CN104730777A - A pixel structure that avoids movement of photoresist spacers - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a pixel structure capable of preventing a photoresistance spacer from moving, which comprises: a plurality of scan lines; a plurality of data lines vertically staggered with the scanning lines; the pixels are arranged at the intersection positions of the scanning lines and the corresponding data lines; a first photoresist spacer located between the two substrates; the second light resistance spacer is positioned between the two substrates and has the same height as the first light resistance spacer; and a third metal layer, wherein a part of the wiring passes through and contacts with the lower part of the first photoresist spacer to form a main photoresist spacer, and the other part of the wiring bypasses and does not contact with the lower part of the second photoresist spacer to form a secondary photoresist spacer. Compared with the prior art, the invention specially designs the routing of the third metal layer, thereby realizing the hybrid spacer framework to form a structure similar to a metal step and prevent the photoresist spacer from moving. In addition, the third metal layer can be electrically coupled to the common electrode in the panel, so that the uniformity of the common voltage is improved.

Description

A pixel structure that avoids movement of photoresist spacers

technical field

The invention relates to a pixel structure, in particular to a pixel structure capable of avoiding photoresist spacers.

Background technique

Liquid crystal display panels have been widely used in various electronic products, such as smart phones, notebook computers, tablet PCs and televisions, due to their advantages of thinness, lightness, small size and energy saving. wait. Generally speaking, a liquid crystal display panel mainly includes a first substrate such as an array substrate, a second substrate such as an opposite substrate, and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate.

In addition, the liquid crystal display panel also includes a photoresist spacer (Photo Spacer, PS). It is arranged between the first substrate and the second substrate, and is used to maintain uniform flatness when the array substrate and the opposite substrate are bonded together, and to provide a fixed liquid crystal gap for liquid crystal distribution. As we all know, when the amount of liquid crystal is the same, the change of PS height will cause various bad situations. Halo Mura). In existing liquid crystal display panels, photoresist spacers can be classified into main photoresist spacers (Main PS) or sub photoresist spacers (Sub PS). The main photoresist spacer refers to that when the liquid crystal display panel is in a normal state, it is in contact with the first substrate and the second substrate at the same time, or is in contact with the film layer on the first substrate and the film layer on the second substrate at the same time, so that the first A fixed gap can be maintained between the first substrate and the second substrate; the sub-photoresist spacer means that the sub-photoresist spacer is not in contact with the first substrate or when the liquid crystal display panel is in a normal state (without deformation or being pressed by an external force). The film layer on the first substrate is in contact, but under the condition of being pressed by an external force, the sub-photoresist spacer can be in contact with the first substrate or the film layer on the first substrate, thereby avoiding excessive deformation of the display panel and suffered damage. Since the number of sub-photoresist spacers is usually more than the number of main photoresist spacers, the suppression of dark-state light leakage of the display panel is more significant, thereby effectively improving contrast and reducing dark-state brightness of black screens. In addition, the main photoresist spacers and the sub-photoresist spacers can be mixed, that is, some of the photoresist spacers serve as the main photoresist spacers, and the other part of the photoresist spacers serve as the sub-photoresist spacers.

On the other hand, some existing liquid crystal display panels are in response to the large-size design trend, such as the ultra-large viewing angle high-definition display (Advanced Hyper View Angle, AHVA), which does not set an additional metal layer, thereby improving the transmittance , Reduce the load on the data line and the scan line and reduce power consumption. However, there is no height difference between the contact position of the main photoresist spacer and the thin film transistor in these liquid crystal display panels and the opening area of the pixel electrode, which will cause relative displacement of the photoresist spacer, resulting in striped Mura or halo Mura, etc. bad situation.

In view of this, how to design a pixel structure that can avoid photoresist spacers to eliminate the above-mentioned defects and deficiencies in the prior art is an urgent task to be solved by relevant technical personnel in the industry.

Contents of the invention

Aiming at the above-mentioned defects in the pixel structure of the liquid crystal display panel in the prior art, the present invention provides a novel pixel structure which can avoid the movement of the photoresist spacer.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a kind of pixel structure that can avoid photoresist spacer (Photo Spacer, PS) to move is provided, comprising:

a plurality of scanning lines arranged to extend along the first direction;

A plurality of data lines arranged to extend along a second direction, the data lines and the scanning lines are arranged alternately, and the second direction and the first direction are perpendicular to each other;

A plurality of pixels, each pixel is arranged at the intersection of the scanning line and the corresponding data line;

A first photoresist spacer, located between the first substrate and the second substrate;

a second photoresist spacer, located between the first substrate and the second substrate, the height of which is equal to the height of the first photoresist spacer; and

A third metal layer, wherein a part of the wiring of the third metal layer passes under the first photoresist spacer and is in contact with the first photoresist spacer to form a main photoresist spacer (Main PS), another part of the wiring of the third metal layer is detoured from below the second photoresist spacer and is not in contact with the second photoresist spacer to form a secondary photoresist spacer (Sub PS).

In one embodiment, the third metal layer is routed along the first direction and parallel to the scan lines.

In one embodiment, the third metal layer is routed along the second direction and parallel to the data lines.

In one embodiment, the third metal layer is routed along the first direction and the second direction to form a metal mesh.

In one embodiment, the third metal layer is also electrically coupled to a common electrode layer, so as to improve the uniformity of the common voltage in the panel.

In one embodiment, the common electrode layer is made of indium tin oxide.

In one of the embodiments, the pixel structure is suitable for an ultra-large viewing angle high-definition display (Advanced Hyper View Angle, AHVA).

In one embodiment, both the first photoresist spacer and the second photoresist spacer have a cylindrical structure or a conical structure.

Using the pixel structure of the present invention that can avoid the movement of photoresist spacers, a plurality of scanning lines extend along the first direction, a plurality of data lines extend along the second direction, the data lines and scanning lines are vertically interlaced, and the first photoresist The spacer is located between the first substrate and the second substrate, the second photoresist spacer is also located between the first substrate and the second substrate and has the same height as the first photoresist spacer, and a part of the third metal layer is routed Pass under the first photoresist spacer and contact the first photoresist spacer to form the main photoresist spacer, and another part of the wiring of the third metal layer bypasses under the second photoresist spacer And not in contact with the second photoresist spacer to form a sub-photoresist spacer. Compared with the prior art, the present invention specially designs the routing of the third metal layer, thereby realizing a hybrid photoresist spacer architecture (hybrid PS), and forming a structure similar to metal steps to avoid photoresist spacers Movement occurs. In addition, the third metal layer can also be electrically coupled to the common electrode in the panel, so as to improve the uniformity of the common voltage.

Description of drawings

Readers will have a clearer understanding of various aspects of the present invention after reading the detailed description of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. in,

FIG. 1 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a pixel structure that can prevent photoresist spacers from moving according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a first embodiment of the routing design of the third metal layer in the pixel structure of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the routing design of the third metal layer in the pixel structure of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment of the routing design of the third metal layer in the pixel structure in FIG. 1 .

Detailed ways

In order to make the technical content disclosed in this application more detailed and complete, reference may be made to the drawings and the following various specific embodiments of the present invention, and the same symbols in the drawings represent the same or similar components. However, those skilled in the art should understand that the examples provided below are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. In addition, the drawings are only for schematic illustration and are not drawn according to their original scale.

The specific implementation manners of various aspects of the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a pixel structure that can prevent movement of photoresist spacers according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 , in this embodiment, the pixel structure of the present invention includes a plurality of scanning lines, a plurality of data lines, a plurality of pixels, a first photoresist spacer PS1 and a second photoresist spacer PS2 . Wherein, the scan lines are arranged to extend along a first direction (eg, a horizontal direction). The data lines are arranged to extend along a second direction (eg, a vertical direction), the data lines and the scan lines are arranged alternately, and the second direction and the first direction are perpendicular to each other. Each pixel is disposed at the intersection of the scan line and the corresponding data line. In addition, the first metal layer M1 is located above the second substrate 20 for forming the gate of the thin film transistor. The second metal layer M2 is located above the first metal layer M1 for forming the drain and the source of the thin film transistor respectively. The drain of the TFT is also electrically coupled to a pixel electrode (pixel electrode) 204 .

The first photoresist spacer PS1 is located between a first substrate (eg, a counter substrate) 10 and a second substrate (eg, an array substrate) 20 . The second photoresist spacer PS2 is also located between the first substrate 10 and the second substrate 20 . The height of the second photoresist spacer PS2 is equal to the height of the first photoresist spacer PS1, as shown by the horizontal dotted line in FIG. 1 .

It should be pointed out that the pixel structure of the present invention further includes a third metal layer M3. A part of the wiring of the third metal layer M3 passes under the first photoresist spacer PS1 and is in contact with the first photoresist spacer PS1 to form the main photoresist spacer (Main PS); the third metal layer M3 Another part of the wires bypasses under the second photoresist spacer PS2 and does not contact the second photoresist spacer PS2 to form a sub-photoresist spacer (Sub PS). It can be seen from the above that, compared with the prior art, the present invention specially designs the wiring of the third metal layer M3, thereby realizing a hybrid photoresist spacer structure (hybrid PS). In addition, the trace design can also form a structure similar to a metal stage, thereby avoiding the movement of the photoresist spacer.

In a specific embodiment, the third metal layer M3 is also electrically coupled to a common electrode layer 202 to improve the uniformity of the common voltage (shown as com in FIG. 1 ) in the panel. For example, the common electrode layer 202 is made of indium tin oxide (ITO).

In a specific embodiment, both the first photoresist spacer PS1 and the second photoresist spacer PS2 are cylindrical or conical.

FIG. 2 shows a first embodiment of the routing design of the third metal layer in the pixel structure in FIG. 1 .

As mentioned above, a part of the wiring of the third metal layer M3 passes under the first photoresist spacer PS1 and is in contact with the first photoresist spacer PS1, and another part of the wiring of the third metal layer M3 passes through the first photoresist spacer PS1. The bottom of the second photoresist spacer PS2 bypasses and does not contact the second photoresist spacer PS2. In the embodiment of FIG. 2 , the third metal layer M3 is routed along a first direction (eg, a horizontal direction) and parallel to the scan lines.

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the routing design of the third metal layer in the pixel structure in FIG. 1 .

Comparing FIG. 3 with FIG. 2 , the main difference is that the routing directions of the third metal layer M3 are different. Specifically, the third metal layer M3 in FIG. 3 is routed along the second direction (eg, vertical direction) and parallel to the data lines.

FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment of the routing design of the third metal layer in the pixel structure in FIG. 1 .

Comparing FIG. 4 with FIG. 2 , the main difference is that the wiring directions of the third metal layer M3 are different. Specifically, the third metal layer M3 in FIG. 4 is routed along the first direction and the second direction, thereby forming a metal mesh (Metal Mesh). That is, in this embodiment, the third metal layer M3 is routed not only along the horizontal direction, but also along the vertical direction.

Using the pixel structure of the present invention that can avoid the movement of photoresist spacers, a plurality of scanning lines extend along the first direction, a plurality of data lines extend along the second direction, the data lines and scanning lines are vertically interlaced, and the first photoresist The spacer is located between the first substrate and the second substrate, the second photoresist spacer is also located between the first substrate and the second substrate and has the same height as the first photoresist spacer, and a part of the third metal layer is routed Pass under the first photoresist spacer and contact the first photoresist spacer to form the main photoresist spacer, and another part of the wiring of the third metal layer bypasses under the second photoresist spacer And not in contact with the second photoresist spacer to form a sub-photoresist spacer. Compared with the prior art, the present invention specially designs the routing of the third metal layer, thereby realizing a hybrid photoresist spacer architecture (hybrid PS), and forming a structure similar to metal steps to avoid photoresist spacers Movement occurs. In addition, the third metal layer can also be electrically coupled to the common electrode in the panel, so as to improve the uniformity of the common voltage.

Hereinbefore, specific embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, those skilled in the art can understand that without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, various changes and substitutions can be made to the specific embodiments of the present invention. These changes and substitutions all fall within the scope defined by the claims of the present invention.

Claims (8)

1. A pixel structure capable of avoiding photoresist spacer movement, characterized in that the pixel structure comprises: a plurality of scanning lines arranged to extend along the first direction; A plurality of data lines arranged to extend along a second direction, the data lines and the scanning lines are arranged alternately, and the second direction and the first direction are perpendicular to each other; A plurality of pixels, each pixel is arranged at the intersection of the scanning line and the corresponding data line; A first photoresist spacer, located between the first substrate and the second substrate; a second photoresist spacer, located between the first substrate and the second substrate, the height of which is equal to the height of the first photoresist spacer; and A third metal layer, wherein a part of the wiring of the third metal layer passes under the first photoresist spacer and is in contact with the first photoresist spacer to form a main photoresist spacer Another part of the wiring of the third metal layer bypasses under the second photoresist spacer and does not contact the second photoresist spacer to form a sub-photoresist spacer. 2. The pixel structure according to claim 1, wherein the third metal layer is routed along the first direction and parallel to the scan lines. 3. The pixel structure according to claim 1, wherein the third metal layer is routed along the second direction and parallel to the data lines. 4. The pixel structure according to claim 1, wherein the third metal layer is routed along the first direction and the second direction, thereby forming a metal grid. 5 . The pixel structure according to claim 1 , wherein the third metal layer is also electrically coupled to a common electrode layer, so as to improve the uniformity of the common voltage in the panel. 6. The pixel structure according to claim 5, wherein the common electrode layer is made of indium tin oxide. 7. The pixel structure according to claim 1, wherein the pixel structure is suitable for a high-definition display with a super large viewing angle. 8 . The pixel structure according to claim 1 , wherein the first photoresist spacer and the second photoresist spacer are cylindrical structures or conical structures.