JP2008107595A - Electro-optical device and electronic apparatus including the same - Google Patents

Abstract

Light utilization efficiency is improved in an electro-optical device such as a liquid crystal device.
An electro-optical device includes a substrate (10) and a plurality of reflective pixel electrodes (9as) arranged on a display region (10a) on the substrate and each having a reflective surface (9as) for reflecting incident light. 9a). The total reflection surface (9aa) defined by the plurality of reflection surfaces and corresponding to the display region is a concave surface that is recessed from at least a part of the edge region of the display region in the central region of the display region when viewed from the light incident side Make.
[Selection] Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to a technical field of an electro-optical device such as a reflective liquid crystal device, and an electronic apparatus such as a liquid crystal projector including the electro-optical device.

  As an example of this type of electro-optical device, there is a reflective liquid crystal device used as a light valve in a projection type liquid crystal projector. This liquid crystal device has the following configuration, for example. That is, this liquid crystal device is provided between an element substrate provided with a large number of reflective pixel electrodes and transistors for switching control thereof, and a counter substrate provided with a counter electrode disposed opposite to the pixel electrodes. A liquid crystal is sandwiched as an electro-optical material (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In such a liquid crystal device, light incident from the counter substrate side is reflected by the reflective pixel electrode and emitted as display light from the counter substrate side. The display light is projected onto the screen via the projection lens, thereby displaying an image.

JP 2003-279953 A

  However, in the case where the liquid crystal device is used as a light valve as described above, the light incident on the liquid crystal device is not necessarily parallel light but light having a slight spread. For this reason, for example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, when a plurality of pixel electrodes form a flat reflection surface, incident light is diffused by reflection on the flat reflection surface and emitted from the light valve. The display light also becomes a spread light. Therefore, in order to improve the light utilization efficiency, the projection lens needs to be a large lens. As a result, the optical system that constitutes the liquid crystal projector is also relatively large in size, resulting in a technical problem that it becomes difficult to downsize the liquid crystal projector. Furthermore, there arises a problem that the manufacturing cost for manufacturing the liquid crystal projector increases.

  The present invention has been made in view of, for example, the above-described problems, and can reduce the diffusion of display light and improve the light utilization efficiency, and an electronic device including such an electro-optical device. It is an object to provide a device.

  In order to solve the above problems, an electro-optical device of the present invention includes a substrate and a plurality of reflective pixel electrodes that are arranged in a display area on the substrate and each have a reflective surface that reflects incident light. The total reflection surface defined by the reflection surface and corresponding to the display region is a concave surface that is recessed from at least a part of the edge region of the display region in the central region of the display region when viewed from the light incident side. Make.

  According to the electro-optical device of the present invention, a plurality of reflective pixel electrodes are arranged in a matrix, for example, on a substrate such as a glass substrate, a quartz substrate, or a silicon substrate. Each pixel electrode is made of a reflective film such as an Al (aluminum) film alone, or a reflective film such as an Al film is laminated on a transparent conductive film such as ITO (Indium Tin Oxide). Or become The pixel electrode may be a striped electrode or a segmented electrode. During operation of the electro-optical device, an image signal is selectively supplied to the pixel electrode, whereby an image display is performed in a display region in which a plurality of pixel electrodes are arranged. At this time, the light incident on the electro-optical device is reflected by the reflection surface of each pixel electrode, and is emitted from the electro-optical device as display light.

  The “plurality of reflective pixel electrodes” according to the present invention may be a plurality of reflective mirrors. That is, the present invention is also applicable to a digital micromirror device (DMD) or a tilt mirror MEMS (Micro Electrical Mechanical System).

  In the present invention, in particular, the total reflection surface corresponding to the display region is a concave surface that is recessed from at least a part of the edge region of the display region in the central region of the display region when viewed from the light incident side. Here, the total reflection surface is a surface defined by the reflection surfaces of a plurality of reflective pixel electrodes, and means a surface including each reflection surface. The total reflection surface is typically a part of a spherical surface, and has a concave surface whose central region is recessed from the edge region. Therefore, among the light incident on the display area of the electro-optical device, the light traveling obliquely toward the area closer to the edge area than the central area is reflected by the reflecting surface, so that the display light is diffused. This can be suppressed. In other words, the display light can be emitted as almost or completely parallel light by each of the reflection surfaces constituting the overall reflection surface forming a concave surface. Therefore, according to the electro-optical device of the present invention, it is possible to reduce or prevent light loss due to the diffusion of display light. That is, according to the electro-optical device of the present invention, it is possible to improve the light utilization efficiency. As a result, high-quality image display can be performed.

  Further, for example, when a projector is configured using the electro-optical device of the present invention as a light valve, display light can be emitted from the electro-optical device as parallel light, so that the projection lens is a relatively small lens. It can be. Therefore, when the electro-optical device of the present invention is used as, for example, a light valve of a projector, the projector can be reduced in size and cost.

  In one aspect of the electro-optical device of the present invention, a wiring or a driving element for driving the plurality of pixel electrodes on the substrate, and a lower layer than the plurality of pixel electrodes on the substrate are stacked, When viewed from the light incident side, the central region has a concave surface that is recessed from at least a part of the edge region, and provides interlayer insulation between the plurality of pixel electrodes and the wiring or driving element. An interlayer insulating film.

  According to this aspect, since the plurality of pixel electrodes are arranged along the concave surface of the interlayer insulating film, the entire reflective surface can be reliably formed to be a concave surface. Therefore, the light use efficiency can be improved with certainty.

  In another aspect of the electro-optical device of the present invention, at least a part of a surrounding region surrounding the display region on the substrate includes a protruding portion protruding in a convex shape toward the light incident side, The interlayer insulating film is laminated on the upper layer side with respect to the convex portion and is subjected to a CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing) process.

  According to this aspect, the convex portion made of, for example, an insulating film or a conductive film is formed in the surrounding region so as to surround the display region, for example. The interlayer insulating film is formed so as to cover the convex portion and the display region. Thereafter, a CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing) process is performed on the interlayer insulating film so as to have a concave surface. Therefore, a plurality of pixel electrodes can be reliably formed such that the overall reflection surface is concave. Therefore, the light use efficiency can be improved with certainty.

  When performing the CMP process, for example, by appropriately changing the processing conditions such as the polishing time, the polishing load, and the rotational speed of the rotating surface plate to which the polishing pad is attached, the interlayer insulating film is formed on the desired concave surface. Can be formed. Moreover, what is necessary is just to change suitably the height which a convex part protrudes, or the planar shape on a board | substrate according to the desired concave surface.

  In another aspect of the electro-optical device of the invention, the convex portion is formed as a part of the wiring.

  According to this aspect, a part of the wiring is formed so as to partially surround the display area, for example, and functions as a convex portion. That is, a part of the wiring is also used as a convex portion. Therefore, since it is not necessary to form a convex part separately from the wiring, the interlayer insulating film can be formed to have a concave surface without almost complicating the laminated structure on the substrate.

  In order to solve the above problems, an electronic apparatus according to the present invention includes the above-described electro-optical device according to the present invention (including various aspects thereof).

  According to the electronic apparatus of the present invention, since the electro-optical device of the present invention described above is provided, a projection display device, a television, a mobile phone, an electronic notebook, and a word processor capable of performing high-quality image display. Various electronic devices such as a viewfinder type or a monitor direct view type video tape recorder, a workstation, a videophone, a POS terminal, and a touch panel can be realized. In addition, as the electronic apparatus of the present invention, for example, an electrophoretic device such as electronic paper, an electron emission device (Field Emission Display and Conduction Electron-Emitter Display), and a display device using the electrophoretic device and the electron emission device are realized. It is also possible.

  The operation and other advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the best mode for carrying out the invention described below.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
<First Embodiment>
In the first embodiment, an active matrix driving type liquid crystal device with a built-in driving circuit, which is an example of the electro-optical device of the present invention, is taken as an example.

  The liquid crystal device according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

  First, the overall configuration of the liquid crystal device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the overall configuration of the liquid crystal device according to this embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line HH ′ of FIG.

  1 and 2, in the liquid crystal device 100 according to the present embodiment, the element substrate 10 and the counter substrate 20 are disposed to face each other. The element substrate 10 and the counter substrate 20 are each made of a transparent substrate such as a glass substrate or a quartz substrate. The element substrate 10 may be made of an opaque substrate such as a silicon substrate.

  A liquid crystal layer 50 is sealed between the element substrate 10 and the counter substrate 20, and the element substrate 10 and the counter substrate 20 are positioned around an image display area 10a as an example of the “display area” according to the present invention. They are bonded to each other by a sealing material 52 provided in a sealing region 52a.

  The liquid crystal device 100 is formed by an ODF (One Drop Full) manufacturing method in which a liquid crystal layer 50 is formed by dropping liquid crystal in a region surrounded by a sealing material 52 on the element substrate 10. For this reason, in the sealing region 52a, a liquid crystal injection port for injecting liquid crystal is not formed in the sealing material 52, and no sealing material is disposed. That is, the sealing material 52 is continuously formed around the image display area 10a in the seal area 52a without interruption.

  In FIG. 1, a light-shielding frame light-shielding film 53 that defines the frame area of the image display region 10 a is provided on the counter substrate 20 side in parallel with the inside of the seal region 52 a where the sealing material 52 is disposed. A data line driving circuit 101 and an external circuit connection terminal 102 are provided along one side of the element substrate 10 in a region located outside the sealing region where the sealing material 52 is disposed in the peripheral region. The sampling circuit 7 is provided so as to be covered with the frame light-shielding film 53 on the inner side of the seal region 52a along the one side. The scanning line driving circuit 104 is provided so as to be covered with the frame light-shielding film 53 inside the seal region along two sides adjacent to the one side. On the element substrate 10, vertical conduction terminals 106 for connecting the two substrates with the vertical conduction material 107 are disposed in regions facing the four corner portions of the counter substrate 20. Thus, electrical conduction can be established between the element substrate 10 and the counter substrate 20.

  On the element substrate 10, lead wirings 90 are formed for electrically connecting the external circuit connection terminals 102 to the data line driving circuit 101, the scanning line driving circuit 104, the vertical conduction terminal 106, and the like.

  In FIG. 2, on the element substrate 10, a laminated structure in which wirings such as pixel switching transistors, scanning lines, and data lines are formed. In the image display area 10a, a reflective pixel electrode 9a that reflects incident light is provided in a matrix form on an upper layer of a pixel switching transistor, a scanning line, a data line, or the like. An alignment film is formed on the pixel electrode 9a. On the other hand, on the surface of the counter substrate 20 facing the element substrate 10, a counter electrode 21 made of a transparent material such as ITO is formed on almost the entire surface facing the plurality of pixel electrodes 9a. An alignment film is formed on the counter electrode 21. The liquid crystal layer 50 is made of, for example, a liquid crystal in which one or several types of nematic liquid crystals are mixed, and takes a predetermined alignment state between the pair of alignment films.

  Although not shown here, as will be described later, a counter electrode potential line 91 for supplying a counter electrode potential (or common potential) LCCOM to the vertical conduction terminal 106 is provided in the seal substrate 52a on the element substrate 10 as shown in FIG. 10 is formed so as to surround the image display area 10a along each side.

  Although not shown here, on the element substrate 10, in addition to the data line driving circuit 101 and the scanning line driving circuit 104, an inspection for inspecting the quality, defects, etc. of the liquid crystal device during manufacturing or at the time of shipment. A circuit, an inspection pattern, or the like may be formed.

  Next, an electrical configuration of the pixel portion of the liquid crystal device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is an equivalent circuit diagram of the pixel portion of the liquid crystal device according to this embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 3, each of a plurality of pixels formed in a matrix that forms the image display region 10a of the liquid crystal device 100 includes a pixel electrode 9a and a transistor 30 for controlling the switching of the pixel electrode 9a. The formed data line 6 a to which an image signal is supplied is electrically connected to the source of the transistor 30. The image signals VS1, VS2,..., VSn to be written to the data lines 6a may be supplied line-sequentially in this order, or may be supplied for each group to a plurality of adjacent data lines 6a. Good.

  Further, the scanning line 11a is electrically connected to the gate 3a of the transistor 30, and scanning signals G1, G2,..., Gm are applied to the scanning line 11a in a pulse-sequential manner in this order at a predetermined timing. It is configured as follows. The pixel electrode 9a is electrically connected to the drain of the transistor 30, and the image signal VS1, VS2,... Supplied from the data line 6a is closed by closing the switch of the transistor 30 as a switching element for a certain period. VSn is written at a predetermined timing.

  Image signals VS1, VS2,..., VSn written to the liquid crystal through the pixel electrode 9a are constant between the counter electrode 21 (see FIG. 2) formed on the counter substrate 20 (see FIG. 2). Hold for a period. The liquid crystal modulates light and enables gradation display by changing the orientation and order of the molecular assembly depending on the applied voltage level. In the normally white mode, the light transmittance is reduced according to the voltage applied in units of each pixel. In the normally black mode, the light is applied in accordance with the voltage applied in units of each pixel. The transmittance is increased, and display light having a contrast corresponding to the image signal is emitted from the liquid crystal device 100 as a whole.

  In order to prevent the image signal held here from leaking, a storage capacitor 70 is added in parallel with the liquid crystal capacitor formed between the pixel electrode 9 a and the counter electrode 21. One electrode of the storage capacitor 70 is connected to the drain of the transistor 30 in parallel with the pixel electrode 9 a, and the other electrode is connected to the capacitor wiring 400. The capacitor wiring 400 is electrically connected to the counter electrode potential line 91 that supplies the counter electrode 21 to the counter electrode 21 through the vertical conduction terminal 106 in the peripheral region of the image display region 10a. The counter electrode potential line 91 is routed from the external circuit connection terminal 102 to the vertical conduction terminal 106 as a part of the routing wiring 90 described above, and surrounds the image display region 10 a along each side of the element substrate 10. The upper and lower conductive terminals 106 formed adjacent to each other are electrically connected.

  Next, a specific configuration of the pixel portion that realizes the above-described operation will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 is a plan view of the pixel portion of the liquid crystal device according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA ′ of FIG. In FIGS. 4 and 5, the scale of each layer / member is different for each layer / member so as to have a size recognizable on the drawing.

  4 and 5, each circuit element of the pixel portion described above with reference to FIG. 3 is structured on the element substrate 10 as a patterned conductive film. Each circuit element includes, in order from the bottom, a first layer including the transistor 30 and the capacitor wiring 400, a second layer including the data line 6a and the storage capacitor 70, and a third layer including the pixel electrode 9a. In addition, an interlayer insulating film 41 is provided between the first layer and the second layer, and an interlayer insulating film 42 is provided between the second layer and the third layer to prevent the above-described elements from being short-circuited.

(Structure of the first layer-transistor, capacitor wiring, etc.)
As shown in FIG. 5, the first layer includes the transistor 30 and the capacitor wiring 400.

  4 and 5, the transistor 30 includes an insulating film 4 including a gate electrode 3a, a semiconductor layer 1a, and a gate insulating film that insulates the gate electrode 3a from the semiconductor layer 1a.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the gate electrode 3a is formed as a portion of the scanning line 11a extending along the X direction and overlapping with the channel region 1a ′ in the semiconductor layer 1a. The gate electrode 3a (that is, the scanning line 11a) is made of, for example, conductive polysilicon. The gate electrode 3a is at least one of refractory metals such as titanium (Ti), chromium (Cr), tungsten (W), tantalum (Ta), and molybdenum (Mo) in addition to conductive polysilicon. It can be formed of a single metal containing, an alloy, metal silicide, polysilicide, or a laminate thereof.

  The semiconductor layer 1a is made of, for example, polysilicon, and includes a channel region 1a ′, a low concentration source region 1b and a low concentration drain region 1c, and a high concentration source region 1d and a high concentration drain region 1e. The transistor 30 preferably has an LDD structure. However, the transistor 30 may have an offset structure in which no impurity is implanted into the low-concentration source region 1b and the low-concentration drain region 1c. A self-aligned type in which a high concentration source region and a high concentration drain region are formed by implanting the concentration may be used.

  The transistor 30 according to the present embodiment is a top gate type, but may be a bottom gate type.

  The element substrate 10 may be made of, for example, a silicon substrate. In this case, a semiconductor layer made of a single crystal silicon film can be formed on the element substrate 10. Thus, performance such as the operation speed of the transistor 30 can be improved as compared with the case where the semiconductor layer is formed of a polysilicon film.

  The capacitor wiring 400 is formed of the same film as the scanning line 11a (that is, the same film as the gate electrode 3a), that is, for example, conductive polysilicon. As shown in FIG. 4, the capacitor wiring 400 and the scanning line 11a are divided and formed along the X direction.

  The capacitor wiring 400 extends to the seal region 52a and is electrically connected to a counter electrode potential line 91 described later through a contact hole opened in an interlayer insulating film 41 described later.

(Configuration of the second layer-data line, storage capacity, etc.)
An interlayer insulating film 41 is formed on the entire surface of the first layer, and a data line 6a and a storage capacitor 70 are formed thereon as a second layer.

  The interlayer insulating film 41 is made of, for example, NSG (non-silicate glass). Therefore, light can be transmitted. In addition, for the interlayer insulating film 41, silicate glass such as PSG (phosphorus silicate glass), BSG (boron silicate glass), BPSG (boron phosphorus silicate glass), silicon nitride, silicon oxide, or the like can be used. The surface of the interlayer insulating film 41 is subjected to a planarization process such as a CMP process, a polishing process, a spin coat process, or a recess embedding process. Therefore, the unevenness caused by these elements on the lower layer side is removed, and the surface of the interlayer insulating layer 41 is flattened.

  The data line 6a is formed from a metal film such as aluminum. For example, the data line 6a may be formed as a three-layer film of aluminum, titanium nitride, and silicon nitride in order from the bottom. The data line 6a is wired so as to extend along the Y direction in FIG. 4 when viewed in plan on the element substrate 10, and from the main line portion along the Y direction, the high concentration source region 1d of the transistor 30 and It has extension part 6aa extended so that it may overlap. The data line 6a is electrically connected to the high-concentration source region 1d of the transistor 30 through the contact hole 81 opened in the interlayer insulating film 41 in the extending portion 6aa.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the storage capacitor 70 is formed for each pixel so as to overlap the pixel electrode 9a when viewed in plan on the element substrate 10. That is, the storage capacitor 70 is formed in a region where the pixel electrode 9a is formed for each pixel.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the storage capacitor 70 is formed by laminating a lower electrode 72, a dielectric film 75, and an upper electrode 71 in this order.

  The lower electrode 72 is formed of the same film as the data line 6a, that is, a metal film such as aluminum. The lower electrode 72 is electrically connected to the high-concentration drain region 1 e of the transistor 30 through a contact hole 83 opened in the interlayer insulating film 41. Further, the lower electrode 72 is electrically connected to the pixel electrode 9a through a contact hole 85 opened in an interlayer insulating film 42 described later. That is, the pixel electrode 9a and the high-concentration drain region 1e of the transistor 30 are relay-connected via the lower electrode 72.

  The dielectric film 75 is formed of a silicon nitride film having a high dielectric constant. The dielectric film may be formed of a single layer film or a multilayer film such as hafnium oxide (HfO2), alumina (Al2O3), and tantalum oxide (Ta2O5).

  The upper electrode 71 is formed from a metal film such as aluminum. The upper electrode 71 may be made of, for example, conductive polysilicon. The upper electrode 71 is electrically connected to the capacitor wiring 400 through a contact hole 84 that is opened through the dielectric film 75 and the interlayer insulating film 41.

(3rd layer configuration-pixel electrode, etc.)
An interlayer insulating film 42 is formed on the entire surface of the second layer, and a pixel electrode 9a is formed thereon as a third layer. Similar to the interlayer insulating film 42, the interlayer insulating film 42 is formed of, for example, NSG. In addition, for the interlayer insulating film 42, silicate glass such as PSG, BSG, or BPSG, silicon nitride, silicon oxide, or the like can be used.

  In FIG. 5, for convenience of explanation, the surface 42s of the interlayer insulating film 42 is shown as a flat surface. However, as will be described later with reference to FIGS. The surface 42s of the film 42 is formed in a concave shape.

  As shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of pixel electrodes 9a (indicated by a broken line 9a 'in FIG. 4) are arranged so that adjacent pixel electrodes 9a are not electrically short-circuited with each other. They are arranged in a matrix by being arranged with a lattice-like gap region D therebetween. The pixel electrode 9a is made of, for example, aluminum or the like, and has a reflection surface 9as that reflects incident light from above in FIG. As described above, the pixel electrode 9 a is relayed by the lower electrode 72 and is electrically connected to the high-concentration drain region 1 e of the transistor 30.

  An alignment film 61 that has been subjected to a predetermined alignment process such as a rubbing process is provided on the upper side of the pixel electrode 9a.

  The above is the configuration of the pixel portion on the element substrate 10 side.

  On the other hand, the counter substrate 20 is provided with a counter electrode 21 on the entire surface of the counter substrate 20, and an alignment film 22 is further provided thereon (under the counter electrode 21 in FIG. 5). The counter electrode 21 is made of a transparent conductive film such as an ITO film.

  A liquid crystal layer 50 is provided between the element substrate 10 and the counter substrate 20 thus configured. The liquid crystal layer 50 is formed by an ODF manufacturing method as described above with reference to FIGS. The liquid crystal layer 50 takes a predetermined alignment state by the alignment film 61 and the alignment film 22 that have been subjected to an alignment process such as a rubbing process in a state where an electric field is not applied between the pixel electrode 9 a and the counter electrode 21. It is like that.

  The configuration of the pixel portion described above is common to each pixel portion. Such pixel portions are periodically formed in the image display region 10a (see FIG. 1).

  Next, the overall reflection surface defined by the reflection surfaces of the plurality of pixel electrodes of the liquid crystal device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB ′ of FIG. FIG. 7 is a plan view showing the arrangement of the counter electrode potential lines of the liquid crystal device according to this embodiment. In FIG. 6, for convenience of explanation, among the components described above with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 4, and 5, the components other than the components related to the total reflection surface are omitted as appropriate. is doing.

  As shown in FIG. 6, in the present embodiment, the entire reflection surface 9aa corresponding to the image display area 10 a is particularly the same as that of the image display area 10 a when viewed from the light incident side (that is, the upper side in FIG. 6). In the central area, a concave surface is formed which is recessed from the edge area of the image display area 10a. The overall reflection surface 9aa is defined by the reflection surface 9as of each of the plurality of pixel electrodes 9a, and is a surface including each reflection surface 9as. The total reflection surface 9aa forms a concave curved surface that is a part of a spherical surface in the image display region 10a. Therefore, the light (for example, the light indicated by the arrow P1 in FIG. 6) traveling obliquely toward the region closer to the edge region than the central region among the light incident on the image display region 10a of the liquid crystal device 100 is a reflecting surface. The display light can be prevented from being diffused by being reflected by 9as. In other words, the display light (for example, the light indicated by the arrow P2 in FIG. 6) can be emitted almost or preferably as completely parallel light by each of the reflection surfaces 9as constituting the overall reflection surface 9aa having a concave surface. Therefore, according to the liquid crystal device 100, it is possible to reduce or prevent light loss due to diffusion of display light. That is, according to the liquid crystal device 100, the light use efficiency can be improved. As a result, high-quality image display can be performed.

  Further, for example, when the projector is configured using the liquid crystal device 100 as a light valve, the display lens can be emitted from the liquid crystal device 100 as almost or completely parallel light, so that the projection lens is relatively small. It can be a lens. Therefore, when the liquid crystal device 100 is used as, for example, a light valve of a projector, the projector can be reduced in size and cost.

  In the present embodiment, the plurality of pixel electrodes 9a are formed so that the overall reflection surface 9aa is a concave curved surface that is a part of a spherical surface in the image display region 10a. However, the overall reflection surface 9aa In the region 10a, for example, a concave curved surface that is a part of a cylindrical side surface may be formed.

  In FIG. 6, the counter electrode potential line 91 is formed on the interlayer insulating film 41 from the same film as the upper electrode 71 described above with reference to FIG. 5, that is, a metal film such as aluminum.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, in the present embodiment, the counter electrode potential line 91 is formed in the seal region 52 a on the interlayer insulating film 41 so as to surround the image display region 10 a. Further, the interlayer insulating film 42 located on the lower layer side of the pixel electrode 9a is formed so as to cover the counter electrode potential line 91 and the image display region 10a and has a concave surface by CMP processing. . Here, the counter electrode potential line 91 formed so as to surround the image display region 10a is a convex portion protruding in a convex shape toward the light incident side (that is, the upper side in FIG. 6) depending on its thickness. Thus, the interlayer insulating film 42 can be formed to have a concave surface by subjecting the interlayer insulating film 42 to CMP under predetermined processing conditions. As the processing conditions for performing the CMP process, for example, the interlayer insulating film 42 is formed into a desired concave surface by appropriately changing the polishing time, the polishing load, the rotational speed of the rotating surface plate to which the polishing pad is attached, and the like. Can be formed. In addition, the thickness of the counter electrode potential line 91 (that is, the height at which the protrusion protrudes) or the planar shape of the counter electrode potential line 91 may be changed as appropriate according to the desired concave surface.

  Note that, in addition to or instead of the counter electrode potential line 91, a power supply line that supplies power to, for example, the data line driving circuit 101, the scanning line driving circuit 104, or the like in at least a part of the surrounding area surrounding the periphery of the image display area 10a. Alternatively, the ground potential line for supplying the ground potential may be formed as the above-described convex portion. Alternatively, a convex portion made of a conductive film or an insulating film may be formed separately from the wiring such as the counter electrode potential line 91. In any case, due to the convex portion, the portion corresponding to the seal region 52a in the interlayer insulating film 42 protrudes toward the light incident side (that is, the upper side in FIG. 6). By performing a CMP process on the insulating film 42 under predetermined processing conditions, the interlayer insulating film 42 can be formed to have a desired concave surface.

  From the viewpoint of preventing the laminated structure on the element substrate 10 from becoming complicated, it is preferable to form wirings such as the counter electrode potential lines 91 as convex portions as in the present embodiment. In this case, for example, it is preferable to increase the thickness of the wiring in order to increase the protruding height of the protrusion from the viewpoint of reducing the resistance of the wiring.

  Therefore, since the plurality of pixel electrodes 9a are arranged along the concave surface of the interlayer insulating film 42, the entire reflective surface 9aa can be reliably formed so as to form a concave surface. Therefore, the light use efficiency can be improved with certainty.

  In FIG. 6, the liquid crystal device 100 according to the present embodiment uses an ODF method in which liquid crystal is dropped into a region surrounded by the sealing material 52 to form the liquid crystal layer 50 as described above with reference to FIG. 1. It is formed by a manufacturing method. Therefore, the counter substrate 20 is formed so as to have a concave surface (that is, a concave surface facing the element substrate 10) corresponding to the overall reflection surface 9aa (or the surface 42s of the interlayer insulating film 42). Can do. That is, by adopting an ODF manufacturing method and controlling the amount of liquid crystal to be dropped, the thickness of the liquid crystal layer 50, in other words, the element substrate 10 (here, including the laminated structure on the element substrate 10) and The spacing (ie, the gap) between the counter substrates 20 can be made almost or completely uniform. Therefore, the display light can be emitted almost or completely uniformly from the image display region 10a. As a result, high-quality image display is possible.

As described above, according to the liquid crystal device 100 according to the present embodiment, since the total reflection surface 9aa is concave, it is possible to reduce or prevent light loss due to the diffusion of display light. That is, it becomes possible to improve the light use efficiency.
<Second Embodiment>
In the second embodiment, a digital micromirror device (hereinafter referred to as “DMD” as appropriate), which is an example of the electro-optical device of the present invention, is taken as an example.

  The DMD according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 8 is a plan view of the DMD according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC ′ of FIG. In the following, the configuration characteristic of the present invention will be mainly described, and for example, the configuration related to the conventional DMD disclosed in, for example, JP-A-8-227043 and JP-A-8-62518 will be described as appropriate. Is omitted.

  8 and 9, the DMD 200 according to this embodiment includes a mirror 220, a mirror post 230, and a hinge part 240 on an element substrate 210.

  The element substrate 210 is a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) substrate or the like, and by supplying various control signals such as an address signal to the hinge unit 240, a control circuit or the like that controls switching of the tilt of the mirror 220 is built in. It is rare.

  The mirrors 220 are arranged in a matrix on the element substrate 210. The mirror 220 is a reflecting mirror having a reflecting surface 220 s that reflects incident light (for example, light indicated by an arrow P <b> 3 in FIG. 9), and is supported by a mirror support 230 at the center thereof. When the mirror 220 is on, the incident light is reflected by the mirror 220 so that the light reflected by the mirror 220 passes through the display optical system to the projection lens. When the mirror 220 is off, the reflected light is separated from the projection lens. The inclination is switched.

  The mirror column 230 is provided between the mirror 220 and the hinge part 240, and allows the tilt of the mirror 220 to be switched under the control of the hinge part 240.

  The hinge unit 240 includes, for example, a torsion hinge, and is configured to be able to switch the tilt of the mirror 220 in accordance with various control signals such as an address signal from the element substrate 210.

Particularly in the present embodiment, the surface 210a of the element substrate 210 has a concave surface that is recessed from the edge region of the element substrate 210 in the central region of the element substrate 210 when viewed from the light incident side. The total reflection surface 220a defined by the reflection surface 220s when the mirror 220 is turned on is a concave surface that is recessed from the edge region in the central region when viewed from the light incident side. Therefore, of the light incident on the DMD 200, the light traveling obliquely toward the region closer to the edge region than the central region is reflected by the reflecting surface 220s, so that the display light can be prevented from being diffused. In other words, the display light can be emitted as almost or completely parallel light by each of the reflection surfaces 220s constituting the overall reflection surface 220a having a concave surface. Therefore, according to the DMD 200, it is possible to reduce or prevent light loss due to the diffusion of display light. That is, according to the DMD 200, the light use efficiency can be improved. As a result, high-quality image display can be performed.
<Electronic equipment>
Next, the case where the reflective liquid crystal device, which is the above-described electro-optical device, is applied to an electronic device will be described. Here, a projection type liquid crystal projector is taken as an example of the electronic apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 10 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the projection type liquid crystal projector according to the present embodiment.

  In FIG. 10, a liquid crystal projector 1100 is constructed as a multi-plate color projector using three liquid crystal light valves 100R, 100G, and 100B for RGB. Each of the liquid crystal light valves 100R, 100G, and 100B uses the above-described reflective liquid crystal device.

  As shown in FIG. 10, in the liquid crystal projector 1100, when a projection light is emitted from a lamp unit 1102 of a white light source such as a metal halide lamp, two mirrors 1106, two dichroic mirrors 1108, and three polarizing beam splitters (PBS) ) 1113 is divided into light components R, G, and B corresponding to the three primary colors of RGB and led to the liquid crystal light valves 100R, 100G, and 100B corresponding to the respective colors. At this time, in order to prevent light loss in the optical path, a lens may be appropriately provided in the middle of the optical path. The light components corresponding to the three primary colors modulated by the liquid crystal light valves 100R, 100G, and 100B are combined by the cross prism 1112 and then projected as a color image on the screen 1120 via the projection lens 1114.

  Since light corresponding to the primary colors of R, G, and B is incident on the liquid crystal panels 1110R, 1110B, and 1110G by the dichroic mirror 1108 and the polarization beam splitter 1113, there is no need to provide a color filter.

  In addition to the electronic apparatus described with reference to FIG. 10, a mobile personal computer, a mobile phone, a liquid crystal television, a viewfinder type, a monitor direct view type video tape recorder, a car navigation device, a pager, and an electronic notebook , Calculators, word processors, workstations, videophones, POS terminals, devices with touch panels, and the like. Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to these various electronic devices.

  In addition to the liquid crystal device described in the above embodiment, the present invention includes a plasma display (PDP), a field emission display (FED, SED), an organic EL display, a digital micromirror device (DMD), an electrophoresis device, and the like. It is also applicable to.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be appropriately changed without departing from the spirit or idea of the invention that can be read from the claims and the entire specification, and an electro-optical device with such a change, In addition, an electronic apparatus including the electro-optical device is also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

It is a top view which shows the whole structure of the liquid crystal device which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is the HH 'sectional view taken on the line of FIG. 2 is an equivalent circuit diagram of a pixel portion of the liquid crystal device according to the first embodiment. FIG. It is a top view of the pixel part of the liquid crystal device concerning a 1st embodiment. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA ′ in FIG. 4. It is BB 'sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is a top view which shows arrangement | positioning of the counter electrode electric potential line of the liquid crystal device which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a top view of DMD concerning a 2nd embodiment. It is CC 'sectional view taken on the line of FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a liquid crystal projector as an example of an electronic apparatus to which an electro-optical device is applied.

Explanation of symbols

  6a ... Data line, 9a ... Pixel electrode, 9as ... Reflecting surface, 9aa ... Total reflecting surface, 10 ... Element substrate, 10a ... Image display area, 11a ... Scanning line, 20 ... Counter substrate, 21 ... Counter electrode, 30 ... Transistor , 41, 42 ... interlayer insulating film, 42 s ... surface, 50 ... liquid crystal layer, 52 ... sealing material, 52 a ... sealing region, 53 ... frame light shielding film, 70 ... storage capacitor, 71 ... upper electrode, 72 ... lower electrode, 75 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS ... Dielectric film, 90 ... Lead wiring, 91 ... Counter electrode potential line, 101 ... Data line drive circuit, 102 ... External circuit connection terminal, 104 ... Scanning line drive circuit, 106 ... Vertical conduction terminal, 400 ... Capacitance wiring

Claims (5)

A substrate,
A plurality of reflective pixel electrodes arranged in a display area on the substrate and each having a reflective surface for reflecting incident light;
The total reflection surface defined by the reflection surface and corresponding to the display region is a concave surface that is recessed from at least a part of an edge region of the display region in a central region of the display region when viewed from the light incident side. An electro-optical device characterized by comprising: Wiring or driving elements for driving the plurality of pixel electrodes on the substrate;
The substrate is stacked on a lower layer side than the plurality of pixel electrodes on the substrate, and has a concave surface that is recessed from at least a part of the edge region in the central region when viewed from the light incident side. The electro-optical device according to claim 1, further comprising: an interlayer insulating film for performing interlayer insulation between the plurality of pixel electrodes and the wirings or the driving elements. At least a part of the surrounding area surrounding the display area on the substrate is provided with a protruding portion protruding in a convex shape toward the light incident side,
The electro-optical device according to claim 2, wherein the interlayer insulating film is laminated on an upper layer side than the convex portion and is subjected to a CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing) process.   The electro-optical device according to claim 3, wherein the convex portion is formed as a part of the wiring.   An electronic apparatus comprising the electro-optical device according to claim 1.

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