG. 2B corresponds to a cross-sectional view of the liquid crystal device 3 cut at a position indicated by a one-dot chain line in FIG. 2A, illustration of the polarizer 9, the wire grid polarization beam splitter 10, the analyzer 13, and the like is omitted, and in FIG. 2B, illustration of the gate line 321 and the source line 322, etc. Is omitted.

  1 and 2, the liquid crystal devices 3R, 3G, and 3B are all unitized, and have the same configuration. The unitized three liquid crystal devices 3R, 3G, and 3B are bonded to, for example, three light incident surfaces of the color synthesis element 4. Here, since the configurations of the liquid crystal devices 3R, 3G, and 3B are substantially the same, the configurations of the liquid crystal device 3G and the liquid crystal panel 11G will be described below, and the configurations of the other liquid crystal devices 3R and 3B and the liquid crystal panels 11R and 11B are described. Description of is omitted. At that time, the liquid crystal devices 3R, 3G, and 3B and the liquid crystal panels 11R, 11G, and 11B will be described as the liquid crystal device 3 and the liquid crystal panel 11 without adding R, G, and B indicating the corresponding colors.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the liquid crystal device 3 includes a polarizer 9 (incident side polarizing plate), a wire grid polarization beam splitter 10, a liquid crystal panel 11, a first phase difference compensation element 12, and an analyzer 13 (exit). Side polarizing plate). In the liquid crystal device 3, the light Li separated from the light source light enters the polarizer 9. The polarizer 9 transmits linearly polarized light that vibrates in a predetermined direction. For example, the transmission axis is set so as to transmit P-polarized light with respect to the polarization separation surface 10 c of the wire grid polarization beam splitter 10. Hereinafter, the P polarization with respect to the polarization separation surface 10c of the wire grid polarization beam splitter 10 is simply referred to as P polarization, and the S polarization with respect to the polarization separation surface 10c of the wire grid polarization beam splitter 10 is simply referred to as S polarization. As described above, since the light source light that has passed through the integrator optical system 7 has the polarization state aligned with P-polarized light, almost all of the light Li passes through the polarizer 9 and enters the wire grid polarization beam splitter 10. .

  The wire grid polarization beam splitter 10 includes, for example, a glass substrate 10a and a wire grid 10b made of a plurality of metal wires and the like formed thereon. The plurality of wire grids 10b all extend in one direction, and are formed on the glass substrate 10a so as to be separated from each other substantially in parallel. The main surface of the glass substrate 10a on which the plurality of wire grids 10b are formed becomes the polarization separation surface 10c, the extending direction of the plurality of wire grids 10b is the reflection axis direction, and the arrangement direction of the plurality of wire grids 10b is the transmission axis direction. It is.

  The polarization separation surface 10c forms an angle of about 45 ° with respect to the central axis of the light Li incident on the polarization separation surface 10c. Of the light Li incident on the polarization separation surface 10c, S-polarized light whose polarization direction matches the reflection axis direction is reflected by the polarization separation surface 10c, and P-polarized light whose polarization direction matches the transmission axis direction passes through the polarization separation surface. . Since the light Li is substantially P-polarized by the action of the polarization conversion element 19 and the polarizer 9 of the integrator optical system 7, almost all of the light Li is transmitted through the polarization separation surface 10 c of the wire grid polarization beam splitter 10. Incident on the liquid crystal panel 11. In addition, it is desirable that the polarizer 9 and the analyzer 13 are also composed of wire grid type polarizing plates in consideration of heat resistance and the like.

(Configuration of the liquid crystal panel 11)
In FIG. 2, the liquid crystal panel 11 is a reflective liquid crystal panel, and the liquid crystal mode is a vertical alignment mode. The liquid crystal panel 11 includes a counter substrate 31 (first substrate), an element substrate 32 (second substrate) disposed to face the counter substrate 31, and a liquid crystal layer 33 sandwiched between the two substrates. ing. The liquid crystal layer 33 is made of a liquid crystal material having a negative dielectric anisotropy.

  On the substrate body 320 constituting the element substrate 32, a plurality of gate lines 321 and a plurality of source lines 322 are arranged to be orthogonal to each other, and a plurality of positions corresponding to the intersections of the gate lines 321 and the source lines 322 are arranged. Each pixel is provided with a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) 323 as a pixel switching element and a pixel electrode 36. In FIG. 2B, components such as the gate line 321, the source line 322, the TFT 323, and the like below the pixel electrode 36 are not shown. The pixel electrode 36 is made of, for example, a metal having a high light reflectance such as aluminum, silver, or an alloy thereof, and functions as a reflective electrode (reflective layer). On the other hand, a common electrode 39 made of a transparent conductive material such as indium tin oxide (hereinafter abbreviated as ITO) is provided on the substrate body 310 constituting the counter substrate 31.

An alignment film 37 is formed on the pixel electrode 36 of the element substrate 32. Similarly, an alignment film 38 is formed on the common electrode 39 of the counter substrate 31. These alignment films 37 and 38 are formed by vacuum deposition of silicon oxide (SiO ₂ ). For example, the degree of vacuum during vacuum deposition is 5 × 10 ⁻³ Pa and the substrate temperature is 100 ° C. In order to impart anisotropy to the alignment films 37 and 38, vapor deposition is performed from a direction inclined by 45 degrees from the substrate surface. In this way, a silicon oxide column (columnar structure) grows in a direction inclined by 70 degrees from the substrate surface in the same direction as the deposition direction. The alignment film 37 on the element substrate 32 and the alignment film 38 on the counter substrate 31 are arranged so that their alignment directions are antiparallel. With the alignment films 37 and 38, the liquid crystal molecules 33B of the liquid crystal layer 33 are aligned so as to be inclined obliquely from the normal direction to the substrate surface of the element substrate 32 and the substrate surface of the counter substrate 31 to form a predetermined pretilt angle. .

  In the liquid crystal device 3 of the present embodiment, the counter substrate 31 and the element substrate 32 are bonded to each other while being held in a gap of, for example, 2.0 μm, and a liquid crystal having negative dielectric anisotropy (Δn = 0.12) is interposed therebetween. A liquid crystal cell is formed by being injected. The liquid crystal molecules 33B are aligned between the alignment films 37 and 38 so as to form an angle of 85 ° (pretilt angle θp) with the substrate surface in the same direction as the column tilt direction (tilt direction) of the alignment films 37 and 38. ing. By providing the pretilt angle θp in this way, the liquid crystal molecules 33B have optical anisotropy, and the liquid crystal layer 33 made of the liquid crystal molecules 33B has a slow axis. In this embodiment, the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer 33 is 3.2 nm.

  The slow axis of the liquid crystal layer 33 is the long axis of the elliptical liquid crystal molecules 33B projected onto the counter substrate 31 or the element substrate 32 when the liquid crystal molecules 33B are viewed from the normal direction of the counter substrate 31 and the element substrate 32. Matches the length direction of. Further, the liquid crystal molecules 33B are inclined at the other end side with respect to one end side of the long axis by the applied pretilt angle. In this embodiment, the inclination is from the normal line of the element substrate 32 toward the counter substrate 31 side from the element substrate 32 side, and the direction inclined as viewed from the element substrate 32 is the tilt direction (direction of the alignment axis).

(Configuration of first phase difference compensation element 12)
A first phase difference compensation element 12 is disposed on the optical path between the wire grid polarization beam splitter 10 and the liquid crystal panel 11. That is, the wire grid polarization beam splitter 10 is disposed on the opposite side of the counter substrate 31 of the liquid crystal panel 11 from the element substrate 32, and the first phase difference compensation element 12 is disposed between the counter substrate 31 and the wire grid polarization beam splitter 10. Has been placed. In the liquid crystal device 3, the light Li transmitted through the wire grid polarization beam splitter 10 sequentially transmits through the first phase difference compensation element 12 and the counter substrate 31 of the liquid crystal panel 11, enters the liquid crystal layer 33, and then on the element substrate 32. Reflected and folded. At that time, the light Li is modulated while being transmitted through the liquid crystal layer 33 to become modulated light Lo, and is transmitted again through the counter substrate 31 and the first phase difference compensation element 12. Of the modulated light Lo transmitted again through the first phase difference compensation element 12, S-polarized light is reflected toward the analyzer 13 by the polarization separation surface 10c.

  Here, the liquid crystal device 3 is configured to be normally black, and the analyzer 13 and the polarizer 9 are arranged so as to be orthogonal to each other when their transmission axes are optically projected onto the liquid crystal panel 11. Has been. For this reason, among the modulated light Lo transmitted again through the first phase difference compensation element 12, the S-polarized light is reflected by the polarization separation surface 10c and then transmitted through the analyzer 13.

As described with reference to FIGS. 9 to 11, the first phase difference compensation element 12 is a C plate having a negative uniaxial refractive index anisotropy along an optical axis along the thickness direction. The first retardation compensation element 12 is formed of a multilayer film in which a high refractive index layer and a low refractive index layer are alternately stacked on a substrate by sputtering or the like, and the optical axis is a uniaxial negative along the thickness direction. It is a birefringent body having refractive index anisotropy. The first phase difference compensation element 12 has an optical axis perpendicular to the surface, and compensates for a phase difference of light in an oblique direction emitted from the liquid crystal panel 11. The high refractive index layer is made of TiO ₂ or ZrO ₂ which is a relatively high refractive index dielectric, and the low refractive index layer is made of SiO ₂ or MgF ₂ which is a low refractive index dielectric. In the first phase difference compensating element 12 having such a configuration, it is preferable that the thickness of each refractive index layer is thin in order to prevent the light passing therethrough from being reflected and interfered between the respective layers.

  In the first phase difference compensating element 12, as shown by a refractive index ellipsoid in FIGS. 9 to 11, the relationship between the refractive indexes in each direction is nx ′ = ny ′> nz ′, and is parallel to the optical axis. Since it is isotropic with respect to incident light, the phase difference cannot be compensated. On the other hand, the first phase difference compensator 12 optically compensates for the phase difference of the light emitted from the liquid crystal panel 11 with respect to the oblique component light, that is, the oblique component of the VA mode liquid crystal. The first phase difference compensation element 12 does not need to completely satisfy nx = ny, and may have a slight phase difference. Specifically, the front phase difference value is about 0 nm to 3 nm. Also good.

  The first phase difference compensation element 12 of this type preferably has a thickness direction retardation Rth of not less than 100 nm and not more than 300 nm. In this embodiment, the thickness direction retardation Rth of the first retardation compensation element 12 is 190 nm. It is.

Here, the retardation Rth in the thickness direction is expressed by the following equation: Rth = {(nx ′ + ny ′) / 2−nz ′} × d
Defined by Here, nx ′ and ny ′ represent the main refractive index in the plane direction, and nz ′ represents the main refractive index in the thickness direction. Further, d indicates the thickness of the first phase difference compensation element 12.

(Second phase difference compensation element: structure of structural birefringent layer)
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a second phase difference compensation element composed of a structural birefringence layer configured in the liquid crystal device 3 to which the present invention is applied. FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating the second phase difference compensation. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of an element (structural birefringence layer), and explanatory drawing, such as the azimuth | direction of the slow axis of a 2nd phase difference compensation element.

  As shown in FIG. 2B, in the liquid crystal device 3 of this embodiment, at least one of the counter substrate 31 (first substrate) and the element substrate 32 (second substrate) is formed of a structural birefringent layer. The second phase difference compensation element 50 is integrally formed. In the present embodiment, the second phase difference compensating element 50 is configured as an A plate having an optical axis in the in-plane direction on the inner surface side of the counter substrate 31 (the surface side facing the element substrate 32). More specifically, the second phase difference compensation element 50 is formed between the substrate body 310 of the counter substrate 31 and the common electrode 39.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the second phase difference compensating element 50 has a structure in which media having different refractive indexes n ₁ and n ₂ are alternately arranged at a constant period. Therefore, it has different effective refractive indexes n _TE and n _TM in a direction having a period and a direction having no period, and TE polarized light (TE wave (Transverse Electric Wave): the electric field component is transverse to the incident surface). ) And TM polarized light (TM wave (Transverse Magnetic Wave): the magnetic field component is transverse to the incident surface), the phase difference δ is expressed.

The effective refractive indexes n _TE , n _TM , and phase difference δ are expressed as follows: n _TE = {f · n ₁ · exp ² + (1−f) · n ₂ · exp ² } · exp ^(1/2)
n _TM = {f · n ₁ · exp ⁽⁻²⁾ + (1−f) · n ₂ · exp ⁽⁻²⁾ } · exp ^(−1/2)
δ = (n _TE −n _TM ) · H
In the above formula, P = period L = width f = degree of filling (f = L / P)
H = determined by height.

  Here, the slow axis of the second phase difference compensating element 50 is a direction having no period in the structural birefringent layer shown in FIG. 3A, and as shown in FIG. The slow axis of the phase difference compensation element 50 is a direction orthogonal to the slow axis of the liquid crystal layer 33. In the configuration example shown in FIG. 3B, when the extension direction of the wire grid 10 b is optically projected onto the liquid crystal panel 11 in the wire grid polarization beam splitter 10 (WG-PBS) as a reference. The azimuth φ1 of the transmission axis of the analyzer 13 is 0 °, the azimuth φ2 of the transmission axis of the wire grid polarization beam splitter 10 and the azimuth φ3 of the transmission axis of the polarizer 9 are 90 ° counterclockwise, The slow axis azimuth φ0 of the liquid crystal layer 33 is 45 ° counterclockwise, and the slow axis azimuth φ50 of the second phase difference compensation element 50 is 135 ° counterclockwise.

The structural birefringent layer (second phase difference compensation element 50) shown in FIG. 3A is formed by, for example, photolithography after forming the first medium layer 51 having a refractive index n ₂ in the manufacturing process of the counter substrate 31. Using the technique and the etching technique, a plurality of grooves 53 perpendicular to the substrate surface of the counter substrate 31 are periodically formed in the first medium layer 51, and then the refractive index is filled so as to fill the grooves 53. This can be realized by forming the second medium layer 52 having n ₁ . More specifically, after forming the first medium layer 51 made of a high refractive index material such as TiO ₂ or ZrO ₂ , a plurality of grooves 53 are formed in the first medium layer 51 using a photolithography technique and an etching technique. Can be realized by forming the second medium layer 52 made of a low refractive index material such as SiO ₂ or MgF ₂ so as to fill the groove 53. At this time, for example, two-beam interference exposure is used as a fine photolithography technique, and anisotropic dry etching is used as a fine etching technique, for example.

(Viewing angle characteristics of the liquid crystal device 3)
FIG. 4 is a graph showing the viewing angle characteristics of the liquid crystal device or the like according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 4A and 4B are the viewing angle characteristics of the liquid crystal device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a graph showing a viewing angle characteristic of a liquid crystal device according to a comparative example with respect to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the viewing angle characteristics shown in FIG. 4, the numerical value given to each region is a value indicating the logarithm of contrast.

  In the liquid crystal device 3 of this embodiment, in the liquid crystal panel 11, the counter substrate 31 and the element substrate 32 are bonded to each other while being held in a gap of 2.0 μm, for example, and a liquid crystal having a negative dielectric anisotropy (Δn = Since 0.12) is injected, the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer 33 is 3.2 nm. On the other hand, the front phase difference of the second retardation compensation element 50 (structural birefringence layer) is 3.2 nm, similar to the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer 33, and the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer 33 is equal to the second phase difference. The front phase difference of the phase difference compensation element 50 is equal. Therefore, in this embodiment, since the front phase difference of the liquid crystal panel 11 can be canceled by the front phase difference of the second phase difference compensation element 50, the first phase difference compensation element 12 is arranged in parallel to the liquid crystal panel 11. Yes.

  The viewing angle characteristics of the liquid crystal device 3 having such a configuration are as shown in FIG. 4A, and the maximum contrast is located in the center of the figure (in the normal direction to the liquid crystal panel 11). Further, the contrast when the liquid crystal device 3 was used for the projection display device 1 was 15000. On the other hand, FIG. 4B shows the viewing angle when the first phase difference compensation element 12 is arranged in parallel to the liquid crystal panel 11 without providing the second phase difference compensation element 50 in the liquid crystal panel 11. The contrast was 3200 when the liquid crystal device 3 according to the comparative example was used for the projection display device 1. Thus, according to this embodiment, it can be seen that the viewing angle characteristics and contrast of the liquid crystal device 3 are greatly improved.

(Main effects of this form)
As described above, in the liquid crystal device 3 and the projection display device 1 according to the present embodiment, the first phase difference compensation element 12 is disposed outside the liquid crystal panel 11 so as to face the liquid crystal panel 11, and the counter substrate. 31 and the element substrate 32, the counter substrate 31 is integrally provided with a second phase difference compensation element 50 made of a structural birefringence layer, and the second phase difference compensation element 50 is a slow axis of the liquid crystal layer 33. A slow axis perpendicular to the axis is provided. Therefore, the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer 33 can be compensated by the second phase difference compensation element 50. In this embodiment, since the front phase difference of the second phase difference compensation element 50 and the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer 33 are equal, the first phase difference compensation element 12 may be arranged in parallel to the liquid crystal panel 11. Therefore, even when one phase difference compensation element (first phase difference compensation element) is provided outside the liquid crystal panel and appropriate viewing angle compensation is performed, the first phase difference compensation element 12 does not occupy a large space. Further, if the first phase difference compensation element 12 is arranged in parallel to the liquid crystal panel 11, no troublesome tilt adjustment is required, so that the efficiency in assembling the liquid crystal device 3 and the projection display device 1 is improved. be able to.

[Embodiment 2: Application Example 2 to Reflective Liquid Crystal Device]
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the liquid crystal device 3 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 5A and 5B show a state in which the liquid crystal device 3 is cut along the tilt direction of the liquid crystal molecules 33B. 3 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a graph and viewing angle characteristics of the liquid crystal device 3. FIG. Since the basic configuration of this embodiment is the same as that of Embodiment 1, common portions are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  In Embodiment 1, the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer 33 and the front phase difference of the second phase difference compensation element 50 are both 3.2 nm, and the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer 33 and the second phase difference compensation element 50 are both. However, in this embodiment, the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer 33 and the front phase difference of the second phase difference compensation element 50 are different. For this reason, in the present embodiment, the first phase difference compensation element 12 is disposed obliquely with respect to the liquid crystal panel 11 as indicated by a solid line in FIG.

  More specifically, in the liquid crystal device 3 of the present embodiment, the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer 33 is 3.2 nm, whereas the front phase difference of the second phase difference compensation element 50 is the front of the liquid crystal layer 33. It is smaller than the phase difference and is 2.4 nm. For this reason, the first phase difference compensating element 12 is inclined toward the direction in which the optical axis is parallel to the liquid crystal molecules 33B. In the present embodiment, the first phase difference compensation element 12 is inclined at an angle of 1.5 ° around an axis perpendicular to the tilt direction of the liquid crystal molecules 33B, as viewed from the parallel posture indicated by the dotted line.

  The viewing angle characteristic of the liquid crystal device 3 having such a configuration is as shown in FIG. 5B, and the maximum contrast is located in the center of the figure (normal direction with respect to the liquid crystal panel 11). Further, the contrast when the liquid crystal device 3 of the present embodiment was used for the projection display device 1 was 15000.

  In the present embodiment, the first phase difference compensation element 12 has a direction in which the optical axis is parallel to the liquid crystal molecules 33B around an axis orthogonal to the tilt direction of the liquid crystal molecules 33B, as viewed from the parallel posture indicated by the dotted line. The optical axis is inclined at an angle of 1.5 ° toward the direction perpendicular to the liquid crystal molecules 33B, as shown by a one-dot chain line in FIG. 5A. May be adopted. Even when such a configuration is adopted, the reflection type liquid crystal device 3 originally has a wide viewing angle, so there is no problem of a reduction in viewing angle or the like.

  As described above, also in the liquid crystal device 3 and the projection display device 1 of the present embodiment, the first phase difference compensation element 12 is arranged outside the liquid crystal panel 11 so as to face the liquid crystal panel 11 as in the first embodiment. In addition, of the counter substrate 31 and the element substrate 32, the counter substrate 31 is integrally provided with a second phase difference compensation element 50 made of a structural birefringence layer, and the second phase difference compensation element 50 includes a liquid crystal layer. It has a slow axis orthogonal to 33 slow axes. Therefore, the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer 33 can be compensated by the second phase difference compensation element 50.

  In this embodiment, since the front phase difference of the second phase difference compensation element 50 and the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer 33 are different, the liquid crystal panel 11 is inclined obliquely with respect to the first phase difference compensation element 12. Even in such a case, the inclination of the first phase difference compensating element 12 with respect to the liquid crystal panel 11 may be small. That is, when the second phase difference compensation element 50 is not provided, the C plate needs to be inclined by 5 ° with respect to the liquid crystal panel 11. However, according to the present embodiment, the first phase difference compensation element 12 is disposed with respect to the liquid crystal panel 11. And tilt by 1.5 °. Therefore, the space occupied by the first phase difference compensation element 12 may be narrow.

  Further, when the front phase difference of the second phase difference compensation element 50 and the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer 33 are made identical, the front phase difference of the second phase difference compensation element 50 is larger than the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer 33. In some cases, the direction in which the first phase difference compensation element 12 is tilted differs by 90 °. However, in this embodiment, since the target value of the front phase difference of the second phase difference compensation element 50 is set smaller than the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer 33, the direction in which the first phase difference compensation element 12 is tilted is uniquely determined. . Therefore, there is an advantage that the working efficiency at the time of assembling the liquid crystal device 3 can be improved.

[Embodiment 3: Application Example 1 to Transmission Type Liquid Crystal Device]
FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of a projection display device as an electronic apparatus using the transmissive liquid crystal device 3 to which the present invention is applied. Of the members used in the projection display device 100 shown in FIG. 6, members having the same functions as those used in the projection display device 1 shown in FIG.

  Similarly to the first embodiment, the projection display device 100 shown in FIG. 6 also irradiates light on a screen or the like provided on the viewer side and observes the light reflected by this screen, so-called projection type projection display. Device. The projection display device 100 includes a light source unit 130 including a light source 6, dichroic mirrors 113 and 114, a transmissive liquid crystal device 3 (liquid crystal devices 3R, 3G, and 3B), a projection optical system 5, and a color composition element. 4 (color synthesis optical system) and a relay system 120.

  The light source 6 is composed of an ultrahigh pressure mercury lamp that supplies light including red light R, green light G, and blue light B. The dichroic mirror 113 is configured to transmit the red light R from the light source 6 and reflect the green light G and the blue light B. The dichroic mirror 114 is configured to transmit the blue light B and reflect the green light G out of the green light G and the blue light B reflected by the dichroic mirror 113. Thus, the dichroic mirrors 113 and 114 constitute a color separation optical system that separates the light emitted from the light source 6 into red light R, green light G, and blue light B.

  Here, between the dichroic mirror 113 and the light source 6, an integrator 121 and a polarization conversion element 122 are sequentially arranged from the light source 6. The integrator 121 is configured to uniformize the illuminance distribution of the light emitted from the light source 6. The polarization conversion element 122 is configured to change the light from the light source 6 into polarized light having a specific vibration direction such as S-polarized light.

  The liquid crystal device 3R is a transmissive liquid crystal device that modulates red light transmitted through the dichroic mirror 113 and reflected by the reflecting mirror 123 in accordance with an image signal. The liquid crystal device 3R includes a λ / 2 phase difference plate 151, a polarizer 9, a first phase difference compensation element 12, a red liquid crystal panel 11R, and an analyzer 13. Here, since the red light R incident on the liquid crystal device 3R does not change the polarization of the light even if it passes through the dichroic mirror 113, it remains the S-polarized light, and the λ / 2 phase difference plate 151 is used for the liquid crystal device 3R. Is an optical element that converts S-polarized light incident on P to P-polarized light. The polarizer 9 is a polarizing plate that blocks S-polarized light and transmits P-polarized light. The red liquid crystal panel 11R is configured to convert P-polarized light into S-polarized light (circularly polarized light or elliptically polarized light in the case of halftone) by modulation according to the image signal. Further, the analyzer 13 is a polarizing plate that blocks P-polarized light and transmits S-polarized light. Therefore, the liquid crystal device 3 </ b> R is configured to modulate the red light R in accordance with the image signal and emit the modulated red light R toward the color synthesis element 4.

  The liquid crystal device 3G is a transmissive liquid crystal device that modulates the green light G reflected by the dichroic mirror 114 after being reflected by the dichroic mirror 113 in accordance with an image signal. The liquid crystal device 3G includes a polarizer 9, a first phase difference compensation element 12, a green liquid crystal panel 11G, and an analyzer 13. Here, since the green light G incident on the liquid crystal device 3G is reflected by the dichroic mirror 114, the polarization of the light does not change, and thus remains the S-polarized light. The polarizer 9 is a polarizing plate that blocks P-polarized light and transmits S-polarized light. The green liquid crystal panel 11G is configured to convert S-polarized light into P-polarized light (circularly polarized light or elliptically polarized light in the case of halftone) by modulation according to the image signal. Further, the analyzer 13 is a polarizing plate that blocks S-polarized light and transmits P-polarized light. Accordingly, the liquid crystal device 3G is configured to modulate the green light G in accordance with the image signal and emit the modulated green light G toward the color synthesis element 4.

  The liquid crystal device 3B is a transmissive liquid crystal device that modulates the blue light B that is reflected by the dichroic mirror 113, passes through the dichroic mirror 114, and passes through the relay system 120 in accordance with an image signal. The liquid crystal device 3B includes a λ / 2 phase difference plate 151, a polarizer 9, a first phase difference compensation element 12, a blue liquid crystal panel 11B, and an analyzer 13. Here, since the blue light B incident on the liquid crystal device 3B is reflected by the two reflecting mirrors 125a and 125b (to be described later) of the relay system 120 after being reflected by the dichroic mirror 113 and transmitted through the dichroic mirror 114, the S-polarized light. The λ / 2 retardation plate 151 is an optical element that converts S-polarized light incident on the liquid crystal device 3B into P-polarized light. The polarizer 9 is a polarizing plate that blocks S-polarized light and transmits P-polarized light. The blue liquid crystal panel 11B is configured to convert P-polarized light into S-polarized light (circularly polarized light or elliptically polarized light in the case of halftone) by modulation according to the image signal. Further, the analyzer 13 is a polarizing plate that blocks P-polarized light and transmits S-polarized light. Therefore, the liquid crystal device 3 </ b> B is configured to modulate the blue light B according to the image signal and emit the modulated blue light B toward the color synthesis element 4. In the color synthesis element 4, the three color lights (images) are superimposed and synthesized, and the synthesized color light is enlarged and projected onto the screen or the like by the projection optical system 5.

  The relay system 120 includes relay lenses 124a and 124b and reflection mirrors 125a and 125b. The relay lenses 124a and 124b are provided to prevent light loss due to the long optical path of the blue light B. Here, the relay lens 124a is disposed between the dichroic mirror 114 and the reflection mirror 125a. The relay lens 124b is disposed between the reflection mirrors 125a and 125b. The reflection mirror 125a is disposed so as to reflect the blue light B transmitted through the dichroic mirror 114 and emitted from the relay lens 124a toward the relay lens 124b. The reflection mirror 125b is disposed so as to reflect the blue light B emitted from the relay lens 124b toward the liquid crystal device 3B.

(Configuration of the liquid crystal device 3)
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the liquid crystal device 3 according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. FIGS. 7A and 7B show a state in which the liquid crystal device 3 is cut along the tilt direction of the liquid crystal molecules 33B. It is explanatory drawing shown typically and the graph which shows the viewing angle characteristic. Since the basic configuration of this embodiment is the same as that of Embodiment 1, common portions are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted. In FIG. 7A, the gate line 321 and the source line 322 are not shown.

  In FIG. 6 and FIG. 7A, the liquid crystal devices 3R, 3G, and 3B are all unitized and have the same configuration. The unitized three liquid crystal devices 3R, 3G, and 3B are bonded to, for example, three light incident surfaces of the color synthesis element 4. Here, since the configurations of the liquid crystal devices 3R, 3G, and 3B are substantially the same, the configurations of the liquid crystal device 3G and the liquid crystal panel 11G will be described below. At that time, the liquid crystal devices 3R, 3G, and 3B and the liquid crystal panels 11R, 11G, and 11B will be described as the liquid crystal device 3 and the liquid crystal panel 11 without adding R, G, and B indicating the corresponding colors.

  7A, the liquid crystal device 3 includes a polarizer 9 (incident side polarizing plate), a first phase difference compensating element 12, a liquid crystal panel 11, and an analyzer 13 (outgoing side polarizing plate) in this order. It has an arranged structure. In the liquid crystal device 3, the S-polarized light that has passed through the polarizer 9 enters the liquid crystal panel 11 via the first phase difference compensation element 12. In the liquid crystal panel 11 of this embodiment, the substrate body 310 of the counter substrate 31 (first substrate), the common electrode 39, the substrate body 320 of the element substrate 32 (second substrate), the pixel electrode 36, and the like all have translucency. The liquid crystal panel 11 is a transmissive liquid crystal panel. In addition, the liquid crystal device 3 is configured to be normally black, and the analyzer 13 and the polarizer 9 are disposed so as to be orthogonal when the transmission axes of each other are optically projected onto the liquid crystal panel 11. ing. For this reason, of the modulated light Lo transmitted through the liquid crystal panel 11, P-polarized light is transmitted through the analyzer 13.

  Also in this embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the liquid crystal mode is a vertical alignment mode, and the liquid crystal layer 33 is made of a liquid crystal material having a negative dielectric anisotropy. Similarly to the first embodiment, the alignment films 37 and 38 are oblique vapor deposition films such as silicon oxide, and the liquid crystal molecules 33B of the liquid crystal layer 33 are formed on the substrate surface of the element substrate 32 and the substrate surface of the counter substrate 31. It is tilted obliquely from the normal direction to and is oriented to form a pretilt angle θp of 85 °. By providing the pretilt angle θp in this way, the liquid crystal molecules 33B have optical anisotropy, and the liquid crystal layer 33 made of the liquid crystal molecules 33B has a slow axis.

  In the liquid crystal device 3 of the present embodiment, the counter substrate 31 and the element substrate 32 are bonded to each other while being held in a gap of, for example, 2.5 μm, and a liquid crystal (Δn = 0.14) having a negative dielectric anisotropy is interposed therebetween. A liquid crystal cell is formed by being injected. In this embodiment, the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer 33 is 2.4 nm.

  As in the first embodiment, the first phase difference compensation element 12 is a C plate having a negative uniaxial refractive index anisotropy along the thickness direction of the optical axis. The thickness direction retardation Rth is 190 nm.

In the liquid crystal device 3 configured as described above, at least one of the counter substrate 31 (first substrate) and the element substrate 32 (second substrate) is provided on the structural composite described with reference to FIG. A second retardation compensation element 50 made of a refractive layer is integrally formed. In this embodiment, the second phase difference compensation element 50 is configured as an A plate having an optical axis in the in-plane direction between the substrate body 310 and the common electrode 39 of the counter substrate 31. The second phase difference compensation element 50 has a structure in which media having different refractive indexes n ₁ and n ₂ are alternately arranged at a constant period, and the direction having no period is a slow axis. Further, in this embodiment, as described with reference to FIG. 3B, the slow axis of the second phase difference compensation element 50 is a direction orthogonal to the slow axis of the liquid crystal layer 33, and is detected. The azimuth φ1 of the transmission axis of the photon 13 is 0 °, the azimuth φ2 of the transmission axis of the wire grid polarization beam splitter 10 and the azimuth φ3 of the transmission axis of the polarizer 9 are 90 ° counterclockwise, and the liquid crystal layer The slow axis azimuth φ0 of 33 is 45 ° counterclockwise, and the slow axis azimuth φ50 of the second phase difference compensation element 50 is 135 ° counterclockwise.

  Here, the front phase difference of the second retardation compensation element 50 (structural birefringence layer) is 2.4 nm, similar to the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer 33, and the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer 33 and the second phase difference. The front phase difference of the compensation element 50 is equal. Therefore, in this embodiment, since the front phase difference of the liquid crystal panel 11 can be canceled by the front phase difference of the second phase difference compensation element 50, the first phase difference compensation element 12 is arranged in parallel to the liquid crystal panel 11. Yes.

  The viewing angle characteristics of the liquid crystal device 3 having such a configuration are as shown in FIG. 7B, and the maximum contrast is located in the center of the figure (in the normal direction to the liquid crystal panel 11). The contrast when the liquid crystal device 3 was used for the projection display device 100 was 5000. On the other hand, the viewing angle characteristic when the first phase difference compensation element 12 is arranged in parallel to the liquid crystal panel 11 without providing the second phase difference compensation element 50 in the liquid crystal panel 11 is shown in FIG. The contrast when the liquid crystal device 3 according to the comparative example was used in the projection display device 100 was 2800. Thus, according to this embodiment, it can be seen that the viewing angle characteristics and contrast of the liquid crystal device 3 are greatly improved.

(Main effects of this form)
As described above, in the liquid crystal device 3 and the projection display device 100 of the present embodiment, the first phase difference compensation element 12 is arranged outside the liquid crystal panel 11 so as to face the liquid crystal panel 11 as in the first embodiment. Among the counter substrate 31 and the element substrate 32, the counter substrate 31 is integrally provided with a second phase difference compensation element 50 made of a structural birefringence layer, and the second phase difference compensation element 50 is The liquid crystal layer 33 has a slow axis perpendicular to the slow axis. Therefore, the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer 33 can be compensated by the second phase difference compensation element 50. In this embodiment, since the front phase difference of the second phase difference compensation element 50 and the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer 33 are equal, the first phase difference compensation element 12 may be arranged in parallel to the liquid crystal panel 11. Therefore, even when one phase difference compensation element (first phase difference compensation element) is provided outside the liquid crystal panel and appropriate viewing angle compensation is performed, the first phase difference compensation element 12 does not occupy a large space. Further, if the first phase difference compensation element 12 is arranged in parallel to the liquid crystal panel 11, no troublesome tilt adjustment is required, so that the efficiency in assembling the liquid crystal device 3 and the projection display device 100 is improved. be able to.

[Embodiment 4: Application Example 2 to Transmission Type Liquid Crystal Device]
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the liquid crystal device 3 according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention. FIGS. 8A, 8B, and 8C show the liquid crystal device 3 along the tilt direction of the liquid crystal molecules 33B. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that it cut | disconnected, the graph which shows the viewing angle characteristic, and the graph which shows the viewing angle characteristic in another form. Since the basic configuration of this embodiment is the same as that of Embodiments 1 and 3, common portions are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted. Further, in FIG. 8A, the gate line 321 and the source line 322 are not shown.

  In Embodiment 3, the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer 33 and the front phase difference of the second phase difference compensation element 50 are both 2.4 nm, and the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer 33 and the second phase difference compensation element 50 are both. However, in this embodiment, since the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer 33 and the front phase difference of the second phase difference compensation element 50 are different, the solid phase is shown in FIG. As described above, the first phase difference compensation element 12 is disposed obliquely with respect to the liquid crystal panel 11.

  More specifically, in the liquid crystal device 3 of the present embodiment, the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer 33 is 2.4 nm, whereas the front phase difference of the second retardation compensation element 50 is the front of the liquid crystal layer 33. It is smaller than the phase difference and 1.8 nm. For this reason, the first phase difference compensating element 12 is inclined toward the direction in which the optical axis is parallel to the liquid crystal molecules 33B. In this embodiment, the first phase difference compensation element 12 is inclined by 2.5 ° around an axis orthogonal to the tilt direction of the liquid crystal molecules 33B, as viewed from the parallel posture indicated by the dotted line.

  The viewing angle characteristic of the liquid crystal device 3 having such a configuration is as shown in FIG. 8B, and the maximum contrast is located in the center of the figure (normal direction with respect to the liquid crystal panel 11). Further, the contrast when the liquid crystal device 3 of the present embodiment was used for the projection display device 100 was 5000.

  Note that, as indicated by a one-dot chain line in FIG. 8A, a configuration in which the optical axis is inclined at an angle of 2.5 ° toward the direction orthogonal to the liquid crystal molecules 33B may be employed. When such a configuration is adopted, the viewing angle characteristic of the liquid crystal device 3 is as shown in FIG. 8C, and the maximum contrast is located in the center of the figure (normal direction with respect to the liquid crystal panel 11). However, when the optical axis is inclined 2.5 ° toward the direction orthogonal to the liquid crystal molecules 33B, the contrast when the liquid crystal device 3 is used in the projection display device 100 is reduced to 3500. Therefore, in the case of the transmissive liquid crystal device 3, it is preferable to tilt the first retardation compensation element 12 in a direction in which the optical axis is parallel to the liquid crystal molecules 33B.

  As described above, in the liquid crystal device 3 and the projection display device 100 of the present embodiment, the first phase difference compensation element 12 is arranged outside the liquid crystal panel 11 so as to face the liquid crystal panel 11 as in the first, second, and third embodiments. Of the counter substrate 31 and the element substrate 32, the counter substrate 31 is integrally provided with a second phase difference compensation element 50 made of a structural birefringence layer, and the second phase difference compensation element 50 is provided. Has a slow axis orthogonal to the slow axis of the liquid crystal layer 33. Therefore, the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer 33 can be compensated by the second phase difference compensation element 50.

  Further, in this embodiment, since the front phase difference of the second phase difference compensation element 50 and the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer 33 are different as in the second embodiment, the liquid crystal panel is used for the first phase difference compensation element 12. 11 is inclined obliquely. Even in such a case, the inclination of the first phase difference compensating element 12 with respect to the liquid crystal panel 11 may be small. That is, when the second phase difference compensation element 50 is not provided, the C plate needs to be inclined by 5 ° with respect to the liquid crystal panel 11. However, according to the present embodiment, the first phase difference compensation element 12 is disposed with respect to the liquid crystal panel 11. Can be tilted 2.5 °. Therefore, the space occupied by the first phase difference compensation element 12 may be narrow.

  Further, when the front phase difference of the second phase difference compensation element 50 and the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer 33 are made identical, the front phase difference of the second phase difference compensation element 50 is larger than the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer 33. In this case, the direction in which the first phase difference compensation element 12 is tilted differs by 90 °, but the target value of the front phase difference of the second phase difference compensation element 50 is set in advance. If the phase difference is set smaller than the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer 33, the direction in which the first phase difference compensation element 12 is tilted is uniquely determined. Therefore, there is an advantage that the working efficiency at the time of assembling the liquid crystal device 3 can be improved.

[Other embodiments]
In any of the first to fourth embodiments, the second retardation compensation element formed of the structural birefringence layer on at least one of the counter substrate 31 (first substrate) and the element substrate 32 (second substrate). When forming the two-piece 50 integrally, the second phase difference compensation element 50 is formed on the inner surface side (the surface side facing the element substrate 32) of the counter substrate 31, but the outer surface side (facing the element substrate 32) of the counter substrate 31. The second phase difference compensating element 50 may be formed on the surface side opposite to the surface.

  In the case of the transmissive liquid crystal device 3, the inner surface side (the surface side facing the counter substrate 31) of the element substrate 32 or the outer surface side of the element substrate 32 (the surface side opposite to the surface facing the counter substrate 31). Alternatively, the second phase difference compensation element 50 may be formed.

(Other electronic devices)
In the said embodiment, although the projection type display apparatuses 1 and 100 were illustrated as an electronic device using the liquid crystal device 3 which concerns on this invention, electronic devices, such as a head mounted display (HMD) and a viewfinder (EVF), You may apply this invention to the direct view type | mold display which comprises a display part in electronic devices, such as a portable information terminal. In this case, a color filter layer may be provided for the liquid crystal panel 11.

  1, 100 ··· Projection type display device, 3, 3R, 3G, 3B ··· Liquid crystal device, ··· Color synthesis element (color synthesis optical system), ··· Projection optical system, 6 ·· Light source, 11, 11R , 11G, 11B... Liquid crystal panel, 12.. First phase compensation element, 31.. Counter substrate (first substrate), 32 .. element substrate (second substrate), 33 .. liquid crystal layer, 33 B. Liquid crystal molecules, 50 ·· Second retardation compensation element

Claims (8)

A first substrate, a second substrate disposed opposite the first substrate, and a negative dielectric anisotropy provided between the first substrate and the second substrate, wherein liquid crystal molecules are disposed on the first substrate; A liquid crystal panel including a liquid crystal layer inclined obliquely from a normal direction to a substrate surface and a substrate surface of the second substrate;
A first phase difference compensator disposed opposite to the liquid crystal panel and having an optical axis having negative uniaxial refractive index anisotropy along the thickness direction;
A structural birefringent layer provided integrally with at least one of the first substrate and the second substrate and having a slow axis perpendicular to the slow axis of the liquid crystal layer in plan view of the liquid crystal panel; A second phase difference compensation element,
A liquid crystal device comprising: The front phase difference of the second retardation compensation element and the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer are equal,
The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the first phase difference compensation element is arranged in parallel to the liquid crystal panel. The front phase difference of the second phase difference compensation element is different from the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer,
The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the first phase difference compensation element is disposed obliquely with respect to the liquid crystal panel. The front phase difference of the second retardation compensation element is smaller than the front phase difference of the liquid crystal layer,
4. The liquid crystal device according to claim 3, wherein the first phase difference compensating element is inclined in a direction in which the optical axis and a major axis of the liquid crystal molecule are parallel or orthogonal to each other. The liquid crystal panel is a reflective liquid crystal panel,
5. The liquid crystal device according to claim 4, wherein the first phase difference compensating element is inclined in a direction in which the optical axis and the major axis of the liquid crystal molecules are parallel or orthogonal to each other. The liquid crystal panel is a transmissive liquid crystal panel,
5. The liquid crystal device according to claim 4, wherein the first phase difference compensating element is inclined in a direction in which the optical axis and the major axis of the liquid crystal molecules are parallel to each other.   An electronic apparatus comprising the liquid crystal device according to claim 1.   The projection display device according to claim 7, further comprising: a light source that emits light to be supplied to the liquid crystal device; and a projection optical system that projects the light modulated by the liquid crystal device.