JP2016218090A - Electro-optical device and electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electro-optical device capable of efficiently utilizing color light beams which are made incident by color-separating light emission from a light source and have different wavelengths, and an electronic apparatus provided with the electro-optical device.SOLUTION: A liquid crystal device 100 serving as an electro-optical device comprises: micro-lenses ML being provided for each pixel P and serving as condensing elements to which red color light beams (R), green color light beams (G), and blue color light beams (B) are made incident with different incident angles; light-shielding sections 17 dividing individual sub-pixels SB, SG, and SR and constituting first openings 17a corresponding to the sub-pixels SG, second openings 17b corresponding to the sub-pixels SR, and third openings 17c corresponding to the sub-pixels SB; and prisms 60 being provided opposite to the micro-lenses ML with respect to the light-shielding sections 17 and serving as reflection sections reflecting a part of the color light beams being condensed by the micro-lenses ML and transmitted through the first openings 17a, the second openings 17b, and the third openings 17c to an emission side.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to an electro-optical device and an electronic apparatus.

  As an electro-optical device, for example, in Patent Document 1, microlenses are arranged to face each other on a plurality of pixels on a pixel substrate, and each color light that has been color-separated in advance is incident on a common microlens at different angles. A liquid crystal display device is disclosed in which light emitted from a lens for each color is distributed and incident on pixel electrodes arranged corresponding to the respective colors.

  In the liquid crystal display device of Patent Document 1, the focal length of the microlens is set so that the light collected by the microlens passes through the pixel electrode and is focused inside the pixel substrate. A black matrix portion is disposed between adjacent pixel electrodes on the pixel substrate. Therefore, depending on how the distance between the microlens and the pixel electrode is set, a part of the light collected by the microlens may enter the black matrix portion and be blocked. In particular, light incident on the pixel electrode from an oblique direction among the light condensed by the microlens is easily shielded by the black matrix portion.

  Therefore, in order to improve the utilization efficiency of light incident at different angles, for example, Patent Document 2 discloses a first photorefractive element array having a plurality of first photorefractive elements arranged two-dimensionally. A second photorefractive element array having a second photorefractive element having a refractive index of 1 and two-dimensionally arranged to correspond to the plurality of first photorefractive elements in a 1: 1 ratio; A third photorefractive element array having a second refractive index different from the refractive index, incident on the first photorefractive element array at different angles, and collected by the first photorefractive element array. An image display element including a photorefractive element array substrate that collimates chief rays by a second photorefractive element array and a third photorefractive element array is disclosed.

  The liquid crystal display device of Patent Literature 1 and the image display element of Patent Literature 2 enable color display without using a color filter.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-161097 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-99592

  In the image display element of Patent Document 2, in the photorefractive element array, the chief ray collected by the first photorefractive element is collimated by the second photorefractive element and the third photorefractive element. Not all of the light collected by the one light refraction element is incident on the interface between the second light refraction element and the third light refraction element at a constant angle. Therefore, not all of the light collected by the first light refracting element is collimated by the second light refracting element and the third light refracting element, further improving the utilization efficiency of the collected light. There was a problem that it was necessary to do.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to solve at least a part of the problems described above, and the invention can be implemented as the following forms or application examples.

  [Application Example] In the electro-optical device according to this application example, the first sub-pixel on which the light emitted from the light source is color-separated into at least a first color light beam and a second color light beam having different wavelengths, and the first color light beam is incident thereon. And an electro-optical device including at least a second sub-pixel that is adjacent to the first sub-pixel in a predetermined direction and into which the second color light beam is incident, and is provided for each of the pixels, A condensing element in which the first color light flux and the second color light flux are incident at different incident angles, and each of the first subpixel and the second subpixel are divided to correspond to the first subpixel. A light-shielding portion that constitutes one opening and a second opening corresponding to the second sub-pixel, and the light-shielding portion is provided opposite to the light-condensing element. Color light fluxes transmitted through one opening and the second opening A reflecting portion partially reflects on the exit side out, that with a characterized.

  According to this application example, since a part of the color light beam incident on the reflection part is reflected to the emission side, the color light beam transmitted through the first opening and the second opening of the light shielding part leaks to adjacent pixels. This improves the utilization efficiency of the color light flux incident on the pixel. Accordingly, it is possible to provide an electro-optical device capable of performing bright color display without using a color filter.

In the electro-optical device according to the application example, the light-shielding portion is provided on a light-transmitting substrate, and the reflecting portion is a groove having a substantially V-shaped cross section provided on the substrate. The groove has a slope inclined at an angle of 1 to 8 degrees with respect to the thickness direction of the substrate.
According to this configuration, it is possible to reflect the light incident on the inclined surface constituting the groove due to the difference in refractive index between the inside of the groove serving as the reflecting portion and the substrate. Moreover, since the inclination angle of the slope is in the range of 1 to 8 degrees, the light incident on the slope can be efficiently reflected.

In the electro-optical device according to the application example, it is preferable that the reflection unit is provided for each pixel so as to surround a region including the first opening and the second opening.
According to this configuration, the utilization efficiency of the color light flux incident on the pixel is improved.

In the electro-optical device according to the application example, it is preferable that the reflection portion is provided so as to surround each of the first opening and the second opening.
According to this configuration, the utilization efficiency of the color light flux incident on the pixel is further improved.

In the electro-optical device according to the application example, the condensing element includes a third color having a wavelength different from that of the first color light beam, the second color light beam, the first color light beam, and the second color light beam. The light beam is incident at different incident angles, and the pixel further includes a third sub-pixel that is adjacent to the first sub-pixel in the predetermined direction and into which the third color light beam is incident. To do.
According to this configuration, if the first color light beam, the second color light beam, and the third color light beam are, for example, green light beams, red light beams, and blue light beams having different wavelengths, an electro-optical device capable of bright full-color display can be provided.

In the electro-optical device according to the application example, it is preferable that the reflection portion is provided so as to surround each of the first opening, the second opening, and the third opening of the third subpixel. .
According to this configuration, it is possible to provide an electro-optical device capable of brighter full color display.

[Application Example] An electronic apparatus according to this application example is described in the application example, the light source, the color separation element that separates the light emitted from the light source into at least a first color light beam and a second color light beam having different wavelengths. And an electro-optical device.
According to this application example, it is possible to provide an electronic device capable of bright color display.

Schematic which shows the structure of the projection type display apparatus as an electronic device. (A) is a schematic plan view which shows the structure of a liquid crystal device, (b) is a schematic enlarged plan view which shows the structure of a pixel. FIG. 3 is an equivalent circuit diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of the liquid crystal device. (A) is a schematic plan view which shows arrangement | positioning of the micro lens in a counter substrate, (b) is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the structure of the micro lens array in the counter substrate cut | disconnected by the A-A 'line of (a). The top view which shows arrangement | positioning of the sub pixel in a pixel. (A) And (b) is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the structure of a pixel. The schematic plan view which shows arrangement | positioning of the light-shielding part and prism in a pixel. Schematic which shows the structure of the projection type display apparatus as an electronic device of 2nd Embodiment. (A) And (b) is a schematic plan view which shows the structure of the pixel in the liquid crystal device of 2nd Embodiment. The graph which shows the relationship between the angle with respect to the optical axis of the slope of a prism, and a projection lens transmittance | permeability.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the drawings to be used are appropriately enlarged or reduced so that the part to be described can be recognized.

(First embodiment)
<Electronic equipment>
First, a projection display device will be described as an example of an electronic apparatus to which the electro-optical device of the present embodiment is applied, and will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a projection display device as an electronic apparatus.
As shown in FIG. 1, the projection type display device as an electronic apparatus of the present embodiment (liquid crystal projector) 1000 disposed on the system optical axis L _0, a light source unit 1001, a polarization conversion unit 1005, a color separation It includes an element 1010, a liquid crystal device 100 as an electro-optical device, and a projection lens 1014 as a projection optical system.
Light emitted from the light source unit 1001 is converted into a polarized light beam having a predetermined diameter by the polarization conversion unit 1005 and is incident on the color separation element 1010. The color separation element 1010 separates the incident polarized light beam into a red light beam (R), a green light beam (G), and a blue light beam (B) having different wavelengths, and emits them toward the liquid crystal device 100 at different angles.
The liquid crystal device 100 is a light modulation device, and each of a red light beam (R), a green light beam (G), and a blue light beam (B) incident at different angles is optically modulated based on image information and emitted as display light. Let The emitted display light is enlarged and projected by the projection lens 1014 onto, for example, the screen 1100.
The projection display apparatus 1000 may include an optical system for guiding a light beam between the respective configurations, depending on the arrangement of each configuration described above. For example, a relay lens, a mirror (reflection plate), or the like may be disposed between the polarization conversion unit 1005 and the color separation element 1010 as an example of the optical system. The arrangement of each component and the optical system are not limited to this. Further, the fact that the wavelengths of the colored light beams are different means that the representative wavelengths (the peak wavelengths of luminance) are different.

The light source unit 1001 includes a light source 1002 that can emit white light, and a first collimator lens 1003 and a second collimator lens 1004 having different apertures. The light source unit 1001 expands light emitted from the light source 1002 using two collimator lenses (collimator optical system) to form a light beam having a predetermined diameter.
Examples of the light source 1002 include a light emitting diode (LED) and a laser that can be handled as a point light source. The light source 1002 may be configured to obtain white light emission by combining LEDs and lasers that can emit red, green, and blue light, or to obtain white light emission by combining LEDs and lasers that can obtain blue and yellow light emission. Good.

The polarization conversion unit 1005 converts a light beam having a predetermined diameter incident from the light source unit 1001 into linearly polarized light having a uniform polarization direction, and emits it. The first lens array 1006, the second lens array 1007, and the polarization A conversion element 1008 and a superimposing lens 1009 are provided. Specifically, each of the first lens array 1006 and the second lens array 1007 has a plurality of small lenses arranged in a matrix in a plane orthogonal to the system optical axis L ₀ . The light beam incident on the polarization conversion unit 1005 passes through these lens arrays and is divided into partial light beams in units of small lenses. The partial light flux is converted into linearly polarized light by the polarization conversion element 1008 and is superimposed and emitted by the superimposing lens 1009. The superimposing lens 1009 is optically designed so that the superimposed linearly polarized light beam (polarized light beam) enters a display area of the liquid crystal device 100 described later.

The color separation element 1010 can be configured using, for example, a dichroic mirror. Specifically, a color separation element 1010 is configured by two dichroic mirrors 1011 and 1012 and a reflection mirror 1013 which are arranged at different angles with respect to the system optical axis L ₀ . On the system optical axis L ₀ , the dichroic mirror 1011, the dichroic mirror 1012, and the reflection mirror 1013 are arranged in order of increasing inclination angle from the polarization conversion unit 1005 side. The dichroic mirror 1011 is disposed most small inclination angle with respect to the system optical axis L _0, the wavelength of the polarized light beam incident along the system optical axis L ₀ is reflected by the long red beam (R), the red light flux ( The green light beam (G) and the blue light beam (B) having a shorter wavelength than R) are transmitted. The dichroic mirror 1012 is disposed at an intermediate inclination angle, reflects the green light beam (G), and transmits the blue light beam (B) having a shorter wavelength than the green light beam (G). The reflection mirror 1013 is arranged at the largest inclination angle with respect to the system optical axis L ₀ , and reflects the blue light beam (B) transmitted through the dichroic mirror 1012.

  The green light beam (G) reflected by the dichroic mirror 1012 enters the liquid crystal device 100 from the normal direction with respect to the light incident surface of the liquid crystal device 100. The red light beam (R) reflected by the dichroic mirror 1011 and the blue light beam (B) reflected by the reflection mirror 1013 enter the liquid crystal device 100 at a predetermined angle with respect to the normal direction of the incident surface of the liquid crystal device 100. . In other words, the green light beam (G) enters the light incident surface from the normal direction, and the red light beam (R) and the blue light beam (B) form a predetermined angle with respect to the normal direction. The color separation element 1010 and the liquid crystal device 100 are relatively disposed so as to be incident on.

  The liquid crystal device 100 can perform bright display by optically effectively using each of the red light beam (R), the green light beam (G), and the blue light beam (B) incident at different angles without using a color filter. In addition, the pixel structure is devised. Details of the liquid crystal device 100 will be described later.

  According to such a projection type display device (liquid crystal projector) 1000, it is possible to project a bright and attractive image.

<Electro-optical device>
Next, the liquid crystal device 100 as the electro-optical device of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 2A is a schematic plan view showing the configuration of the liquid crystal device, FIG. 2B is a schematic enlarged plan view showing the configuration of the pixel, FIG. 3 is an equivalent circuit diagram showing the electrical configuration of the liquid crystal device, and FIG. FIG. 4A is a schematic plan view showing the arrangement of the microlenses on the counter substrate, and FIG. 4B is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the structure of the microlens array on the counter substrate taken along the line AA ′ in FIG. It is. FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the arrangement of sub-pixels in the pixel, FIGS. 6A and 6B are schematic cross-sectional views showing the structure of the pixel, and FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view showing the arrangement of light-shielding portions and prisms in the pixel. is there.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, a liquid crystal device 100 as an electro-optical device according to this embodiment includes an element substrate 10 and a counter substrate 20 that are disposed to face each other, and a liquid crystal layer that is sandwiched between the pair of substrates. . The substrate body of the element substrate 10 and the substrate body of the counter substrate 20 are each made of a transparent substrate such as a quartz substrate or a glass substrate.

The element substrate 10 is larger than the counter substrate 20, and the two substrates are bonded to each other with a sealant 40 disposed along the outer edge of the counter substrate 20. An interrupted portion of the sealing material 40 is an injection port 41, and a liquid crystal having a positive or negative dielectric anisotropy is injected from the injection port 41 at the above interval by a vacuum injection method, and injected using a sealing material 42. An inlet 41 is enclosed. Note that the method of encapsulating the liquid crystal in the interval is not limited to the vacuum injection method. For example, the liquid crystal is dropped inside the sealing material 40 arranged in a frame shape, and the element substrate 10 and the substrate under reduced pressure. An ODF (One Drop Fill) method in which the counter substrate 20 is bonded may be employed.
As the sealing material 40, for example, an adhesive such as a thermosetting or ultraviolet curable epoxy resin is employed. Spacers (not shown) are mixed in the sealing material 40 to keep the distance between the pair of substrates constant.

  Inside the sealing material 40, a display area E including a plurality of pixels P arranged in a matrix is provided. Further, a parting part 24 is provided between the sealing material 40 and the display area E so as to surround the display area E. The parting part 24 is made of a light-shielding film formed using, for example, a light-shielding metal or metal oxide. The parting part 24 is provided on the counter substrate 20 side where the light beam enters.

  The element substrate 10 is provided with a terminal portion in which a plurality of external connection terminals 104 are arranged. A data line driving circuit 101 is provided between the first side portion along the terminal portion and the sealing material 40. In addition, an inspection circuit 103 is provided between the sealing material 40 and the display area E along the second side facing the first side. Further, a scanning line driving circuit 102 is provided between the seal material 40 and the display region E along the third and fourth sides that are orthogonal to the first side and face each other. A plurality of wirings 105 that connect the two scanning line driving circuits 102 are provided between the sealing material 40 on the second side and the inspection circuit 103.

Wirings connected to the data line driving circuit 101 and the scanning line driving circuit 102 are connected to a plurality of external connection terminals 104 arranged along the first side. The arrangement of the inspection circuit 103 is not limited to this, and the inspection circuit 103 may be provided at a position along the inner side of the sealing material 40 between the data line driving circuit 101 and the display area E.
In the following description, the direction along the first side is defined as the X direction, and the direction along the third side is defined as the Y direction. Further, viewing along the direction from the counter substrate 20 side toward the element substrate 10 side is referred to as “plan view” or “planar”.

  As shown in FIG. 2B, the pixel P includes a sub-pixel SG disposed in the center in the X direction, a sub-pixel SR, and a sub-pixel SB disposed adjacent to the sub-pixel SG in the X direction. have. The pixel P has a square shape in plan view, and each of the sub-pixels SR, SG, and SB has a rectangular shape in plan view. The sub-pixel SG is provided with a first opening 17a for transmitting the green light beam (G). The sub-pixel SB is provided with a second opening 17b for transmitting the blue light beam (B). The sub-pixel SR is provided with a third opening 17c for transmitting the red light beam (R). A light shielding portion 17 is provided surrounding each of the first opening 17a, the second opening 17b, and the third opening 17c. In other words, the first opening 17 a, the second opening 17 b, and the third opening 17 c are provided in the light shielding portion 17. These openings are also rectangular in plan view. In addition, although a rectangular shape refers to a rectangle, a corner | angular part may not necessarily be a right angle but a circular arc.

  In this embodiment, the green light beam (G) corresponds to the first color light beam in the present invention, the blue light beam (B) corresponds to the second color light beam in the present invention, and the red light beam (R). Corresponds to the third color light flux in the present invention. In addition, the sub pixel SG corresponds to the first sub pixel in the present invention, the sub pixel SB corresponds to the second sub pixel in the present invention, and the sub pixel SR corresponds to the third sub pixel in the present invention. It is equivalent. The relationship between each color beam and the sub-pixel is not limited to this. For example, the first color beam is a blue beam (B), and the sub-pixel SB is positioned at the center of the pixel P in the X direction. The first subpixel may be used.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the liquid crystal device 100 is arranged in parallel along the data lines 6 a with a plurality of scanning lines 3 a and a plurality of data lines 6 a as signal wirings insulated and orthogonal to each other at least in the display region E. Capacitance line 3b. The direction in which the scanning line 3a extends is the X direction, and the direction in which the data line 6a extends is the Y direction.

  A pixel electrode 15R, a TFT 30, and a storage capacitor 16 are provided in a region divided by the scanning line 3a, the data line 6a, the capacitor line 3b, and these signal lines, and these constitute the pixel circuit of the sub-pixel SR. It is composed. The same applies to the other subpixels SG and SB. Therefore, the pixel electrodes 15R, 15G, and 15B may be collectively referred to as the pixel electrode 15. In addition, the subpixels SR, SG, and SB may be collectively referred to simply as subpixels.

  The scanning line 3 a is electrically connected to the gate of the TFT 30, and the data line 6 a is electrically connected to the source of the TFT 30. The pixel electrode 15 is electrically connected to the drain of the TFT 30.

  The data line 6a is connected to the data line driving circuit 101 (see FIG. 2), and supplies image signals D1, D2, D3,..., Dn supplied from the data line driving circuit 101 to the sub-pixels. The scanning line 3a is connected to the scanning line driving circuit 102 (see FIG. 2), and supplies scanning signals SC1, SC2,..., SCm supplied from the scanning line driving circuit 102 to each sub-pixel.

  The image signals D1 to Dn supplied from the data line driving circuit 101 to the data lines 6a may be supplied line-sequentially in this order, or may be supplied for each of a plurality of adjacent data lines 6a for each group. Good. The scanning line driving circuit 102 supplies the scanning signals SC1 to SCm to the scanning line 3a in a pulse-sequential manner at a predetermined timing.

  In the liquid crystal device 100, the TFT 30 that is a switching element is turned on for a certain period by the input of the scanning signals SC1 to SCm, so that the image signals D1 to Dn supplied from the data line 6a are supplied to the pixel electrode 15 at a predetermined timing. It is the structure written in. The image signals D1 to Dn of a predetermined level written to the liquid crystal layer 50 through the pixel electrode 15 are transmitted between the pixel electrode 15 and the counter electrode 25 which is a common electrode disposed to face the liquid crystal layer 50. Hold for a certain period. The frequency of the image signals D1 to Dn is 60 Hz, for example.

  In order to prevent the held image signals D1 to Dn from leaking, a storage capacitor 16 is connected in parallel with a liquid crystal capacitor formed between the pixel electrode 15 and the counter electrode 25. The storage capacitor 16 is provided between the drain of the TFT 30 and the capacitor line 3b.

  2A is connected to the data line 6a. In the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal device 100, the image signal is detected to check an operation defect of the liquid crystal device 100. Although it is configured, it is not shown in the equivalent circuit of FIG.

  Peripheral circuits that drive and control the pixel circuits in this embodiment include a data line driving circuit 101, a scanning line driving circuit 102, and an inspection circuit 103. The peripheral circuit includes a sampling circuit that samples the image signal and supplies it to the data line 6a, and a precharge circuit that supplies a precharge signal of a predetermined voltage level to the data line 6a prior to the image signal. Also good.

  Such a liquid crystal device 100 is of an active drive type, and is a normally white mode in which the transmittance of the sub-pixel is maximized when no voltage is applied, or a normally white mode in which the transmittance of the sub-pixel is minimized when no voltage is applied. Black mode optical design is adopted. Polarizing elements are arranged and used according to the optical design on the light incident side and the light exit side of the liquid crystal device 100, respectively. In FIG. 1, the description of the polarizing element is omitted.

  As described above, the liquid crystal device 100 according to this embodiment includes the sub-pixels SR and SG corresponding to the red light beam (R), the green light beam (G), and the blue light beam (B) incident from the color separation element 1010 at different angles. , SB is provided with a microlens as a condensing element. The microlens is provided for each pixel P on the counter substrate 20 side on which the color light flux is incident. The planar arrangement of the microlenses on the counter substrate 20 will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, the microlenses ML in the counter substrate 20 are arranged in a matrix in the X direction and the Y direction corresponding to the arrangement of the square pixels P in plan view. As shown in FIG. 4B, the counter substrate 20 has a microlens array 22 including a plurality of microlenses ML formed by filling concave portions 21b formed in the substrate body 21 with a lens material. The concave portion 21b, that is, the lens surface is formed in a hemispherical shape that tapers toward the bottom thereof. Accordingly, the position of the bottom of the recess 21b, that is, the center C1 of the microlens ML coincides with the planar center of the pixel P. If the arrangement pitch of the pixel P in the X direction and the Y direction is P1, the length of the pixel P in the X direction and the Y direction is also P1, and the arrangement pitch of the microlens ML in the X direction and the Y direction is also P1.

In the present embodiment, in order to capture more light in the pixel P, the circular microlenses ML are arranged so as to partially overlap in the X direction and the Y direction in plan view. For this reason, there is a ridge that becomes a straight line at the boundary between the microlenses ML adjacent to each other in the X direction and the Y direction.
In the present embodiment, the diameter of the microlens ML (a value twice the radius r) is set to be larger than the length of the diagonal line of the pixel P. The diameter of the microlens ML may be set to be the same as or smaller than the diagonal length of the pixel P. The microlens ML is not limited to the shape of the concave portion 21b (lens surface) being a hemispherical shape, and may be an aspherical lens in which a linear side surface and a hemispherical surface are combined.

  Next, the arrangement of the sub-pixels SR, SG, and SB in the pixel P will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the sub-pixels SR, SG, SB are arranged at equal intervals in the X direction. When the arrangement pitch of the pixels P in the X direction is P1, the arrangement pitch P2 of the sub-pixels SR, SG, SB is 1/3 of P1. The central sub-pixel SG is provided with a first opening 17a, the sub-pixel SB adjacent to the right side with respect to the sub-pixel SG is provided with a second opening 17b, and adjacent to the left side with respect to the sub-pixel SG. The sub-pixel SR is provided with a third opening 17c. Each opening has a rectangular shape in plan view and has the same size. The light shielding portion 17 is provided so as to partition each opening. If the width of the first opening 17a in the X direction is L1, the width of the other openings in the X direction is also L1. If the width of the light-shielding part 17 between the first opening 17a and the second opening 17b adjacent in the X direction is L2, it is between the first opening 17a and the third opening 17c that are also adjacent in the X direction. The width of the light shielding portion 17 is also L2. Further, the width of the light shielding portion 17 between the second opening 17b and the third opening 17c between the pixels P adjacent in the X direction is also L2. Although not illustrated, the arrangement pitch of the openings of the sub-pixels of the same color in the Y direction is constant, and the width of the light shielding part 17 between the openings in the Y direction is also the same.

  Next, the pixel structure in the liquid crystal device 100 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 6, and the transmittance of the color light flux in each sub-pixel will be described. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the liquid crystal device 100 includes an element substrate 10 and a counter substrate 20 that are disposed to face each other with a liquid crystal layer 50 interposed therebetween.

  As shown in FIG. 6A, a wiring layer 11 a made of, for example, a refractory metal or an alloy thereof is formed on the substrate body 11 of the element substrate 10. The wiring layer 11a constitutes, for example, the scanning line 3a in the above-described equivalent circuit. A first interlayer insulating film 12 covering the wiring layer 11a is formed, and TFTs 30 are formed on the first interlayer insulating film 12 corresponding to the sub-pixels SB, SG, SR. A second interlayer insulating film 13 covering the TFT 30 is formed, and a wiring layer 13 a is formed on the second interlayer insulating film 13. The wiring layer 13a constitutes, for example, the capacitor line 3b and the data line 6a in the above-described equivalent circuit. A third interlayer insulating film 14 covering the wiring layer 13a is formed, and a transparent conductive film such as ITO is formed and patterned on the third interlayer insulating film 14 corresponding to each sub-pixel SB, SG, SR. Thus, translucent pixel electrodes 15B, 15G, and 15R are formed. Then, an alignment film 18 that covers the pixel electrodes 15B, 15G, and 15R is formed.

  The wiring layer 11 a and the wiring layer 13 a are formed so as to overlap with the TFT 30 in plan view, and function as the light shielding portion 17 that shields light incident on the TFT 30. In the light shielding portion 17, a first opening 17a corresponding to the sub pixel SG having the pixel electrode 15G is formed, a second opening 17b corresponding to the sub pixel SB having the pixel electrode 15B is formed, and the pixel electrode 15R is formed. A third opening 17c corresponding to the subpixel SR is formed.

  Further, in the present embodiment, a substantially V-shaped groove 60 is provided in the substrate body 11 in a cross-sectional view corresponding to the wiring layer 11a (light shielding portion 17) for each of the subpixels SB, SG, SR. The groove 60 is formed, for example, by dry etching the substrate body 11 mainly composed of silicon oxide. The opening of the groove 60 is closed by the sealing portion 63. The sealing unit 63 deposits, for example, silicon oxide so as to close the opening of the groove 60 formed on the surface of the substrate body 11, and performs a planarization process such as a CMP process on the deposited surface. Is formed. Thereby, a space 62 is formed inside the groove 60. The space 62 is preferably in a state of being vacuumed or depressurized so as not to be deformed by a temperature change. Since the refractive index of light in the space 62 is smaller than the refractive index of light of the substrate body 11, the inclined surface 61 inclined with respect to the thickness direction (optical axis) of the substrate body 11 in the groove 60 is the refractive index of light. Are different boundary surfaces. Thereby, light incident at a specific angle or less with respect to the normal direction of the inclined surface 61 is totally reflected. The groove 60 is an example of a reflecting portion in the present invention, and is hereinafter referred to as a prism 60 because of its function.

  In the counter substrate 20, a plurality of hemispherical concave portions 21 b formed in the substrate body 21 are filled with a lens material to form a microlens array 22 having a plurality of microlenses ML. After the surface of the microlens array 22 on the liquid crystal layer 50 side is subjected to a planarization process, a light-transmitting pass layer 23 is formed. A counter electrode 25 is formed by forming a transparent conductive film such as ITO so as to cover the path layer 23. An alignment film 26 that covers the counter electrode 25 is formed. The alignment films 18 and 26 in contact with the liquid crystal layer 50 can substantially horizontally align liquid crystals (liquid crystal molecules) having positive dielectric anisotropy corresponding to the liquid crystal selected based on the optical design of the liquid crystal device 100. It can be formed using an organic resin material such as polyimide, or an inorganic material such as silicon oxide capable of substantially vertically aligning liquid crystals (liquid crystal molecules) having negative dielectric anisotropy.

  As shown in FIG. 6A, the red light beam (R), the green light beam (G), and the blue light beam (B) are incident on the incident surface 21a of the counter substrate 20 at different incident angles. The green light beam (G) enters the micro lens ML provided for each pixel P from the normal direction of the incident surface 21a. The green light beam (G) collected by the microlens ML is transmitted through the liquid crystal layer 50 and focused on the first opening 17a of the sub-pixel SG on the element substrate 10 side. The blue light beam (B) incident from an oblique direction with respect to the normal direction of the incident surface 21a of the counter substrate 20 and condensed by the microlens ML is transmitted through the liquid crystal layer 50, and on the element substrate 10 side, the subpixel SB. The second aperture 17b is focused on. Similarly, the red light beam (R) incident from an oblique direction with respect to the normal direction of the incident surface 21a of the counter substrate 20 and condensed by the microlens ML is transmitted through the liquid crystal layer 50 and is transmitted on the element substrate 10 side. The focal point is set in the third opening 17c of the sub-pixel SR. In other words, the microlenses ML and the microlenses ML are arranged such that the light beams of different colors incident on the incident surface 21a of the counter substrate 20 at different incident angles are collected by the microlens ML and focused in the corresponding openings in the element substrate 10. The pass layer 23 is optically designed.

The colored light beams that have passed through the openings 17a, 17b, and 17c of the pixel P are basically emitted from the substrate body 11 of the element substrate 10. In particular, light incident on the slope 61 of the prism 60 through the openings 17a, 17b, 17c from an oblique direction with an angle with respect to the normal direction of the openings 17a, 17b, 17c Reflected by 61 and emitted from the substrate body 11. That is, the color light beam transmitted the openings 17a, 17b, a 17c of the pixel P is emitted generally toward the injection direction from the substrate main body 11 (the direction along the system optical axis L _0). Therefore, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of a mixture of colored light beams having different wavelengths incident at different angles in the pixel P or a mixture of colored light beams transmitted through adjacent pixels P.

Next, a planar arrangement of the light shielding unit 17 and the prism 60 in the pixel P will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 shows the pixel P on the element substrate 10 side. As shown in FIG. 7, each of the sub-pixels SR, SG, and SB of the pixel P is partitioned by a light shielding portion 17 that extends in the X direction and the Y direction, respectively. The intersection of the portion extending in the X direction and the portion extending in the Y direction of the light shielding portion 17 is wider than the other extending portions. The TFT 30 that controls the switching of the pixel electrodes 15 of the sub-pixels SR, SG, and SB is provided on the element substrate 10 at a portion that overlaps the intersection of the light shielding portions 17. Therefore, the light incident on the light shielding portion 17 of the element substrate 10 from the counter substrate 20 side is shielded, and the optical malfunction of the TFT 30 is difficult to occur.
The prism 60 is formed on the substrate body 11 so as to overlap with a portion of the light shielding portion 17 extending in the X direction and the Y direction. That is, the prism 60 is also formed so as to partition the openings 17a, 17b, and 17c of the sub-pixels SR, SG, and SB, similarly to the light shielding portion 17.

According to the first embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) A part of each color light beam transmitted through each opening of the sub-pixels SR, SG, and SB is incident on the prism 60 provided on the substrate body 11 and is reflected to the emission side by the inclined surface 61 of the prism 60. Therefore, each color light beam emitted from the liquid crystal device 100 is easily swallowed by the projection lens 1014 compared to the case where the prism 60 is not provided. Further, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of mixed emission of colored light beams having different wavelengths incident at different angles in the pixel P, and the output of mixed colored light beams transmitted through adjacent pixels P. By using such a liquid crystal device 100 as a light modulation device, it is possible to realize a projection display device 1000 that can improve the use efficiency of color light fluxes and display a bright and attractive display.
(2) Since the prism 60 is provided in the substrate body 11 so as to partition each opening of the sub-pixels SR, SG, and SB, it is possible to reliably improve the use efficiency of the color light flux that passes through the opening. Can do.
In particular, in order to improve the brightness in display, a method of increasing the light condensing capability of the microlens ML on which the color light flux enters can be considered. When the condensing capability of the micro lens ML is increased, the incident angle range of the color light beam collected by the micro lens ML with respect to the opening is increased. Therefore, when there is no prism 60, the color light beam transmitted through the opening is used as the projection lens. There is a possibility that 1014 cannot be swallowed sufficiently. In other words, by providing the prism 60, it is possible to increase the light collecting ability of the microlens ML and realize a brighter display.

(Second Embodiment)
<Electronic equipment>
Next, as an electronic apparatus to which the electro-optical device according to the second embodiment is applied, a projection display device will be described as an example and described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a projection display device as an electronic apparatus according to the second embodiment, and FIGS. 9A and 9B are schematic plan views illustrating a configuration of pixels in the liquid crystal device according to the second embodiment. is there. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same structure as the projection type display apparatus 1000 of the said 1st Embodiment, and detailed description is abbreviate | omitted.

As shown in FIG. 8, the projection type display device as an electronic apparatus of the present embodiment (liquid crystal projector) 2000 disposed on the system optical axis L _0, a light source unit 1001, a polarization conversion unit 1005, a color separation It includes an element 2010, two liquid crystal devices 210 and 220, a dichroic prism 2016 as a combining optical system, and a projection lens 2017 as a projection optical system.

The polarized light beam emitted from the polarization conversion unit 1005 is separated by the color separation element 2010 into a red light beam (R), a green light beam (G), and a blue light beam (B). The color separation element 2010 reflects the red light beam (R) and the blue light beam (B) and transmits the green light beam (G), and reflects the red light beam (R) and the blue light beam (B). A dichroic mirror 2012 that transmits light and two reflecting mirrors 2013 and 2014 are configured. The green light beam (G) transmitted through the dichroic mirror 2011 is reflected by the reflection mirror 2014 and enters the liquid crystal device 210 through the field lens 2015. The field lens 2015 causes the green light beam (G) reflected by the reflection mirror 2014 to enter the display area of the liquid crystal device 210 from the normal direction with respect to the incident surface of the liquid crystal device 210.
On the other hand, the red light beam (R) and the blue light beam (B) reflected by the dichroic mirror 2011 are incident on the dichroic mirror 2012. The dichroic mirror 2012 reflects the red light beam (R) to enter the liquid crystal device 220 and transmits the blue light beam (B). The blue light beam (B) that has passed through the dichroic mirror 2012 is reflected by the reflection mirror 2013, passes through the dichroic mirror 2012 again, and enters the liquid crystal device 220. The red light beam (R) and the blue light beam (B) are incident on the display area of the liquid crystal device 220 at different angles with respect to the incident surface of the liquid crystal device 220.

  The basic configuration of the liquid crystal device 210 and the liquid crystal device 220 is that the liquid crystal layer 50 is sandwiched between the element substrate 10 and the counter substrate 20 as in the liquid crystal device 100 of the first embodiment. In the liquid crystal device 210 and the liquid crystal device 220, a prism 60 is formed on the substrate body 11 of the element substrate 10. The liquid crystal device 210 and the liquid crystal device 220 differ from the liquid crystal device 100 in the configuration of the pixels P.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9A, the pixel P of the liquid crystal device 210 has a square opening 17d in plan view. The opening 17 d is provided in the light shielding portion 17. A prism 60 is provided so as to surround the opening 17d. A green light beam (G) is incident on the opening 17d. That is, a part of the green light beam (G) transmitted through the opening 17d is reflected by the prism 60 and emitted. Therefore, the green light beams (G) transmitted through the adjacent openings 17d are not mixed and are not easily emitted.

  As shown in FIG. 9B, the pixel P of the liquid crystal device 220 includes a sub-pixel SR and a sub-pixel SB. The sub-pixel SR is provided with a rectangular opening 17e in plan view, and the sub-pixel SB is provided with the same rectangular opening 17f in plan view. The openings 17 e and 17 f are provided adjacent to each other in the light shielding portion 17. A prism 60 is provided so as to surround each of the openings 17e and 17f. A red light beam (R) is incident on the opening 17e, and a blue light beam (B) is incident on the opening 17f. That is, a part of the red light beam (R) transmitted through the opening 17e and a part of the blue light beam (B) transmitted through the opening 17f are respectively reflected and emitted by the prism 60. Therefore, it is difficult for the red light beam (R) transmitted through the opening 17e and the blue light beam (B) transmitted through the opening 17f to be mixed and emitted.

  The size of the pixel P in the liquid crystal device 210 and the size of the pixel P in the liquid crystal device 220 are the same. Accordingly, the size of the opening 17d into which the green light beam (G) is incident is approximately twice the size of the opening 17e through which the red light beam (R) is incident and the opening 17f into which the blue light beam (B) is incident.

  The configuration of the pixel P on which colored light beams of different wavelengths are incident at different angles is not limited to the configuration of the three subpixels SR, SG, and SB as in the liquid crystal device 100 of the first embodiment. As in the case of the pixel P of the liquid crystal device 220 of the embodiment, it may be configured by two sub-pixels SR and SB. The color light beam incident on the liquid crystal device 210 is not limited to the green light beam (G), and may be another color light beam. In other words, the color light beam incident on the liquid crystal device 220 is not limited to the red light beam (R) and the blue light beam (B).

According to the second embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
The opening of the pixel P in each of the liquid crystal devices 210 and 220 is larger than the liquid crystal device 100 of the first embodiment. In other words, as compared with the case where the color light fluxes having different wavelengths incident at different angles are modulated by one liquid crystal device 100, the two liquid crystal devices 210 and 220 are used for modulation, so that a projection display capable of brighter display. A device (liquid crystal projector) 2000 can be realized.

<Angle of the slope of the prism>
Next, the angle of the inclined surface 61 of the prism 60 provided in the substrate body 11 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 10 is a graph showing the relationship between the angle of the slope of the prism with respect to the optical axis and the transmittance of the projection lens. In addition, the graph of FIG. 10 was obtained by optical simulation. The center sub-pixel indicates a sub-pixel located in the center of the pixel P, the side (3 sub-pixels) indicates a sub-pixel adjacent to the center sub-pixel among the three sub-pixels, and the side (2 sub-pixels) indicates This indicates a case where the pixel P is composed of two sub-pixels.

The conditions of the optical simulation in the present embodiment are as follows.
The length of one side of the pixel P, that is, the arrangement pitch P1, was 10 μm. The substrate bodies 11 and 21 are made of quartz glass and have a refractive index of 1.46. The refractive index of the microlens ML is approximately 1.72, the radius r of the concave portion 21b (lens surface) is 7.5 μm, and the thickness of the microlens array 22 is 8.0 μm. The distance from the boundary between the microlens ML and the pass layer 23 to the light shielding portion 17 (specifically, the wiring layer 13a) is approximately 26.4 μm (see FIG. 6). The size of the light emitting region of the light source 1002 is a square (□) with a side of 0.3 mm (see FIG. 1). The length in the X direction of each opening in the subpixels SR, SG, and SB was 3 μm, and the length in the Y direction was 6 μm. The F value of the projection lens 1014 was set to 1.6.

  As shown in FIG. 6B, the angle θ with respect to the optical axis of the inclined surface 61 of the prism 60 can be defined by the width L3 and the depth L4 in the opening of the prism 60. That is, if the width L3 is constant, the angle θ decreases as the depth L4 increases (deep). The incident angle of the light that can be totally reflected by the inclined surface 61 of the prism 60 depends on the incident angle of the color beam incident on each opening of the sub-pixels SR, SG, and SB. By making the light incident on the inclined surface 61 be totally reflected in the direction along the optical axis, the color light flux transmitted through each opening can be easily swallowed by the projection lens 1014. The projection lens transmittance shown in FIG. 10 indicates the ease of swallowing the color light flux by the projection lens 1014.

  As shown in FIG. 6A, the incident angle of the color light beam (G) incident on the sub-pixel SG located in the center of the pixel P is smaller than those of the other sub-pixels SR and SB. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10, the sub-pixel SG shows a high value of 95% or more in the projection lens transmittance without depending much on the angle θ of the inclined surface 61 of the prism 60. When the pixel P has three sub-pixels SR, SG, and SB as in the first embodiment, the slope 61 of the prism 60 is formed in the sub-pixels SR and SB adjacent to the sub-pixel SG located at the center of the pixel P. When the angle θ is less than 1 °, the projection lens transmittances of the colored light beams (R) and (B) are rapidly reduced from 95%. Further, when the angle θ of the inclined surface 61 of the prism 60 is 8 ° or more, the projection lens transmittance is similarly reduced from 95%. In other words, when the pixel P includes three sub-pixels SR, SG, and SB, the angle θ with respect to the optical axis of the inclined surface 61 of the prism 60 is preferably about 1.5 to 7.5 degrees. When the prism 60 is formed so that the angle θ of the inclined surface 61 is smaller than 1.5 degrees or larger than 7 degrees, the sub-pixel SG located at the center of the pixel P and the sub-pixels SR and SB adjacent to the sub-pixel SG However, since a difference occurs in the transmittance of the projection lens, it is not preferable in terms of brightness and color balance.

  On the other hand, when the pixel P is composed of two subpixels SR and SB, like the liquid crystal device 220 shown in the second embodiment, the case is composed of three subpixels SR, SG, and SB. As compared with the above, the incident angle of the color light beam (R) and the color light beam (B) with respect to the microlens ML can be reduced. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10, the preferable range of the angle θ on the inclined surface 61 of the prism 60 where the projection lens transmittance is 95% or more widens to about 1 to 8 degrees. Regardless of the configuration of the sub-pixels of the pixel P, the preferable range of the angle θ on the inclined surface 61 of the prism 60 where the projection lens transmittance shows a value close to 100% is about 3 to 6 degrees. For example, if the range of the angle θ is 3 degrees to 6 degrees and the opening width L3 of the prism 60 is 1.5 μm, the depth L4 of the prism 60 is in the range of about 14 μm to 22 μm. As described above, since the prism 60 is formed by dry etching the substrate body 11, the depth L4 is 30 μm or less in order to stably form a groove having a substantially V-shaped cross section. preferable.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, 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. Electronic equipment to which the electro-optical device is applied is also included in the technical scope of the present invention. Various modifications other than the above embodiment are conceivable. Hereinafter, a modification will be described.

  (Modification 1) In the liquid crystal device 100 of the first embodiment, the prism 60 is provided on the substrate body 11 so as to partition the openings of the sub-pixels SR, SG, SB. Not. For example, the pixel P may be provided for each pixel P so as to surround an area including a plurality of sub-pixels.

  (Modification 2) The electro-optical device that functions as a light modulation device is not limited to a liquid crystal device. For example, a transmissive MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical System) display using a translucent substrate on which the prism 60 is formed may be used.

  (Modification 3) The reflection part for reflecting a part of the color light beam transmitted through the opening of the sub-pixel is not limited to the prism 60. For example, a light tunnel formed by combining members having different refractive indexes may be used.

  (Modification 4) The electronic apparatus to which the liquid crystal device 100 of the first embodiment is applied is not limited to the projection display device 1000. For example, it can be suitably used as a light modulation device for HUD (head-up display) or HMD (head-mounted display). The same applies to the liquid crystal device 220 of the second embodiment.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Substrate main body as translucent substrate, 17 ... Light-shielding part, 17a ... 1st opening part, 17b ... 2nd opening part, 17c ... 3rd opening part, 60 ... Prism as reflecting part, 61 ... Slope, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Liquid crystal device, 1000 ... Projection type display apparatus as an electronic device, 1002 ... Light source, 1010 ... Color separation element, P ... Pixel, ML ... Micro lens, SR, SG, SB ... Sub pixel.

Claims (7)

The light emitted from the light source is color-separated into at least a first color light beam and a second color light beam having different wavelengths, and is adjacent to the first sub pixel in a predetermined direction with the first sub pixel on which the first color light beam is incident. An electro-optical device comprising a pixel including at least a second sub-pixel on which the second color light beam is incident,
A condensing element that is provided for each of the pixels and in which the first color light flux and the second color light flux are incident at different incident angles;
A light-shielding portion that divides each of the first sub-pixel and the second sub-pixel to form a first opening corresponding to the first sub-pixel and a second opening corresponding to the second sub-pixel; ,
Provided opposite to the light condensing element with respect to the light shielding part, and reflects a part of the color light flux condensed by the light condensing element and transmitted through the first opening and the second opening to the exit side. And an electro-optical device comprising: The light shielding portion is provided on a translucent substrate,
The reflection part is a groove having a substantially V-shaped cross section provided on the substrate,
The electro-optical device according to claim 1, wherein the groove has a slope inclined at an angle of 1 to 8 degrees with respect to a thickness direction of the substrate.   The electro-optical device according to claim 1, wherein the reflection portion is provided for each of the pixels so as to surround a region including the first opening and the second opening.   The electro-optical device according to claim 1, wherein the reflecting portion is provided so as to surround each of the first opening and the second opening. The first color light beam, the second color light beam, and the first color light beam and the third color light beam having a wavelength different from that of the second color light beam are incident on the condensing element at different incident angles, respectively.
4. The pixel according to claim 1, further comprising a third sub-pixel adjacent to the first sub-pixel in the predetermined direction and receiving the third color light beam. 5. The electro-optical device according to 1.   The electro-optical device according to claim 5, wherein the reflection portion is provided so as to surround each of the first opening, the second opening, and the third opening of the third subpixel. . A light source;
A color separation element that separates light emitted from the light source into at least a first color light beam and a second color light beam having different wavelengths from each other;
An electronic apparatus comprising: the electro-optical device according to claim 1.

Images