KR20080037388A - Display device - Google Patents

Abstract

A display device having a periphery area and a display area is provided to prevent a metal film from being electrically coupled to a pixel film and prevent defect of products by not disposing pixel and common electrodes in a periphery area of display device. A display device having a periphery area and a display area includes first substrate(110), repair line(332), data line(171), protective film(111), second substrate and light-shield member. The repair line is adapted on the first substrate positioned in the periphery area. The data line is crossed to the repair line. The protective film is formed on the data line. The second substrate is being distanced with a given gap, opposite to the first substrate. The light-shield member is formed on the second substrate opposite to the repair line. The repair line and the data line are electrically coupled through a laser radiation at a short-circuit portion of the data line. On the protective film that the repair line and the data line are electrically coupled, the repair line and the metal film short-circuited with the data line are formed.

Description

Display device {DISPLAY DEVICE}

1 is a block diagram of a liquid crystal display according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

2 is an equivalent circuit diagram of one pixel of a liquid crystal display according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a schematic diagram of a liquid crystal display according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion of the liquid crystal display shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the liquid crystal display of FIG. 4 taken along the line VV ′. FIG.

The present invention relates to a display device.

A typical liquid crystal display (LCD) includes two display panels provided with pixel electrodes and a common electrode, and a liquid crystal layer having dielectric anisotropy interposed therebetween. The pixel electrodes are arranged in a matrix and connected to switching elements such as thin film transistors (TFTs) to receive data voltages one by one in sequence. The common electrode is formed over the entire surface of the display panel and receives a common voltage. The pixel electrode, the common electrode, and the liquid crystal layer therebetween form a liquid crystal capacitor, and the liquid crystal capacitor becomes a basic unit that forms a pixel together with a switching element connected thereto.

In such a liquid crystal display, a voltage is applied to two electrodes to generate an electric field in the liquid crystal layer, and the intensity of the electric field is adjusted to adjust the transmittance of light passing through the liquid crystal layer to obtain a desired image.

In addition, three primary colors, for example, a red, green, or blue color filter may be provided in the common electrode region corresponding to the pixel electrode to implement color display.

Meanwhile, the liquid crystal display undergoes various inspection processes in the manufacturing process and repairs defects found in the inspection process.

In the case of manufacturing such a liquid crystal display device, if there is a defect in a disconnection or a pixel such as a display signal line, the defects are filtered out in advance through a predetermined inspection. These types of tests include thin field transistor tests (TFT tests), liquid crystal tests, and module tests.

The thin film transistor test is an array test in which a constant voltage is applied before being separated into individual cells and whether the display signal line is disconnected through the presence or absence of an output voltage. In addition, the liquid crystal test is divided into individual cells and applied with a constant voltage, followed by a visual inspection (VI) test to check whether the display signal line is disconnected while looking at the human eye. In addition, the module test is a test for checking whether the driving circuit is properly operated after attaching a polarizer to the outside of the two display panels and installing the driving circuit.

If a defect is found in such a test, a repairable defect is repaired and used. As one of the repair methods, a separate wiring called a repair line is made in a peripheral area, and a method of using the repair is used. For example, when the data line is disconnected, the data voltage can be bypassed and supplied through the repair line by irradiating a laser to short the disconnected data line and the repair line.

However, a portion shorted by the laser of the repair line and the data line is exposed on the protective film. As a result, when the pressure test of the liquid crystal display panel is performed, a portion shorted by the laser of the repair line and the data line may come in contact with the common electrode of the upper display panel, thereby causing display defects.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a display device capable of preventing display defects due to pressure in a liquid crystal display device having a repair line.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display device including a peripheral area and a display area, including: a first substrate, a repair line present on the first substrate positioned in the peripheral area, A data line intersecting the repair line, a passivation layer formed on the data line, a second substrate facing away from the first substrate by a predetermined distance, and a light blocking member formed on the second substrate facing the repair line. The repair line and the data line are electrically connected to the portion where the data line is disconnected through laser irradiation, and a metal layer short-circuited with the repair line and the data line is formed on the protective layer electrically connected to the repair line and the data line. It is.

The repair line may surround the entire outer surface of the display area and have a ring shape.

The display area of the first substrate may further include a gate line formed on the same layer as the repair line and a pixel electrode formed on the passivation layer.

The display area of the second substrate may further include a common electrode formed on the second light blocking member.

The electrically repaired repair line and the data line may be present at a portion where the repair line and the data line cross each other.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art may easily implement the present invention.

In the drawings, the thickness of layers, films, panels, regions, etc., are exaggerated for clarity. Like parts are designated by like reference numerals throughout the specification. When a portion of a layer, film, region, plate, etc. is said to be "on top" of another part, this includes not only when the other part is "right on" but also another part in the middle. On the contrary, when a part is "just above" another part, there is no other part in the middle.

A liquid crystal display according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram of a liquid crystal display according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an equivalent circuit diagram of one pixel of the liquid crystal display according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, a liquid crystal display according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a liquid crystal panel assembly 300, a gate driver 400, a data driver 500, and a data driver 500 connected thereto. The gray voltage generator 800 connected to the signal generator 500 and a signal controller 600 for controlling the gray voltage generator 800 are included.

The liquid crystal panel assembly 300 includes a plurality of display signal lines G ₁ -G _n , D ₁ -D _m and a plurality of pixels connected to the plurality of display signal lines G ₁ -G _n , D ₁ -D _m , and arranged in a substantially matrix form. .

The display signal lines G ₁ -G _n and D ₁ -D _m are a plurality of gate lines G ₁ -G _n transmitting gate signals (also called scan signals) and data lines D ₁ transferring data signals. includes -D _m). gate lines (G ₁ -G _n) extend in a substantially row direction and are substantially parallel to the data lines (D ₁ -D _m) to each other and extending substantially in a column direction are substantially parallel to each other .

Each pixel includes a switching element Q connected to a display signal line G ₁ -G _n , D ₁ -D _m , and a liquid crystal capacitor C _LC and a storage capacitor C _ST connected thereto. It includes. The holding capacitor C _ST can be omitted as necessary.

The switching element Q, such as a thin film transistor, is provided in the lower panel 100, and the control terminal and the input terminal are three-terminal elements, respectively, with gate lines G ₁ -G _n and data lines D ₁ -D _m . The output terminal is connected to a liquid crystal capacitor (C _LC ) and a holding capacitor (C _ST ).

The liquid crystal capacitor C _LC has two terminals, a pixel electrode 190191 of the lower panel 100 and a common electrode 270 of the upper panel 200, and the liquid crystal layer 3 between the two electrodes 190191 and 270 is It functions as a dielectric. The pixel electrode 190191 is connected to the switching element Q, and the common electrode 270 is formed on the front surface of the upper panel 200 and receives a common voltage V _com . Unlike in FIG. 2, the common electrode 270 may be provided in the lower panel 100. In this case, at least one of the two electrodes 190191 and 270 may be formed in a linear or bar shape.

The storage capacitor C _ST , which serves as an auxiliary part of the liquid crystal capacitor C _LC , is formed by overlapping a separate signal line (not shown) and the pixel electrode 190191 provided on the lower panel 100 with an insulator interposed therebetween. A predetermined voltage such as the common voltage V _com is applied to this separate signal line. However, the storage capacitor C _ST may be formed such that the pixel electrode 190191 overlaps the front gate line directly above the insulator.

On the other hand, to implement color display, each pixel uniquely displays one of the three primary colors (spatial division) or each pixel alternately displays the three primary colors over time (time division) so that the desired color can be selected by the spatial and temporal sum of these three primary colors. To be recognized. 2 illustrates an example of spatial division, in which each pixel includes a red, green, or blue color filter 230 in a region corresponding to the pixel electrode 190191. Unlike FIG. 2, the color filter 230 may be formed above or below the pixel electrode 190191 of the lower panel 100.

A polarizer (not shown) for polarizing light is attached to an outer surface of at least one of the two display panels 100 and 200 of the liquid crystal panel assembly 300.

The gray voltage generator 800 generates two sets of gray voltages related to the transmittance of the pixel. One of the two sets has a positive value for the common voltage (V _com ) and the other set has a negative value.

The gate driver 400 is connected to the gate lines G ₁ -G _n of the liquid crystal panel assembly 300 to receive a gate signal formed by a combination of a gate on voltage V _on and a gate off voltage V _off from the outside. It is applied to the gate lines G ₁ -G _n and usually consists of a plurality of integrated circuits.

The data driver 500 is connected to the data lines D ₁ -D _m of the liquid crystal panel assembly 300 to select the gray voltage from the gray voltage generator 800 and apply the gray voltage to the pixel as a data signal. It consists of a circuit.

The plurality of gate driving integrated circuits or data driving integrated circuits may be mounted in a tape carrier package (TCP) (not shown) in the form of a chip to attach the TCP to the liquid crystal panel assembly 300, and may be advantageous without using TCP. These integrated circuit chips may be directly attached onto a substrate (chip on glass, COG mounting method), and circuits performing the same functions as those integrated circuit chips may be directly formed on the liquid crystal panel assembly 300.

The signal controller 600 controls operations of the gate driver 400 and the data driver 500.

Next, a liquid crystal display according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5.

3 is a schematic diagram of a liquid crystal display according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion of the liquid crystal display shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the liquid crystal display of FIG. 4 taken along the line VV ′. FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the liquid crystal panel assembly 300 of the liquid crystal display according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include the data line 171 and the gate line 121 disposed in the peripheral area PA. The shorting bars 310, 320, 340, and 350, and the signal lines 311 and 321 and signal lines 341 and 351 alternately connected thereto, and the signal lines 311 and 321 and the signal lines 341 through the contact portions C1 and C2, respectively. And a plurality of repair lines 331 and 332 formed in an annular shape and surrounding the entire outer surface of the display area DA and the data line 171 and the gate line 121 connected to the 351.

The signal lines 311 and 321 are alternately connected to the shorting bars 310 and 320 for the data line 171, and the ends of the shorting bars 310 and 320 and the shorting bars 340 and 350 for the gate line 121 are inspected. A pad (not shown) for applying a signal is formed. Signal lines 341 and 351 are alternately connected to the shorting bars 340 and 350 for the gate line 121, and pads (not shown) for applying a test signal are formed at ends thereof.

The shorting bars 310, 320, 340, 350 are later cut along the cutting line L. FIG.

The lower portion of the liquid crystal panel assembly 300 includes a data line 171 and a pad C having a wide end portion of the data line 171. The pad C is a pad to which a test signal for inspecting short and disconnection of the data line 171 is applied.

A plurality of repair lines 332 and 331 extend in a horizontal direction above the pad C, and the repair lines 332 and 331 extend from the data line 171 and are electrically connected to the pad C. Intersect with

Next, the signal lines 176 extending from the repair lines 331 and 332 and the data line 171 will be described in more detail.

4 and 5, a blocking film 111 made of silicon oxide (SiOx) or silicon nitride (SiNx) is formed on the lower substrate 110.

Repair lines 331 and 332 and a repair line 332 and a gate line 121 are formed on the blocking film 111.

Repair lines 332 and 332 exist in the peripheral area PA, and gate lines 121 exist in the display area DA. Here, the repair lines 331 and 332, the repair line 332 and the gate line 121 are aluminum-based metals such as aluminum (Al) or aluminum alloy, silver-based metals such as silver (Ag) or silver alloy, and copper (Cu). It may be made of a copper-based metal such as copper alloy, molybdenum-based metal such as molybdenum (Mo) or molybdenum alloy, chromium (Cr), tantalum (Ta), titanium (Ti), tungsten (W). However, the repair lines 331 and 332, the repair line 332, and the gate line 121 may have a multilayer structure including two conductive films (not shown) having different physical properties. One of these conductive layers may be formed of a low resistivity metal, for example, an aluminum-based metal, a silver-based metal, or a copper-based metal so as to reduce a signal delay or a voltage drop of the gate line 121. . The other conductive layer may be formed of a material having excellent contact properties with other materials, particularly indium tin oxide (ITO) and indium zinc oxide (IZO), such as molybdenum-based metal, chromium, tantalum, titanium, or the like. A good example of such a combination is a chromium bottom film, an aluminum (alloy) top film, an aluminum (alloy) bottom film and a molybdenum (alloy) top film. However, the repair lines 331 and 332, the repair line 332, and the gate line 121 may be made of various other metals and conductors.

The gate insulating layer 140 is formed on the repair line repair lines 331, 332 and 332 and the gate line 121.

On the gate insulating layer 140, a semiconductor 151 made of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (amorphous silicon is abbreviated as a-Si), polycrystalline silicon, or the like is formed.

An ohmic contact 161 is formed on the semiconductor 151. The ohmic contact 161 may be made of a material such as n + hydrogenated amorphous silicon in which n-type impurities such as phosphorus are heavily doped, or may be made of silicide.

The semiconductor 151 and the ohmic contact 161 may be omitted in the peripheral area PA according to the metal characteristics of the repair lines 331 and 332 and the data line 171.

The data line 171 is formed on the ohmic contact 161.

The data line 171 is preferably made of a refractory metal such as molybdenum, chromium, tantalum and titanium, or an alloy thereof, and includes a conductive film (not shown) and a low resistance material conductive film (not shown). It may have a multilayered film structure. Examples of the multilayer film structure include a double film of chromium or molybdenum (alloy) lower film and an aluminum (alloy) upper film, a triple layer of molybdenum (alloy) lower film, aluminum (alloy) interlayer and molybdenum (alloy) upper film. However, the data line 171 may be made of various other metals or conductors.

The passivation layer 180 is formed on the data line 171.

In the present invention, the disconnected data line 171 is detected by using a liquid crystal test to determine whether the data line 171 is disconnected by applying a test signal to the pad C described above. In this case, a bright pixel or a high pixel phenomenon occurs in a portion where the disconnected data line 171 exists. In order to prevent this, the laser beam is irradiated to portions S1 and S2 where the disconnected data line 171 and the repair line 332 overlap to connect the repair line 332 and the signal line 176 to the data line 171. As a result, the data signal is transmitted to the data line 171 below the disconnected portion via the repair line 332. Accordingly, the high pixel defect of the display device can be prevented and repaired to improve the reliability of the product.

The laser is irradiated to portions S1 and S2 where the repair line 332 and the data line 171 overlap and pass through the data line 171 and the passivation layer 180. The upper metal layer 60 is electrically connected to the repair line 332 and the data line 171.

On the other hand, the pixel electrode 191 is formed on the passivation layer 180 in the display area DA of the thin film transistor array panel 100.

As such, the pixel electrode 191 is disposed only in the display area DA so that the metal layer 60 formed by the short circuit process of the data line 171 disconnected from the repair line 332 is electrically connected to the pixel electrode 191. To prevent product defects.

The thin film transistor array panel 100 having such a structure faces the common electrode display panel 200.

The common electrode display panel 200 facing the display area DA of the thin film transistor array panel 100 may include the light blocking member 220 formed on the upper substrate 210 and the color filter 230 formed on the light blocking member 220. ) And the common electrode 270 formed on the light blocking member 220 and the color filter 230. Here, the light blocking member 220 may be formed of an organic film including a black pigment.

On the other hand, in the conventional common electrode panel 200 facing the peripheral area PA of the thin film transistor array panel 100, the common electrode 270 exists as in the display area DA. Therefore, when the pressure test is in progress, a defect occurs in the display device because the metal layer 60 of the thin film transistor array panel 100 and the common electrode 270 of the common electrode display panel 200 come into contact with each other.

In the present invention, the common electrode 270 is not present in the common electrode display panel 200 facing the peripheral area PA of the thin film transistor array panel 100 in order to prevent defects of the display device. Accordingly, since the metal layer 60 faces the light blocking member 220 made of an insulating material, even if the metal layer 60 and the light blocking member 220 come into contact with each other due to the progress of the pressure test, the display device does not affect the display device. Therefore, a defect of the display device can be prevented.

In the present invention, the pixel electrode and the common electrode are not disposed in the peripheral area of the display device. As a result, during the liquid crystal display panel pressurization test, the laser line is short-circuited with the repair line and the data line, and the metal layer existing on the upper portion of the protective film can be prevented from being short-circuited with the common electrode. In addition, it is possible to prevent product defects by preventing the metal layer from being electrically connected to the pixel electrode.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications and improvements of those skilled in the art using the basic concepts of the present invention defined in the following claims are also provided. It belongs to the scope of rights.

Claims (5)

In a display device including a peripheral area and a display area, First substrate, A repair line existing on the first substrate positioned in the peripheral region, A data line intersecting the repair line, A protective film formed on the data line, A second substrate facing away from the first substrate by a predetermined distance; Light blocking member formed on the second substrate facing the repair line Including; The repair line and the data line are electrically connected to a portion where the data line is disconnected by laser irradiation, and a metal layer short-circuited with the repair line and the data line is formed on the protective layer electrically connected to the repair line and the data line. Display device. In claim 1, And the repair line surrounds an entire outer surface of the display area and is formed in a ring shape. In claim 1, The display area of the first substrate is A gate line formed on the same layer as the repair line, and And a pixel electrode formed on the passivation layer. In claim 3, The display area of the second substrate is And a common electrode formed on the second light blocking member. In claim 1, And the electrically repaired repair line and the data line are in a portion where the repair line and the data line cross each other.

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