KR101096699B1 - Liquid Crystal Display Panel and Method of Fabricating the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display panel and a method of manufacturing the same that can simplify the process and reduce the cost.

The present invention provides a liquid crystal display panel comprising a first substrate on which first thin film patterns are formed, and a second substrate on which the first substrate and the liquid crystal are disposed, and on which second thin film patterns are formed. And a spacer and an electric field distortion means formed by molding a predetermined resin formed in at least one of the substrates into a soft mold having a first groove and a second groove smaller than the first groove.

Description

Liquid Crystal Display Panel and Method of Fabricating the same

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional liquid crystal display panel.

2 illustrates an upper array substrate and a soft mold of a liquid crystal display panel according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

3A to 3D are views for explaining a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

4A to 4C are diagrams for explaining step by step of forming spacers and ribs using a soft mold.

5 is a view for explaining the surface treatment method of the soft mold step by step.

6 is a diagram showing the molecular structure of a spacer.

         <Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

52,152: upper substrate 54,154: black matrix

68,168 common electrode 82 lower substrate

56,156: Color filter 95,195: Rib

63,163: spacer 120: shaft mold

122: first groove 124: second groove

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display panel, and more particularly, to a vertical alignment mode liquid crystal display panel using a rib (or " protrusion ") for electric field distortion, and a manufacturing method thereof.

In general, a liquid crystal display (LCD) displays an image corresponding to a video signal on a liquid crystal display panel in which liquid crystal cells are arranged in a matrix form by adjusting light transmittance of liquid crystal cells according to a video signal. To this end, the liquid crystal display device includes a liquid crystal display panel in which liquid crystal cells are arranged in an active matrix form, and driving circuits for driving the liquid crystal display panel.

Such liquid crystal displays are roughly classified into twisted nematic (TN) mode and in plan switch (IPS) mode using a vertical electric field according to the electric field driving the liquid crystal.

TN (Twisted Nematic) mode liquid crystal display using a vertical electric field of the liquid crystal display device is a common electrode formed on the upper substrate and the pixel electrode formed on the lower substrate is disposed opposite to each other by a vertical electric field formed between them It drives the liquid crystal of TN (Twisted Nemastic) mode. Such a vertical field type liquid crystal display device has a large aperture ratio, but has a narrow viewing angle of about 90 degrees.

In order to overcome the viewing angle problem, a film-compensated mode for compensating the viewing angle with a compensation film, and a multi-domain mode for compensating the viewing angle by dividing pixels into multiple domains and varying the viewing angle of each domain ( Multi Domain Mode) and the Vertical Alignment (VA) mode in which the surface of the liquid crystal molecules are oriented perpendicular to the substrate surface according to the alignment method, and the vertical alignment (VA) mode of the liquid crystal molecules is horizontal to the substrate surface. There is a Homogeneous Alignment mode that treats the substrate surface to orient.

1 illustrates a VA mode liquid crystal display panel implementing a multi-domain using a conventional rib.

In the liquid crystal display panel illustrated in FIG. 1, the black matrix 54, the color filter 56, the common electrode 68, the pattern spacer 63, the ribs 95, and the upper alignment layer are sequentially formed on the upper substrate 52. Between the upper array substrate composed of 58, the TFT formed on the lower substrate 82, the lower array substrate composed of the pixel electrode 66 and the lower alignment layer 88, and the upper array substrate and the lower array substrate. A liquid crystal (not shown) injected into the inner space is provided.

In the upper array substrate, the black matrix 54 is formed on the upper substrate 52 corresponding to the TFT region of the lower plate and the gate line and data line regions (not shown), and the cell in which the color filter 56 is to be formed. Provide an area. The black matrix 54 prevents light leakage and absorbs external light to increase contrast. The color filter 56 is formed in the cell region separated by the black matrix 54. The color filter 56 is formed for each of R, G, and B to implement R, G, and B colors. The common electrode 68 is supplied with a common voltage for controlling the movement of the liquid crystal.

The rib 95 improves the viewing angle by arranging the liquid crystal molecules in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the distorted electric field.

The pattern spacer 63 maintains a cell gap between the upper substrate 52 and the lower substrate 82.

In the lower array substrate, the TFT overlaps the gate electrode 59 formed on the lower substrate 82 with the gate line (not shown), and the gate electrode 59 and the gate insulating film 94 interposed therebetween. The semiconductor layers 97 and 64 and the source / drain electrodes 90 and 92 are formed together with the data lines (not shown) with the semiconductor layers 97 and 64 interposed therebetween. This TFT supplies the pixel signal from the data line to the pixel electrode 66 in response to the scan signal from the gate line.

The pixel electrode 66 is a transparent conductive material having a high light transmittance and is in contact with the drain electrode 92 of the TFT with the protective film 100 interposed therebetween. The upper and lower alignment layers 58 and 88 for liquid crystal alignment are formed by applying an alignment material such as polyimide and then performing a rubbing process.

Meanwhile, the pattern spacer 63 and the rib 95 of the conventional liquid crystal display panel are formed by separate mask processes. Here, each mask process includes many processes such as a deposition or coating process, a cleaning process, a photolithography process, an inspection process, and the like, and a mask manufacturing cost is required. Accordingly, the liquid crystal display panel of the conventional VA mode has a problem in that the manufacturing process is complicated and the manufacturing cost is increased.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal display panel and a method of manufacturing the same, which can simplify the process and reduce the cost.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a liquid crystal display panel comprising a first substrate having first thin film patterns formed thereon, and a second substrate having second thin film patterns formed therebetween with the first substrate and the liquid crystal interposed therebetween. And a spacer and an electric field distortion means formed by molding a predetermined resin formed in at least one of the first and second substrates into a soft mold having a first groove and a second groove smaller than the first groove. It features.

The resin is characterized in that it comprises a liquid pre-polymer (liquid pre-polymer) of at least one of acrylic resin and epoxy resin.

The present invention provides a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel, comprising: a first substrate having first thin film patterns formed thereon; and a second substrate having second thin film patterns formed therebetween with the first substrate and the liquid crystal interposed therebetween. And forming a resin on at least one of the second substrates and then molding the resin into a soft mold to form spacers and field distortion means.

The soft mold has a first groove corresponding to the spacer and a second groove corresponding to the field distortion means, and the second groove is smaller than the first groove.

The forming of the spacer and the field distortion means may include pressing the soft mold onto a resin on the substrate; Moving the resin into a first groove and a second groove of the soft mold; Separating the soft mold on a substrate; And curing the resin corresponding to the first and second grooves.

The resin is characterized in that it comprises at least one liquid prepolymer of acrylic resin and epoxy resin.

The electric field distortion means is characterized by orienting the liquid crystal to have a predetermined slope.

The first thin film patterns may include a black matrix partitioning a cell region on the first substrate; And a color filter formed in the cell region partitioned by the black matrix.

The second thin film patterns may include a gate line and a data line formed on the second substrate; A thin film transistor formed at an intersection of the gate line and the data line; And a pixel electrode connected to the thin film transistor.

And a common electrode formed on the color filter and forming a vertical electric field with the pixel electrode of the second thin film pattern.

The soft mold is characterized in that it comprises at least one of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), polyurethane (Polyurethane), cross-linked Novolac resin (Cross-linked Novolac resin).

The contact region between the resin and the resin of the soft mold has different polarities.

Other objects and features of the present invention in addition to the above objects will become apparent from the description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 6.

2 illustrates an upper array substrate 130 of a VA mode liquid crystal display panel according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention and a soft mold 120 used in the present invention.

The upper array substrate 130 of the liquid crystal display panel illustrated in FIG. 2 includes a black matrix 154, a color filter 156, a common electrode 168, a pattern spacer 163, which are sequentially formed on the upper substrate 152. Rib 195.

The black matrix 154 is formed on the upper substrate 152 corresponding to the TFT region of the lower plate and the gate line and data line regions (not shown), and provides a cell region in which the color filter 156 is to be formed. The black matrix 154 prevents light leakage and absorbs external light to increase contrast. The color filter 156 is formed in the cell region separated by the black matrix 154. The color filter 156 is formed for each of R, G, and B to implement R, G, and B colors. The common electrode 168 is supplied with a common voltage for controlling the movement of the liquid crystal.

The rib 195 improves the viewing angle by arranging the liquid crystal molecules in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the distorted electric field.

The pattern spacer 163 maintains a cell gap between the upper substrate 152 and the lower substrate 182.

Although not shown in FIG. 2, a TFT (thin film) formed at an intersection region of a gate line and a data line and a gate line and a data line is formed to cross each other on the lower array substrate facing the upper array substrate 130 with the liquid crystal interposed therebetween. Transistors), pixel electrodes connected to the thin film transistors, lower alignment films and the like.

Here, the pattern spacer 163 and the rib 195 are formed on the upper array substrate 130, but may be formed on the lower array substrate, and the common electrode 168 is formed to be parallel to the pixel electrodes of the lower array substrate. To form a horizontal electric field with the pixel electrode.

In the present invention, the pattern spacer 163 and the rib 195 are formed by pressing a resin by the soft mold 120 shown in FIG. 2. Therefore, it can be easily formed as compared with the conventional mask process including the deposition or coating process, the cleaning process, the photolithography process, the inspection process and the like. That is, although the pattern spacer 163 and the rib 195 are formed by using the mask process twice, in the present invention, the pattern spacer 163 and the rib 195 are formed by using a molding process by the soft mold 120. Simultaneous formation simplifies the process and reduces costs.

Hereinafter, a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel including a process of forming a pattern spacer 163 and a rib 195 using the soft mold 120 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3A to 5.

First, an opaque metal or resin is deposited on the upper substrate 152, and then an opaque material is patterned by a photolithography process using a mask to form a black matrix 154 as shown in FIG. 3A. Here, as the opaque metal, chromium (Cr), CrOx / Cr / CrOx, CrOx / Cr / CrSix and the like are formed of a material.

After the red resin is deposited on the upper substrate 152 on which the black matrix 154 is formed, the red resin is patterned by a photolithography process using a mask to form a red color filter R. After the green resin is deposited on the upper substrate 152 on which the red color filter R is formed, the green resin G is patterned by a photolithography process using a mask to form the green color filter G. After the blue resin is deposited on the upper substrate 152 on which the green color filter G is formed, the blue resin is patterned by a photolithography process and an etching process using a mask to form a blue color filter B. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3B, the red, green, and blue color filters 156 are formed.

A transparent conductive material is deposited on the upper substrate 152 on which the color filter 156 is formed, and then patterned through deposition, such as sputtering, to form a common electrode 168 as illustrated in FIG. 3C.

After the acrylic resin, the epoxy resin, and the like are coated on the upper substrate 152 on which the common electrode 168 is formed, the pattern spacer 163 and the rib 195 are formed as shown in 3d using a soft mold. Formed at the same time.

Hereinafter, the process of forming the pattern spacer 163 and the rib 195 will be described in detail.

First, an acrylic resin, an epoxy resin 135, and the like are formed on the upper substrate 152 on which the common electrode 168 and the like are formed, as shown in FIG. 4A.

Next, the soft mold 120 having the first groove 122 corresponding to the region where the pattern spacer 163 is to be formed and the second groove 124 corresponding to the region where the rib 195 is to be formed is illustrated in FIG. 4B. It is seated on the resin 135 as shown.

The soft mold 120 is made of a highly elastic rubber material such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), polyurethane, cross-linked Novolac resin, or the like. Here, the soft mold 120 is surface treated hydrophobic or hydrophilic.

5 is a diagram for explaining the surface treatment of the soft mold 120 step by step.

The photo mask 236 is aligned on the first and second grooves 122, 124 of the soft mold 120. The photomask 236 is formed with a light transmitting portion that exposes only the protruding surface 120b of the soft mold 120 to light. In the state where the photo mask 236 is aligned, ultraviolet rays (UV) are irradiated onto the protruding surface 120b of the soft mold 120. Ultraviolet (UV) at this time has a wavelength between 180 nm and 300 nm. Then, CH ₃ groups are evaporated on the protruding surface 120b of the soft mold 120 and the surface of the soft mold 120 is changed to a silicon oxide layer (SiOx). When ozone is supplied in this exposure process, even if the soft mold 120 is a very hydrophobic material, the protruding surface 120b is temporarily hydrophilic (about 2 hours).

Subsequently, the self assembly materials (SAM) in a vapor or liquid state are reacted with the protruding surface 120b of the soft mold 120 converted into a silicon oxide layer. The self-assembled material minimizes or extremely hydrophilizes the surface of the protruding surface 120b. An example of such self-assembled material is silyl chloride vapor, and its structure is represented by the following Chemical Formula 1.

CL ₃ SiR-X

Wherein R is an alkyl group and X is a terminal group. According to terminal group X, the surface of the projecting surface 120b of the soft mold 120 is minimized or extremely hydrophilized. For example, if the terminal group X is an element of -Cl, -F, -I, -CH ₃ (alkyl group), the protruding surface 120b is permanently miniaturized. In contrast, when the terminal group X is an element of -OH, -COOH, or -COH (carboxyl group), the protruding surface 120b is permanently hydrophilic.

The repellent layer 235 which is extremely small or extremely hydrophilic on the protruding surface 120b increases the repulsive force with the acrylic resin, the epoxy resin 135, or the like. That is, when the acrylic resin, the epoxy resin 135, or the like is hydrophilic, the repulsive layer 235 should be hydrophobic, and when the acrylic resin, the epoxy resin 135, or the like is hydrophobic, the repulsive layer 235 should be hydrophilic. The repulsive layer 235 has a thickness of about several tens of micrometers.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described assuming that the protruding surface 120b of the soft mold 120 is hydrophobic.

After the soft mold 120 is aligned on the upper substrate 152, the soft mold 120 is pressed to the resin 135 with only a weight of its own weight, that is, a pressure enough to be in contact with the resin 135, and is also exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light. Soft curing).

At this time, the capillary force generated by the pressure between the soft mold 120 and the upper substrate 152 and the repulsive force between the protruding surface 120b and the resin 135 of the soft mold 120 135 moves into the first and second grooves 122, 124 of the soft mold 120 as shown in FIG. 4B. As a result, as shown in FIG. 4C, the pattern spacer 163 and the rib 195 are formed in a pattern inverted and transferred with the first and second grooves 122 and 124 of the soft mold 120. At this time, the behavior principle of the resin 135 may be expressed as Equation 1.

(h (max) = maximum ascent height, γ = surface tension, θ = contact angle between resin / mold, ρ = resin density, G = gravity constant, L = line width)

That is, the height of movement of the resin 135 into the soft mold 120 is determined by the parameter shown in Equation (1). Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 6, the molecular structure in the resin 135 has a structure in which a hydrophilic liquid prepolymer and a photo-cured cross-linking chain are firmly coupled.

Thereafter, the soft mold 120 is separated on the upper substrate 152 and the pattern spacer 163 and the rib 195 are cured at a temperature of 150 ° C. or higher.

As described above, the liquid crystal display panel and the method of manufacturing the same according to the present invention can simultaneously form the pattern spacer 163 and the rib 195 using the soft mold 120. As a result, two mask processes are reduced compared to the related art, thereby simplifying the manufacturing process and reducing costs.

Meanwhile, although the above-described pattern spacer 163 and ribs 195 are formed on the upper array substrate of the liquid crystal display panel, the same soft mold and resin may be used on the lower array substrate on which the thin film transistor and the pixel electrode are formed. Thus, the pattern spacer 163 and the rib 195 may be simultaneously formed.

As described above, the liquid crystal display panel and the method of manufacturing the same according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention can simultaneously form the pattern spacer and the rib using a soft mold. Accordingly, the mask process is reduced compared to the conventional method, thereby simplifying the manufacturing process and reducing the cost.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention should not be limited to the contents described in the detailed description of the specification but should be defined by the claims.

Claims (12)

A liquid crystal display panel comprising: a first substrate having first thin film patterns formed thereon; and a second substrate having second thin film patterns formed therebetween with the first substrate disposed therebetween And a spacer and an electric field distortion means formed by molding a predetermined resin formed in at least one of the first and second substrates into a soft mold having a first groove and a second groove smaller than the first groove. LCD panel. The method of claim 1, The resin is a liquid crystal display panel comprising a liquid pre-polymer (acrylic pre-polymer) of at least one of an acrylic resin and an epoxy resin. A method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel comprising a first substrate having first thin film patterns formed thereon and a second substrate having second thin film patterns formed therebetween with the first substrate and the liquid crystal interposed therebetween. And forming a resin on at least one of the first and second substrates and then molding the resin into a soft mold to form spacers and field distortion means. The method of claim 3, wherein The soft mold has a first groove corresponding to the spacer and a second groove corresponding to the field distortion means, And the second groove is smaller than the first groove. The method of claim 3, wherein Forming the spacer and the field distortion means Pressing the soft mold onto a resin on the substrate; Moving the resin into a first groove and a second groove of the soft mold; Separating the soft mold on a substrate; And curing the resin corresponding to the first and second grooves. The method of claim 3, wherein And the resin comprises at least one liquid prepolymer of an acrylic resin and an epoxy resin. The method of claim 3, wherein And said field distortion means orients said liquid crystal to have a predetermined inclination. The method of claim 3, wherein The first thin film patterns A black matrix partitioning a cell region on the first substrate; And a color filter formed in the cell region partitioned by the black matrix. The method of claim 3, wherein The second thin film patterns A gate line and a data line formed on the second substrate; A thin film transistor formed at an intersection of the gate line and the data line; And a pixel electrode connected to the thin film transistor. The method of claim 8, And a common electrode formed on the color filter and forming a vertical electric field with the pixel electrode of the second thin film pattern. The method of claim 3, wherein And a contact area between the resin and the resin of the soft mold has different polarities. The method of claim 3, wherein The soft mold may include at least one of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), polyurethane, and cross-linked Novolac resin.

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