CN1963611A - Manufacturing method of color filter element, liquid crystal display panel and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for manufacturing a color filter element, a liquid crystal display panel and a method for manufacturing the same. The method for manufacturing the color filter element comprises first providing a substrate on which a patterned light shielding layer is formed, and then forming a filter unit in each sub-pixel region divided by the patterned light shielding layer, and each filter unit is partially overlapped on the patterned light shielding layer. In particular, at least a portion of the filter units have openings, and these openings are located above the patterned light shielding layer. Afterwards, a conformal electrode layer is formed on the substrate. Then, a plurality of gap supports are formed on the electrode layer, and these gap supports are respectively embedded in the filter units through corresponding openings.

Description

Manufacturing method of color filter element, liquid crystal display panel and manufacturing method thereof

technical field

The invention relates to a manufacturing method of a display panel, and in particular to a manufacturing method of a color filter element, a liquid crystal display panel and a manufacturing method thereof.

Background technique

The rapid progress of the multimedia society is mostly due to the rapid progress of semiconductor devices and display devices. As far as displays are concerned, liquid crystal displays (Liquid Crystal Display, LCD) with superior characteristics such as high image quality, good space utilization efficiency, low power consumption, and no radiation have gradually become the mainstream of the market.

Since various performances of liquid crystal displays, such as response speed, contrast value, and viewing angle, are related to the cell gap d of the liquid crystal cell, the cell gap is generally strictly controlled according to the optical properties of the liquid crystal material. gap. In addition, if the gaps of the liquid crystal cells have different values, it is easy to cause uneven display, and the visual effect of the image will be significantly reduced. Therefore, a spacer is usually provided between the two substrates of the liquid crystal display panel to maintain a constant gap between the liquid crystal cells. According to the current technology, since the columnar gap support can provide a more uniform liquid crystal cell gap, better light transmittance and higher contrast in the display panel, the columnar gap support is currently used to replace the old spherical gap support.

Most of the current spacers are formed on the color filter, so this kind of spacer is called SOC (spacer on color filter). FIG. 1A is a partial top view of a conventional color filter formed with gap supports. Fig. 1B is a schematic cross-sectional view along the direction A-A' of Fig. 1 . Please refer to FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B at the same time. The color filter 100 includes a substrate 102 , a black matrix 110 , a filter unit 120 and a common electrode 130 . Wherein, the filter unit 120 is disposed in the sub-pixel region 104 surrounded by the black matrix 110 on the substrate 102 , and partially overlaps the black matrix 110 . The common electrode 130 is conformally disposed on the substrate 102 , and the gap support 140 is formed on the common electrode 130 above the overlap of the filter unit 120 and the black matrix 110 .

However, since there is no fixation layer between the gap support 140 and the color filter 100, the alignment film (alignment film) (not shown in the figure) is subsequently formed after cleaning, PI transfer, alignment, and even stripping the film. In the cleaning process, it is easy to cause the gap support 140 to peel off from the color filter 100 due to the applied transverse shear stress, resulting in uneven gaps between the liquid crystal cells of the liquid crystal display panel, and then abnormal image display (that is, The so-called mura phenomenon).

Contents of the invention

In view of the above situation, the object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel, so as to manufacture a liquid crystal display panel with uniform gaps between liquid crystal cells, thereby increasing the manufacturing yield.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a color filter element to increase the tolerance of the gap support on the color filter element to transverse shear stress.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal display having uniform cell gaps and thus good display quality.

The invention provides a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel. The method firstly provides a first substrate and a second substrate respectively. Wherein, the first substrate has been formed with the first electrode layer. A patterned light-shielding layer has been formed on the second substrate, and a plurality of sub-pixel regions are distinguished on the second substrate. Afterwards, filter units are formed in each sub-pixel area, and these filter units are partially overlapped on the patterned light-shielding layer. In particular, at least a part of the filter units respectively have at least one opening, and these openings are located above the patterned light-shielding layer.

Based on the above, a conformal second electrode layer is formed on the second substrate, and then a plurality of gap supports are formed on the second electrode layer, and these gap supports are respectively embedded in the filter through their corresponding openings. unit. Next, the second substrate and the first substrate are assembled, wherein a liquid crystal layer has been formed between the first substrate and the second substrate. Moreover, the first electrode layer is opposite to the second electrode layer, and the distance between the first substrate and the second substrate is maintained by these gap supports.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the method of forming the above-mentioned gap support is, for example, first forming a layer of photoresist material on the second electrode layer. Wherein, the photoresist material layer fills up the aforementioned opening. Next, the layer of photoresist material is removed except around the respective openings to form the gap supports.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the aforementioned filter units are, for example, a red filter unit, a green filter unit and a blue filter unit.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned first substrate is an active element array substrate, and the second substrate is a color filter.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned second substrate further includes an active device array, and the above-mentioned patterned light-shielding layer is formed on the active device array.

The invention also proposes a manufacturing method of the color filter element, which firstly provides a substrate on which a patterned light-shielding layer has been formed, and distinguishes a plurality of sub-pixel regions on the substrate. Next, filter units are formed in each sub-pixel region on the substrate, and each filter unit is partially overlapped on the patterned light-shielding layer. In particular, at least one part of the filter units has at least one opening respectively, and these openings are located above the patterned light-shielding layer. Thereafter, a conformal electrode layer is formed on the substrate. Then, a plurality of gap supports are formed on the electrode layer, and these gap supports are respectively inserted into the filter unit through corresponding openings.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, in the step of forming the openings in the filter unit, for example, the sidewalls of the openings are inclined relative to the bottom surface thereof.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the method for forming the above-mentioned gap support is, for example, firstly forming a layer of photoresist material on the electrode layer. Wherein, the photoresist material layer fills up the aforementioned opening. Next, the layer of photoresist material is removed except around the respective openings to form the gap supports.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned substrate further includes an active device array, and the above-mentioned patterned light-shielding layer is formed on the active device array.

The present invention also proposes a liquid crystal display panel, including a first substrate, a second substrate, a patterned light-shielding layer, a plurality of filter units, a conformal electrode layer, a plurality of gap supports and a liquid crystal layer. Wherein, the first electrode layer is arranged on the first substrate, and the second substrate is arranged opposite to the first substrate. The patterned light-shielding layer is disposed on the surface of the second substrate opposite to the first substrate, and the patterned light-shielding layer distinguishes a plurality of sub-pixel regions on the second substrate. The filter units are respectively disposed in the sub-pixel regions, wherein at least a part of the filter units respectively have at least one opening, and the openings are located above the patterned light-shielding layer. The electrode layer is arranged on the patterned light-shielding layer and the filter unit, and filled into the opening. The gap supports are arranged on the second electrode layer, and the gap supports are inserted into the filter units respectively through corresponding openings. The liquid crystal layer is disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned liquid crystal display panel further includes an active element array disposed on the first substrate.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned liquid crystal display panel further includes an active element array disposed on the second substrate, and a patterned light-shielding layer is disposed on the active element array.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned gap support is a columnar gap support.

Since the gap support of the present invention is embedded in the filter unit, the transverse shear stress that the gap support can bear can be increased, so as to avoid the subsequent cleaning or alignment of the gap support or the alignment of the alignment film. peeling off. It can be seen that the liquid crystal display panel manufactured according to the present invention can have a uniform gap between the liquid crystal cells, so as to maintain excellent display quality.

In order to make the above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention more comprehensible, preferred embodiments are described below in detail with accompanying drawings.

Description of drawings

1A to 1B are schematic cross-sectional views of a conventional color filter forming a gap support.

2A to 2D are top views of the manufacturing process structure of the color filter element in a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

3A to 3D are schematic cross-sectional views of the structures in FIGS. 2A to 2D along the I-I' direction, respectively.

Fig. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a filter unit with openings in a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of forming a photoresist material layer on an electrode layer in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a color filter element in a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7A is a schematic top view of the substrate constituting the bottom of the liquid crystal display panel in a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

7B to 7C are schematic cross-sectional views of the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal display panel in a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a liquid crystal display panel in another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Description of main component marking

100: color filter

102, 210, 310: substrate

104, 212: sub-pixel area

110: black matrix

120, 230: filter unit

130: common electrode

140, 250: clearance support

200, 300: color filter element

220: shading pattern layer

232: opening

233: opening side wall

240, 315, 612: electrode layer

260: photoresist material layer

211, 314: active element array

320: frame glue

410: liquid crystal layer

412: liquid crystal molecules

500, 600: LCD panel

R: Red light filter unit

G: Green light filter unit

B: Blue light filter unit

θ: angle

Detailed ways

2A to 2D are top views of the manufacturing process structure of the color filter element in the first embodiment of the present invention. 3A to 3D are respectively schematic cross-sectional views of the structure in FIG. 2A to FIG. 2D along the I-I' direction.

Referring to FIG. 2A and FIG. 3A , firstly, a substrate 210 is provided, and a patterned light-shielding layer 220 has been formed on the substrate 210 , and the patterned light-shielding layer 220 defines a plurality of sub-pixel regions 212 on the substrate 210 . In other words, the patterned light-shielding layer 220 is a so-called black matrix (BM).

Referring to FIG. 2B and FIG. 3B , a plurality of filter units 230 are formed on the substrate 210 , and these filter units 230 are respectively located in the corresponding sub-pixel regions 212 . In full-color technology, the filter unit 230 includes a red filter unit R, a green filter unit G, and a blue filter unit B, for example. In addition, in order to increase the aperture ratio, each filter unit 230 is usually partially overlapped on the patterned light-shielding layer 220 . In particular, at least a part of the filter unit 230 has an opening 232 where it overlaps with the patterned light-shielding layer 220 . Wherein, the opening 232 may be an exposed part of the patterned light-shielding layer 220 , or may not expose the patterned light-shielding layer 220 , which is not limited in the present invention. In addition, the sidewall 233 of the opening 232 may be inclined relative to the bottom surface thereof, as shown in FIG. 4 , and a preferred inclination angle θ is greater than 30 degrees, for example.

It is worth mentioning that if the filter unit 230 is formed by a photolithography process, the opening 232 and the filter unit 230 can be completed in the same process without additional photolithography masks.

Referring to FIG. 2C and FIG. 3C , a conformal electrode layer 240 is formed on the substrate 210 . Afterwards, please refer to FIG. 2D and FIG. 3D , a plurality of gap supports 250 are formed on the electrode layer 240, and these gap supports 250 are inserted into the filter unit 230 through the corresponding openings 232, so as to increase the gap between the gap supports 250 and The adhesion area between the electrode layers 240 improves the adhesion of the gap support 250 . It is worth mentioning that, the cross-sectional area of the part of the gap support 250 embedded in the filter unit 230 is, for example, smaller than the cross-sectional area exposed outside the filter unit 230 . In other words, the gap support 250 is, for example, partially located on the electrode layer 240 above the filter unit 230 , so as to further increase the adhesion of the gap support 250 . Furthermore, the spacer 250 is, for example, a columnar spacer.

Based on the above, the method of forming the gap support 250 is, for example, to first form a layer of photoresist material layer 260 on the electrode layer 240 in FIG. 3C to fill the opening 232 , as shown in FIG. 5 . Then photolithography and etching processes are performed on the photoresist material layer 260 to remove the photoresist material layer 260 except around the opening 232 , so that the gap holder 250 embedded in the filter unit 230 in FIG. 3D can be formed. This roughly completes the color filter element 200 with the gap support 250, and the color filter element 200 is a color filter commonly used in display panels.

It should be noted that, in another embodiment, the above process can also be applied to the process of forming a color filter on array (COA) on the active device array. Please refer to FIG. 6 , which is a partial cross-sectional schematic diagram of the color filter element in the second embodiment of the present invention. The manufacturing process of the color filter element 300 is to firstly provide the substrate 210 on which the active device array 211 and the patterned light-shielding layer 220 are sequentially formed. The subsequent method of forming the filter unit 230 with the opening 232 , the electrode layer 240 and the gap holder 250 is similar to that of the first embodiment, and will not be repeated here. The color filter element 300 formed in this embodiment is a COA substrate commonly used in display panels, and the electrode layer 240 is a so-called pixel electrode.

From this, it can be seen that the present invention does not limit the arrangement form of the filter unit embedded in the gap support. In other words, the gap support of the present invention can be embedded in the filter unit on the general color filter (color filter), and can also be embedded in the filter unit in the COA substrate. Moreover, the gap support of the present invention can also be embedded in the filter unit arranged in the dummy pixel (dummy pixel) region, so that in the process of using the color filter element to form a liquid crystal display panel, the gap support can simultaneously have The effect of buffering the liquid crystal flow rate, thereby preventing the liquid crystal molecules from being polluted by the uncured sealant.

Those skilled in the art should know that if the SOC technology is used to form the gap support of the liquid crystal display panel, the liquid crystal display panel usually uses a one drop fill (ODF) process to form the liquid crystal layer, which will be described below The manufacturing process of such a liquid crystal display panel.

FIG. 7A is a schematic top view of a substrate of a liquid crystal display panel in a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 7B to 7C are schematic cross-sectional views of the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal display panel in a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 7A , firstly, a substrate 310 , such as an active device array substrate, is provided. The substrate 310 has a display area 312 , and an active device array 314 is formed in the display area 312 , and the active device array 314 includes an electrode layer 315 , which is a so-called pixel electrode. Here, the active device array 314 is, for example, a thin film transistor array (thin film transistor array, TFTarray), and those skilled in the art can understand its detailed manufacturing process, so it will not be repeated here.

Referring to FIG. 7B , a sealant 320 is then formed on the substrate 310 to surround the display area 312 . Then, the liquid crystal molecules 412 are injected into the display area 312 by a drop injection method to form the liquid crystal layer 410 . In this way, the liquid crystal layer 400 can be sealed between the substrate 310 and the color filter element 200 in a subsequent process. It is worth mentioning that the sealant 320 may also be formed on the color filter element 200 , which is not limited in the present invention.

Please refer to FIG. 7C , the color filter element 200 is arranged above the substrate 310, and the color filter element 200 and the substrate 310 are pressed together so that the gap support 250 is in contact with the substrate 310, thereby maintaining the substrate 310 and the color filter. The spacing between the light elements 200 . Here, since the gap support 250 is thicker than the known thickness, the gap support 250 is easily deformed laterally due to pressure during the process of pressing the color filter element 200 and the substrate 310 . It can be seen that the gap support 250 is not easy to fall off during the process of assembling and aligning the color filter element 200 and the substrate 310 .

It is worth mentioning that those skilled in the art should know that the structures shown in FIG. 7A and FIG. 2D are formed independently in the actual process, so the present invention does not limit the formation sequence of the structures in FIG. 7A and FIG. 2D .

Please continue to refer to FIG. 7C. After the substrate 310 and the color filter element 200 are laminated, the sealant 320 is then cured to fix the relative position of the substrate 310 and the color filter element 200. This completes the assembly of the liquid crystal display panel 500. . Wherein, the frame glue 320 is, for example, thermal curing (thermal curing) frame glue or ultraviolet light curing (UV curing) frame glue, and the method of curing the frame glue 320 is thermal curing method and UV curing method according to the characteristics of the frame glue. . Subsequent processes of the liquid crystal display panel 500 are generally understood by those skilled in the art, and will not be repeated here.

The above embodiment takes the color filter element 200 of the first embodiment as an example to illustrate that the liquid crystal display panel formed by the color filter element of the present invention can have a uniform gap between liquid crystal cells. Of course, the liquid crystal display panel formed by the color filter element 300 of the second embodiment can also have the same characteristics. The liquid crystal display panel formed by using the color filter element 300 of the second embodiment of the present invention will be illustrated below.

FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a liquid crystal display panel in another preferred embodiment of the present invention. The process of the liquid crystal display panel of this embodiment is roughly similar to the process of the liquid crystal display panel 500 of the foregoing embodiment, and only the differences between the two are described here. Please refer to FIG. 8 , the lower substrate constituting the liquid crystal display panel 600 is the color filter element 300 shown in FIG. 6 , and the electrode layer 612 is formed on the upper substrate 610 . In other words, the liquid crystal display panel 600 is assembled by the COA substrate and the upper substrate 610 .

The invention embeds the gap support into the filter unit to increase the adhesion area between the gap support and the electrode layer, thereby improving the adhesion between the gap support and the color filter element. In this way, the lateral shear stress that the gap support can withstand can be increased, so as to prevent the gap support from peeling off in the subsequent cleaning or forming alignment film or alignment of the alignment film. It can be seen that the liquid crystal display panel manufactured according to the present invention can have a uniform gap between the liquid crystal cells, so as to maintain good display quality.

Furthermore, since the gap support of the present invention is compared with the known gap support directly arranged on the electrode layer above the filter unit, the gap support of the present invention has a thicker thickness, so it is used in the liquid crystal display panel. During the assembly process, the gap support can produce lateral deformation due to compressive stress, so as to avoid the phenomenon of falling off.

In addition, since the openings in the filter unit of the present invention can be formed in the same process as the filter unit, the present invention does not increase the process cost of the liquid crystal display panel.

Although the present invention has been disclosed above with preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Any person skilled in the art may make some modifications and improvements without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be defined by the claims.

Claims (15)

1. A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel, characterized in that it comprises: A first substrate and a second substrate are respectively provided, wherein at least a first electrode layer is formed on the first substrate, and a patterned light-shielding layer is formed on the second substrate to distinguish a plurality of sub-pixels on the second substrate area; A filter unit is formed in each of the sub-pixel regions on the second substrate, and each of the filter units is partially overlapped on the patterned light-shielding layer, wherein at least a part of the above-mentioned filter units have at least one opening respectively , and the above-mentioned openings are located above the patterned light-shielding layer; forming a conformal second electrode layer on the second substrate; forming a plurality of gap supports on the second electrode layer, wherein the above-mentioned gap supports are embedded in the above-mentioned filter units through the corresponding openings; and Assembling the second substrate and the first substrate, wherein a liquid crystal layer has been formed between the first substrate and the second substrate, and the first electrode layer is opposite to the second electrode layer, and the first substrate and the first substrate The distance between the two substrates is maintained by the aforementioned spacers. 2. The manufacturing method of the liquid crystal display panel according to claim 1, wherein the method for forming the above-mentioned gap supports comprises: forming a layer of photoresist material on the second electrode layer, wherein the layer of photoresist material fills up the openings; and The layer of photoresist material except around the openings is removed to form the above-mentioned gap supports. 3. The manufacturing method of a liquid crystal display panel according to claim 1, wherein said filter units include a red filter unit, a green filter unit and a blue filter unit. 4. The method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel according to claim 1, wherein the first substrate is an active device array substrate, and the second substrate is a color filter. 5 . The method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel according to claim 1 , wherein an active device array is formed on the second substrate, and the patterned light-shielding layer is formed on the active device array. 6. A method for manufacturing a color filter element, characterized in that it comprises: providing a substrate on which a patterned light-shielding layer has been formed to distinguish a plurality of sub-pixel regions on the substrate; A filter unit is formed in each of the sub-pixel regions on the substrate, and each of the filter units is partially overlapped on the patterned light-shielding layer, and at least a part of the above-mentioned filter units have at least one opening respectively, The above-mentioned openings are located above the patterned light-shielding layer; forming a conformal electrode layer on the substrate; and A plurality of space supports are formed on the electrode layer, and the above-mentioned space supports are inserted into one of the above-mentioned filter units respectively through the corresponding openings. 7. The manufacturing method of the color filter element according to claim 6, wherein the method for forming the above-mentioned gap supports comprises: forming a layer of photoresist material on the electrode layer, wherein the layer of photoresist material fills the above-mentioned openings; and The layer of photoresist material except around the openings is removed to form the above-mentioned gap supports. 8 . The method for manufacturing a color filter element according to claim 6 , wherein the step of forming the openings in the filter units includes making the sidewalls of the openings inclined relative to the bottom surface thereof. 9 . 9. The manufacturing method of a color filter element according to claim 6, wherein the filter units include a red light filter unit, a green light filter unit and a blue light filter unit. 10 . The method for manufacturing a color filter element according to claim 6 , wherein an active device array is formed on the substrate, and the patterned light-shielding layer is formed on the active device array. 11 . 11. A liquid crystal display panel, characterized by comprising: first substrate; a second substrate disposed opposite to the first substrate; a patterned light-shielding layer disposed on the surface of the second substrate opposite to the first substrate, wherein the patterned light-shielding layer defines a plurality of sub-pixel regions on the second substrate; A plurality of filter units are respectively arranged in the above-mentioned sub-pixel regions, wherein at least a part of the above-mentioned filter units respectively have at least one opening, and the above-mentioned openings are located above the patterned light-shielding layer; A conformal electrode layer is disposed on the patterned light-shielding layer and the above-mentioned filter units, and fills in the above-mentioned openings; A plurality of gap supports are arranged on the electrode layer, and the above-mentioned gap supports are respectively inserted into the above-mentioned filter units through the corresponding openings; and The liquid crystal layer is arranged between the first substrate and the second substrate. 12. The liquid crystal display panel according to claim 11, further comprising an active device array disposed on the first substrate. 13. The liquid crystal display panel according to claim 11, further comprising an active device array disposed on the second substrate, and the patterned light-shielding layer is disposed on the active device array. 14. The liquid crystal display panel according to claim 11, wherein the filter units include a red filter unit, a green filter unit and a blue filter unit. 15. The liquid crystal display panel according to claim 11, wherein the above-mentioned gap supports are columnar gap supports.

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