JPH1195180A - Production of liquid electro-optic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to surely remove fine dust and firmly stuck dust by coating at least the surface region of the surface of a first substrate necessary for the function of the device with a resist layer, then removing the resist layer. SOLUTION: Wiring, transparent electrodes, etc., are formed at need on the surface of glass 10 and an oriented film 11 is formed on a display region thereon. The surface formed with the oriented film 11 is then subjected to a rubbing treatment. A photosensitive resist (positive resist) layer 13 is then applied over the entire surface on the surface of the oriented film 11 and more particularly at least the regions, such as the part where the display region of a liquid crystal display device is formed, necessary for the function of the liquid crystal electro-optic device and thereafter, the surface thereof is coated with the oriented film 11. The resist layer 13 which does not affect the rubbing state of the oriented film 11, i.e., the resist layer which does not impair the orientation regulating force to liquid crystal molecules is used. The resist layer 13 is thereafter exposed and cured and is removed by a rinsing liquid consisting of a compsn. which does not affect the oriented film 11 itself and the rubbing state thereof.

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, and more particularly to an improvement in a manufacturing method including a step of performing a rubbing treatment on a substrate surface.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device or another liquid crystal electro-optical device, a transparent electrode is formed on the inner surfaces of two substrates, and a resin alignment film is further formed on the transparent electrode. After the formation, a rubbing process may be performed on the alignment film. This rubbing treatment is performed to align the orientation of liquid crystal molecules in a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between two substrates in a predetermined direction.

This rubbing treatment is usually performed by rubbing the surface of the alignment film in a predetermined direction with a cloth or the like. For example, by rubbing the surface of the substrate while rotating a rubbing roller having a rubbing cloth made of nylon adhered to the peripheral surface, a fine scratch extending substantially in a predetermined direction is formed on the surface of the alignment film, and the liquid crystal is formed. The molecules are oriented uniformly in the direction of this flaw.

[0004]

By the way, when the rubbing treatment is performed, a large number of fine dusts generated from the alignment film or the rubbing cloth adhere to the substrate surface. Therefore, after performing the rubbing treatment, it is necessary to clean the substrate surface with pure water, isopropyl alcohol, or the like. If these dusts remain on the substrate surface and proceed to the next process, the orientation direction of the liquid crystal molecules will be disturbed or uneven, and especially in a liquid crystal display device, display defects and display unevenness will occur, and the display quality will be reduced. is there.

[0005] However, it is difficult to remove fine dust adhered to the substrate surface or dust firmly adhered to the substrate surface even by performing the above-described cleaning process. There is a problem that it is difficult to improve or increase the yield of products.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal electro-optical device in which fine dust and firmly adhered dust can be easily and reliably removed. Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel manufacturing method capable of improving the quality and yield of a liquid crystal electro-optical device.

[0007]

Means taken by the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problem is to perform a rubbing treatment on a surface of a first substrate, and to provide a rubbing treatment between the first substrate and the second substrate. In a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal electro-optical device configured to sandwich a liquid crystal layer, after performing a rubbing process on a surface of the first substrate, at least a surface necessary for function of the device among the surfaces of the first substrate Cover the area with a resist layer, then
The method is characterized in that the resist layer is removed.

[0008] According to this means, after coating with the resist layer and removing the resist layer, dust generated during rubbing, which is deposited or adhered to the surface of the first substrate, can be easily removed. In particular,
Fine dust and firmly adhered dust that have been difficult to remove can be effectively removed.

Here, it is preferable that the coated resist layer is removed after being cured. Due to the hardening of the resist layer, the adhesion between the resist layer and the dust on the substrate surface can be increased, so that the dust can be more reliably removed.

[0010]

Next, an embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic process diagram showing an embodiment of a liquid crystal electro-optical device according to the present invention.
This embodiment is applied to a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device, and is particularly used for a manufacturing process of an active matrix type liquid crystal display device having a TFT (thin film transistor) or the like.

Glass substrate 1 made of non-alkali glass or the like
Although not shown on the surface of 0, if necessary,
Active elements (such as the above TFTs), wiring, transparent electrodes,
A color filter and the like are formed, and an alignment film 11 is formed in a display region thereon. The alignment film 11 is obtained by applying a resin such as polyimide or polyvinyl alcohol and curing the resin under predetermined conditions.

In this state, a rubbing process is performed on the surface of the glass substrate 10 on which the alignment film 11 is formed, as shown in FIG. In this rubbing treatment, for example, a rubbing cloth 21 woven from fibers such as nylon is adhered to the peripheral surface of the rubbing roller 20 and the rubbing roller 20 is pressed against the surface of the glass substrate 10 so as to have a predetermined pressure. Rotate while rotating.

The glass substrate 10 is fed from the left side to the right side by a transport device (not shown). As a result, the alignment film 11 on the surface of the glass substrate 10 is sequentially rubbed by the rubbing cloth 21. The applied pressure of the rubbing roller 20, the rotation speed of the rubbing roller 20, and the transport speed of the glass substrate 10 are set to appropriate conditions in consideration of the rubbing state in the process.

When the alignment film 11 on the glass substrate 10 is rubbed by the rubbing cloth 21 of the rubbing roller 20, fine pieces of the alignment film 11 that have been scraped off, hairs of the rubbing cloth 21, and the like are generated as fine dust. These dusts accumulate on or adhere to the surfaces of the alignment film 11 and the rubbing cloth 21 or fly up in the air. Therefore, countless dusts 12 are deposited or adhered on the surface of the glass substrate 10 that has undergone the rubbing step.

Next, as shown in FIG.
A photosensitive resist (positive resist) layer 13 is applied to the entire surface of the liquid crystal electro-optical device, such as a portion to be a display region of a liquid crystal display device, at least over a region required for device functions. Then, the alignment film 11 is covered.
As the resist layer 13, a material that hardly affects the rubbing state of the alignment film 11, preferably one that does not affect the rubbing state, that is, a material that does not impair the alignment control force on the liquid crystal molecules is appropriately selected and used.

As an example of the resist layer 13, an alignment film 11
Various known resin resist materials which do not have a significant effect on the rubbing state can be used, but those which do not impair the alignment regulating force as described above are particularly preferable. In particular, when the alignment film 11 is formed of the above-described material, it is preferable that the alignment film 11 can be removed with an alcohol-based rinsing liquid that does not affect the film quality of the alignment film 11 or the rubbing state. JALS381 made by Rubber Co.
-RQ and the like.

Thereafter, the resist layer 13 is exposed and cured, and thereafter, is removed with a predetermined rinsing liquid as shown in FIG. As the rinsing liquid, one having a composition that hardly affects the alignment film 11 itself and the rubbing state thereof is selected as described above. For example, the rinsing liquid that can be used for the resist layer exemplified above is an alcohol-based LS1001 resist thinner (manufactured by Nippon Synthetic Rubber Co., Ltd.).
Etc.

The resist layer 13 is removed by the above-mentioned rinsing liquid. At this time, since the dust 12 deposited or adhered on the surface of the alignment film 11 is in close contact with the resist layer 13, the resist layer 13 is removed. Are removed together.
As a result, it is easy to remove fine dust that has been difficult to remove and dust that has firmly adhered, and the surface of the alignment film 11 can be cleaned.

In the above embodiment, dust is removed by using a photoresist, but a material having a curing property other than the photoresist, for example, a thermosetting property may be used.
In this case, it is not particularly necessary to provide a curing step as long as sufficient adhesion to dust can be obtained without intentionally curing.

Further, the rubbing treatment is not always performed on the alignment film as described above, but may be performed directly on the surface of the glass substrate 10, for example. The present embodiment is also effective in such a case.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

According to the first aspect, after covering with the resist layer, the resist layer is removed, so that dust generated during rubbing, which is deposited or adhered to the surface of the first substrate, is removed. Can be easily removed, especially
Fine dust and firmly adhered dust that have been difficult to remove can be effectively removed.

According to the second aspect, the adhesion between the resist layer and the dust on the substrate surface can be enhanced by the curing of the resist layer, so that the dust can be more reliably removed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic process diagram (a) to (c) showing a manufacturing process of an embodiment according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 Glass substrate 11 Alignment film 12 Dust 13 Resist layer

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal electro-optical device, wherein a rubbing process is performed on a surface of a first substrate, and a liquid crystal layer is sandwiched between the first substrate and a second substrate. After subjecting the surface of the first substrate to a rubbing treatment, at least a surface area of the surface of the first substrate necessary for the function of the device is covered with a resist layer, and thereafter, the resist layer is removed. Of manufacturing a liquid crystal electro-optical device. 2. The method for manufacturing a liquid crystal electro-optical device according to claim 1, wherein the coated resist layer is removed after being cured.