JPH04316015A - Manufacture of liquid crystal electooptical device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable using of a thin glass or film for a substrate and exact and simple control of a cell thickness and to eliminate a gap member. CONSTITUTION:A liquid crystal material 103 in solid phase is overlaid on the substrate 101 (b), and interposed between this substrate 101 and an opposite substrate 105, sealed (d), then, heated to raise temperature and convert it into a liquid phase (e), and the liquid crystal panel is formed.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal electro-optical device.

0002

[Prior Art] A conventional method for manufacturing a liquid crystal electro-optical device is as follows:
As shown in FIG. 4, a gap material 402 is sandwiched between two substrates 401 and 405 coated with a sealing material 404, and the distance between the substrates (hereinafter referred to as cell thickness) is adjusted by applying pressure to the substrates. After the size of the material was sized, the liquid crystal material 406 was injected during that time.

0003

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the conventional manufacturing method of liquid crystal electro-optical devices, the distance between the substrates (cell thickness) is adjusted by applying pressure to the substrates, so only solid substrates can be used. The problem was that I couldn't do it. Furthermore, the gap material causes unnecessary scattering of light and uneven cell thickness. The present invention is intended to solve these problems, and its purpose is to provide a method for manufacturing a high-performance liquid crystal electro-optical device using simple means.

0004

[Means for Solving the Problems] A first method of manufacturing a liquid crystal electro-optical device of the present invention includes the steps of: a) laminating a solid-phase liquid crystal material on a first clamping member; and b) a second clamping member. The method is characterized by comprising the steps of: holding the liquid crystal material between the members and a first holding member; and c) converting the liquid crystal material into a liquid crystal phase.

[0005]

[Examples] The details of the present invention will be explained below with reference to Examples.

(Example 1) FIG. 1 shows the steps of a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal electro-optical device according to the present invention.

First, polyimide is applied to a substrate 101 provided with a TFT element, and the surface of the TFT is flattened by polishing. After alignment treatment by rubbing, liquid crystal material 1 in liquid crystal phase
02 is applied to a uniform thickness by spin coating. The thickness of the liquid crystal layer is 5.0 μm. The liquid crystal material used in this example has a phase transition temperature from a solid phase to a liquid crystal phase of -15°C, and the volumetric expansion coefficient at this time is 0.1% or less (Figure 1 (
a)).

Next, the temperature of the substrate is lowered to -20° C. to change the liquid crystal material from the liquid crystal phase to the solid phase. The liquid crystal material in the area where the sealant is applied is removed by laser light irradiation (Figure 1 (
b)).

An ultraviolet-curable encapsulant 104, which has low viscosity at low temperatures and does not change in volume upon curing, is applied to the area from which the liquid crystal material has been removed (FIG. 1(c)).

[0010] The substrate 105 on which the electrodes and alignment film are attached is heated to -20°C.
℃ and stacked on the liquid crystal material 103 while expelling air between the liquid crystal material 103 and the liquid crystal material. (Figure 1(d)).

After the sealing material is cured by irradiation with ultraviolet rays, the temperature is gradually raised to return the liquid crystal material 103, which was in a solid phase, to a liquid crystal phase (FIG. 1(e)).

The distance between the two substrates (cell thickness) is determined by the thickness of the liquid crystal material. In this example, a desired cell thickness can be easily achieved by adjusting the spin coating conditions.

[0013] In this step, there is no need to apply pressure when stacking the second substrate. Therefore, the second substrate can be made extremely thin. In this example, a glass substrate with a thickness of 100 μm was used.

Another major advantage of the manufacturing method of the present invention is that no gap material is required. By eliminating the need for a gap material, the conventional problems of light scattering and uneven cell thickness are eliminated, allowing liquid crystal electro-optical devices to be applied for purposes such as high-definition displays and optical wavefront control using coherent light sources. Now I can do it.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 2 is a process diagram of a second embodiment of the present invention. In this example, a solid phase liquid crystal material was formed on a substrate using a molecular beam growth method. A substrate 201 having electrodes and an alignment film is cooled in vacuum to such an extent that the liquid crystal material becomes a solid phase, and then fixed with a fixing member 203 . This fixing member also functions as a shielding material that prevents the liquid crystal material from adhering to the area where the sealant is applied. A vapor phase liquid crystal material 20 is placed on this substrate.
2 to form a solid phase liquid crystal material 205 (Fig. 2
(a)).

Remove this board from the fixing member (FIG. 2(
b)), apply the sealing material 104 (FIG. 2(c)), flatten the surface of the TFT as in Example 1, and cool the substrate 2 sufficiently.
06 is placed on the liquid crystal material and the sealing material is cured by ultraviolet rays. After this, the temperature is gradually raised to return the liquid crystal material to the liquid crystal phase (FIG. 2(d)).

Even when the liquid crystal material is a mixture of a plurality of liquid crystal materials, the solid phase liquid crystal materials are stacked one after another and are mixed again by melting them later.

In this embodiment as well, the cell thickness can be controlled extremely accurately and easily.

(Embodiment 3) FIG. 3 is a process diagram of a third embodiment of the present invention. In this example, a thin film was used as the second substrate.

A solid phase liquid crystal material 103 is formed on the first substrate in the same manner as in the first embodiment. Next, an insulating thin film 306 having electrodes and an alignment film is overlaid on this liquid crystal material. Then, by bringing this thin film into close contact with the solid liquid crystal phase 103, a desired cell thickness is obtained. Thereafter, as in the second embodiment, the sealing material 104 is cured and the temperature is raised to return the liquid crystal material to the liquid crystal phase.

The thickness of the insulating thin film in this example is 20
It is μm. By this manufacturing method, an extremely thin liquid crystal electro-optical device can be manufactured.

In the above examples, a liquid crystal material with a volume expansion coefficient of 0.1% or less during the phase transition from solid phase to liquid crystal phase was used, but when using a material with a large volume expansion coefficient, sealing It is sufficient to make a hole in a part of the stopper material and close the hole after returning the liquid crystal material to the liquid crystal phase.

[0023]

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

(1) Since the substrate is superimposed on the solid-phase liquid crystal material, extremely thin glass or a thin film can be used as the substrate.

(2) Cell thickness can be easily controlled with high precision.

(3) Since there is no need for a gap material for cell thickness adjustment, there is no scattering of light, which is advantageous for wavefront control.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a process diagram showing a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal electro-optical device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a process diagram showing another method of manufacturing the liquid crystal electro-optical device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a process diagram showing another method of manufacturing the liquid crystal electro-optical device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a process diagram showing a conventional method for manufacturing a liquid crystal electro-optical device.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 Board 102 Liquid crystal material with liquid crystal phase 103 Solid phase liquid crystal material 104 Sealing material 105 Board 106 Liquid crystal material with liquid crystal phase 201 Board 202 Gas phase liquid crystal material 203 Fixed member 205 Solid phase liquid crystal material 206 Board 306 Insulating thin film 401 Board 402 Gap material 404 Sealing material 405 Board 406 Liquid crystal material with liquid crystal phase

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal electro-optical device in which a liquid crystal material is held between a plurality of holding members, comprising: a) stacking a solid phase liquid crystal material on a first holding member; b) a second holding member. A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal electro-optical device, comprising the steps of: sandwiching the liquid crystal material between members and a first sandwiching member; c) converting the liquid crystal material into a liquid crystal phase.