JPH0829812A - Liquid crystal display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a liquid crystal display device which has a steep electro-optic characteristic, a high bright contrast ratio and excellent gradation characteristic by arranging lifuid crystal molecules of a lifuid crystal layer in accondance with the orientation processing and using this lifuid crystal layer as guest-host type lifuid crystal layer to which dye in added. CONSTITUTION:This liquid crystal display device has an electrode arrangement which is obtd. by using a shape having conductor part 13a of waveform stripe as electrode 13 and is provided with the parts where the conductor parts 13a, 14b of both upper and lower substrates 11 and 12 are overlapped between the parts (FE and RE parts) where nonconductor parts 13b and 14b face each other in the conductor parts 13a and 14b between the upper and lower substrates 11 and 12. Diagonal electric field e which is an electric field having electric field components parallel with the substrate plane is formed within a liquid crystal layer added with dye as guest-host dichromatic dyestuff when a voltage is impressed between the electrodes from a power source 22 via the TFTs 21 of the lower substrate 12. Then, generation of a disturbance in many molecule arrangements within one pixel is made possible and the control of light transmission and light scattering by each pixel is made possible. A displayed image having a high contrast ratio is thus obtd.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device using a light scattering control type liquid crystal display element.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a liquid crystal display element (hereinafter abbreviated as LCD) is classified from the viewpoint of light control, a change in brightness is caused by a combination of a polarization effect of liquid crystal molecules and a polarizer.
There are two types, one that uses the phase transition of liquid crystal and causes light scattering and transmission, and the other that adds a dye to control the visible light absorption amount of the dye and changes the light and shade of the color.

L, which is a combination of the former polarization effect and a polarizer
The CD is, for example, a twisted nematic (TN) type liquid crystal having a 90 ° twisted molecular arrangement. In principle, the thin liquid crystal layer can control polarization with a low voltage, so that a high response speed, low power consumption, and high contrast are achieved. The ratio is used for a clock, a calculator, a simple matrix drive, an active matrix drive provided with a switching element for each pixel, and in combination with a color filter, it is applied to a full color display liquid crystal TV or the like.

However, an LCD combining these polarization effects and a polarizer has a remarkably low transmissivity of the element since it uses a polarizing plate in principle, and the display color and the contrast ratio depend on the viewing angle / direction depending on the orientation of the molecular arrangement. Has a viewing angle dependency such as a large change, and it is not possible to completely exceed the display performance of a cathode ray tube (CRT).

On the other hand, the latter one utilizing the total transition of liquid crystal and the LCD controlling the visible light absorption amount of the dye are, for example, from a cholesteric phase having a helical molecular arrangement to a homeotropic molecular nematic phase. A PC-type liquid crystal that causes a phase transition when an electric field is applied and a White-Taylor-type GH liquid crystal that is obtained by adding a dye to the PC-type liquid crystal. Since it does not use a polarizer and in principle does not use a polarization effect, it is bright and has a wide visual recognition. It indicates a corner and is applied to automobile equipment and projection type displays.

However, in order to obtain sufficient light scattering, it is necessary to sufficiently thicken the liquid crystal phase and to increase the helical strength that causes the scattering, which requires a high driving voltage and a very slow response speed. Therefore, it has been difficult to apply it to a display element having a large display amount (number of pixels). In addition, it has been considered difficult to provide gradation because the transmittance changes abruptly as the applied voltage increases.
Further, the applied voltage-transmittance characteristic has a hysteresis, and there is a practical problem that it is difficult to perform multiplex driving.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, NCAP in which a liquid crystal 4 is spherically held in an organic polymer 3 sandwiched between upper and lower substrates 1 and 2.
The LCD is a scattering-mode liquid crystal display element, and since it does not use a polarizing plate, it is bright and has wide visibility, and is applied to automobile equipment, projection display devices, and the like. However, the voltage applied from the outside is divided into the organic polymer and the liquid crystal, and only a part of the applied voltage is applied to the liquid crystal, which causes a problem that the operating voltage is increased practically. Further, in order to obtain sufficient light scattering, it is necessary to make the liquid crystal thickness sufficiently thick,
Since it has a problem that the response speed is extremely slow, it has been difficult to apply it to a display element having a large display amount (number of pixels). Further, the applied voltage-transmittance characteristic has a hysteresis, and there is a practical problem that it is difficult to perform multiplex driving. Polymer-dispersed LC in which liquid crystal is retained in a network organic polymer that operates on the same principle as this.
D had the same problem.

Further, a guest-host type liquid crystal (GH) has been developed which uses only one polarizing plate or omits it, but it is not suitable for multiplex driving because the threshold value characteristic of electro-optical characteristics is not steep. There is a problem.

[0009]

As described above, at present, liquid crystal display devices have the problems of low transmittance, viewing angle dependence, high driving voltage, and slow response speed.

Against this background, the inventors of the present invention, in Japanese Patent Application No. 5-184273, filed a liquid crystal consisting of a nematic liquid crystal between two substrates each having an electrode facing each other to form a plurality of pixels. The electrodes of both substrates sandwiching a layer are composed of a conductive portion and a non-conductive portion (non-conductive portion) in units of a fine region having a widest width of 50 μm or less for each pixel. A liquid crystal display device is proposed in which at least a part of a conductor part of one electrode and a non-conductor part of the other electrode are arranged so as to face each other.

This liquid crystal display element has an electric field component in the plane direction of the substrate due to the peculiarity of the electrode shape and arrangement of each pixel,
That is, an oblique electric field is generated in the liquid crystal layer,
For this reason, the direction of the oblique electric field becomes 2 or more in each pixel, and disorder of the molecular arrangement is positively formed at the boundary of the electric field to obtain a light scattering state to achieve a high contrast ratio. It can solve various problems.

That is, according to this liquid crystal display element, the light passing through the element can be controlled to be either transmitted or scattered by controlling the voltage application to the electrodes.

Therefore, in the present invention, a liquid crystal display device for effectively putting a guest-host type liquid crystal into practical use is obtained by applying the characteristics of the above-mentioned elements, and a novel liquid crystal display device having a wider application range is provided. The purpose is to get.

[0014]

According to the present invention, a first substrate having a first electrode and a second substrate having a second electrode for forming a plurality of pixels with regions facing each other as one pixel are provided. And a nematic liquid crystal liquid crystal layer sandwiched between these substrates, and a voltage source for applying a voltage between the first electrode and the second electrode. In the liquid crystal display device for controlling the light scattering of incident light, the first electrode has a conductor portion and a non-conductor portion in one pixel, and the second electrode in one pixel in the liquid crystal display element. The first portion having a conductor portion and a non-conductor portion,
The conductor portion of the second electrode faces at least a part of the non-conductor portion of the second electrode, and the conductor portion of the second electrode is the non-conductor portion of the first electrode. A first alignment film facing at least a part of the first electrode, the first alignment film having liquid crystal molecule alignment processing in a predetermined direction is provided on the first electrode, and the first alignment film is provided on the second electrode in a predetermined direction. A second alignment film that has been subjected to liquid crystal molecule alignment processing, and when no voltage is applied from the voltage source to the electrode, the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer are used for alignment processing of the first and second alignment films. A liquid crystal display device is obtained in which the liquid crystal layers are arranged according to each other, and the liquid crystal layer is a guest-host type liquid crystal layer to which a dye is added.

Further, it is intended to obtain a liquid crystal display device in which the conductor portions of the first electrode and the second electrode are stripe-shaped and the non-conductor portions are slit-shaped.

Further, the present invention provides a liquid crystal display device in which liquid crystal molecules of a liquid crystal layer are splay arrayed according to the liquid crystal molecule alignment treatment direction of the first alignment film and the liquid crystal molecule alignment treatment direction of the second alignment film.

Further, the present invention provides a liquid crystal display device in which the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer are bend-aligned according to the liquid crystal molecule alignment treatment direction of the first alignment film and the liquid crystal molecule alignment treatment direction of the second alignment film.

Further, the present invention provides a liquid crystal display device in which a polarizing device for injecting linearly polarized light is arranged on either the first substrate or the second substrate of the liquid crystal display element.

[0019]

The present invention achieves the above object, and the principle and method of achieving the same will be described below.

The electrode of the liquid crystal display element used in the present invention is such that the first electrode of the first substrate has a conductive portion and a non-conductive portion in one pixel, and the second electrode of the second substrate is used. Has a conductive portion and a non-conductive portion in one pixel, and the conductive portion of the first electrode is the second
Of the second electrode so as to face at least a part of the non-conductive portion of the second electrode, and the conductive portion of the second electrode so as to face at least a part of the non-conductive portion of the first electrode. ing.

That is, when a voltage is applied between these electrodes, an oblique electric field, which is an electric field having an electric field component parallel to the substrate surface, is formed in the liquid crystal layer to which the dye is added as the guest host dichroic dye.

Due to the facing arrangement of the conductor portion and the non-conductor portion of the first and second electrodes, the inclination directions are opposite to each other. 2
An oblique electric field is generated in the direction, and liquid crystal molecules and guest dye molecules rearranged along these electric fields are disordered in molecular alignment in the boundary region of the electric field. Therefore, the light passing through this area is in a scattered state. By causing a lot of disorder of the molecular arrangement in one pixel, the light transmission and the light scattering can be controlled for each pixel, and a display image with a high contrast ratio can be obtained.

When no voltage is applied, the liquid crystal molecules are uniformly aligned according to the alignment treatment of the alignment film. According to the present invention, the first liquid crystal molecules are aligned on the first electrode in a predetermined direction.
And the second alignment film that has been subjected to liquid crystal molecule alignment processing in a predetermined direction on the second electrode.

It is desirable that the liquid crystal molecule arrangement in the state where no voltage is applied is a splay arrangement or a bend arrangement.

The spray arrangement is shown in FIG. The figure shows the rubbing direction F of the alignment film 15 on the upper substrate 11 and the lower substrate 1.
When the rubbing direction R of the second alignment film 16 is the same direction, the nematic liquid crystal having a positive dielectric anisotropy is not twisted, and the pretilt angle α 0 of the liquid crystal molecules M of both substrates intersect. Therefore, the structure is such that the liquid crystal molecular arrangement is spread to one side. When the two substrates are arranged so as to intersect the rubbing directions F and R, the liquid crystal molecules are twisted according to the crossing angle.

The bend sequence is shown in FIG. 5 (b). Vertical alignment films are used as the alignment films 15 and 16 of the upper and lower substrates 11 and 12, and these films are rubbed, and when the substrates are combined so that their directions F and R are aligned, a nematic liquid crystal having negative dielectric anisotropy is obtained. The liquid crystal molecules M are a combination of a liquid crystal alignment portion slightly tilted in the processing directions F and R near the alignment film and a vertical alignment portion in the central portion of the liquid crystal layer as shown in the figure.

In both the spray arrangement and the bend arrangement, when an oblique electric field having a component in the substrate surface direction is applied between the substrates, liquid crystal molecules are easily rearranged along the electric field direction, and an oblique electric field with a different direction is generated in the adjacent region. Then, the liquid crystal molecules and the dye molecules are disturbed at the boundary, and the transmitted light is scattered.

The liquid crystal display element used in the present invention typically has a dye added in the liquid crystal layer in the constitution of the liquid crystal display element disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 5-184273.

FIG. 1 schematically shows an example of the molecular arrangement structure of the liquid crystal display device of the present invention. The illustrated molecular arrangement structure is a so-called splay arrangement and a twisted molecular arrangement, and the pretilt angles of the liquid crystal molecules M on the surfaces of the upper and lower substrates 11 and 12 are substantially equal in the vertical direction. In such a molecular arrangement, the tilt directions of the molecules are two directions MF and MR depending on how the electric field is applied, as shown in the figure. This is because the liquid crystal molecule alignment in the state where no voltage is applied is symmetrical between the upper half and the lower half of the liquid crystal layer 20. That is, the tilt direction of liquid crystal molecules has two or more degrees of freedom. The added dye molecule C also follows the liquid crystal molecule M. As a result, an oblique electric field e is generated only when a voltage is applied to the electrodes 13 and 14, as shown in FIG. 1C, and a disclination line (wall) is formed at the boundary portion (DL in the drawing) of the molecule M in the tilt direction. ) Can be generated, and the function of scattering incident light can be obtained. In order to provide the liquid crystal molecules with two or more degrees of freedom in the tilt direction, in addition to the splay molecule arrangement structure shown in FIG. 1C, for example, the above-mentioned bent arrangement, that is, the liquid crystal composition has a negative dielectric anisotropy. The same effect can be obtained by using the nematic liquid crystal composition having the liquid crystal molecule arrangement so that the pretilt angle of the upper and lower substrates is 90 °. In this case, the degree of freedom in the tilt-down direction of the liquid crystal molecules is 2 or more.

In any case, the liquid crystal molecules have an effective uniform molecular arrangement in the state where no voltage is applied, and the degree of freedom in the tilt-up direction or the tilt-down direction of the liquid crystal molecules is 2 or more. With respect to a certain liquid crystal molecule arrangement, an electrode in which an oblique electric field is applied in two or more directions that are contradictory to each other in a fine region can provide excellent display performance that solves the above-mentioned problems.

The display principle of this liquid crystal display device will be described in more detail. FIG. 2 is an optical explanatory view of this liquid crystal display element. Further, FIG. 3 is a detailed schematic diagram of the alignment of liquid crystal molecules in the state where a voltage is applied to the liquid crystal display element. The liquid crystal and the dye of this liquid crystal display element form a molecular arrangement of, for example, a substantially horizontal arrangement when no voltage is applied as described above, and the liquid crystal molecules are optically as shown in FIG. 2 (a). It becomes a uniaxial optical medium. That is, the spheroid L in the figure represents a refractive index ellipse indicating the anisotropy of the refractive index of the adjacent region of the liquid crystal, and the maximum refractive index ne parallel to the plane direction of the substrate is the axis and the vertical direction is the minimum refractive index. The case where the rate is no is shown. In this state, the light 1 incident on the liquid crystal layer goes straight (transmits).

When a voltage is applied to this, the molecular array MA, as shown in FIG. 3, is continuously arranged from a region a, which is a substantially horizontal array of the splay array, to a vertically tilted region b.
Since the regions where A is changed and the oblique electric fields e are applied so that the directions alternate, the molecular array MA also has a shape in which the tilt directions thereof alternately face each other.

Consider a case in which light in a direction perpendicular to the cell is incident on this. Since the liquid crystal molecules and the liquid crystal layer have anisotropy in the refractive index and the dielectric constant, the optical phenomenon occurring in the liquid crystal layer varies depending on the vibration direction of light. When light in the vibration direction of the liquid crystal molecule alignment direction when no voltage is applied is incident, the refractive index and the refractive index ellipse L are as shown in FIGS. 2 (b1) and 2 (c1) in a sectional view. Macroscopically, as shown in FIG. 2 (b1), the maximum refractive index ne of liquid crystal (a region where liquid crystal molecules are aligned in the cell plane direction) and the minimum refractive index no (liquid crystal molecules are aligned in the cell normal direction). Area) is alternately arranged.

Therefore, the diffraction grating phenomenon (light wraparound)
Then, the light 1 which is incident on the cell in a direction perpendicular to the cell has its traveling direction bent to l0 and le. That is, a light scattering phenomenon is obtained. From a microscopic point of view, as shown in FIG. 2 (c1), the liquid crystal molecules (which exhibit a refractive index elliptic characteristic like the molecular shape shown in the figure) are continuous from the array in the cell plane direction to the array in the cell normal direction. The composition has changed. Therefore, a refraction lens is formed, and the normal direction z perpendicular to the cell is
The light 1 incident on is shifted from the cell normal direction (rotation in the normal direction), and its traveling direction is bent. That is, a further light scattering phenomenon is obtained by an action different from the diffraction grating phenomenon. In this way, the liquid crystal display element according to the present invention can obtain a light scattering phenomenon. However, when light of a direction orthogonal to the vibration direction of the liquid crystal molecule alignment direction when no voltage is applied is incident, However, only a slight scattering effect can be obtained.

In FIG. 2 (b 2) (refractive index distribution viewed macroscopically) and (c 2) (refractive index distribution viewed microscopically), the direction of vibration of the liquid crystal molecule alignment direction when no voltage is applied is orthogonal to the vibration direction. The refractive index and the refractive index ellipse when the light of the azimuth is incident are shown in the same manner as in FIGS. 2B1 and 2C1. As is clear from the figure, the refractive index for this orientation is isotropic in the plane n0.
Therefore, the two light scattering phenomena do not occur.

From the above, in the liquid crystal display device of the present invention, the more the vibration azimuth of incident light is biased to the vibration direction of the liquid crystal molecule alignment azimuth when no voltage is applied, that is, substantially parallel. The degree of scattering of light with respect to incident light can be increased. In order to obtain a high contrast ratio, it is desirable to suppress the light components in which the two light scattering phenomena do not occur to 20% or less. To realize this, the polarization degree of incident light is set to 80% or more, and the polarization direction The (polarization axis or vibration plane) should be the vibration direction of the liquid crystal molecule alignment direction when no voltage is applied. Specifically, it is the orientation processing direction of the orientation film of the substrate on the incident light side, and the polarization direction is set within ± 10 ° with respect to this orientation processing direction.

In the liquid crystal display element used, when the liquid crystal layer has a splay alignment or a bend alignment as described above, the liquid crystal molecule responsiveness to an oblique electric field is good and voltage control is easy, but even in the uniform alignment. It can be controlled by increasing the generation of the oblique electric field.

[0038]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail.

(Embodiment 1) As the upper substrate 11 having the structure shown in FIG. 4A, a black matrix made of chromium is formed over the entire non-pixel portion, and a non-conductor portion 13b having a bent stripe pattern is formed in each pixel. And a glass substrate on which an ITO common electrode 13 including a conductor portion 13a is formed,
As the lower substrate 12, a conductor portion 14a and a non-conductor portion 14b
A glass substrate having a 600 × 480 pixel electrode 14 having a switching element 21 made of TFT as one pixel and having a bent stripe pattern was used.

FIG. 4B shows one pixel of the pattern of the upper electrode 13, the width of the conductor portion 13a in the direction orthogonal to the stripe extension direction is 5 μm, and the peak-to-peak width of the conductor portion is 10 μm.
m, and the width of the non-conductor portion 13b is 10 μm. That is, there are a plurality of stripes in one pixel area. The stripe width is preferably 50 μm or less. Arrow F
Indicates the rubbing direction, which is the orientation direction of the liquid crystal molecules.

FIG. 4C shows the pattern of one pixel of the lower electrode 14, where the width of the conductor portion is 5 μm and the width of the non-conductor portion is 10 μm. With the upper and lower substrates facing each other, the conductor portion 13a of the upper electrode and the non-conductor portion 14b of the lower electrode face each other, and the conductor portion 14a of the lower electrode and the non-conductor portion 1 of the upper electrode 1
3b faces each other. In the figure, the arrow R indicates the rubbing direction, which is the same as the processing direction F of the upper substrate.

Using such a substrate, the alignment films 15 and 16 are formed.
(Trade name AL-3046, manufactured by Japan Synthetic Rubber Co., Ltd.) (pretilt angle measurement value 3 °) is formed, and the above-mentioned directions F and R shown in the figure are formed.
After rubbing treatment, fine particles (trade name: Micropar SP, manufactured by Sekisui Fine Chemical Co., Ltd.) on the lower substrate side are used as a substrate spacing agent so that the liquid crystal layer 20 has a layer thickness of 7.5 μm.
(Particle size 7.5 μm) was sprayed by a dry spraying method so that the dispersion density was 100 particles / mm ^2, and the upper and lower substrates were sealed to form a cell. Liquid crystal with positive dielectric anisotropy between cell substrates (trade name Z
LI-3926, manufactured by Merck Japan) (Δn = 0.2030)
2w of dye (product name S-344, manufactured by Mitsui Toatsu Chemicals, Inc.)
A liquid crystal display device of this example was obtained by sandwiching a liquid crystal layer 20 formed by filling a liquid crystal containing t% added. Here, the reason why the liquid crystal layer thickness is increased and Δn of the liquid crystal composition is increased is to enhance the light scattering property in the light scattering state.

A power source 22 was connected to the electrodes of the liquid crystal display element 10 of the present example obtained in this way, and multiplex driving was performed at 1/480 duty, and a contrast ratio of 3: 1 was obtained.

(Embodiment 2) As shown in FIG. 1, a shape having a wave-shaped stripe conductor portion 13a is used as the electrode 13, and the conductor portions 13a and 14a and the non-conductor portion 13b are provided between the upper and lower substrates 11 and 12. , 14b are arranged such that a portion where the upper and lower substrates are overlapped with each other as a conductor portion is provided between portions (FE and RE portions in FIG. 1B) facing each other. That is, the cross-sectional shape of the electrode structure arrangement of the upper and lower substrates is FE / RE / EE / FE / EE / RE / EE / F.
They are arranged in the order of E, EE, ... The same reference numerals as those in FIG. 4 denote the same parts.

Using a liquid crystal display cell having a structure similar to that of Example 1 (the alignment film is omitted in the figure) except for this electrode structure, the rubbing direction R of the lower substrate is provided on the incident light side 12 side of the cell (see FIG. 1).
A polarizing plate 30 having a transmission axis was arranged in a direction intersecting with (c)) at an angle of 2 ° to obtain a liquid crystal display device of the present invention. This transmission axis is arranged orthogonal to the liquid crystal alignment direction when a voltage is applied.

A voltage was applied from a power source 22 to the liquid crystal display device through the TFT 21 on the lower substrate to measure electro-optical characteristics (transmittance-applied voltage curve). In order to obtain the transmittance-applied voltage curve, He-Ne laser light was made incident on the liquid crystal display device, and the transmittance was measured. The spot diameter of light is 2mm,
The transmitted laser light was detected by a photodiode located at a distance of 20 cm from the liquid crystal display device. The transmittance-applied voltage characteristics when the applied voltage was gradually increased from 0 V to 4 V and gradually decreased from 4 V to 0 V, the transmittance was about 45 when no voltage was applied (0 V applied).
%Met. Further, when the applied voltage was 3.1 V to 3.9 V, the minimum transmittance was 0.2%, and a good scattering state was obtained. Further, as is clear from the figure, there was no hysteresis in the electro-optical characteristics. Further, when the response speed was measured at an applied voltage of 3.1 V and 0 V, an extremely fast value of 6 msec in rising and 18 msec in falling was obtained.

Next, a voltage was applied through the TFT 21 on the lower substrate, and the maintenance state of the wall DL was examined by observing the molecular arrangement by a polarization microscope and measuring the light scattering state by the transmittance measurement. In the present embodiment, the applied voltage 3.1
When V was continuously applied, it was confirmed that the initial wall arrangement was maintained even after 1 hour.

The contrast ratio by the multiplex driving similar to that in Example 1 was 5: 1.

[0049]

According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a low-cost liquid crystal display device which has a sharp electro-optical characteristic suitable for multiplex driving, is bright, has a high contrast ratio, and is excellent in gradation.

The liquid crystal display device according to the present invention is suitable not only for TFT driving but also for display of a large display capacity by driving by a switching element such as MIM, and since it has excellent scattering characteristics, it is suitable for projection display applications. Is suitable.

[Brief description of drawings]

1A and 1B show an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a perspective view showing an electrode pattern, FIG. 1B is a sectional view of an element taken along line XX ′ in FIG. 1A, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state of liquid crystal molecules in an applied state and generation of walls.

2A and 2B are diagrams for explaining the operation of the present invention, in which FIG. 2A is a diagram showing a refractive index ellipse of a liquid crystal molecule, and FIGS. 2B1 and 2B2 are schematic views of a refractive index of a liquid crystal layer in a macroscopic view. Figure, (c
1) and (c2) are views for explaining how the liquid crystal layer refracts with respect to light when viewed microscopically.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of an electrode configuration of a liquid crystal display element used in the present invention and a molecular arrangement configuration when a voltage is applied.

FIG. 4 shows a liquid crystal display device according to another embodiment of the present invention,
Is a cross-sectional view of the device, (b) is a plan view of an electrode pattern for one pixel of the upper electrode, and (c) is a plan view of an electrode pattern for one pixel of the lower electrode.

5A and 5B are schematic diagrams illustrating a splay array and a bend array used in the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a conventional polymer dispersion liquid crystal display device of capsule type.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 ... Liquid crystal display element 11 ... Upper substrate 12 ... Lower substrate 13, 14 ... Electrode 15, 16 ... Alignment film 21 ... TFT switching element 22 ... Power source 30 ... Polarizing plate M ... Liquid crystal molecule C ... Dye molecule F, R ... Liquid crystal molecule Orientation direction

Front page continuation (72) Masahito Ishikawa, 8 Shinsita-cho, Isogo-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Kanagawa, Ltd. In the company's Toshiba Yokohama office In the office

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A first substrate having a first electrode and a second substrate having a second electrode for forming a plurality of pixels with mutually facing regions as one pixel, and the substrate is sandwiched between these substrates. A liquid crystal display device including a liquid crystal layer of nematic liquid crystal and a voltage source for applying a voltage between the first electrode and the second electrode are provided to control light scattering of incident light entering the liquid crystal display device. In the liquid crystal display device, in the liquid crystal display element, the first electrode has a conductor region and a non-conductor region in one pixel, and the second electrode has a conductor region and a non-conductor region in one pixel. And a conductor region of the first electrode faces at least a part of a non-conductor region of the second electrode, and the conductor region of the second electrode has a first region. Facing so as to face at least part of the non-conductive area of the electrode of A second alignment film having a liquid crystal molecule alignment treatment in a predetermined direction on the first electrode, and a liquid crystal molecule alignment treatment in a predetermined direction on the second electrode. And having no voltage applied to the electrodes from the voltage source,
Liquid crystal display, wherein liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer are arranged according to the alignment treatment of the first and second alignment films, and the liquid crystal layer is a guest-host type liquid crystal layer to which a dye is added. apparatus. 2. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein the conductor regions of the first electrode and the second electrode are stripe-shaped, and the non-conductor regions are slit-shaped. 3. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer are splay arrayed according to the liquid crystal molecule alignment treatment direction of the first alignment film and the liquid crystal molecule alignment treatment direction of the second alignment film. 4. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer are bend-aligned according to the liquid crystal molecule alignment treatment direction of the first alignment film and the liquid crystal molecule alignment treatment direction of the second alignment film. 5. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, further comprising a polarizing device for irradiating linearly polarized light on one of the first substrate and the second substrate of the liquid crystal display element.