KR102362199B1 - Method for Preparing Transparent Electrodes and Vertically-oriented Liquid Crystal Display Device Using Macro-pre-pattern - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a transparent electrode and a vertically aligned liquid crystal display device using a macro pre-pattern, and more particularly, by etching a substrate on which the macro pre-pattern is formed to deposit a conductive material on the side of the pre-pattern, and then to the macro pre-pattern. A method of manufacturing a transparent electrode produced by removing a pre-pattern, and a method of manufacturing a vertically aligned liquid crystal display using the transparent electrode.
The vertical alignment type liquid crystal display device manufactured by the manufacturing method according to the present invention is practically black, and it is useful for manufacturing a high-performance display because it is possible to vertically align the liquid crystal only with a simple physical method without an alignment layer.

Description

Method for Preparing Transparent Electrodes and Vertically-oriented Liquid Crystal Display Device Using Macro-pre-pattern

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a transparent electrode and a vertically aligned liquid crystal display device using a macro pre-pattern, and more particularly, by etching a substrate on which the macro pre-pattern is formed to deposit a conductive material on the side of the pre-pattern, and then to the macro pre-pattern. A method of manufacturing a transparent electrode produced by removing a pre-pattern, and a method of manufacturing a vertically aligned liquid crystal display device using the transparent electrode.

In the field of liquid crystal display research, it is an important research field to align liquid crystals in various modes without an alignment layer. It is a big issue not to add a new alignment layer on the transparent electrode, but research on fabricating the VA mode of the non-alignment layer is a research field that has not been done much in the past. Although various chemical methods are used to implement the perfect VA mode, there are not many methods to implement the VA mode using only a physical method, and the method is quite complicated.

In the field of liquid crystal displays, vertical alignment is widely used because it has the advantage of being able to almost completely realize black. However, when using the existing polymer, there are several disadvantages such as contamination, static electricity, unnecessary energy consumption, and high-temperature process. In order to overcome these shortcomings, non-oriented film displays are also being studied.

A method of physically aligning liquid crystals by patterning ITO, which is a transparent electrode, has been proposed for an alignment-free display. However, vertical alignment is a very difficult field, and it is not easy to obtain a clean black color, and even the method is very complicated. Accordingly, there is a need for a method for obtaining a vertically aligned liquid crystal display device in a simple manner.

Korean Patent Registration No. 10-125154 discloses a transparent electrode having a nanostructure pattern and a vertically aligned liquid crystal display device using the same. In this invention, a grid-shaped pattern was produced using ITO, but it uses a complex and many-step process, and has a disadvantage in that it is difficult to obtain a neat black color.

Accordingly, the present inventors have developed a method for manufacturing a transparent electrode using a macro pattern and a method for manufacturing a vertically aligned liquid crystal display using the same as a result of earnest efforts to solve the above problems. It was confirmed that black color can be almost completely realized without an alignment layer, and the present invention has been completed.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a transparent electrode using a macro pre-pattern.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a vertically aligned liquid crystal display device using the transparent electrode.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises the steps of (a) forming a macro pre-pattern on a substrate coated with a conductive material; and (b) etching the substrate on which the macro pre-pattern is formed to deposit a conductive material on both sides of the macro pre-pattern.

The present invention also comprises the steps of: (a) applying a conductive material on the substrate on which the macro pre-pattern is formed; and (b) etching the substrate on which the macro pre-pattern is formed to deposit a conductive material on both sides of the macro pre-pattern.

The present invention also includes the step of obtaining a vertically oriented liquid crystal display device by making the transparent electrodes manufactured by the above method face each other and arranging the pattern to be in a vertical direction, and then injecting liquid crystal between the arranged substrates. A method of manufacturing an alignment type liquid crystal display device is provided.

The present invention also provides a vertical alignment type liquid crystal display device comprising the steps of obtaining a vertically aligned type liquid crystal display device by injecting liquid crystals between the arranged substrates, so that the transparent electrodes manufactured by the above method are arranged to face each other and the patterns are in the same direction A method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display is provided.

The vertical alignment type liquid crystal display device manufactured by the manufacturing method according to the present invention is practically black, and it is useful for manufacturing a high-performance display because it is possible to vertically align the liquid crystal only with a simple physical method without an alignment layer.

1 is a view showing a method of manufacturing a transparent electrode according to the present invention and an orientation of a vertically aligned liquid crystal display device manufactured using the pattern.
2 is a photoresist pattern (a) made on glass using ITO, a photo of a cell prepared in VA mode, and a photo of a polarizing plate attached (b). Polarization micrographs (c and d) in VA mode.
3 is an optical micrograph of the ITO pattern.
4 is a photograph of a transparent electrode having a U shape according to the present invention.
5 is a photograph of a transparent electrode in an erected form according to the present invention.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. In general, the nomenclature used herein is those well known and commonly used in the art.

In the present invention, a pre-pattern is formed using a photoresist on the glass on which ITO is deposited, and then ITO is attached to the side of the pre-pattern using ion milling and the pre-pattern is removed to prepare a substrate on which the ITO pattern is formed. As a result of manufacturing a liquid crystal display in VA mode using the substrate, it was confirmed that black color was almost perfect, and vertical alignment of the liquid crystal was possible only with a simple physical method without an alignment layer.

Accordingly, the present invention in one aspect, (a) forming a macro pre-pattern on a substrate coated with a conductive material; and (b) etching the substrate on which the macro pre-pattern is formed to deposit a conductive material on both sides of the macro pre-pattern.

In another aspect, the present invention comprises the steps of: (a) applying a conductive material on a substrate on which a macro pre-pattern is formed; and (b) etching the substrate on which the macro pre-pattern is formed to deposit a conductive material on both sides of the macro pre-pattern.

In the present invention, the thickness of the deposited conductive material may be 1 nm to 100 μm, the height may be 10 nm to 1000 μm, and the gap between the deposited conductive materials may be 1 to 100 μm. Preferably, the thickness is 1 nm to 10 μm, the height is 10 nm to 100 μm, the spacing between the deposited conductive materials is 1 to 50 μm, more preferably the thickness is 1 nm to 100 nm, the height is 200 nm to 800 nm, and the deposited conductivity is The spacing between the materials may be 1 to 10 μm.

In the present invention, the macro pre-pattern may be formed by depositing a pre-pattern material on a substrate and performing a photolithography or imprinting process. The macro pre-pattern can be used without limitation as long as it is a process of forming a macro pre-pattern having a certain shape on a substrate because a conductive material is deposited on the side and used to form a transparent electrode, but preferably a photolithography or imprinting process is used. can

In the present invention, the conductive material is gold, platinum, silver, copper, aluminum, zinc oxide, chromium, indium tin oxide (ITO), nickel, iron, titanium, molybdenum, silicon, zinc oxide or titanium oxide. (titanium oxide) may be characterized. The conductive material is deposited on the side of the macro pre-pattern by etching, and the conductive material is applied to the substrate to form the macro pre-pattern, or the conductive material can be applied after the macro pre-pattern is formed. At this time, when the conductive material is applied before the formation of the macro pre-pattern, since the conductive material exists between the lower portion of the macro pre-pattern and the substrate, it is possible to obtain a transparent electrode having a U-shape in cross section after etching (FIG. 4), When the conductive material is applied after the formation of the pattern, all conductive materials other than the conductive material deposited on the side of the macro pre-pattern are removed, so that a transparent electrode in a hollowed out type can be obtained (FIG. 5). In addition, the erected transparent electrode and the erected portion of the U-shaped transparent electrode preferably have an angle of 70 to 90° with respect to the substrate, more preferably 80 to 90°, and most preferably 85 to 90°. can have

In addition, the conductive material can be used without limitation as long as it is a material capable of forming a transparent electrode. Preferably, gold, platinum, silver, copper, aluminum, zinc oxide, chromium, or indium tin oxide (ITO) may be used, and more preferably indium tin oxide (ITO) may be used.

In the present invention, after step (b); (c) removing the macro pre-pattern; may be characterized in that it further comprises. The macro pre-pattern is generally removed to improve the transparency of the substrate on which the transparent electrode is formed, but when the macro pre-pattern has a specific function, it may be used without removing it if necessary.

In the present invention, the substrate may be selected from the group consisting of polyethylene terephthalate, polyacrylate, polyethylene, quartz, glass, silicon, silicon oxide, and mixtures thereof. and preferably glass.

In the present invention, the macro pre-pattern may be made of polystyrene, chitosan, polyvinylalcohol, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), a photoresist compound, or a conductive polymer. The macro pre-pattern is formed in a predetermined shape by a lithography or imprinting process, and a conductive material is deposited on the side surface by etching. In this case, the height and spacing of the deposited conductive material may be adjusted by adjusting the height and spacing of the macro pre-pattern.

In the present invention, the etching may be characterized in that it is performed by milling or sputtering. The conductive material applied to the substrate exposed through the macro pre-pattern is deposited on both side walls of the macro pre-pattern by etching. In this case, the etching is preferably performed by milling or sputtering, and more preferably by ion milling. The milling is performed by forming plasma using a gas under a pressure of 0.001 mTorr to 10 mTorr and then accelerating the plasma to 100 V to 700 V, and the time is preferably 20 to 200 seconds, but is not limited thereto. In addition, the gas used for the ion milling is preferably selected from the group consisting of argon, helium, nitrogen, oxygen, and a mixture thereof.

On the other hand, in the case of manufacturing a vertically aligned liquid crystal display device using the transparent electrode manufactured by the above method, it was predicted that black color would be realized almost perfectly.

Accordingly, in another aspect, the present invention provides a vertically oriented liquid crystal display by injecting liquid crystal between the arranged substrates after arranging the transparent electrodes manufactured by the above method to face each other and having a pattern in a vertical direction. It relates to a method of manufacturing a vertically aligned liquid crystal display device comprising the steps of.

In another aspect, the present invention includes the steps of obtaining a vertically oriented liquid crystal display device by injecting liquid crystal between the arranged substrates, then, so that the transparent electrodes manufactured by the above method are arranged to face and the pattern is in the same direction It relates to a method of manufacturing a vertically aligned liquid crystal display device.

The transparent electrode manufactured by the above method is formed perpendicular to one side of the substrate. After arranging these two substrates so that the transparent electrodes face each other, liquid crystal is injected between the substrates to manufacture a vertically aligned liquid crystal display device. In this case, the two substrates may be arranged such that two vertically facing transparent electrodes are arranged in the same direction or cross each other.

[Example]

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail through examples. These examples are only for illustrating the present invention, and it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that the scope of the present invention is not to be construed as being limited by these examples.

Example 1: Macro pre-pattern Fabrication of transparent electrodes using

1, a macro pre-pattern is manufactured using photoresist on the glass on which ITO is deposited, and ITO is deposited on the macro pre-pattern wall through ion milling to make it 10 nm thick. Finally, the macro pre-pattern is removed with a solvent, leaving only a 10 nm thick pattern. The width between the deposited ITO is 5um and the height is made about 400~600nm. When producing the pre-pattern, the photoresist may be used, but the pre-pattern may be produced by imprinting.

Example 2: Fabrication of a vertically oriented liquid crystal display device using the transparent electrode

As shown in the lower part of Fig. 1, the transparent electrode prepared in Example 1 is used on both sides, and the liquid crystal cell is assembled so that the patterns are perpendicular to each other, and liquid crystal is injected. As a result, a liquid crystal display of VA mode in which the liquid crystal is vertically standing is produced.

A pattern is made based on the free pattern on the ITO glass as shown in Fig. 2a, and Fig. 2b is a VA mode liquid crystal display made with the ITO pattern. The small photo of FIG. 2b shows a black screen showing the VA mode by placing the polarizers on both sides vertically. 2c and 2d are POM pictures, showing that liquid crystal molecules stand vertically. Looking at the conoscopy of FIG. 2D, it can be seen that it is exactly in the VA mode. When the pattern height/cell gap = 0.5 or more, the VA mode appears, and the wider the line width, the better the vertical alignment.

3 is an ITO pattern observed with an optical microscope. The line width is 5 μm and the height is about 800 nm.

As the specific parts of the present invention have been described in detail above, for those of ordinary skill in the art, it is clear that these specific descriptions are only preferred embodiments, and the scope of the present invention is not limited thereby. will be. Accordingly, it is intended that the substantial scope of the present invention be defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims (11)

A method of manufacturing an alignment film-free vertical alignment type liquid crystal display including a transparent electrode using a macro pre-pattern comprising the following steps:
(a) forming a macro pre-pattern on a substrate coated with a conductive material;
(b) etching the substrate on which the macro pre-pattern is formed and depositing the conductive material on both sides of the macro pre-pattern to prepare a transparent electrode; and
(c) arranging the prepared transparent electrodes to face, arranging the macro pre-patterns in a vertical direction or the same direction, and then injecting liquid crystal between the arranged substrates to obtain a vertically aligned liquid crystal display device.
A method of manufacturing an alignment film-free vertical alignment type liquid crystal display including a transparent electrode using a macro pre-pattern comprising the following steps:
(a) applying a conductive material on the substrate on which the macro pre-pattern is formed;
(b) etching the substrate on which the macro pre-pattern is formed and depositing the conductive material on both sides of the macro pre-pattern to prepare a transparent electrode; and
(c) arranging the prepared transparent electrodes to face, arranging the macro pre-patterns in a vertical direction or the same direction, and then injecting liquid crystal between the arranged substrates to obtain a vertically aligned liquid crystal display device.
The method of claim 1 or 2, further comprising: removing the macro pre-pattern after step (b).
The vertically oriented liquid crystal according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the deposited conductive material has a thickness of 1 nm to 100 μm, a height of 10 nm to 1000 μm, and an interval between the deposited conductive materials is 1 to 100 μm. A method for manufacturing a display device.
The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the macro pre-pattern is formed by depositing a pre-pattern material on a substrate and performing a lithography or imprinting process.
The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the etching is performed by milling or sputtering.
The method of claim 6, wherein the milling is performed by forming plasma using a gas under a pressure of 0.001 mTorr to 10 mTorr and then accelerating the plasma to 100V to 700V.
A method of manufacturing an alignment film-free vertically aligned liquid crystal display including a vertically aligned transparent electrode using a macro pre-pattern comprising the following steps:
(a) depositing a conductive material on a substrate and then forming a first macro pre-pattern;
(b) redepositing the conductive material on the side surface of the first macro pre-pattern through etching to obtain a first transparent electrode having a pattern;
(c) depositing a second conductive material on the substrate on which the first transparent electrode is formed, and then forming a second macro pre-pattern to be perpendicular to the first transparent electrode;
(d) redepositing the second conductive material on the side surface of the second macro pre-pattern through etching to obtain a second transparent electrode having a pattern; and
(e) arranging the obtained first transparent electrode and the second transparent electrode to face each other, arranging the macro pre-pattern in a vertical direction or in the same direction, and then injecting liquid crystal between the arranged substrates to display a vertically oriented liquid crystal display obtaining a device.
A method of manufacturing an alignment film-free vertically aligned liquid crystal display including a vertically aligned transparent electrode using a macro pre-pattern comprising the following steps:
(a) forming a first macro pre-pattern on a substrate and then depositing a first conductive material;
(b) redepositing the first conductive material on the side surface of the first macro pre-pattern through etching to obtain a first transparent electrode having a pattern;
(c) forming a second macro pre-pattern perpendicular to the first transparent electrode on the substrate on which the first transparent electrode is formed, and then depositing a second conductive material;
(d) redepositing the second conductive material on the side surface of the second macro pre-pattern through etching to obtain a second transparent electrode having a pattern; and
(e) arranging the obtained first transparent electrode and the second transparent electrode to face each other, arranging the macro pre-pattern in a vertical direction or in the same direction, and then injecting liquid crystal between the arranged substrates to display a vertically oriented liquid crystal display obtaining a device.
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