JP2007248573A - Microlens substrate, microlens substrate manufacturing method, electro-optical device, and electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a microlens substrate which improves use efficiency of light, method for manufacturing the microlens substrate, an electrooptical device and electronic equipment. <P>SOLUTION: The microlens substrate is constituted by providing a recessed part 38 on the surface of a cover glass 37 constituting the microlens substrate 3a and providing a light shielding member 39 which shields light inside the recessed part 38, distance between a curved surface 35a constituting a microlens and the light shielding member 39 is reduced in comparison with the case of polishing the cover glass 37 by adjusting depth of the recessed part 38. Thus, the use efficiency of the light is improved. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a microlens substrate, a method for manufacturing a microlens substrate, an electro-optical device, and an electronic apparatus.

  An electro-optical device such as a liquid crystal device or an organic EL device has a configuration in which an electro-optical material is held by a substrate provided with a pixel region. These electro-optical devices are required to have bright display and high contrast display. Improving the light use efficiency in the electro-optical device is one of effective measures for meeting this demand.

  As an example of a technique for improving the light use efficiency, an electro-optical device having a microlens substrate in which a microlens is incorporated in a substrate is known. The microlens substrate is a substrate in which a curved surface is formed so as to overlap with a pixel region of the substrate in plan view. This curved surface collects light that passes through the pixel region and functions as a microlens. Thereby, the utilization efficiency of the emitted light is improved.

  When forming a microlens substrate, first, a curved surface constituting the microlens is formed on the surface of the substrate, a resin layer is formed so as to cover the surface and the curved surface of the substrate, and a cover glass is pasted on the resin layer. wear. Next, the cover glass is polished, and a light shielding member is disposed on the cover glass. In general, a microlens substrate is formed by such a procedure.

In the above configuration, a distance corresponding to the thickness of the cover glass is provided between the microlens and the light shielding member. When this distance is large, a part of the light condensed by the microlens is absorbed by the light shielding member, which may reduce the light use efficiency. Therefore, the distance between the microlens and the light shielding member is preferably as small as possible. Conventionally, this distance is reduced by polishing the cover glass as thinly as possible (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In particular, in recent years, the pitch of the pixel region of the electro-optical device has been reduced, and it is required to further reduce the distance between the microlens and the light shielding member.
JP 2005-283621 A

However, there is a limit to the thickness of the cover glass that can be thinned by polishing. It is difficult to reduce the distance between the microlens and the light-shielding member beyond a certain level only by polishing the cover glass, and therefore it is difficult to improve the light utilization efficiency.
SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides a microlens substrate, a method of manufacturing the microlens substrate, an electro-optical device, and an electronic apparatus that can improve light utilization efficiency.

  In order to solve the above problems, a microlens substrate according to the present invention is provided on the surface side of the first transparent substrate, the first transparent substrate having a curved surface constituting a microlens on the surface, and the first transparent substrate. A resin layer covering the surface of the transparent substrate and the curved surface, and a second transparent substrate provided on the resin layer, and a recess is provided on the surface of the second transparent substrate; A light shielding member is provided.

  According to the present invention, since the concave portion is provided on the surface of the second transparent substrate, and the light shielding member that shields light is provided inside the concave portion, the depth of the concave portion is adjusted. Thus, the distance between the curved surface constituting the microlens and the light shielding member can be reduced as compared with the case where the second transparent substrate is polished. Thereby, the utilization efficiency of light can be improved.

Moreover, it is preferable that the said light shielding member contains the light reflection material.
According to the present invention, since the light blocking member includes the light reflecting material, for example, light transmitted through the first transparent substrate and the resin layer is not absorbed by the light blocking member but reflected by the light blocking member. The reflected light can be used. Thereby, the utilization efficiency of light can further be improved.

Moreover, it is preferable that the said light shielding member contains the metal material.
The metal material has high light reflectivity and thermal conductivity. According to the present invention, since the light shielding member contains the metal material, the light irradiated to the light shielding member can be reflected with a high reflectance. In the present invention, since the light shielding member includes a metal material having high thermal conductivity, for example, when the microlens substrate is used under high heat such as a projector, the heat dissipation of the microlens substrate is increased. There is also an advantage that the microlens substrate can be prevented from being damaged and the panel and the members constituting the panel can be prevented from being deteriorated.

Moreover, it is preferable that the said recessed part is provided so that the width | variety of a recessed part may become small as it leaves | separates from the board | substrate surface of a said 1st transparent substrate.
If the light transmitted through the resin layer from the first transparent substrate is inclined with respect to the normal direction of the substrate surface, the light is likely to enter the light shielding member inside the recess and be irradiated to the light shielding member. Become. When the light shielding member includes a light reflecting material, this light is reflected and used, but cannot be totally reflected, resulting in light loss. Further, when the light shielding member does not include a light reflecting material, the irradiated light is absorbed by the light shielding member, which also causes light loss. In any case, since light loss is caused by irradiating the light shielding member, it is preferable that the amount of light irradiated to the light shielding member is smaller.

  Based on this, in the present invention, since the concave portion is provided so that the width of the concave portion decreases as the distance from the substrate surface of the first transparent substrate decreases, the incident light is inclined with respect to the normal direction of the substrate surface. A part of the light travels along the side surface of the concave portion, and the possibility that the light shielding member inside the concave portion is irradiated becomes low. As a result, it is possible to prevent the loss of light in the light shielding member, and it is possible to further improve the light utilization efficiency.

Moreover, it is preferable that the said light shielding member is provided in the whole inside of the said recessed part.
According to the present invention, since the light shielding member is provided in the entire interior of the recess, that is, the light shielding member is provided in the interior of the recess without a gap, it is ensured that the light shielding member includes a light reflecting material. It can reflect light. For example, when the light shielding member includes a metal material, the thermal conductivity is further improved.

Moreover, it is preferable that the said light shielding member is provided so that the side surface of the said recessed part and the bottom face of the said recessed part may be covered.
According to the present invention, since the light shielding member is provided so as to cover at least the side surface of the recess and the bottom surface of the recess, for example, the light shielding member can be formed in a thin film inside the recess. Thereby, formation of a light shielding member becomes easy. For example, when the light shielding member includes a light reflecting material, the side surface of the concave portion and the bottom surface of the concave portion are covered with the light shielding member including the light reflecting material, so that light can be reliably reflected.

  The method for manufacturing a microlens substrate according to the present invention includes a step of forming a curved surface constituting the microlens on the surface of the first transparent substrate, and a resin layer is formed so as to cover the surface of the first transparent substrate and the curved surface. And a step of disposing a second transparent substrate on the resin layer, a step of forming a recess in the second transparent substrate, and a step of disposing a light shielding member inside the recess. To do.

  According to the present invention, the step of forming a curved surface constituting the microlens on the surface of the first transparent substrate, the step of forming a resin layer so as to cover the surface and the curved surface of the first transparent substrate, 2 The step of disposing a transparent substrate, the step of forming a recess in the second transparent substrate, and the step of disposing a light-shielding member inside the recess, so that the light can be transmitted without polishing the second transparent substrate. A microlens substrate capable of improving the utilization efficiency can be manufactured. Thereby, manufacture becomes easy and the cost which manufacture requires can be held down.

An electro-optical device according to the present invention includes the above microlens substrate.
According to the present invention, since the microlens substrate capable of improving the light utilization efficiency is provided, it is possible to obtain an electro-optical device capable of displaying with high brightness and high contrast.

  Here, “electro-optical device” is a generic term that includes an electro-optical effect that changes the light transmittance by changing the refractive index of a substance by an electric field, and also includes devices that convert electric energy into optical energy. is doing. Specifically, a liquid crystal display device using liquid crystal as an electro-optical material, an organic EL device using organic EL (Electro-Luminescence), an inorganic EL device using inorganic EL, a plasma display device using plasma gas as an electro-optical material, etc. There is. Furthermore, there are an electrophoretic display device (EPD), a field emission display device (FED: Field Emission Display device), and the like.

In addition, it is preferable that a plurality of pixel regions of the electro-optical device are provided in a matrix on the first transparent substrate, and the concave portions are provided in regions between the pixel regions.
According to the present invention, since the concave portion is provided in the region between the pixel regions, the light can be used effectively without being disturbed in the pixel region.

An electronic apparatus according to the present invention includes the electro-optical device described above.
According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain an electronic apparatus having a display unit that can display with high brightness and high contrast.

[First embodiment]
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, a TFT active matrix type liquid crystal device using a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) as a pixel switching element will be described as an example. In the following drawings, the scale is appropriately changed to make each member a recognizable size.

(Liquid crystal device)
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of the liquid crystal device 1.
As shown in FIG. 1, the liquid crystal device 1 includes a TFT array substrate 2 and a counter substrate 3 that are arranged to face each other and are bonded together by a sealing material 4, and the TFT array substrate 2, the counter substrate 3, and the sealing material. The liquid crystal layer 5 is formed in the region partitioned by 4.

  A part of the sealing material 4 is provided with an inlet 4a for injecting liquid crystal, and the inlet 4a is sealed with a sealing material 4b. A light-shielding film (peripheral parting) 6 made of a light-shielding material is formed in a region inside the sealing material 4. The area inside the peripheral parting 6 is a light modulation area 7 for modulating light. In the light modulation region 7, a plurality of pixel regions 8 are provided in a matrix.

  The peripheral portion of the TFT array substrate 2 is an overhanging region that protrudes from the counter substrate 3. A scanning line driving circuit 11 for generating a scanning signal is formed on the left side and the right side in the drawing in the overhang region. On the upper side in the figure, a wiring 13 that connects the left and right scanning line driving circuits 11 is routed. On the lower side in the figure, a data line driving circuit 12 for generating a data signal and a connection terminal 14 for connecting to an external circuit or the like are formed. In a region between the scanning line driving circuit 11 and the connection terminal 14, a wiring 15 that connects them is formed. At each corner of the counter substrate 3, an inter-substrate conductive material 17 for electrical connection between the TFT array substrate 2 and the counter substrate 3 is provided.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration along the AA cross section of FIG. 1.
The TFT array substrate 2 includes, for example, a base material 2a formed of a material having high translucency such as glass and quartz, a pixel electrode 21 formed on the liquid crystal side of the base material 2a, and an electric signal to the pixel electrode 21. The TFT is mainly composed of a TFT (not shown) for supplying the pixel electrode 21 and an alignment film 22 formed so as to cover the pixel electrode 21 and the TFT.

  The pixel electrode 21 is formed of a transparent conductive material such as ITO (Indium Tin Oxide). The TFT is electrically connected to the pixel electrode 21 and is connected to a scanning line and a data line (not shown). A polarizing plate 24 is affixed to the outer surface of the TFT array substrate 2 (the side opposite to the liquid crystal layer 5).

  The counter substrate 3 is mainly composed of a microlens substrate 3a having a curved surface 35a constituting a microlens inside. A common electrode 31 is formed on the inner surface (the liquid crystal layer 5 side) surface of the microlens substrate 3 a, and an alignment film 33 is formed on the common electrode 31. Similar to the pixel electrode 21, the common electrode 31 is formed of a transparent conductive material such as ITO. A polarizing plate 34 is attached to the outside of the microlens substrate 3a.

  The liquid crystal layer 5 is composed of, for example, liquid crystal molecules such as a fluorine-based liquid crystal compound and a non-fluorine-based liquid crystal compound, and is in contact with both the alignment film 23 on the TFT array substrate 2 side and the alignment film 33 on the counter substrate 3 side. Between the two substrates. The alignment of the liquid crystal molecules is regulated by the alignment film 23 and the alignment film 33 so as to be oriented in a predetermined direction when a non-selection voltage is applied.

(Micro lens substrate)
Next, the configuration of the above-described microlens substrate 3a will be described.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a planar configuration of the microlens substrate 3a. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration along the BB cross section in FIG. 3, and is a diagram showing a cross-sectional configuration of the microlens substrate 3a.

As shown in FIG. 4, the microlens substrate 3 a has a three-layer structure mainly composed of a substrate 35, a resin layer 36, and a cover glass 37.
The substrate 35 is a rectangular substrate made of a transparent material such as glass. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a curved surface 35 a constituting a microlens is provided in a region corresponding to the pixel region 8. As shown in FIG. 4, the depth t1 from the surface 35b of the board | substrate 35 to the front-end | tip part of the curved surface 35a is about 10 micrometers. The depth t1 is preferably 10 μm or less.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the resin layer 36 is a layer made of a transparent resin material such as acrylic, and is provided so as to cover the surface 35b and the curved surface 35a of the substrate 35. The resin layer 36 covering the surface 35b of the substrate 35 has a thickness t2 of about 10 μm. The light refractive index of the resin layer 36 is larger than the light refractive index of the substrate 35.

  The cover glass 37 is a rectangular substrate made of glass, and is attached on the resin layer 36. The cover glass 37 has a thickness t3 of about 20 μm. A concave portion 38 having a rectangular cross section is formed on the surface of the cover glass 37, and a light shielding member 39 is provided inside the concave portion 38. The depth t4 of the recess 38 is set to about 10 μm, for example.

  The light shielding member 39 is made of a metal having a high light reflectance such as aluminum, for example, and is provided so as to fill the inside of the recess 38 without a gap. The distance from the tip of the curved surface 35a constituting the microlens to the bottom surface 39a of the light shielding member 39 is about 30 μm. Further, the surface 37a of the cover glass 37 and the upper surface 39b of the light shielding member 39 are flush with each other.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the recesses 38 and the light shielding members 39 in the recesses 38 are provided in an area between the pixel areas 8 (inter-pixel areas) in a grid pattern in the vertical and horizontal directions in plan view. The concave portions 38 and the light shielding members 39 are provided so that the widths d (also shown in FIG. 4) are substantially equal in the vertical and horizontal directions of the lattice. The width d is about 3 μm.

  As shown in FIG. 4, a part of the light (light L0) incident on the microlens substrate 3a is transmitted through the substrate 35 and condensed inside the pixel region 8 by the curved surface 35a constituting the microlens. The light L0 passes through the resin layer 36 and the cover glass 37 and is emitted to the outside of the microlens substrate 3a.

  Further, another light (light L1) incident on the microlens substrate 3a passes through the substrate 35 and is condensed inside the pixel region 8 by the curved surface 35a constituting the microlens. The light L1 passes through the resin layer 36, enters the cover glass 37, is reflected by the light shielding member 39, and is emitted to the outside of the cover glass 37.

(Manufacturing method of microlens substrate)
Next, a method for manufacturing the microlens substrate 3a configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, as shown in FIG. 5, a hard mask 40 is formed on the surface 35b of the substrate 35 by, for example, a photoetching method so as to have an opening 40a in a region where the curved surface 35a is formed (a region corresponding to the pixel region 8). Form a pattern. Next, as shown in FIG. 6, a portion of the substrate 35 where the opening 40a is formed is wet-etched to form a curved surface 35a constituting a microlens, and then the hard mask 40 is removed. Next, as shown in FIG. 7, a resin layer 36 is formed so as to cover the curved surface 35 a and the surface 35 b of the substrate 35. Next, as shown in FIG. 8, a cover glass 37 is pasted on the resin layer 36.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 9, a recess 38 is formed on the surface of the cover glass 37. In this step, for example, a resist is patterned on the surface of the cover glass 37 by a photolithography method, and a portion not covered with the resist (a portion corresponding to between pixel regions) is removed by synthetic etching or dry etching in the height direction. Thus, the recess 38 is formed.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 10, a light shielding member 39 is disposed inside the recess 38. In this step, for example, a liquid composition in which aluminum particles constituting the light shielding member 39 are dissolved in a solvent is prepared in advance, and the liquid composition is poured into the recess 38 to evaporate the solvent, thereby shielding the light shielding member. 39 is formed inside the recess 38. In this way, the microlens substrate 3a is completed. Thereafter, the common substrate 31 is formed on the surface of the microlens substrate 3a, and the alignment film 33 is formed, whereby the counter substrate 3 of the liquid crystal device 1 is formed.

  Here, regardless of the above method, after the cover glass was pasted to the resin layer as in the past, the cover lens was polished to reduce the thickness, and the microlens substrate was formed by the method of arranging the light shielding member. In this case, the thickness of the cover glass is usually about several tens μm (for example, about 20 μm). Therefore, the distance between the front end of the curved surface constituting the microlens and the light shielding member is 40 μm or more.

  On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, the concave portion 38 is provided on the surface of the cover glass 37 constituting the microlens substrate 3 a, and the light shielding member 39 that shields light is provided inside the concave portion 38. Therefore, by adjusting the depth of the concave portion 38, the distance between the curved surface 35a constituting the microlens and the light shielding member 39 can be reduced as compared with the case where the cover glass 37 is polished. Can do. Thereby, the utilization efficiency of light can be improved.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the microlens substrate 3a that can improve the light use efficiency without polishing the cover glass 37 can be manufactured. Thereby, manufacture becomes easy and the cost which manufacture requires can be held down.

  Further, according to the present invention, since the light shielding member 39 includes a metal material (aluminum) that reflects light, for example, the light transmitted through the substrate 35 and the resin layer 36 is not absorbed by the light shielding member 39. Since the light is reflected by the light shielding member 39, the reflected light can be used. Thereby, the utilization efficiency of light can further be improved.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIG. In this embodiment, the configuration of the microlens substrate and a part of the manufacturing method thereof are different from those of the first embodiment, and this point will be mainly described.

  FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the microlens substrate 103a according to the present embodiment, and corresponds to FIG. 4 of the first embodiment. As shown in the figure, the microlens substrate 103a has a three-layer structure mainly including a substrate 135, a resin layer 136, and a cover glass 137. Since the configurations of the substrate 135 and the resin layer 136 are the same as those in the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted here.

This embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that a recess 138 is formed on the inner surface 137a of the cover glass 137. A light shielding member 139 is provided in the recess 138 without a gap. Therefore, the distance between the tip of the curved surface 135a constituting the microlens and the bottom surface 139a of the light shielding member 139 is smaller than that of the first embodiment.
In addition, about another structure, for example, the dimension of each member, material, and arrangement | positioning, it is the same as that of 1st Embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 11, a part of the light (light L2) incident on the microlens substrate 103a passes through the substrate 135 and is condensed inside the pixel region 108 by the curved surface 135a constituting the microlens. The light L2 passes through the resin layer 136, enters the cover glass 137, is reflected by the light shielding member 139, and is emitted to the outside of the cover glass 137.

  When manufacturing the microlens substrate 103a according to the present embodiment, the concave portion 138 and the light shielding member 139 are formed in the cover glass 137 in advance, the curved surface 135a is formed in the substrate 135, and the resin layer 136 is formed. Thereafter, a cover glass 137 having a recess 138 and a light shielding member 139 is attached to the resin layer 136.

  By providing the concave portion 138 and the light shielding member 139 on the inner surface 137a of the cover glass 137 as in the present embodiment, the distance between the tip of the curved surface 135a and the bottom surface 139a of the light shielding member 139 is greater than that in the first embodiment. Therefore, the light utilization efficiency can be further improved as compared with the first embodiment.

[Third Embodiment]
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, since the configuration of the microlens substrate is different from that of the first embodiment, this point will be mainly described.

  FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the microlens substrate 203a according to the present embodiment, and corresponds to FIG. 4 of the first embodiment. As shown in the drawing, the microlens substrate 203a has a three-layer structure mainly including a substrate 235, a resin layer 236, and a cover glass 237. Since the configurations of the substrate 235 and the resin layer 236 are the same as those in the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted here.

  This embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the recess 238 provided on the surface 237a of the cover glass 237 and the light shielding member 239 provided inside the recess 238 are trapezoidal in cross-sectional shape. ing.

More specifically, in the recess 238, the width d2 of the recess decreases as the distance from the surface 235b of the substrate 235 increases. That is, the side surface 238a of the recess 238 is inclined toward the center of the recess 238 (shown by a one-dot chain line in the figure). In addition, a light shielding member 239 is disposed in the recess 238 without any gap. Accordingly, the cross-sectional shapes of the recess 238 and the light shielding member 239 are formed in a trapezoidal shape in which the upper side 239b is shorter than the lower side 239a.
In addition, about another structure, for example, the dimension of each member, material, and arrangement | positioning, it is the same as that of 1st Embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 12, a part of the light (light L3) incident on the microlens substrate 203a passes through the substrate 235 and is condensed inside the pixel region 208 by the curved surface 235a constituting the microlens. The light L3 passes through the resin layer 236 and enters the cover glass 237, passes through the cover glass 237 along the side surface 238a of the recess 238, and is emitted to the outside of the cover glass 237.

  Further, another light (light L4) incident on the microlens substrate 203a passes through the substrate 235 and is condensed inside the pixel region 208 by the curved surface 235a constituting the microlens. The light L4 passes through the resin layer 236, enters the cover glass 237, is reflected by the light shielding member 239, and is emitted to the outside of the cover glass 237. The injection angle at this time is injected substantially perpendicular to the surface of the cover glass 237.

  According to the present embodiment, since the recess 238 is provided so that the width d2 of the recess becomes smaller from the surface 235b of the substrate 235 in the height direction, the side surface 238a of the recess 238 is formed at the center of the recess 238. It will be provided to incline toward.

  When the side surface of the recess 238 is provided without being inclined, if the light transmitted through the resin layer 236 from the substrate 235 is tilted with respect to the normal direction of the substrate surface, the light is blocked within the recess 238. The possibility that the member 239 is irradiated is increased. When the light shielding member 239 includes a light reflecting material, this light is reflected and used, but cannot be totally reflected, resulting in light loss. When the light shielding member 239 does not include a light reflecting material, the irradiated light is absorbed by the light shielding member 239, and in this case, light loss occurs. In any case, since light loss occurs when the light shielding member 239 is irradiated with light, it is preferable that the light irradiated to the light shielding member 239 is as small as possible.

  Based on this, in this embodiment, since the side surface 238a of the recess 238 is inclined, the light travels along the side surface 238a of the recess 238 and can be irradiated to the light shielding member inside the recess 238. Low. Thereby, the loss of light in the light shielding member 239 can be prevented as much as possible, so that the light utilization efficiency can be further improved.

Further, even when the light shielding member 239 is irradiated, if the side surface 238a is inclined as in the present embodiment, depending on the incident angle of light, for example, the surface of the cover glass 237 like the light L4 described above. Will be emitted almost perpendicularly to. For this reason, it becomes possible to obtain light with high light intensity.
As a modification, the condensing effect of the concave portion can be strengthened by forming the slope of the side surface 238 so that the width of the concave portion 238 increases as the distance from the substrate 235 increases.

[Fourth Embodiment]
Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, since the configuration of the microlens substrate is different from that of the first embodiment, this point will be mainly described.

  FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the microlens substrate 303a according to the present embodiment, and corresponds to FIG. 4 of the first embodiment. As shown in the figure, the microlens substrate 303a has a three-layer structure mainly including a substrate 335, a resin layer 336, and a cover glass 337. Since the configurations of the substrate 335 and the resin layer 336 are the same as those in the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted here.

  In the present embodiment, the concave portion 338 provided on the surface 337a of the cover glass 337 and the light shielding member 239 provided inside the concave portion 338 are in the shape of an isosceles triangle in cross section, and the first embodiment and This is different from the third embodiment. More specifically, in the recess 338, the width d3 of the recess decreases as the distance from the surface 335b of the substrate 335 increases, and the width d3 of the recess in the cover glass 337 becomes zero. That is, the side surface 338a of the concave portion 338 is inclined toward the center portion of the concave portion 338 (indicated by a one-dot chain line in the figure), and has a vertex P.

  In the present embodiment, a recess 338 is formed on the inner surface 337 a of the cover glass 337. Therefore, the space between the tip of the curved surface 335a constituting the microlens and the bottom surface 339a of the light shielding member 339 is smaller than in the first and third embodiments. In addition, about another structure, for example, the dimension of each member, a material, and arrangement | positioning, it is the same as that of 1st Embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 13, a part of the light (light L5) incident on the microlens substrate 303a passes through the substrate 335 and is condensed inside the pixel region 308 by the curved surface 335a constituting the microlens. The light L5 passes through the resin layer 336 and enters the cover glass 337, passes through the cover glass 337 along the side surface 338a of the recess 338, and is emitted to the outside of the cover glass 337.

  Further, part of the other light (light L6) incident on the microlens substrate 303a passes through the substrate 335 and is condensed inside the pixel region 308 by the curved surface 335a constituting the microlens. The light L6 passes through the resin layer 336, enters the cover glass 337, is reflected by the light shielding member 339, and is emitted to the outside of the cover glass 337. The injection angle at this time is injected substantially perpendicular to the surface of the cover glass 337.

  When manufacturing the microlens substrate 303a according to this embodiment, the concave portion 338 and the light shielding member 339 are formed in advance on the cover glass 337, the curved surface 335a is formed on the substrate 335, and the resin layer 336 is formed. Thereafter, a cover glass 337 having a recess 338 and a light shielding member 339 is attached to the resin layer 336. Further, when forming the recess 338, etching is performed while changing the temperature of the cover glass, for example, so that the width of the recess gradually becomes narrower in the depth direction of the cover glass 337.

  In the present embodiment, since the side surface 338a of the recess 338 is inclined, the light travels along the side surface 338a of the recess 338, and the possibility that the light shielding member inside the recess 338 is irradiated is reduced. Thereby, the loss of light in the light shielding member 339 can be prevented as much as possible, so that the light use efficiency can be further improved.

  Even when the light shielding member 339 is irradiated, if the side surface 338a is inclined as in the present embodiment, depending on the incident angle of light, for example, the surface of the cover glass 337 as in the light L6 described above. Will be emitted almost perpendicularly to. For this reason, it becomes possible to obtain light with high light intensity.

  In the present embodiment, since the recess 338 is formed on the inner surface 337a of the cover glass 337, the width d3 of the recess 338 is reduced in the depth direction of the cover glass 337. When the recess 338 is formed by etching, etching is easier when the width of the recess is reduced in the depth direction as in the present embodiment than when the width of the recess is increased in the depth direction of the cover glass 337. be able to. Therefore, the configuration of this embodiment is easier to manufacture than the configuration of the third embodiment.

  Further, by providing the concave portion 338 and the light shielding member 339 on the inner surface 337a of the cover glass 337 as in the present embodiment, the distal end portion of the curved surface 335a and the light shielding member 339 are more than the configuration of the first embodiment and the third embodiment. Since the distance from the bottom surface 339a is reduced, the light utilization efficiency can be further improved as compared with the first and third embodiments.

[Fifth Embodiment]
Next, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, since the configuration of the microlens substrate is different from that of the first embodiment, this point will be mainly described.

  FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the microlens substrate 403a according to the present embodiment, and corresponds to FIG. 4 of the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 14, the microlens substrate 403a has a three-layer structure mainly including a substrate 435, a resin layer 436, and a cover glass 437. Since the configurations of the substrate 435 and the resin layer 436 are the same as those in the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted here.

  In this embodiment, the structure of the light shielding member 439 provided in the inside of the recessed part 438 formed in the surface 437a of the cover glass 437 differs from 1st Embodiment. More specifically, the light shielding member 439 is provided in a thin film shape so as to cover the side surface 438 a of the recess 438 and the bottom surface 438 b of the recess 438. Further, the inside of the recess 438 covered with the light shielding member 439 is hollow.

  As shown in FIG. 14, a part of the light (light L7) incident on the microlens substrate 403a passes through the substrate 435 and is condensed inside the pixel region 408 by the curved surface 435a constituting the microlens. The light L7 passes through the resin layer 436, enters the cover glass 437, is reflected by the light shielding member 439 that covers the side surface 438a of the recess 438, and is emitted to the outside of the cover glass 437.

  According to the present embodiment, since the light shielding member 439 is provided so as to cover the side surface 438a of the recess 438 and the bottom surface 438b of the recess 438, for example, the light shielding member 439 can be formed in a thin film inside the recess 438. It becomes possible. Thereby, formation of the light shielding member 439 is facilitated. Further, when the light shielding member 439 includes a light reflecting material (aluminum) as in the present embodiment, the side surface 438a of the concave portion 438 and the bottom surface 438b of the concave portion 438 are covered with the light shielding member 439 including the light reflecting material. , Can reliably reflect light.

[projector]
Next, an embodiment of a projector using the liquid crystal device of each embodiment as a light modulation device will be described.
FIG. 15 is a diagram schematically showing an internal configuration of a projector 502 as an example of a projection display device.
The projector 502 includes a light source 507, fly-eye lenses 508 and 509, dichroic mirrors 510 and 511, reflection mirrors 512, 513 and 514, liquid crystal light valves 515, 516 and 517, a cross dichroic prism 518, and a projection lens. 519, for example, a color liquid crystal projector provided with a transmissive liquid crystal light valve for each different color of R (red), G (green), and B (blue).

  The light source 507 includes a lamp 507a such as a high-pressure mercury lamp that emits white light, and a reflector 507b that reflects light from the lamp 507a. The fly-eye lenses 508 and 509 are optical components that make the illuminance distribution of light from the light source 507 uniform. The fly eye lens 508 on the light source 507 side has a function of forming a plurality of secondary light source images, and the fly eye lens 509 on the screen 503 side has a function of superimposing the secondary light source images formed by the fly eye lens 508. is there.

  The dichroic mirror 510 is an optical component that transmits the red light LR of the white light emitted from the light source 507 and reflects the green light LG and the blue light LB. The dichroic mirror 511 is an optical component that reflects green light LG among white light emitted from the light source 507 and transmits blue light LB.

  The liquid crystal light valves 515, 516, and 517 are modulation elements that modulate the irradiated red light, green light, and blue light, respectively, based on a predetermined image signal. Here, the liquid crystal device 1 described above is used as the liquid crystal light valves 515, 516, and 517.

The cross dichroic prism 518 is an optical element in which four right-angle prisms are bonded. On the inner surface of the cross dichroic prism 518, a dielectric multilayer film 518a that reflects red light and a dielectric multilayer film 518b that reflects blue light are formed in a cross shape. Three color lights are synthesized by the dielectric multilayer films 518a and 518b, and light (image light) representing a color image is formed.
The projection lens 519 is an optical component that projects image light toward the screen 503.

Next, the operation of the projector 502 configured as described above will be described.
When the projector 502 is driven, white light is emitted from the lamp 507a. White light directly emitted from the lamp 507a and white light reflected by the reflector 507b are collimated by the collimator lens 507c. The illuminance distribution of the parallel light is made uniform by the fly-eye lenses 508 and 509.

  The light whose illuminance distribution is made uniform reaches the dichroic mirrors 510 and 511, and is split into red, green and blue light. Each color light reaches the liquid crystal light valves 515, 516, and 517 via the reflection mirrors 512, 513, and 514, respectively, and is modulated into a desired pattern by the liquid crystal light valves 515, 516, and 517, respectively. Each color light modulated in this way is projected onto the screen 503 by the projection lens 519.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the liquid crystal device 1 that can increase the aperture ratio of the pixel region and increase the light use efficiency is provided, the projector can display a bright image with high contrast. 502 can be obtained.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, since the light shielding member includes a metal material (aluminum or the like) having a high thermal conductivity, for example, when the microlens substrate is used under the high heat of the projector 502, the heat of the microlens substrate is used. Since the conductivity is increased, there is also an advantage that damage to the microlens substrate due to heat can be prevented.

[Electronics]
Next, an electronic apparatus according to the present invention will be described using a mobile phone as an example.
FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of the mobile phone 600.
The mobile phone 600 includes a housing 601, an operation unit 602 provided with a plurality of operation buttons, and a display unit 603 that displays images, moving images, characters, and the like. The display unit 603 is equipped with the liquid crystal device 1 according to the present invention.
As described above, since the liquid crystal device 1 capable of increasing the light use efficiency is provided, an electronic device (mobile phone) 600 having a bright and high-contrast display unit can be obtained.

The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and appropriate modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
For example, in each of the above embodiments, the light shielding member has been described by taking a metal material having high light reflectivity, that is, aluminum as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, a metal such as chromium, silicon oxide, or the like. Of course, inorganic materials such as materials may be used. The material of the cover glass is not limited to glass, and quartz or the like may be used.

  In each of the above embodiments, the liquid crystal device (liquid crystal panel) has been described as an example of the electro-optical device. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other electro-optical devices such as an organic EL device and an inorganic EL device. The present invention can also be applied to plasma display devices, electrophoretic display devices, field emission display devices, and the like.

1 is a plan view showing a configuration of a liquid crystal device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of a liquid crystal device according to the embodiment. The top view which shows the structure of the micro lens board | substrate which concerns on this embodiment. Sectional drawing which shows the structure of the micro lens board | substrate which concerns on this embodiment. Process drawing which shows the manufacturing method of the micro lens board | substrate which concerns on this embodiment. The process drawing. The process drawing. The process drawing. The process drawing. The process drawing. Sectional drawing which shows the structure of the microlens board | substrate which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. Sectional drawing which shows the structure of the microlens board | substrate which concerns on 3rd Embodiment of this invention. Sectional drawing which shows the structure of the microlens board | substrate which concerns on 4th Embodiment of this invention. Sectional drawing which shows the structure of the microlens board | substrate which concerns on 5th Embodiment of this invention. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a projector according to the present invention. The figure which shows the structure of the mobile telephone which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Liquid crystal device 3 ... Opposite board | substrate 3a ... Micro lens board | substrate 4 ... Sealing material 4a ... Injection port 4b ... Sealing material 5 ... Liquid crystal layer 6 ... Light-shielding film 7 ... Display area 8 ... Pixel area 35 ... Substrate (1st transparent substrate) 35a ... curved surface 36 ... resin layer 37 ... cover glass (second transparent substrate) 38 ... concave portion 39 ... light shielding member

Claims (10)

A first transparent substrate provided with a curved surface constituting a microlens on the surface;
A resin layer provided on the surface side of the first transparent substrate and covering the surface of the first transparent substrate and the curved surface;
A second transparent substrate provided on the resin layer,
A recess is provided on the surface of the second transparent substrate,
A microlens substrate, wherein a light shielding member is provided inside the recess. The microlens substrate according to claim 1, wherein the light shielding member includes a light reflecting material. The microlens substrate according to claim 1, wherein the light shielding member includes a metal material. 4. The microlens substrate according to claim 2, wherein the concave portion is provided so that the width of the concave portion decreases as the distance from the substrate surface of the first transparent substrate increases. The microlens substrate according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the light shielding member is provided in the entire interior of the recess. The microlens substrate according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the light shielding member is provided so as to cover a side surface of the concave portion and a bottom surface of the concave portion. Forming a curved surface constituting a microlens on the surface of the first transparent substrate;
Forming a resin layer so as to cover the surface of the first transparent substrate and the curved surface;
Disposing a second transparent substrate on the resin layer;
Forming a recess in the second transparent substrate;
And a step of arranging a light shielding member inside the recess. A method of manufacturing a microlens substrate.   An electro-optical device comprising the microlens substrate according to claim 1. A plurality of pixel regions of an electro-optical device are provided in a matrix on the first transparent substrate,
The electro-optical device according to claim 8, wherein the concave portion is provided in a region between the pixel regions. An electronic apparatus comprising the electro-optical device according to claim 8.

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