JPH09230359A - Liquid crystal element and its production - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To lower electric resistance without dropping an opening rate. SOLUTION: Metallic thin films 12 of a stripe shape of a prescribed width are formed on at least either 11 of two sheets of substrates 11 holding a liquid crystal layer. A transparent electrode 13 is formed over the entire surface of the substrate inclusive of the parts formed with the metallic thin films. Electrodeless regions 15 of a stripe form having a prescribed width are formed by etching nearly the central parts in the transverse direction of the striped metallic thin films 12 of the structure laminated with the transparent electrode 13 and the metallic thin film 12. As a result, the low-resistance regions by the metallic thin films 12 are formed along both sides in the transverse direction of the transparent electrode 13. The sums (L1+L2) of the width of the two low-resistance regions are equal to each other between all the striped transparent electrodes on the substrate 11.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a liquid crystal element, and more particularly to a liquid crystal element having a stripe-shaped transparent electrode.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As the performance of personal computers has improved, various forms of use of personal computers have appeared, such as high-speed moving images and three-dimensional graphic functions. Conventionally, as a display for a notebook personal computer, an active matrix driving liquid crystal element (hereinafter referred to as a TFT liquid crystal element) using a thin film transistor (TFT) and a multiplex driving super twisted nematic liquid crystal element (hereinafter referred to as an STN liquid crystal element). And) have coexisted. Although the TFT liquid crystal element is expensive, the response speed is fast and the display quality is excellent.

On the other hand, although the STN liquid crystal element is about half the price of the TFT liquid crystal element, the performance has been greatly improved in recent years, and the STN liquid crystal element has come to be widely used for notebook personal computers. However, in the future, as the performance of the display, when high speed that can support movies and information display performance with a large screen and large capacity will be required,
The current STN liquid crystal element cannot support it.

In order to display a high-speed moving image with the STN liquid crystal element, it is necessary to reduce the thickness of the liquid crystal layer that constitutes the liquid crystal element (hereinafter referred to as narrowing the gap). The electric capacity of each pixel increases, and display unevenness such as crosstalk and screen brightness gradient increases. Further, even if the number of scanning lines is increased (hereinafter referred to as high duty) in order to increase the resolution, the display unevenness similarly increases.

[0005]

The increase in display unevenness such as crosstalk and screen brightness inclination accompanying the narrowing of the gap and the increase in duty greatly impair the display quality. The most effective measure to solve this is to reduce the resistance value of the electrode (hereinafter referred to as electrode resistance). Two methods can be considered to reduce the electrode resistance. One is a method of increasing the thickness of indium tin oxide (hereinafter referred to as ITO) currently used, and the other is a method of forming a metal electrode on a part of the ITO transparent electrode. .

In the former method, since the electric conductivity of ITO is not originally high, there is a limit to lowering the resistance by increasing the thickness of the film, and the sheet resistance of 3Ω / □ is close to the limit from a practical viewpoint. If it is attempted to obtain a sheet resistance value lower than this, the film thickness will exceed 400 nm, and the transmittance and productivity will remarkably decrease, which is not practical.

The latter method of lowering the resistance by forming the metal electrode portion is because a low resistance region (metal thin film) of about 1/100 of ITO is formed as a part of the electrode. The resistance value can be controlled by the type of metal thin film, the film thickness, and the electrode width. Since the metal thin film region does not transmit visible light, it is desired that the stripe width of the metal thin film be as narrow as possible. For example, the stripe-shaped total electrode width is 100 μm
In the following cases, it was necessary to set the width of the metal thin film electrode to 10 μm or less in order not to reduce the aperture ratio.

However, if the stripe width of the metal thin film is 20 μm or less, the resistance value tends to vary due to disconnection due to overetching and thinning of the line. In practice, it was difficult to form a metal thin film with a width of 20 μm or less, and therefore it was difficult to reduce the resistance without sacrificing the aperture ratio so much.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above conventional problems and to provide a liquid crystal element capable of reducing the electrode resistance without sacrificing the aperture ratio so much and a manufacturing method thereof.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A liquid crystal element according to the present invention has a transparent electrode in a stripe shape on at least one of two substrates sandwiching a liquid crystal layer, and has a low resistance along both sides in the width direction of the transparent electrode. It is characterized in that a region is provided. Preferably, the sum of the widths of the two low resistance regions formed along both sides of the striped transparent electrode in the width direction is the same for all striped transparent electrodes on the same substrate. Further, it is preferable that the low resistance region has a metal thin film, and as a specific material, nickel, titanium, chromium, aluminum, copper or the like can be used. Two or more kinds of metals may be combined or may have a laminated structure. Further, it is preferable that the metal thin film is laminated between the transparent substrate and the glass substrate.

The first method of manufacturing a liquid crystal element according to the present invention comprises a step of forming a striped metal thin film having a predetermined width on at least one of two substrates sandwiching a liquid crystal layer, and the entire surface of the substrate. A step of forming a transparent electrode, and a step of forming a stripe-shaped electrodeless region of a predetermined width at a substantially central portion in the width direction of the stripe-shaped metal thin-film electrode having a structure in which the transparent electrode and the metal thin film are laminated It is characterized by In the second manufacturing method, a striped metal thin film having a predetermined width is formed on at least one of the two substrates that sandwich the liquid crystal layer, and then a transparent electrode is formed on the entire surface of the substrate including the metal thin film portion. Further, the metal laminated between the transparent substrate and the glass substrate on both sides in the width direction by etching the substantially central portion in the width direction of the striped metal thin film electrode of the laminated structure composed of the transparent electrode and the metal thin film. A feature is that a stripe-shaped transparent electrode having a structure having a thin film is formed. The metal thin film and the resist may be etched by wet etching or dry etching.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to specific examples and drawings. (Example 1) In this example, the present invention was applied to a dot matrix type monochrome STN liquid crystal element in which stripe-shaped transparent electrodes were formed on upper and lower substrates and the transparent electrodes were arranged so as to be orthogonal to each other. Here is an example. Before describing in detail the step of forming the striped electrodes, which is the main point of the present invention, the configuration of the entire panel and the method for producing the panel will be described.

The produced panel has a diagonal size of 26 cm, the number of pixels is 640 × 480 dots, and the transparent electrode pitch is 324 μm at the top and bottom. The thickness (cell gap) of the liquid crystal layer is 6 μm, and the twist angle is 250 degrees in the vertical direction. The liquid crystal material is a mixture of a small amount of left-handed chiral material Δn
Was used for the mixed liquid crystal composition of 0.14 (manufactured by Chisso Corporation). As the alignment film material, PSI-2204 (manufactured by Chisso) was formed at the interface between the substrate and the liquid crystal, and this was rubbed with a rayon cloth according to a standard method. Plastic spacers are scattered over the entire surface of one substrate to form the cell gap, and epoxy sealing resin mixed with glass fiber is formed on the other substrate, except for one liquid crystal injection port, on the other substrate. Both substrates were bonded together while maintaining a gap of 6 μm, and then heat cured.

A usual vacuum injection method was used for filling the liquid crystal composition, and the injection port was sealed with a photocurable resin after the injection. A retardation plate and a polarizing plate were arranged on the upper and lower surfaces of the prepared panel so that black and white display could be performed. At this time, when the voltage is off, the display is in a black state (normally black).
It was made to become.

Next, the process of forming the stripe-shaped electrodes, which is the main point of the present invention, will be described with reference to FIG. 1, focusing on the process of manufacturing the scanning electrode substrate having 480 stripe-shaped transparent electrodes. Striped Ni metal thin film portions 12 having a width of 50 μm and a thickness of 300 nm were formed on the glass substrate 11 at a pitch of 324 μm. The thin film can be formed by vapor deposition, sputtering, plating, or the like. In this embodiment, a Ni film is formed on the entire surface of the glass substrate by electroless plating, and then etched with an acidic aqueous solution to form a striped Ni metal thin film portion. 1
2 was formed.

Next, an ITO transparent electrode 13 having a thickness of 300 nm (sheet resistance of 7 Ω / □) was formed on the striped Ni metal thin film portion 12. Further, a commercially available photoresist film (OFPR-5000: made by Tokyo Ohka) 14 was formed on the entire surface of the substrate from above. Then, a slit portion having a width of 30 μm is provided at a position corresponding to the central portion of the striped Ni metal thin film portion 12 through a photomask, and the ITO and Ni thin film are simultaneously formed using a mixed aqueous solution of hydrochloric acid and ferric chloride. Etching was performed to form the slit-shaped space portion 15. Finally, the remaining photoresist was peeled off using a commercially available peeling solution (105: made by Tokyo Ohka) to prepare a scanning side electrode substrate.

The scanning-side electrode substrate manufactured in this manner has a striped composite electrode structure in which Ni metal thin film regions of about 10 μm each are formed on both sides of the transparent electrode. At the time of etching the last space portion, there may be some deviation from the central portion. That is, since the slit exists so as to divide the Ni metal thin film 12, if the etching width is constant, the total width (L1 + L2) of the metal electrode regions in the stripe electrode is constant.

Similarly, a striped composite electrode having Ni metal thin film regions of about 10 μm each formed on both sides of the transparent electrode was also formed on the signal side electrode substrate. An STN liquid crystal device having a cell gap of 6 μm and a twist angle of 250 degrees was manufactured by using the pair of upper and lower substrates thus manufactured according to the method described above.

The completed panel is 1/480 duty,
Crosstalk was measured by driving at an optimum bias of 60 Hz and 13H inversion. The measurement of crosstalk was performed using the display pattern shown in FIG. That is, the whole solid white display section 2
Among the three, the horizontally long solid black display portion 24 was created only on a part of the scanning line 22, and the difference in luminance between the crosstalk generating portion 25 and the solid white display portion 23 was monitored. In order to quantify the crosstalk, the voltage value of the photomultiplier with respect to the luminance of the solid white solid display portion 23 is V0 (ON), and the solid black solid display portion 24
The crosstalk magnitude ΔVCT, where V0 (OFF) is the photomal voltage value for the brightness of V and Vx (ON) is the photomal voltage value for the brightness of the crosstalk generator 25.
Was defined by the following equation (1).

ΔVCT = (Vx (ON) −V0 (ON)) / (V0 (ON) −V0 (OFF)) (1) When crosstalk was measured based on the equation (1), the crosstalk value was 3 A good result of 0.6% was obtained. Actually, even when observing the displayed state, the uneven brightness was hardly observed.

For comparison, only an ITO transparent electrode having a sheet resistance value of 7 Ω / □ was used as the transparent electrode, and Example 1 was used.
A panel having the same panel configuration as above was prepared. The manufactured panel is 1/480 duty, optimum bias, 60H
When the crosstalk was measured by driving with z and 13H inversion, a bad value of 40% was shown. When observing the actual display, it was easily observed that only the crosstalk generating portion had display unevenness with higher brightness than the other white display portions.

In the structure of the above embodiment, since the metal thin film is arranged below the ITO electrode and the metal electrode does not come into direct contact with the liquid crystal, there is also an effect that there is no possibility of property change due to contact with the liquid crystal. can get.

(Embodiment 2) As another embodiment of the present invention,
The case where the metal thin film material and the solution used for etching are different will be described. Basic manufacturing method and panel configuration,
The substrate shapes are all the same as in Example 1. That is, the produced panel had a diagonal size of 26 cm, the number of pixels was 640 × 480, and the transparent electrode pitch was 324 μm both in the upper and lower directions. The thickness (cell gap) of the liquid crystal layer was 6 μm, the twist angle was 250 degrees up and down, and the liquid crystal material was a mixed liquid crystal composition with a small left-handed chiral material and Δn of 0.14 (manufactured by Chisso Corporation). ) Was used. Also, as the alignment film material, PSI
-2204 (manufactured by Chisso) was formed on the interface between the substrate and the liquid crystal, and this was rubbed with a rayon cloth according to a conventional method.

Next, the process of forming the stripe-shaped electrodes, which is the main point of the present invention, will be described with reference to FIG. 1, focusing on the process of manufacturing a scanning electrode substrate having 480 stripe-shaped transparent electrodes. 50 on the glass substrate 11 at 324 μm pitch
A striped Al metal thin film portion 12 having a width of μm and a thickness of 250 nm was formed. Al on the entire surface of the glass substrate by sputtering
After forming the film, etching was performed with an acidic aqueous solution to form a striped Al metal thin film portion 12.

Next, an ITO transparent electrode 13 having a thickness of 300 nm (sheet resistance of 7Ω / □) was formed on the striped Al metal thin film portion 12. Further, a photoresist film (OFPR-5000: made by Tokyo Ohka) 14 was formed on the entire surface of the substrate. After this, the striped Al metal thin film portion 12
30μ through the photomask at the position corresponding to the center of
A slit portion having a width of m was provided, and first, the ITO thin film was etched using a 40% hydrogen iodide aqueous solution to form a slit-shaped space portion 15 of ITO. Next, the Al film was etched into the same shape using a hydrochloric acid aqueous solution mixed with a small amount of nitric acid to form a slit-shaped space portion 15 in which both ITO and Al were removed. Finally, the remaining photoresist was peeled off to prepare a scanning side electrode substrate.

The scanning-side electrode substrate thus manufactured has a striped composite electrode structure in which Al metal thin film regions of about 10 μm each are formed on both sides of the transparent electrode. When etching the last space portion, it does not matter if there is some deviation from the central portion. That is, since the slit exists so as to divide the Al metal thin film 12, if the etching width is constant, the total width (L1 + L2) of the metal electrode regions in the stripe electrode is constant.

Similarly, a striped composite electrode having Al metal thin film regions of about 10 μm each formed on both sides of the transparent electrode was formed on the signal side electrode substrate. An STN liquid crystal element having a cell gap of 6 μm and a twist angle of 250 ° was completed by using the pair of upper and lower substrates thus manufactured according to the method described above.

Crosstalk of the completed monochrome STN liquid crystal element was reduced to 1/48 according to the method described in the first embodiment.
When the crosstalk was measured by driving with 0 duty, optimum bias, 60 Hz, and 13 H inversion, a good result of crosstalk of 3.4% was obtained. Actually, even when observing the displayed screen, almost no brightness unevenness was observed.

Example 3 Next, as another example of the present invention, an example in which the present invention is applied to a liquid crystal element having a color filter (hereinafter abbreviated as CF) will be described. As the scanning electrode side substrate, 480 with a pitch of 324 μm and a space of 30 μm was used by the same method as that described in Example 1.
A scanning electrode substrate having a striped transparent electrode was prepared. The produced scanning-side electrode substrate has a striped composite electrode structure in which Ni metal thin film regions of about 10 μm each are formed on both sides of the ITO transparent electrode.

On the other hand, the signal electrode side substrate shown in FIG.
Since it is necessary to have a transparent electrode for each of 640 stripe CFs for G and B, the pitch between electrodes is 108μ.
m, and the space between the electrodes was 18 μm. That is, the stripe-shaped metal thin film portion 33 having a width of 28 μm is formed in parallel with the CF on the substrate 31 on which the CF 32 is previously formed in the stripe shape. The stripe-shaped metal thin film portion 33 is formed so that the substantially central portion thereof is located along the boundary line between two adjacent stripe-shaped color filters. The thickness of the thin film was 300 nm.

Thereafter, in the same manner as in Example 1, a striped ITO electrode having a width of 90 μm having a Ni metal thin film portion 33 having a width of 5 μm on each side of each color filter was prepared.
Pitch 108 μm, space width 18 μm (space part 3
A signal electrode substrate formed by sandwiching 4) was produced. These two types of substrates were bonded together in the same manner as in Example 1,
Color ST with a cell gap of 6 μm and a twist angle of 250 degrees
An N liquid crystal element was produced.

Crosstalk of the completed color STN liquid crystal element was reduced to 1/480 according to the method described in the first embodiment.
When the crosstalk was measured by driving with duty, optimum bias, 60 Hz, and 13 H inversion, a good result of 6.8% crosstalk was obtained. In fact, even when observing the screen displayed in color, almost no uneven brightness was observed.

Example 4 A scanning electrode substrate and a signal electrode substrate manufactured according to the method of Example 3 have a cell gap of 4 μm.
Then, the STN liquid crystal composition of Δn = 0.21 (manufactured by Chisso) was injected into the mixture to prepare a high-speed color STN liquid crystal element having a response speed of 120 ms. At this time, the twist angle of the liquid crystal between the upper and lower substrates was 250 degrees. A phase difference plate and a polarizing plate were arranged above and below the panel so as to be normally black, and crosstalk was measured. According to the measurement method described in Comparative Example 1, the crosstalk was measured by driving with 1/240 duty, optimum bias, 60 Hz, and 13H inversion, and a good result of 2.1% crosstalk was obtained.

(Embodiment 5) As still another embodiment of the present invention, an example in which the present invention is applied to a liquid crystal element having a color filter on the scanning electrode side will be described with reference to FIG. FIG.
In the above, the upper and lower glass substrates are arranged so that the signal electrodes and the scanning electrodes are orthogonal to each other. That is, R, G, B color filters 42R, 42G, 42B on the scanning electrode substrate.
Are formed in stripes, and the scanning electrodes 43 are formed so as to be orthogonal to the stripes.

The method of forming the scan electrodes is the same as the method described in the first embodiment. As a result, the structure of the scanning electrode is such that the Ni metal thin film having a pitch of 324 μm, a space width of 30 μm, and 10 μm each at both ends in the direction parallel to the long axis of the ITO electrode is formed on the scanning electrode substrate. On the other hand, with respect to the signal electrode side substrate, by the method described in Example 3,
A signal electrode 44 having a pitch of 108 μm, a space of 18 μm, and 5 μm of Ni metal thin films 45 formed on both ends in the direction parallel to the long axis of the ITO electrode was produced.

Color filters 42R, 42G, 42 corresponding to the individual signal electrodes 44 are arranged on these two types of substrates in the same manner as in Example 1 so that the upper and lower electrodes are orthogonal to each other.
Bonded so as to face B, cell gap 6 μm,
A color STN liquid crystal element having a twist angle of 250 degrees was manufactured. Crosstalk of the completed color STN liquid crystal element
According to the method described in Example 1, the crosstalk was measured by driving with 1/480 duty, optimum bias, 60 Hz, 13H inversion, and a good result of 6.5% crosstalk was obtained. In fact, even when observing the screen displayed in color, almost no uneven brightness was observed.

(Embodiment 6) As still another embodiment of the present invention, a case where the stacking order of the metal thin film material and ITO is reversed will be described. The basic manufacturing method, panel structure, and substrate shape were all the same as in Example 1. That is, the produced panel had a diagonal size of 26 cm, the number of pixels was 640 × 480, and the transparent electrode pitch was 324 μm both in the upper and lower directions. The thickness of the liquid crystal layer (cell gap) is 6 μm, and the twist angle is 25 up and down.
As the liquid crystal material at 0 °, a mixed liquid crystal composition (manufactured by Chisso Corporation) having a Δn of 0.14 mixed with a small amount of a left-handed chiral material was used. Further, as the alignment film material, PSI-22
04 (manufactured by Chisso) was formed on the interface between the substrate and the liquid crystal, and this was rubbed with a rayon cloth according to a conventional method.

Next, the process of forming the stripe-shaped electrodes, which is the main point of the present invention, will be described with reference to FIG. 5, focusing on the process of manufacturing the scan electrode substrate having 480 stripe-shaped transparent electrodes. The ITO 52 and the Ni metal thin film 53 are laminated in this order on the glass substrate 51. Then, as described in Example 1, only the metal thin film 53 was patterned into a stripe shape by photolithography using a photoresist. An aqueous ferric chloride solution was used as an etching solution, and the ITO was carefully etched so as not to be etched. Thus, the striped Al metal thin film portion 12 having a width of 50 μm and a thickness of 250 nm was formed at a pitch of 324 μm.

From above, a photoresist film (OFPR
-5000: manufactured by Tokyo Ohka) 54 was formed on the entire surface of the substrate.
After this, a slit portion of 30 μm is provided using a photomask in the central portion of the striped Ni metal thin film portion 52, and a Ni film and an I film are formed by using a mixed aqueous solution of hydrochloric acid and ferric chloride.
The TO film was etched into the same shape to form a slit-shaped space portion 55 penetrating ITO and Ni. Finally, the remaining photoresist was peeled off with a commercially available peeling liquid to prepare a scanning side electrode substrate.

The produced scanning-side electrode substrate has a striped composite electrode structure in which Ni metal thin film regions of about 10 μm each are formed on both sides of the transparent electrode. An electrode structure having the same shape as that of the scanning electrode substrate was prepared for the signal electrode substrate by the same method. The upper and lower substrates thus manufactured were constructed according to the method of Example 1 to complete an STN liquid crystal element having a cell gap of 6 μm and a twist angle of 250 degrees.

Crosstalk of the completed monochrome STN liquid crystal element was reduced to 1/48 according to the method described in the first embodiment.
When crosstalk was measured by driving with 0 duty, optimum bias, 60 Hz, and 13 H inversion, a good result of 3.2% crosstalk was obtained. Even when the screen actually displayed was observed, almost no uneven brightness was observed.

[0042]

According to the present invention, the resistance value of the electrode can be lowered by effectively using the metal thin film, and the crosstalk can be dramatically improved especially in the STN liquid crystal element. Moreover,
Since this is a manufacturing method in which a substantially central portion of the metal film portion is etched to form a space portion and the metal film portion is left on both sides of the electrode, the precision of the etching position is not required so much. In addition, it is possible to minimize the decrease in the aperture ratio. Further, since the metal thin film can be configured so as not to come into direct contact with the liquid crystal, there is no fear of deterioration of metal properties.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a structure and a manufacturing process of an electrode portion of a liquid crystal element according to the present invention

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a display pattern for measuring crosstalk of a liquid crystal device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the structure and manufacturing process of an electrode portion of another liquid crystal element (Example 3) according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of an electrode portion of another liquid crystal element (Example 5) according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the structure and manufacturing process of an electrode portion of another liquid crystal element (Example 6) according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11, 31, 51 Glass substrate 12 Metal thin film part 13, 52 ITO 14 Photoresist 15, 34 Space part 21 Display screen 22 Scan line 23 All solid white display part 24 All solid black display part 25 Crosstalk part 32, 42 Color filter 33, 45, 53 metal thin film 41 scanning side glass substrate 43 ITO scanning electrode 44 ITO signal electrode 46 signal side glass substrate 54 photoresist 55 space portion

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A liquid crystal element having a transparent electrode in a stripe shape on at least one of two substrates sandwiching a liquid crystal layer, wherein low resistance regions are provided along both sides in the width direction of the transparent electrode. Characteristic liquid crystal element. 2. The sum of the widths of two low-resistance regions formed along both sides of the striped transparent electrode in the width direction is equal among all striped transparent electrodes on the same substrate. The liquid crystal element according to claim 1. 3. The liquid crystal element according to claim 1, wherein the low resistance region has a metal thin film. 4. The low resistance region has a metal thin film formed by laminating it with a transparent electrode layer.
Or the liquid crystal device according to item 2. 5. A liquid crystal device having a transparent transparent electrode on at least one of two substrates sandwiching a liquid crystal layer, wherein the transparent transparent electrode has a metal of a predetermined width along both sides in the width direction. A super twisted nematic liquid crystal device having an electrode. 6. The sum of the widths of two metal electrodes formed along both sides of the striped transparent electrode in the width direction is equal to each other between all adjacent striped electrodes. 5. The liquid crystal device according to item 5. 7. A liquid crystal element having a stripe-shaped transparent electrode on at least one of two substrates sandwiching a liquid crystal layer, wherein the stripe-shaped transparent electrode is laminated on both sides in the width direction with a predetermined width from an end portion. A super-twisted nematic liquid crystal device, characterized in that it has a formed metal thin film between a transparent substrate and a glass substrate. 8. The sum of the widths of two metal electrodes formed along both sides of the striped transparent electrode in the width direction is equal to each other between all adjacent striped electrodes. 7. The liquid crystal device according to item 7. 9. A step of forming a stripe-shaped metal thin film having a predetermined width on at least one of two substrates sandwiching a liquid crystal layer, a step of forming a transparent electrode on the entire surface of the substrate, and the transparent electrode and the metal. And a stripe-shaped metal thin-film electrode having a structure in which thin films are stacked, and a stripe-shaped electrodeless region having a predetermined width is formed at a substantially central portion in the width direction. 10. A stripe-shaped metal thin film having a predetermined width is formed on at least one of two substrates sandwiching a liquid crystal layer, and then a transparent electrode is formed on the entire surface of the substrate including the metal thin film portion. A metal thin film laminated between a transparent substrate and a glass substrate on both sides in the width direction by etching a substantially central portion in the width direction of a striped metal thin film electrode having a laminated structure composed of the transparent electrode and the metal thin film. A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal element, which comprises forming a stripe-shaped transparent electrode having the above structure.