CN100410737C - Liquid crystal display device, method of manufacturing the same, and projector - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided are a liquid crystal display device, a manufacturing method, and a projector. The liquid crystal display device includes: a driving substrate on which at least pixel electrodes and switching devices for driving the pixel electrodes are formed; an opposing substrate on which at least the opposing electrode is formed; and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the driving substrate and the opposing substrate, wherein the two substrates are joined so that the pixel electrodes and the opposing electrode face each other with a specific gap therebetween; wherein a microlens array composed of microlenses arranged in a two-dimensional pattern corresponding to the pattern of the pixel electrode array is assembled on at least the opposing substrate; wherein the microlens array has a back surface joined to the opposing substrate and a flattened front surface; and wherein the opposing electrode is formed on the flattened front surface of the microlens array via a protective film.

Description

Liquid crystal display device, manufacturing method, and projector

The present invention is a divisional application of the No. 03133017.7 invention patent submitted on May 13, 2003.

technical field

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device including a microlens array, a manufacturing method thereof, and a projector using the liquid crystal display device as a light bulb.

Background technique

A projector using an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display Device), DMD (Digital Mirror Device) or LCOS (LC on Silicon) as a lamp has been actively developed. From the point of view of function and shape, projectors are divided into data projectors mainly used for personal computer monitor display, front projectors or rear projectors mainly used for audio-visual equipment (AV) such as home theaters, and TV ( TV) rear projector. Meanwhile, projectors are classified into a single-screen type, a dual-screen type, and a triple-screen type from the viewpoint of the number of bulbs. Bulbs are classified as transmissive and reflective.

Future projectors may require higher brightness characteristics. To meet this need, improvements to optical systems are primarily desired. For example, it is desirable to increase the brightness of the light source used, to shorten the arc length when using an arc lamp (to achieve a point light source), to optimize the optical components, and to realize the miniaturization of the optical components.

In order to meet the above-mentioned requirements, it is secondly desired to increase the aperture ratio of a bulb, which is a key component of a projector. In this regard, there is basically a need to achieve finer structures and higher aperture ratios for pixel-level devices. However, if a liquid crystal is used as an electro-optic medium, the aperture ratio of a pixel cannot be increased only by providing a simple and fine device structure. The reason is as follows: namely, since liquid crystal is a continuum, it is necessary to provide a shielding black matrix with a large enough area to prevent light leakage from the rear sloped area and to prevent light leakage from the thin film transistors used to drive the liquid crystal, thus sacrificing accordingly pixel aperture ratio.

In order to improve the utilization rate of the light emitted by the light source and to increase the brightness, people began to try to install microlens arrays (microlens arrays) on the liquid crystal display device. For example, a flat display device including a microlens array is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 2000-206894. By using a glass substrate such as a quartz substrate or a neoceram glass substrate (hereinafter, a glass substrate for a microlens array is sometimes referred to as a "cover glass"), a conventional liquid crystal projector comprising Microlens arrays in high-precision liquid crystal display devices (liquid crystal panels) have been produced. In more detail, a method of forming a microlens array using a cover glass through a wet-etching or dry-etching process or a 2P (photo-polymerization) process has been put into practical use. In each case, the area where the microlens array is to be formed is composed of a transparent resin. The thickness of the cover glass for supporting such a transparent resin has been reduced by polishing or grinding in a controlled manner, and at the same time, a transparent conductive film (for example, an ITO film) for a display device has been formed on the cover as required. on the glass.

Referring to FIGS. 1A-1D , a prior art method of manufacturing a microlens array through a wet etching process will be described.

In the steps shown in FIG. 1A, after the quartz substrate is cleaned, a resist is applied on the quartz substrate, and is patterned into a pattern corresponding to an array pattern of pixels by exposure and development. In the step shown in FIG. 1B , the quartz substrate is isotropically etched through a resist to form a spherical lens surface R. As shown in FIG. In addition, metal, polysilicon, or an amorphous silicon thin film excellent in chemical resistance may be used as a mask instead of a resist. Etching can be accomplished by using HF- or BHF-based etchants.

In step 1C, a cover glass is bonded on the surface of the quartz substrate, and a transparent resin having a refractive index different from that of quartz is filled in the gap between the two by vacuum injection, spin coating or spraying. The resin in the surface of the spherical lens formed by wet etching is completely cured by UV (ultraviolet) irradiation or heating. Examples of resins used here include epoxy-based resins, acrylic-based resins, silicon-based resins, and fluorine-based resins, each of which is cured by UV-irradiation or heat. In this way, microlenses arranged in a pattern corresponding to the pattern of the pixel array are formed. Finally, in step 1D, the cover glass is polished, and an ITO transparent electrode is formed to form a counter substrate. Not shown in the figure, the opposite substrate is bonded to the drive substrate on which the pixel electrodes and thin film transistors are preformed, and liquid crystal is injected into the gap therebetween to obtain an active matrix liquid crystal display device.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic structural diagram of a projector optical system (mainly an illumination optical system) in the prior art. The projector includes a light source 1101, a first microlens array 1102, a second microlens array 1103, a PS synthesis element 1104, a condenser lens 1105, a field lens 1106, a liquid crystal panel 1107 and a projection lens 1108, which are arranged in this order along the light Axes 1100 are aligned. The microlens array 1102 includes a plurality of microlenses arranged in a two-dimensional pattern, and the microlens array 1103 includes a plurality of microlenses arranged in a two-dimensional pattern. The PS synthesis element 1104 includes a plurality of half-wave plates 1104A located at positions corresponding to the space between two adjacent microlenses of the second microlens array 1103 .

In this projector, illumination light emitted from a light source 1101 is divided into a plurality of micro-beams after passing through microlens arrays 1102 and 1103 . Light from the microlens arrays 1102 and 1103 is incident on the PS combining element 1104 . The light L10 incident on the PS combining element 1104 contains mutually orthogonal P-polarization components and S-polarization components in a plane perpendicular to the optical axis 1100 . PS combining element 1104 splits light L10 incident thereon into two polarized light components L11 and L12 (P-polarized component and S-polarized component). Among these polarized light components L11 and L12, the polarized light component L11 (such as the P-polarized component) emerges from the PS combining element 1104 and maintains its original polarization direction (such as the P-polarized), while the polarized light component L12 ( Such as the S-polarized component) is converted into another polarized light component (eg, the P-polarized component) by the half-wave plate 1104A, and the converted light component L12 is emitted from the PS combining element 1104 . As a result, the two separated polarized light components L11 and L12 are oriented in a certain direction.

The light emitted from the PS combining element 1104 passes through the condenser lens 1105 and the field lens 1106 , and provides illumination for the liquid crystal panel 1107 . The micro-beams split from the light beam by the microlens arrays 1102 and 1103 are magnified, and the magnification is determined by the focal length "fc" of the condenser lens 1105 and the focal length "f" of the microlens 1103M of the second microlens array 1103 to illuminate The entire incident plane of the liquid crystal panel 1107 is bright. Therefore, multiple amplified light beams are superimposed on the incident plane of the liquid crystal panel 1107 to achieve overall balanced illumination. The liquid crystal panel 1107 stereoscopically adjusts the incident light according to the image signal, and projects the light emitted from the liquid crystal panel 1107 onto a screen (not shown) through the projection lens 1108 to form an image on the screen.

Fig. 3 is a typical perspective view of an example of a liquid crystal panel. A liquid crystal panel (liquid crystal display device) shown in the figure has a flat plate structure including a pair of substrates 1201 and 1202 and a liquid crystal 1203 interposed therebetween. The pixel array part 1204 and the driving circuit part are integrated on the lower substrate 1201 . The driving circuit part is divided into a vertical driving circuit 1205 and a horizontal driving circuit 1206 . External connection terminals 1207 are formed on the peripheral upper end of the lower substrate 1201 . The terminal 1207 is connected to a vertical drive circuit 1205 and a horizontal drive circuit 1206 via a wiring 1208 . Gate lines G and signal lines S are formed on the pixel array portion 1204 . At each intersection of the gate line G and the signal line S, a pixel electrode 1209 and a thin film transistor (TFT) 1210 for driving the pixel electrode 1209 are formed. The pixel P is composed of a combination of a pixel electrode 1209 and a thin film transistor 1210 . The gate electrode of the TFT 1210 is connected to the corresponding gate line G, its drain resin is connected to the corresponding pixel electrode 1209 , and its source region is connected to the corresponding signal line S. The gate line G is connected to the vertical driving circuit 1205 , and the signal line S is connected to the horizontal driving circuit 1206 . The vertical driving circuit 1205 selects each pixel P sequentially via the gate line G. The horizontal drive circuit 1206 writes an image signal to the selected pixel P via the signal line S. The lower substrate 1201 integrating pixel electrodes and thin film transistors (TFTs) is called a TFT substrate. Counter electrodes and color filters are formed on the upper substrate 1202 but not shown, and thus the upper substrate 1202 is referred to as a counter substrate.

Such a microlens array must meet the requirements of higher precision and higher brightness. For example, when the size of the panel of the liquid crystal display device becomes smaller, the size of the pixel is proportionally smaller, and correspondingly, the cover glass must be made very thin. Although the cover glass has been thinned by polishing or grinding, such polishing or grinding is limited in thinning the cover glass with required precision, which makes it difficult to ensure the balance and flatness required by the design. If the plane accuracy and flatness of the cover glass used for the microlens array are insufficient, there may arise a problem that mechanical stress occurs when the microlens array is assembled into a liquid crystal display device. Also, with the demand for higher definition of the panel, when thinning the cover glass to 30 μm or less, another problem arises due to the difference between the optical resin or the optical resin and the cover glass that are cured to form the microlens array. The shrinkage stress caused by the thermal expansion rate, the cover glass may fluctuate or warp.

In the case of using the above-mentioned active matrix type liquid crystal display device as a projector bulb, such a liquid crystal display device is more strongly required to have higher definition and high brightness. Taking this into consideration, high-temperature polysilicon thin film transistors capable of achieving high definition are used as switching devices for driving individual pixels. To comply with the need for more precise switching devices, the microlens array is required to have a more precise structure. In order to meet these requirements, a technique of incorporating a microlens array onto a substrate of an active matrix type liquid crystal display device has been developed. For example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 5-341283, Hei 10-161097 and 2000-147500, a method of manufacturing a substrate incorporating a microlens array is disclosed.

A dual microlens array structure is considered as an ideal structure that can achieve maximum brightness, in which the microlens array with the function of a condenser lens is installed in the opposite substrate on the light incident side, and the microlens with the function of a field lens The array is mounted on the TFT substrate side. Such a double microlens array can maximize the effective aperture ratio of the pixels; however, since it is the most difficult to fabricate a double microlens array, no actual method for its fabrication has been disclosed so far. It is worth noting that an LCD with a double microlens array structure is usually called MTMLCD, which is the abbreviation of "Microlens Substrate-TFTSubstrate-Microlens Substrate LCD".

Contents of the invention

The first technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal display device including a microlens array.

The second technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a projector using the above liquid crystal display device.

The third technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a reasonable manufacturing method of a liquid crystal display device with a double microlens array.

In order to solve the first technical problem, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a liquid crystal display device with a flat panel structure is provided, which includes a driving substrate on which at least pixel electrodes and switching devices for driving the pixel electrodes are formed; At least an opposite substrate forming an opposite electrode; and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the driving substrate and the opposite substrate, wherein the two substrates are joined so that the pixel electrode is opposite to the opposite electrode with a certain gap between them. In this device, a microlens array composed of microlenses arranged in a two-dimensional pattern corresponding to the pattern of the pixel electrode array is mounted on at least an opposing substrate. The microlens array has a rear surface bonded to the opposite substrate and a flattened front surface, and the opposite electrode is formed on the flattened front surface of the microlens array through a protective film.

Preferably, after the protective film preformed on the support is bonded to the flattened front surface of the microlens array, the support is removed to expose the protective film, and an opposite electrode is formed on the exposed protective film .

The protective film is preferably made of Al ₂ O ₃ , a-DLC, TiO ₂ , TiN or Si.

The microlens array preferably has a double structure, including a first microlens arranged on the side away from the liquid crystal layer, which has the function of a condenser lens, and a second microlens arranged on the side close to the liquid crystal layer, basically equivalent to the function of a field lens. lens, and the distance between the principal point of each second microlens and the liquid crystal layer is set within a range of 10 μm or less.

It is worth noting that if the focal length of the second microlens corresponds to the distance between the two first and second microlenses, then the effectiveness of the second microlens becomes 100%, while in fact, if the focal length of the second microlens If the distance difference between the two first and second microlenses is within about 10%, then the second microlens fully functions as a field lens.

In order to solve the second technical problem, according to the second aspect of the present invention, a projector is provided, including a light source for emitting light, a liquid crystal display device with the function of optically modulating incident light, and projecting light modulated by the liquid crystal display device projection lens. A flat panel liquid crystal display device includes a driving substrate on which at least a pixel electrode and a switching device for driving the pixel electrode are formed, an opposing substrate on which at least an opposing electrode is formed, and a substrate interposed between the driving substrate and the opposing substrate. The liquid crystal layer between them, wherein the two substrates are joined so that the pixel electrode is opposite to the counter electrode with a certain gap between them. In this device, a microlens array composed of microlenses arranged in a two-dimensional pattern corresponding to the pattern of the pixel electrode array is mounted on at least an opposing substrate. The microlens array has a rear surface bonded to the opposite substrate and a flattened front surface, and the opposite electrode is formed on the flattened front surface of the microlens array through a protective film.

In order to solve the third technical problem, according to the third aspect of the present invention, a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device with a flat panel structure is provided, the device includes a first substrate, a second substrate, and a A liquid crystal layer between the two substrates, wherein the two substrates are joined so that the pixel electrode is opposite to the counter electrode with a certain gap between them; at least a pixel electrode and a switching device for driving the pixel electrode are formed on the front surface of the first substrate, and The rear surface of the first substrate is opposite to its front surface; at least an opposite electrode is formed on the front surface of the second substrate, and the rear surface of the first substrate is opposite to its front surface. A first microlens array consisting of two-dimensionally arranged microlenses for respectively converging light onto the pixel electrodes is bonded to one of the first and second substrates. A second microlens array composed of microlenses arranged two-dimensionally through which light respectively converged to the pixel electrodes passes is formed in combination on the other of the first and second substrates. The method includes the steps of bonding a base plate to the front surface of each of the first and second substrates; and the step of polishing the base plate while the base plate is secured to said base plate. Rear surface, to reduce substrate thickness; Bonding (sticking) step, by having the transparent optical resin of refractive index higher than or lower than described substrate, corresponding one in the first and second microlens arrays is bonded to substrate on the polished surface of the substrate; a peeling step of peeling the bottom plate from the front surface of the substrate and cleaning the substrate, thereby bonding the corresponding microlens array to the rear surface of the substrate.

If at least one of the first and second substrates is a multi-chip module substrate having regions corresponding to a plurality of panels, the method may further include a dividing step of dividing the multi-chip module into individual substrates corresponding to individual panels. In this way, when going through the bonding (bonding) step, polishing (polishing) step, bonding (sticking) step, and peeling (peeling) step, a plurality of first and second microlens arrays corresponding to a plurality of panels will correspond to their corresponding Once bonded to the multi-chip module substrate, the multi-chip module substrate may be divided into individual substrates corresponding to individual panels at an appropriate stage.

In the case where one of the first and second substrates is a multi-chip module substrate having regions corresponding to a plurality of panels, and the other is a single-chip module substrate, it is preferable that the plurality of first substrates corresponding to a plurality of panels One of the second microlens arrays is formed on the multi-chip module substrate; in the dividing step, the multi-chip module substrate is immediately divided into individual substrates corresponding to independent panels; each pre-combined first and second The microlens array corresponds to one of the single-chip module substrates; and the single substrates separated from the multi-chip module substrate are superimposed on the single-chip module substrate in a one-to-one relationship with a certain gap between them, so as to be assembled into independent panel.

In the case where one of the first and second substrates is a multi-chip module substrate having regions corresponding to a plurality of panels, and the other is a single-chip module substrate, it is preferable that the plurality of first substrates corresponding to a plurality of panels forming a corresponding one of the second microlens array on the multi-chip module substrate; preparing each single-chip module substrate pre-combined with a corresponding one of the first and second microlens arrays; assembling the single-chip module substrate on the multi-chip module substrate on the chip module substrate; and the multi-chip module substrate mounted with the single-chip module substrate is divided into individual panels in the dividing step.

One of the first and second substrates is a multi-chip module substrate combined with a corresponding one of a plurality of first and second microlens arrays for a plurality of panels, and the other of the first and second substrates is also combined In the case where there are multi-chip module substrates for a plurality of panels corresponding to the other of the plurality of first and second microlens arrays, it is preferable to stack the multi-chip module substrates with a gap therebetween so as to be assembled into in the panel base corresponding to the plurality of panels; and dividing the panel base into individual panels in the dividing step.

The dividing step may include a first dice cutting step and a second dice cutting step, wherein the multi-chip module substrate is partially cut along a boundary defined by dividing the multi-chip module substrate into individual panels by the first dice cutting, to form a groove with a V-shaped cross-section; by a second small square cut, the groove is completely cut to form a single substrate with chamfered end faces.

The method may include an alignment step, after peeling the substrate from the front surface of the substrate in the peeling step and cleaning the substrate, in a temperature range that does not impair the heat resistance of the microlens array bonded to the substrate, on the substrate An alignment layer for aligning the liquid crystal layer is formed on the exposed front surface.

The method may include an alignment step, forming an alignment layer for aligning a liquid crystal layer on the front surface of the substrate; wherein, through the bonding step, the polishing step, the bonding step and the peeling step, before the microlens array is bonded to the rear surface of the substrate The alignment step is carried out.

The polishing step may be performed by one or a combination of two or more of buffing, particle blasting, chemical-mechanical polishing, and chemical etching suitable for optically suitable grades.

In the polishing step, it is preferable to reduce the thickness of the substrate by polishing the rear surface of the substrate in such a manner that when the first and second substrates are assembled into a panel, the second microlens array used as a field lens The focus of each microlens corresponds to the principal point (principal point) of each microlens of the first microlens array used as a condenser lens.

The bonding step may include the step of preparing a microlens array composed of microlens faces arranged in a two-dimensional pattern by processing an optical glass material with a lower refractive index; and positioning the microlens array on the substrate after polishing On the surface, a step of superimposing a microlens array thereto with a specific gap, filling the gap with a transparent optical resin having a refractive index higher or lower than that of the substrate, and curing the transparent optical resin.

The bonding step may include fixing the polished surface of the substrate to the microlens array with a sealing material with a certain gap therebetween, filling the gap with a transparent optical resin having a refractive index higher or lower than that of the substrate, and sealing The clearance step.

The microlens surface is preferably made into a spherical, aspherical or Fresnel shape.

The method may further include a cleaning step of cleaning the base plate peeled off as product waste in the peeling step so as to reuse the base plate.

The method may also include a preliminary step of bonding a corresponding one of the first and second microlens arrays to the second substrate; and an assembling step of assembling the second substrate combined with the microlens array to the first substrate on the front surface of the In this case, the step of bonding may include the step of bonding the base plate to the front surface side of the second substrate mounted on the front surface of the first substrate; The step of polishing the rear surface of the first substrate; and the bonding step may include a step of bonding a corresponding one of the first and second microlens arrays to the polished rear surface of the first substrate.

The polishing step may include a step of polishing the rear surface of the first substrate in a state where a plurality of terminals for external connection formed on the first substrate are maintained at the same potential.

The bonding step may include the step of mounting the second substrate side of the panel to a base plate fixed on a polishing table for the polishing step.

According to the present invention, since the surface of the microlens array is flattened by etching, flat stamping, or spin coating, it is no longer necessary to provide a glass substrate (cover glass). This facilitates thinning of the microlens array and removal of mechanical stress when assembling the microlens array on a liquid crystal display device. In addition, since two microlens arrays can be bonded to each other with high accuracy by using a leveling technique such as etching, planar punching, or spin coating, a so-called double microlens array can be stably manufactured.

According to the present invention, preparing a TFT substrate including a microlens array includes the steps of: bonding a base plate to the front surface of the TFT substrate with an adhesive; polishing the rear surface of the TFT substrate by an optically applicable grade of single-side polishing method, thereby forming a TFT thin substrate with a certain thickness; and adhering the microlens array to the TFT thin substrate with a transparent resin adhesive having a high refractive index. A counter substrate including a microlens array was also prepared through a procedure similar to that described above. These substrates are stacked with a certain gap, and the liquid crystal is sealed in the gap to manufacture a liquid crystal display device with a double microlens array. Such a double microlens type liquid crystal display device is suitable for use as, for example, a light bulb of a projector. Since a microlens array as a condensing lens for the liquid crystal layer and another microlens array as a field lens can be arranged next to each other, a microlens with optimal performance can be obtained, and thus the effective aperture ratio of the pixel can be obtained. Significantly increased.

Description of drawings

Describe in detail below in conjunction with accompanying drawing, will make these and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention clearer, wherein:

1A to 1D are process diagrams of a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device in the prior art;

Figure 2 is a typical schematic diagram of an example of a prior art projector;

Fig. 3 is a typical perspective view of an example of a liquid crystal display device incorporated in the projector shown in Fig. 39;

4A to 4D are process diagrams of the manufacturing method of the microlens array according to the present invention;

Fig. 5A～5C ' is the process chart according to another manufacturing method of microlens array of the present invention;

6A-6D are process diagrams of the basic steps of another manufacturing method of the microlens array according to the present invention;

Fig. 7 is a typical cross-sectional view of a reference example of a double microlens array;

Fig. 8 is a graph of optical characteristics of the microlens array shown in Fig. 7;

9A to 9E are process diagrams for illustrating a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention;

10A to 10E are process diagrams for explaining another liquid crystal display device according to the present invention;

11A to 11E are process diagrams for explaining still another liquid crystal display device according to the present invention;

Fig. 12 is a typical partial cross-sectional view of a reference example of a common liquid crystal display device;

13A to 13F are process diagrams for explaining still another liquid crystal display device according to the present invention;

14A and 14B are enlarged views of the liquid crystal display device shown in FIGS. 13A to 13F;

15A to 15F are process diagrams for explaining still another liquid crystal display device according to the present invention;

Figure 16 is a typical view of the optical characteristics of a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention;

17 is a perspective view of the overall configuration of a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a typical view of an example of a projector according to the present invention;

19A to 19E are process diagrams of a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention;

20 is a process diagram of an embodiment of a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention;

21A and 21B are typical views of the division steps of the manufacturing method;

22 is a process diagram of another embodiment of the method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention;

Figure 23 is a typical view of the assembly steps of the manufacturing method;

24A and 24B are typical views of a method of manufacturing a counter substrate including a microlens array;

25 is a process diagram of another embodiment of the method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention;

26 is a process diagram of another embodiment of the method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention;

27 is a process diagram of another embodiment of the manufacturing method of a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention;

28 is a process diagram of another embodiment of the method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention;

29 is a process diagram of another embodiment of the method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention;

30 is a process diagram of another embodiment of the method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention;

31 is a typical view of another embodiment of a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention;

Figure 32 is a typical view of a panel that takes antistatic measures;

Figure 33 is another typical view of a panel that takes antistatic measures;

Figure 34 is a typical view of a polishing step;

Figure 35 is a typical view of another polishing step;

36 is a cross-sectional view of a bonding step using an optical resin;

37 is a plan view of a bonding step using an optical resin in FIG. 36;

38A-38C are typical cross-sectional views of another polishing step;

39 is a cross-sectional view of an example of a liquid crystal display device manufactured according to the present invention; and

Fig. 40 is a typical view of an example of a liquid crystal display device manufactured according to the present invention.

Detailed ways

Below, with reference to accompanying drawing, the manufacturing method of microlens array according to the present invention, the liquid crystal display device that uses this microlens array, the projector that uses liquid crystal display device, and the manufacturing method of liquid crystal display device are described in this order, A preferred embodiment is shown therein.

1. Fabrication method of microlens array

Referring to FIGS. 4A to 4D , the first embodiment of the manufacturing method of the microlens array according to the present invention will be described.

In the patterning step shown in FIG. 4A , a first optical resin layer 2 having a first refractive index is formed on a substrate 1 made of transparent glass or the like, and a plurality of layers are formed on the surface of the first optical resin layer 2 . A microlens surface arranged in a three-dimensional pattern. In this embodiment, the first optical resin layer 2 made of UV-curable resin having a low refractive index is preformed on the glass substrate 1, and a Ni-electroformed original (electroformed original) having a plurality of microlens surfaces ) is stamped on the surface of the first optical resin layer 2, and the microlens surface is transferred to the surface of the first optical resin layer 2. The first optical resin layer 2 made of UV-curable resin is cured by irradiating the first optical resin layer 2 with ultraviolet rays from the back surface of the glass substrate 1 to fix the microlens surface transferred to the first optical resin layer 2. .

In the bonding step shown in FIG. 4B , the support layer 4 on which the transparent protective film 3 is previously formed is bonded to the glass substrate 1 side through the sealing material 5 . The support layer 4 is made of cover glass. The protective film 3 previously formed on one surface of the support layer 4 is used as a polishing resist when the support layer 4 made of cover glass is polished in a subsequent step. Protective film 3 may be composed of an insulating material such as SiO ₂ , SiN, a-DLC (amorphous-diamond-like carbon), or Al ₂ O ₃ . The sealing material 5 for bonding the support layer 4 and the glass substrate 1 side together is composed of resin added along the outer edge portion of the support layer 4, which contains glass fibers having a diameter in the range of 2 to 3 μm as spacers. A support layer 4 coated with a sealant 5 at an outer edge portion is bonded to the side of the glass substrate 1 to form an inner space therebetween.

In the filling/leveling step shown in FIG. 4C, the inner space surrounded by the first optical resin layer 2 and the protective film 3 is filled with a liquid resin having a second optical refractive index, and the liquid resin is cured, so that A microlens array is formed between the first optical resin layer 2 and the protective film 3 . In this embodiment, a resin having a high refractive index is injected into the inner space between the first optical resin layer 2 and the protective film 3 under vacuum, and the resin is cured by heating. Alternatively, a UV-curable resin may be injected into the inner space and cured by ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. In this way, the irregularities of the microlens surface formed on the surface of the first optical resin layer 2 are filled with the liquid resin having the second optical refractive index, and at the same time, the surface of the resin opposite to the microlens surface is uniformly formed. flat. Then the resin is cured to form a second optical resin layer 6 . A microlens array is thus formed by stacking the first optical resin layer 2 and the second optical resin layer 6 having different refractive indices from each other. In this embodiment, since the liquid resin for forming the second optical resin layer 6 is injected into the gap between the glass substrate 1 and the support layer 4, the surface of the second optical resin layer 6 relative to the microlens surface is covered. Automatically levelled.

In the removal step shown in FIG. 4D , with the protective film 3 used as a resist, the support layer 4 made of cover glass is removed by polishing or grinding until only the protective layer 6 remains on the second optical resin layer 6 . film3.

Through this series of steps, a microlens array without a cover glass can be fabricated.

According to this embodiment, the bonding step is performed before the filling/leveling step to form the gap required for the subsequent filling/leveling step. More specifically, the support layer 4 is bonded to the first optical resin layer 2 with a certain gap left therebetween, and a liquid resin is injected into the gap and cured. In this step, the resin surface opposite to the microlens surface is flattened at the same time.

The manufacturing method of the microlens array according to the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, but may include forming a first optical resin layer with a first refractive index on a transparent substrate and forming a plurality of the following on the surface of the first optical resin layer. The patterning step of the microlens surface arranged in two-dimensional graphics; 1. filling the irregularities on the microlens surface with a resin having a second refractive index and leveling the resin surface relative to the microlens surface to form a second optical resin layer a filling/leveling step; a bonding step of bonding the support layer on which the transparent protective film has been formed in advance to the flattened second optical resin layer; and a step of removing the support layer and only Retain the removal step of the protective film.

Referring to FIGS. 5A to 5C', a second embodiment of the manufacturing method of the microlens array according to the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, the resin surface opposite to the microlens surface is flattened by a stamping method.

In the patterning step shown in Figure 5A, a first optical resin layer 2 with a first refractive index is formed on the surface of the glass substrate 1, and a Ni-electroform prototype with a plurality of microlens faces is stamped onto the first The surface of the optical resin layer 2, the surface of the microlens is transferred to the surface of the first optical resin layer 2. Similar to the first embodiment, the first optical resin layer is composed of a UV-curable resin having a low refractive index. From the back side of the glass substrate 1, the first optical resin layer 2 is irradiated with ultraviolet rays (wavelength close to 365 nm) with an energy of 3000 mJ to cure the UV-curable resin, thereby fixedly transferred to the first optical resin layer 2 microlens surface.

In the filling/leveling step shown in FIG. 5B, the irregularity of the microlens surface is filled with a resin having a second refractive index, and the resin surface relative to the microlens surface is leveled by a flat stamper FS to form a second Two optical resin layers 6 . In this embodiment, a UV-curable resin having a high refractive index is dropped in the irregularities of the microlens face, and the surface of the resin against the microlens face is leveled with the flat stamper FS. In this case, the second optical resin layer 6 is cured by ultraviolet irradiation to fix the flattened surface of the second optical resin layer 6 . In addition, the liquid resin can be supplied to the irregularities of the microlens surface by the spin coating method instead of the dropping method.

In the film-forming step shown in Figure 5C, a protective film 3 made of SiO ₂ or SiN is formed on the flattened second optical resin layer 6 surface by CVD (chemical vapor deposition) or sputtering, and then the protective film 3 is formed on the protective film 3 The transparent electrode 7 made of ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) is formed on the surface.

The steps shown in FIG. 5C' may be performed instead of the steps shown in FIG. 5C. In this step, a thin cover glass layer 4 is bonded to the flattened second optical resin layer 6 and a transparent electrode 7 is formed on the cover glass layer 4 . Thus, in the step shown in FIG. 5C', the cover glass layer 4 is used instead of the protective film 3 in the step shown in FIG. 5C. The cover glass layer 4 can be thinned by polishing or grinding, if necessary.

According to the present embodiment, it is thus possible to manufacture a substrate for a liquid crystal display including a microlens array incorporating transparent electrodes. The advantage of the substrate is that since the surface of the microlens array is flattened, no unnecessary stress will be generated when the substrate is assembled into a liquid crystal display device. Specifically, by adopting the steps shown in FIG. 5C, a microlens array without a cover glass can be fabricated. This is advantageous in reducing manufacturing costs.

Referring to FIGS. 6A to 6D , a third embodiment of the manufacturing method of the microlens array will be described. In this embodiment, the resin surface opposite to the microlens surface was leveled by the spin coating method.

In the first spin-coating step shown in FIG. 6A, when the first optical resin layer 2 having the first refractive index is formed on the transparent glass substrate 1, and a plurality of two-dimensional After the patterned microlens facets (about 7 μm in depth), the first spin coating was performed. In the first spin coating process, a liquid resin with a viscosity of about 100 cps is coated on the surface of the microlens at a rotation speed of 500-1000 rpm. Thus, a second optical resin layer 6 is formed at the bottom of the microlens face.

In the second spin coating step shown in FIG. 6B , the second spin coating is performed by re-coating a liquid resin with a viscosity of about 100 cps on the concave microlens surface at a rotation speed of 500˜1000 rpm.

In the third spin-coating step shown in Figure 6C, under the action of centrifugal force generated at a rotational speed of 500-1000rpm, a liquid resin with a viscosity of about 100cps is re-coated on the surface of the concave microlens to carry out the third spin coating step. spin coating. As a result of these three repetitions of spin coating, the recessed microlens faces are substantially filled with the second optical resin layer 6 .

Finally, in the fourth spin coating step shown in FIG. 6D , the fourth spin coating is performed to completely fill the microlens face with resin and to level the resin surface relative to the micro lens face. In this step, the rotation speed of the spin coater is set to a high value in the range of 3000-5000 rpm for smoothing the resin surface relative to the microlens face.

Spraying can be used instead of spin coating. In this spraying method, the viscosity of the liquid resin is set at several tens of cps with a solvent, and the liquid resin is sprayed and simultaneously atomized into particles with a size of several tens of μm, and then dried. By spraying, the liquid resin particles are flattened by their surface tension. Such spraying and drying are repeated. If solvents are not used, low viscosity resins can also be used.

In addition to the simple microlens array described above, a double microlens array formed by superimposing a microlens array as a condenser lens on a microlens array as a field lens has been developed. Compared with the single microlens array, the double microlens array is beneficial to improve the utilization rate of light.

In a general three-panel liquid crystal projector, the divergence angle of the light emitted from the light source and incident on the microlens array is generally set to about 10°. In the case of using a microlens array, since the divergence angle of the light on the exit side of the liquid crystal panel becomes larger, although the divergence angle of the incident angle is made very large, the light is kicked by the projection lens and the corresponding reduction in the angle of light utilization rate. Similarly, from the viewpoint of preventing the decrease in contrast caused by the increase of the divergence angle of light incident on the liquid crystal panel, the incident angle should also be limited within a certain range.

On the contrary, under the situation of double microlens array, owing to arranging the second lens (field lens) to make it leave the distance of the focal length of the first lens (condensing lens) second lens on the incident light direction, by the double microlens array The divergence angle determined by the lens magnification (power) controls the divergence angle of the light emitted from the (field lens arrangement type) panel, thereby reducing the degree of light recoil by the projection lens, thereby improving the utilization rate of light.

There are two distribution structures of double microlens arrays (DMLs) used in liquid crystal panels. Generally, an active matrix type liquid crystal panel has a stacked structure by bonding a driving substrate provided with switching devices such as thin film transistors, pixel electrodes, etc. The liquid crystals between them are formed. The characteristic of the first DML distribution structure is that the DML is arranged on the side facing the substrate. The second DML distribution structure is characterized in that one microlens array of the DML is disposed on the opposing substrate side, and the other microlens array of the DML is disposed on the driving substrate side, wherein the liquid crystal is fixed between them.

Such a DML must adapt to the development trend of high pixel resolution. To reduce the panel size, the pixel size must be reduced in proportion to the reduced panel size, and accordingly, the arrangement pitch of individual microlenses must be reduced. This requires shortening the focal length of the microlens and at the same time thinning the cover glass. Among these requirements, shortening the microlens focal length is relatively easy to achieve; however, thinning the cover glass is much more difficult than in the case of a single microlens array.

The DML structure is generally made by bonding two single microlens arrays (SMLs) to each other. In this way, in order to satisfy the need for high resolution, the control over the thickness of the cover glass and the optical resin layer, etc. of each SML is stricter than that in ordinary SMLs.

Referring to FIG. 7 , the basic configuration of a liquid crystal display device (liquid crystal panel) in which a DML is formed on the opposite substrate side and problems to be solved thereof will be described. As shown in the figure, the liquid crystal display device has a stacked structure in which a driving substrate 10 is bonded to an opposing substrate 20 with a sealing material 31 and liquid crystal is sealed in a gap between the substrates 10 and 20 . The driving substrate 10 is formed of a glass base 11, and switching devices such as thin film transistors and pixels 12 including pixel electrodes are bonded in a matrix pattern on its surface. The pixels 12 are separated from each other by a grid-shaped black matrix 13 .

A double microlens array DML and a counter electrode (not shown) are formed on the counter substrate 20 . The DML is fixed between a glass substrate 21 and a cover glass 22 and has a stacked structure constituted by stacking a low-refractive-index resin layer 23 , a high-refractive-index resin layer 24 , and a low-refractive-index resin layer 25 . Both the low-refractive index resin layers 23 and 25 are made of fluorine-based resin, silicon-based resin or acrylic-based resin, while the high-refractive index resin layer 24 is made of acrylic-based resin, epoxy-based resin or thiourethane Ester-based resin composition. The first ML (condensing lens) is formed on the interface between the low refractive index resin layer 23 and the high refractive index resin layer 24, and the second ML (field lens) is formed on the high refractive index resin layer 24 and the low refractive index resin layer. on the interface between the refractive index resin layers 25 .

Along with the development trend corresponding to the high resolution of pixels, the pixel pitch becomes narrower, improving the distance ① from the main point of the second ML to the surface of the cover glass 22, the distance ② from the main point of the first ML to the main point of the second ML, And the control and precision of the alignment value ③ between the first ML and the second ML becomes very important. These parameters ①, ② and ③ determine the light collection ratio of the DML. In order to realize the function of the field-type DML, among these parameters, the distance ② from the principal point of the first ML to the principal point of the second ML needs to be strictly controlled.

Fig. 8 is a graph showing the relationship between light collection rate and parameter ① (the distance from the principal point of the second ML to the surface of the cover glass). It is worth noting that the light collection rate is expressed by the effective aperture ratio of the pixel. As shown in the graph, in order to obtain a very high light collection rate value, it is preferable to set the parameter ① in the range of about ≤5 μm, while in order to maintain a correspondingly high light collection rate value, it is preferable to set the parameter ① in the range of ≤10 μm within range. Therefore, the cover glass 22 of the second ML needs to be thinned. The graph of Figure 8 shows two curves for different parameters. As based on either of these two curves, it is obvious that parameter ① should be controlled within the range of ≤10 μm. It is worth noting that, under the condition that the pixel pitch is set to 18 μm×18 μm, and the divergence angle of the light emitted from the light source and incident on the panel is set to 10°, the measured data is plotted to obtain the curve in FIG. 8 .

2. Liquid crystal display device

Referring to FIGS. 9A to 9E, a first embodiment of a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention will be described.

9A to 9E are typical process diagrams showing the steps of forming the liquid crystal display device in this embodiment.

The present embodiment is characterized in that a double microlens array is formed on the opposing substrate side.

FIG. 9A shows steps of preparing a first ML substrate and a second ML substrate. A resin layer 23 with a low refractive index is formed on the first ML substrate 21, and a microlens surface is preformed on the surface of the resin layer 23 by a punching method. Form a protective film 26 as a polishing resist on the second ML substrate 22, and form a resin layer 25 with a low refractive index on the protective film 26, and form a microlens surface in advance on the surface of the resin layer 25 by a stamping method. . The protective film 26 is made of Al ₂ O ₃ or a-DLC. When the second ML substrate 22 is polished in the next step, the protective film 26 as a resist can ensure the uniformity of polishing. The protective film composed of Al ₂ O ₃ or a-DLC is transparent and may have a thickness of about 100 nm or more to achieve an effective resist function. The protective film 26 may be formed by a sputtering process or a PECVD (Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition) process. The resist film does not have to be transparent. For example, the resist film can be formed by depositing a-Si or the like to a thickness of about 1 μm. The microlens surface formed on each of the low-refractive-index resin layers 23 and 25 has an aspheric shape (ellipse or hyperbola) with a radius of curvature and a prescribed aspheric constant, so as to match the pixel pitch, thereby obtaining maximum light Calibration efficiency.

FIG. 9B shows a step of bonding the first ML substrate and the second ML substrate to each other. A sealing material 27 composed of epoxy resin or acrylic resin is coated on an outer edge portion of one of the first ML substrate 21 and the second ML substrate 22 . After the alignment marks of the first ML substrate 21 and the second ML substrate 22 are aligned with each other, the first ML substrate 21 and the second ML substrate 22 are stacked on each other. The epoxy resin or acrylic resin used for the sealing material 27 is of UV-curing type or UV-curing/heat-curing composite type. The resin used as the sealing material 27 previously contains glass fibers or plastic beads as spacers in an amount of 1 to 5 wt % for making the distance between the main point of the first ML and the main point of the second ML correspond to that of the second ML. focal length. For example, if the pixels are arranged at a pixel pitch of 18 μm, the focal length (equivalent value in air) of the first ML is approximately 65 μm, and the focal length (equivalent value in air) of the second ML is approximately 40 μm; while the first ML and the second ML The aspheric constant K of each is about -1.3. In addition, the refractive index of the low refractive index resin is set in the range of 1.41 to 1.45, and the refractive index of the later described high refractive index resin is set in the range of 1.60 to 1.66. Thus, in order to satisfy the field distribution condition, the distance (equivalent value in air) of the principal point of the first ML and the principal point of the second ML needs to be set to about 40 μm. Therefore, in the case of filling the gap between the first and second ML substrates 21 and 22 with a high-refractive-index resin having a refractive index of 1.60 in a subsequent step, the thickness of the sealing material 27 can be set to ensure a gap size of about 40 Å. /1.6 = value of 25 μm. Specifically, the particle size of the plastic beads contained in the sealing material 27 can be set close to the value calculated by the equation [25 μm-(D1+D2)], as shown in FIG. 9B, where D1 is the low-refractive index resin layer 23, D2 is the thickness of the low refractive index resin layer 25. In fact, the thickness of the sealing material 27 must be determined in consideration of the resin settlement at the time of punching the resin.

FIG. 9C shows the step of forming a double microlens array between the first and second ML substrates. A high refractive index resin 24 is vacuum-injected into the gap between the first ML substrate 21 and the second ML substrate 22 bonded to each other through a sealing material 27 to form a double microlens array. When the pixel pitch is 14 μm, it is preferable to set the alignment accuracy between the first ML substrate 21 and the second ML substrate 22 within a range of less than ±1.0 μm. The high refractive index resin 24 injected between the first ML substrate 21 and the second ML substrate 22 is heated and cured. If the resin 24 is a UV-curable resin, the resin 24 is cured by ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. The resin 24 between the first ML substrate 21 and the second ML substrate 22 may be kept in a liquid state, if necessary.

Figure 9D shows the step of removing the second ML substrate by polishing or grinding. The second ML substrate 22 is removed by polishing or grinding until the removal depth reaches the protective film 26 as a resist. Specifically, the second ML substrate 22 may be polished using, for example, a CMP (Chemical-Mechanical Polishing) process of Ce ₂ O ₃ . If the protective film 26 is made of a-Si (amorphous silicon), after the a-Si film (protective film) 26 as a resist is exposed by polishing, the a-Si film 26 can be removed by polishing using silica.

By removing the second ML substrate 22, a structure having a DML on the opposite substrate side can be obtained. In this step, since the polishing is carried out under the condition of using the protective film as a resist, the second ML substrate (cover glass) can be completely removed, and at the same time, the uniformity of polishing can be increased, so the utilization rate of light and image quality.

Fig. 9E shows the steps of completing the liquid crystal display device. The counter electrode 28 was formed on the surface of the protective film 26 exposed by polishing to obtain the DML-incorporated counter substrate 20 . The drive substrate 10 is bonded to the counter substrate 20 with a sealing material 31, and the liquid crystal 30 is sealed in the gap therebetween, thereby obtaining a liquid crystal display device. In addition, switching devices such as thin film transistors (TFTs) and pixel electrodes are bonded on the surface of the driving substrate 10 in advance.

As described above, the liquid crystal display device according to the present embodiment has a panel structure including the drive substrate 10 on which at least the pixel electrodes and switching devices for driving the pixel electrodes are formed, and the counter electrode 28 on which at least the counter electrodes 28 are formed. The facing substrate 20 and the liquid crystal layer 30 placed between the two substrates 10 and 20 , wherein the two substrates 10 and 20 are bonded so that the pixel electrode faces the opposite electrode 28 with a certain gap therebetween. A microlens array composed of microlenses arranged in a two-dimensional pattern corresponding to the arrangement pattern of the pixel electrodes is mounted on at least the counter substrate 20 .

As a feature of the liquid crystal display device according to the present embodiment, the microlens array has a rear surface bonded to the first ML substrate 21 constituting the counter substrate 20 and a flattened front surface.

The counter electrode 28 is formed on the flattened surface of the microlens array through the protective film 26 . More precisely, the protective film 26 previously formed on the support (second ML substrate 22) is bonded to the flat surface of the microlens array, and the protective film 26 is exposed by removing the support (second ML substrate 22). , and the counter electrode 28 is formed on the exposed protective film 26 . As described above, the protective film 26 may be composed of Al ₂ O ₃ , a-DLC, TiO ₂ , SiN, or Si.

According to this embodiment, the microlens array is configured as a dual-structured double microlens array, which has a first microlens array arranged on a side away from the liquid crystal layer 30 as a condenser lens and a first microlens array arranged on a side close to the liquid crystal layer 30. side and act as roughly a field lens to the second microlens array. The distance between the principal point of each microlens of the second microlens array and the liquid crystal layer 30 is determined to be within a range of ≤10 μm.

10A to 10E are process diagrams showing steps of forming a liquid crystal display device as a reference example. In these figures, for ease of understanding, parts corresponding to those of the liquid crystal display device in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 9A to 9E are given the same reference numerals.

This reference example differs from the embodiment shown in FIGS. 9A to 9E in that no protective film as a polishing resist is interposed between the second ML substrate (cover glass) and the low-refractive index resin layer.

In the step of FIG. 10A, the first ML substrate 21 and the second ML substrate 22 are disposed opposite to each other; in the step of FIG. 10B, the first ML substrate 21 and the second ML substrate 22 are bonded together with a sealing material 27; Whereas, in the step of FIG. 10C , the gap between the mutually bonded first ML substrate 21 and second ML substrate 22 is filled with high refractive index resin 24 . Thus, a pair of microlens arrays is formed.

In the step of FIG. 10D , the second ML substrate (cover glass) 22 is removed by polishing or grinding. In this step, as described above, by reducing the thickness of the cover glass to about 10 μm, the distance between the principal point of the second ML and the surface of the cover glass (equivalent value in air) can be roughly set in the range of ≤5 μm . However, in the case of reducing the thickness of the cover glass to about 10 µm by polishing without using any resist, since the remaining thickness of the cover glass becomes too thin, the cover glass may often be polished obliquely as shown in FIG. 10D', or During the polishing step, the cover glass may chip and damage it. This causes a change in light collection efficiency or a deviation of the glass and resin boundary in an image projected thereon, and thus results in a serious degradation in image quality.

In the step of FIG. 10E, a counter electrode (not shown) made of ITO or the like is formed on the polished surface of the second ML substrate 22 to form the counter substrate 20, and the counter substrate and the driving substrate 10 are mutually connected. are bonded together, and then the liquid crystal 30 is sealed in the gap between them, thereby obtaining a liquid crystal panel. For the liquid crystal panel thus obtained, if the thickness of the second ML substrate 22 is not uniformly polished, such a liquid crystal panel may cause deviation of the boundary between the cover glass 22 and the low-refractive index resin layer 25 in an image projected thereon. , and thus lead to a serious decline in image quality.

Referring to FIGS. 11A to 11E, a second embodiment of the liquid crystal display device according to the present invention will be described.

11A to 11E are process diagrams of the steps of forming the liquid crystal display device in this embodiment.

The present embodiment is characterized in that a double microlens array is formed on the opposing substrate side, and a method of forming a double microlens array is applied to the method of forming a single microlens array (SML) shown in FIGS. 4A to 4D .

FIG. 11A shows the steps of forming the first microlens array and the second microlens array.

An optical resin layer 23a is formed on the first support 21, and first microlens surfaces arranged in a two-dimensional pattern are formed on the surface of the optical resin layer 23a. Fill the irregularities of the first microlens face with optical resin 23 having a refractive index different from that of the optical resin layer 23a, and level the surface of the optical resin 23 relative to the microlens face, thereby forming a first microlens array . In the present embodiment, the optical resin 23 used to fill the irregularities of the microlens face has a low refractive index of, for example, about 1.4. The surface of the optical resin 23 can be leveled using the above-described punching method, spin coating method, or spraying method.

Similarly, a protective film 26 as a polishing resist is formed on the second support 22, and an optical resin layer 25a is formed on the protective film 26, and then the second microstructures arranged in a two-dimensional pattern are formed on the surface of the optical resin layer 25a. lens surface. Filling the irregularities of the second microlens face with optical resin 25 having a refractive index different from that of the optical resin layer 25a, and leveling the surface of the optical resin 25 relative to the microlens face, thereby forming a second microlens array . The optical resin 25 also has a low refractive index of about 1.4. The surface of the optical resin 25 filling the microlens face can be leveled using the above-described punching method, spin coating method, or spraying method.

Fig. 11B shows the step of stacking the first and second microlens arrays. The outer edge portion of one of the supports 21 and 22 is coated with a sealing material 27 . The supports 21 and 22 are aligned with each other and stacked together based on the alignment marks. The sealing material 27 contains spacers such as high-precision plastic fibers, so that the thickness of the sealing material 27 is kept in the range of ≤ 10 μm.

Fig. 11C shows the step of bonding the first and second microlens arrays to each other. Bonding the flattened surface of the first microlens array to the flattened surface of the second microlens array in a state where the first microlens face and the second microlens face are aligned, thereby bonding the two microlens arrays to each other . As a result, a gap corresponding to the thickness of the sealing material 27 is formed between the supports 21 and 22 .

FIG. 11D shows a step of forming a double microlens array by injecting resin into the gap. A high refractive index liquid resin 24 having a refractive index of about 1.6 is injected into the gap determined by the thickness of the sealing material 27 . The resin 24 is then cured by heating to form a double microlens array. In order that no stress remains in the resin 24, it is preferable to cure the high refractive index resin 24 filling the gap very slowly. In the case of using the protective film 26 as a polishing resist, the support 22 is removed by polishing to expose the surface of the protective film 26 . A counter electrode made of ITO or the like is formed on the exposed surface of the protective film 26 to form the counter substrate 20 .

Fig. 11E shows the steps of completing the liquid crystal display device. The counter substrate 20 is bonded to the pre-prepared driving substrate 10, and the liquid crystal is sealed therein. Thus, a liquid crystal panel was obtained.

According to this embodiment, since the pre-leveled single microlens arrays are bonded to each other, a stress-free high-precision double microlens array structure can be obtained.

12 is a general configuration reference diagram of a liquid crystal display device having a DML structure, in which one microlens array is provided on the opposing substrate side and the other microlens array is provided on the driving substrate side. The liquid crystal display device shown in the figure has a panel structure in which a driving substrate 10 and an opposing substrate 20 are bonded to each other with a sealing material 31 and liquid crystal is sealed therein. The counter substrate 20 is composed of a glass substrate 21 and a cover glass 22 . The first ML is inserted between the glass substrate 21 and the cover glass 22 with the first ML functioning as a condenser lens on the incident side. The first ML is formed by stacking resin layers 23 and 24 having different refractive indices.

The driving substrate 10 generally includes a TFT substrate 11 incorporating thin film transistors and pixel electrodes. The TFT substrate 11 is usually thinned by polishing. Pixels 12 are bonded to the surface of the TFT substrate 11 . The pixels 12 are separated from each other by a grid-like black matrix 13 . A second ML functioning as a field lens is inserted between the TFT substrate 11 and a rear auxiliary substrate. The second ML is also formed by stacking resin layers 15 and 16 having different refractive indices.

In a liquid crystal display device having such a DML structure, the thickness ① of the polished TFT substrate 11, the distance ② between the principal point of the first ML and the principal point of the second ML, and the distance between the first ML and the second ML Alignment accuracy ③ is an important functional parameter.

In order to realize the so-called field distribution, this parameter ② (distance between the principal point of the first ML and the principal point of the second ML) needs to correspond to the focal length of the second ML. In fact, if the deviation between the distance between the two principal points and the focal length of the second ML is about 10%, the second ML roughly acts as a field lens. In order to achieve this, the parameter ① (thickness of the TFT substrate 11 after polishing) needs to be as small as about 10 to 50 μm.

However, in consideration of forming a TFT substrate with such a thin thickness, there arises a problem that the TFT substrate may be cracked or chipped during the polishing process, and it may also cause stress or wrinkle problem.

As described below, using the above-mentioned leveling technique according to the present invention, such problems can be solved.

In order to improve the brightness of a liquid crystal projector, the structure shown in FIG. 9 , in which one microlens array of the DML is formed on the side of the driving substrate and the other is formed on the side of the opposing substrate, is compared to forming both microlens arrays of the DML. The structure on the side facing the substrate is better.

In the case where the microlens array of the DML is formed on the opposing substrate side, although effective collection of light is achieved by the microlens array of the DML, ineffective resin such as a black matrix surrounding pixels on the driving substrate side will degrade the collected light. Light recoils away, reducing the effective aperture ratio. Conversely, in a structure in which one microlens array of the DML is disposed on the driving substrate side and the other is disposed on the opposing substrate side, by shortening the focal length of the first ML, it is possible to collect as much light as possible from the light source , and allow so much collected light to pass through the pixel aperture located on the TFT substrate side. At the same time, the second ML as a field lens is set in such a way that the principal point of the second ML is separated from the principal point of the first ML by a distance equal to the focal length of the second ML, while the second ML is opposed to the first ML and the TFT substrate is located between them.

Referring to FIGS. 13A to 13F, a third embodiment of the liquid crystal display device according to the present invention will be described.

13A to 13F are process diagrams showing steps of forming the liquid crystal display device of this embodiment.

The feature of this embodiment is that one microlens array in the DML structure is arranged on the side of the driving substrate, and the other is arranged on the side of the opposing substrate.

Fig. 13A shows the steps of preparing a TFT substrate. A TFT substrate 11 is prepared on which TFTs and pixel electrodes are formed in advance. In the figure, only the black matrix 13 for separating pixels from each other is shown, and TFTs and pixel electrodes are not shown.

Fig. 13B shows the step of bonding the susceptor glass to the TFT substrate. The base glass 40 is bonded to the surface of the TFT substrate 11 by an adhesive 41 such as wax.

Fig. 13C shows a step of polishing the TFT substrate. The rear surface of the TFT substrate 11 is polished to a thickness of 20 μm or less in a state of being fixed by the base glass 40 .

FIG. 13D shows the steps of preparing a glass substrate with a second ML. A glass substrate 14 on which the second ML is formed in advance is prepared. The second ML has a structure in which resin layers 15 and 16 of different refractive indices are stacked on top of each other. The surface of the second resin layer 16 opposite to the microlens surface is flattened using the above-mentioned punching method or spin coating method. The surrounding portion of the polished surface of the TFT substrate 11 is coated with a sealing material 18 having a thickness of 2 to 3 μm.

FIG. 13E shows a step of forming a driving substrate by bonding a TFT substrate to a glass substrate. The TFT substrate 11 is stacked on the glass substrate 14 in a state where the pixels formed on the TFT substrate 11 side are aligned with the second ML formed on the glass substrate 14 side. The gap between the laminated substrates 14 and 11 is filled with an adhesive 19, thereby bonding the substrates 14 and 11 to each other. Here, since the flattened surface of the second ML is bonded to the polished surface of the TFT substrate 11, the problems related to stress in the related art can be solved. In this way, the driving substrate 10 incorporating the second ML is obtained. Thereafter, the unnecessary susceptor glass 40 is removed, and the adhesive such as wax remaining on the surface of the TFT substrate 11 is separated.

Fig. 13F shows the steps of completing the liquid crystal display device. The counter substrate 20 bonded with the first ML in advance is prepared. The opposite substrate 20 includes a glass substrate 21, a cover glass 22, and a first ML fixed between them. The first ML has a stack structure in which resin layers 23 and 24 of different refractive indices are stacked on each other. The counter substrate 20 combined with the first ML is bonded to the drive substrate 10 combined with the second ML, and liquid crystal is sealed in the gap between them, thereby obtaining a liquid crystal display device. The first ML included in the counter substrate 20 functions as a condenser lens, and the second ML formed on the driving substrate 10 functions as a field lens.

As described above, the liquid crystal display device shown in FIGS. 13A to 13F has a panel structure, including: a driving substrate 10 on which at least a pixel electrode and a switching device for driving the pixel electrode are formed, and on which at least a counter electrode is formed. The opposite substrate 20, and the liquid crystal layer placed between the two substrates 10 and 20, wherein the two substrates 10 and 20 are joined so that the pixel electrode is opposite to the opposite electrode with a certain gap therebetween.

A microlens array composed of microlenses arranged in a two-dimensional pattern corresponding to the arrangement pitch of the pixel electrodes is included in at least the drive substrate 10 . The microlens array (second ML) has a stacked structure of a first optical resin layer 15 and a second optical resin layer 16, the first optical resin layer 15 having a first refractive index and having microlens surfaces arranged in a two-dimensional pattern , the second optical resin layer 16 has a second refractive index and fills the irregularities of the microlens surface and has a flattened surface. This microlens array (second ML) is bonded to the TFT substrate 11 so that the flattened surface of the second optical resin layer 16 is in contact with the rear surface of the TFT substrate 11 . The second resin layer 16 opposite to the microlens surface is leveled by filling the microlens surface of the first optical resin layer 15 with resin (for forming the second optical resin layer 16) and punching the resin surface with a stamper having a flat surface. to obtain the microlens array (second ML). Alternatively, the flattening process may be performed using the polishing technique described above instead of stamping using a stamper. The polishing technique comprises the steps of: bonding a support layer on which a protective layer as a polishing resist is previously formed on the first optical resin layer, maintaining a certain gap therebetween; filling the gap with a liquid resin and curing the resin, to form a second optical resin layer; and removing the supporting layer by polishing to expose the protection layer. In this technique, the exposed surface of the protective layer is used as the leveled surface of the second optical resin layer.

According to the present embodiment, the microlens array (first ML) is provided in the counter substrate 20 in such a manner as to match the microlens array (second ML) provided in the drive substrate. The microlens array (first ML) serves as a condenser lens, and the microlens array (second ML) serves as a field lens. The TFT substrate 11 of the drive substrate 10 is polished from the back thereof to be thinned. The flattened surface of the second optical resin layer 16 of the microlens array (second ML) is bonded to the polished surface of the TFT substrate 11 .

14A is a typical cross-sectional view of a completed state of the liquid crystal display device shown in FIGS. 13A to 13F, and FIG. 14B is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 14A.

The second ML is bonded to the polished surface of the TFT substrate 11 by a thin layer of adhesive 19 as described above. Here, bonding the pre-leveled surface of the second ML to the rear surface of the thinned TFT substrate 11 is particularly important.

For example, in the case of using the TFT substrate 11 as a SVGA (Super Video Graphics Array) 0.7-inch TFT substrate (pixel pitch of 18 μm), if the focal length (equivalent value in air) of the first ML is about 35 μm, and the second ML The focal length (equivalent value in air) of the first ML is about 42 μm, the distance (equivalent value in air) from the principal point of the first ML to the interface of the liquid crystal layer 30 is about 20 μm, and the thickness of the liquid crystal layer 30 (equivalent value in air) is 2 μm. , and the distance (equivalent value in air) from the interface of the liquid crystal layer 30 to the principal point of the second ML is about 20 μm. In this case, the thickness of the TFT substrate 11 was reduced to a practical thickness of about 27 μm (equivalent value in air: about 18 μm) by polishing. Like this, TFT substrate 11 is just very thin, therefore, as in prior art method, under the situation that high refractive index resin 16 is in contact with TFT substrate 11, if high refractive index resin 16 is solidified by UV-curing or heat curing, The TFT substrate 11 is deformed due to stress generated during curing. Such distortions can adversely affect image quality.

In order to solve such a problem, according to the present invention, the pre-leveled surface of the second ML is bonded to the rear surface of the TFT substrate 11, thereby suppressing the occurrence of stress.

As shown in FIG. 14B , at positions A, B, and C, the resin layer 16 of the second ML has different thicknesses. If the second ML is bonded to the TFT substrate 11 in a state where the surface of the resin layer 16 is not flattened, local differences in the amount of shrinkage of the resin layer 16 during curing cause deformation of the TFT substrate 11 .

Referring to FIGS. 15A to 15F, a fourth embodiment of a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention will be described.

15A to 15F are process diagrams showing the steps of forming the liquid crystal display device of this embodiment.

The present embodiment is characterized in that one of the microlens arrays in the DML structure is disposed on the drive substrate side and the other is disposed on the counter substrate side.

Fig. 15A shows the steps of preparing a complete liquid crystal panel. A complete liquid crystal panel 50 is prepared, which has a stacked structure by stacking the counter substrate 20 to the TFT substrate 11 and sealing the liquid crystal 30 therebetween. The thickness of the opposite substrate 20 is, for example, 1.1 mm and includes a first ML. The thickness of the TFT substrate 11 is 0.8 to 1.2 mm, and TFTs and pixel electrodes are bonded on the surface thereof.

Figure 15B shows the step of stacking a jig onto the opposing substrate. A jig 40 made of blue plate glass was bonded to the counter substrate 20 side by wax.

Fig. 15C shows a step of polishing the TFT substrate. With the panel held by the jig 40, the rear surface of the TFT substrate 11 is polished until the thickness of the TFT substrate 11 becomes about 10˜20 μm.

FIG. 15D shows a step of preparing a glass substrate with a second ML. A sealing material 18 is applied to the peripheral portion of the polished surface of the TFT substrate 11, and at the same time, a glass substrate 14 on which the second ML is formed in advance is prepared. The second ML has a stack structure in which optical resin layers 15 and 16 of different refractive indices are stacked.

Fig. 15E shows a step of bonding a liquid crystal panel to a glass substrate. The liquid crystal panel 50 is aligned with the glass substrate 14 and bonded there via an adhesive (sealing material) 18 . At this time, the glass substrate 14 bonded with the second ML is bonded on the polished surface of the TFT substrate 11 to form the driving substrate 10 . A high refractive index resin 19 is injected into the gap between the TFT substrate 11 and the flattened surface of the second ML.

Figure 15F shows the step of removing the jig. Unnecessary jigs 40 are finally removed.

This results in a panel having a structure in which the counter substrate 20 incorporating the first ML is bonded to the driving substrate 10 including the second ML, and the liquid crystal 30 is sealed therebetween. With this panel, since the surface of the second ML is flattened and the thickness of the resin layer 19 is very thin compared to that of the liquid crystal layer 30, generation of shrinkage stress during curing of the resin can be prevented.

Referring to FIG. 16, a fifth embodiment of a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention will be described.

16 is a typical sectional view showing the optical characteristics of the liquid crystal display device in this embodiment, which has a panel structure in which one of a pair of microlens arrays is provided on the opposing substrate side and the other is provided on the driving substrate side. More precisely, a lens surface having a light-condensing function is provided on the opposing substrate side, and a lens surface having a field function is provided on the TFT substrate (drive substrate) side. The liquid crystal panel includes a TFT substrate 50B and a counter substrate 50A, and the counter substrate 50A is disposed on the light incident surface side of the TFT substrate 50B so as to face the TFT substrate 50B with a liquid crystal layer 45 interposed therebetween.

The counter substrate 50A includes a glass substrate 41, a resin layer 43A, a first microlens array 42A, and a thinned counter substrate 44A, which are arranged in the above order from the light incident side. The TFT substrate 50B includes pixel electrodes 46, black matrix 47, thinned TFT substrate 44B, a second microlens array 42B, a resin layer 43B, and a glass substrate 48, which are arranged in this order from the light incident side.

The first microlens array 42A is composed of an optical resin, and has a plurality of first microlenses 42M- 1 arranged in a two-dimensional pattern corresponding to the arrangement pattern of the pixel electrodes 46 . Each microlens 42M-1 includes a first lens surface R1 having positive power and functioning as a condenser lens. In this embodiment, the refractive index n1 of the resin layer 43A and the refractive index n2 of the first microlens array 42A satisfy the following relationship: n2>n1, and the first lens surface R1 protrudes toward the light incident side (the light source side ).

Similar to the first microlens array 42A, the second microlens array 42B is made of an optical resin, and has a plurality of second microlenses 42M-2 arranged in a two-dimensional pattern corresponding to the arrangement pattern of the pixel electrodes 46. . Each microlens 42M- 2 includes a second lens surface R2 having positive power and functioning as a field lens. Therefore, the focal point of the second lens surface R2 of the second microlens 42M-2 approximately corresponds to the principal point of the first lens surface R1 of the first microlens 42M-1 (see the optical path indicated by the dotted line portion in the figure). In this embodiment, the refractive index n4 of the resin layer 43B and the refractive index n3 of the second microlens array 42B satisfy the following relationship: n4>n3, and the second lens surface R2 protrudes toward the light incident side.

The double microlens array in this embodiment has the following structure: each pixel hole is located between the microlenses 42M-1 and 42M-2, more precisely, between the lens surfaces R1 and R2. On the optical axis 60, the position of the combined focal point of the microlenses 42M-1 and 42M-2 is close to the pixel hole (see the optical path indicated by the solid line in the figure). The alignment of the composite focal point to the pixel hole can be controlled by adjusting the thickness between each microlens 42M-1 and 42M-2 and the pixel hole. Such a configuration is optimal for increasing the effective aperture ratio; however, it is considered the most difficult to manufacture. According to the present invention, these manufacturing difficulties can be overcome, and the double microlens array structure as shown in the figure can be realized.

A sixth embodiment of a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 17 .

FIG. 17 is a typical cross-sectional view showing the overall structure of a liquid crystal display device having the panel structure of this embodiment.

The present embodiment is characterized in that a small-sized liquid crystal display panel featuring high resolution is realized.

The liquid crystal display panel shown in the figure is configured such that the opposite substrate 20 is bonded to the driving substrate 10 with a certain gap therebetween, and the liquid crystal 30 is sealed in the gap. As described above, the microlens ML serving as a condensing lens is formed in the counter substrate 20 , and the microlens ML serving as a field lens is bonded on the driving substrate 10 .

Scanning lines 104 and signal lines 105 perpendicular to each other are provided on the inner surface of the drive substrate 10 . Pixel electrodes 106 and thin film transistors (TFTs) as pixel switches are arranged in a matrix at respective intersections where lines 104 and 105 intersect each other. Not shown, however, is provided on the inner surface of the drive substrate 10 with an alignment film that has been subjected to a rubbing process. The counter electrode 112 is formed on the inner surface of the counter substrate 20 . Not shown, however, is also provided on the inner surface of the counter electrode 112 an alignment film which has been subjected to a rubbing process.

Polarizers 110 and 111 are arranged on the two outer sides of the assembly of the drive substrate 10 and the opposite substrate 20 joined to each other, wherein the polarizer 110 is arranged on the side of the drive substrate 10 with a certain gap therebetween, and the polarizer 111 is arranged on the opposite substrate 20 sides with a certain gap therebetween. A scanning pulse is applied to the scanning line 104 in order to select TFTs along the scanning line 104; 106 on. A voltage is applied between the pixel electrode 106 and the counter electrode 112 to activate the liquid crystal 30 . A change in the amount of transmission of incident white light due to the activation of the liquid crystal layer 30 is extracted through a pair of polarizers 110 and 111 disposed at crossed Nicol positions to achieve desired image display.

The structure of the projector is: by means of the magnified projection optical system, the image display is projected onto the screen located in front of the liquid crystal panel. If the projector adopts a double microlens array structure having a combination of a microlens array serving as a condensing lens and a microlens array serving as a field lens, it can be expected to improve the utilization efficiency of light emitted from the light source, thereby Get a bright screen.

A projector to which the present invention is applied is described below.

3. Projector

An embodiment of the projector of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 18 . FIG. 18 is a typical schematic view showing a projector including the liquid crystal display panel shown in FIG. 17. Referring to FIG. The projector shown in the figure is a so-called triple-screen type in which color image display is realized by using three transmissive liquid crystal panels, each of which includes a microlens array constructed according to the present invention.

The projector of the present embodiment includes a light source 211, a pair of first and second multi-lens array couplers 212 and 213, and a total-reflection mirror 214, which makes the optical path (optical axis 210) It is disposed between the first and second multi-lens array couplers 212 and 213 in a manner of turning approximately 90° toward the second multi-lens array coupler 213 side. A plurality of microlenses 212M are disposed in the first multi-lens array coupler 212 in a two-dimensional pattern, and similarly, a plurality of microlenses 213M are disposed in the second multi-lens array coupler 213 in a two-dimensional pattern. Both the multi-lens array couplers 212 and 213 are used to equalize the brightness distribution, and have the function of dividing the incident light into multiple small luminous fluxes.

The light source 211 emits white light including red light components, blue light components and green light components required for color image display. The light source 211 is composed of an emitter (not shown) emitting light and a concave lens for reflecting and collecting the light emitted from the emitter. Examples of emitters include halogen lamps, metal lamps, and xenon lamps. The concave lens preferably has a shape capable of improving light collection efficiency, such as a rotationally-symmetrical shape (such as an ellipsoid of revolution or a paraboloid of revolution).

The projector also includes a PS combining element 215, a condensing lens 216, and a beam splitter 217, which are arranged in this order on the light exit side of the second multi-lens array coupler 213 side. The beam splitter 217 has a function of splitting the incident light, for example into red light component LR and other colored light components.

The PS synthesis element 215 is provided with a plurality of half-wave plates 215A, and the position of each half-wave plate 215A corresponds to the gap between two adjacent microlenses of the second multi-lens array coupler 213 . The PS combining element 215 has a function of splitting the incident light L0 into two polarized light components (P-polarized light component and S-polarized light component) L1 and L2. The PS synthesis element 215 also has the effect of passing the half-wave plate 215A, so that the polarized light component L2 (such as the P-polarized light component) is emitted from the PS synthesis element 215 while maintaining its polarization direction; and the polarized light component L1 (such as S-polarized light component) into another polarized light component (such as P-polarized light component) function.

The projector also includes a total-reflection mirror 218, a field lens 224R, and a liquid crystal panel 225R, which are sequentially arranged along the optical path of the red light component LR separated by the beam splitter 217. The total-reflection mirror 218 reflects the red light component LR separated by the beam splitter 217 to the liquid crystal panel 225R. Based on the image signal, the liquid crystal panel 225R has a function of stereoscopically modulating the red light component LR incident thereon through the field lens 224R.

The projector also includes a beam splitter 219 arranged along the optical path of the other colored light components separated by the beam splitter 217 . The beam splitter 219 has a function of separating other colored light components incident thereon, for example, separating a green light component LG and a blue light component LB.

The projector also includes a field lens 224G and a liquid crystal panel 225G arranged in this order along the optical path of the green light component LG separated by the beam splitter 219 . Based on the image signal, the liquid crystal panel 225G has a function of stereoscopically modulating the green light component LG incident thereon through the field lens 224G.

The projector also includes a relay lens 220, a total-reflection mirror 221, a relay lens 222, a total-reflection mirror 223, a field lens 224B, and a liquid crystal panel 225B, separated in this order by a beam splitter 219. Set the optical path of the blue light component LB. The total-reflection mirror 221 reflects the blue light component LB incident thereon through the relay lens 220 to the total-reflection mirror 223 . The total-reflection mirror 223 reflects the blue light component LB reflected by the total-reflection mirror 221 and incident thereon through the relay lens 222 to the liquid crystal panel 225B. Based on the image signal, the liquid crystal panel 225B has a function of stereoscopically modulating the blue light component reflected by the total-reflection mirror 223 and incident thereon via the field lens 224B.

The projector also includes a cross-prism (cross-prism) 226 with the function of synthesizing three colored light components LR, LG and LB. The position where the optical paths of the LBs intersect each other. The projector also includes a projection lens 227 for projecting the synthesized light emitted from the cross-prism 226 onto a screen 228 . The cross-prism 226 has three incident planes 226R, 226G, and 226B, and an exit plane 226T. The red light component LR emitted from the liquid crystal panel 225R is incident on the incident plane 226R; the green light component LG emitted from the liquid crystal panel 225G is incident on the liquid crystal panel 226B; the blue light component LB emitted from the liquid crystal panel 225B is incident on the incident plane 226B on. The cross-prism 226 synthesizes the three colored light components incident on the incident planes 226R, 226G, and 226B, and emits the synthesized light from the exit plane 226T.

4. Manufacture of liquid crystal display devices

A first embodiment of a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 19A to 19E.

19A to 19E are process diagrams showing basic manufacturing steps of the liquid crystal display device according to this embodiment.

Fig. 19A shows the step of bonding the TFT substrate to the base glass. A base plate such as a submount glass 1002 is bonded to the front surface 1001f of the TFT substrate 1001 by an adhesive 1003 soluble in water or an organic solvent.

Examples of the adhesive 1003 include wax (such as hot-melt type water-soluble solid wax, or water-soluble liquid wax), thermoplastic polymer adhesive (trade name: Crystal Bond, crystal adhesive), cyano cyanoacrylate-based adhesives, and epoxy-based adhesives.

Hot-melt type water-soluble solid waxes are available from Nikka Seiko Co., Ltd. such as trade names "Aqua Wax 20/50/80" (main component: fatty acid glyceride), "Aqua Wax 553/531/442/SE" (main Ingredients: polyethylene glycol, vinyl-pyrrolidone copolymer, glycerol polyether), and "PEG Wax 20" (main ingredient: polyethylene glycol) products.

Water-soluble liquid waxes as synthetic resin-based liquid binders are available from products such as Nikka Seiko Co., Ltd. under the trade name "Aqua Liquid WA-302" (main components: polyethylene glycol, polyvinylpyrrolidone derivatives, methanol), And "WA-20511/QA-20566" (main components: polyethylene glycol, polyvinylpyrrolidone derivatives, IPA (isopropanol), water) products.

The base glass 1002 may be bonded on the TFT substrate 1001 by a UV-curable adhesive double-sided tape or a heat-curable adhesive double-sided tape.

If necessary, to protect the surface of the TFT substrate 1001 or to prevent contamination of the surface of the TFT substrate 1001 by halogen ions, the front surface 1001f of the TFT substrate 1001 may be coated with a resist film. In addition, the base glass material may be transparent glass such as borosilicate glass or blue plate glass.

In the case of using a thermoplastic polymer adhesive (trade name: CrystalBond, crystal adhesive) soluble in an organic solvent such as acetone as the adhesive 1003, the bonding step is achieved by dissolving The crystal adhesive is coated on the base glass 1002; the TFT substrate 1001 and the base glass 1002 are overlapped; the overlapping TFT substrates are heated under a vacuum condition of 150-160°C/13.3322Pa (0.1Torr) 1001 and the base glass 1002, to remove the air bubbles interposed therebetween, so that the TFT substrate 1001 is in close contact with the base glass 1002; and to break the vacuum state, to promote degassing by means of the pressure generated by returning to atmospheric pressure, thereby equalizing the adhesive The thickness of 1003 is up to, for example, 1-3 μm.

In the case of using a hot-melt type water-soluble solid wax (for example, "Aqua Wax80/553" or "PEG Wax 20" from Nikka Seiko Co., Ltd.) as the adhesive 1003, the bonding step can be achieved by dissolving 30～40% by weight (wt%) of wax in methanol, and filter the wax solution to remove foreign substances; use the spin coating method to coat the wax solution on the base glass 1002; make the TFT substrate 1001 and the base glass 1002 mutually Overlapping; heating the overlapping TFT substrate 1001 and base glass 1002 under a vacuum condition of 80-100°C/13.3322Pa (0.1Torr) to remove air bubbles inserted therebetween, so that the TFT substrate 1001 and the base glass 1002 close contact; and break the vacuum state, and promote the degassing by means of the pressure generated by returning to the atmospheric pressure, so as to equalize the thickness of the adhesive 1003 to, for example, 1-3 μm.

In the case of using a water-soluble liquid wax (for example, "Aqua Liquid WA-302" of Nikka Seiko Co., Ltd.) as the adhesive 1003, the bonding step can be achieved by applying a spin-coating method with, for example, 4-5 cps The viscous liquid wax is coated on the base glass 1002; the TFT substrate 1001 and the base glass 1002 overlap each other; the overlapped TFT substrate 1001 is heated under a vacuum condition of 70-80°C/13.3322Pa (0.1Torr) and the susceptor glass 1002 to remove air bubbles interposed therebetween, thereby bringing the TFT substrate 1001 into close contact with the susceptor glass 1002; The thickness is up to, such as 1 ~ 3μm.

In the case of using a double-sided tape as the adhesive 1003, the bonding step can be achieved by using a polyolefin tape (thickness: 100±2 μm) or a polyolefin tape (thickness: 100±2 μm) coated with a heat-curable adhesive on both sides to bond the base glass 1002 to the TFT substrate 1001. In this step, vacuum degassing may be performed to prevent generation of air bubbles therebetween.

Fig. 19B shows the polishing step of the TFT substrate. In the state where the TFT substrate 1001 is fixed by the base glass 1002, the back surface 1001b of the TFT substrate 1001 is polished to be thinned. For example, the back surface 1001b of the TFT substrate 1001 is polished by optically suitable single-side polishing method, while the susceptor glass 1002 is used as a reference plane to prepare the TFT thin substrate 1001 with a specific thickness (eg, 20±3 μm). Due to the dimensional accuracy of the susceptor glass 1002, the parallelism is set to 1˜3 μm and the thickness is 2 mm.

The single-side polishing method of optically suitable grade can be carried out by single-side buffing in the order of rough buffing, intermediate buffing, and fine buffing, wherein the particle size of the abrasive such as aluminum oxide or cerium oxide can be adjusted according to the rough buffing The order of rubbing, intermediate rubbing and fine rubbing can be shortened, so as to gradually improve the polishing accuracy.

Single-side rubbing as a method of optically suitable one-side polishing can be combined with single-side blasting. The single-side blasting involves: preparing a laminar flow of high-pressure air in which abrasive particles such as corundum, boron carbide or diamond are dispersed; and ejecting a specified amount of the laminar flow from a slit-shaped opening at the front of a nozzle , while scanning the nozzle back and forth along the reciprocating direction on the back surface 1001b of the TFT substrate 1001 , thereby polishing the back surface 1001b of the TFT substrate 1001 . The next step after sandblasting is fine polishing, that is, fine grinding, to further improve the polishing accuracy and remove the residual stress caused by particle blasting.

The single-side polishing method with optical application level can be realized by CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing, chemical mechanical polishing). Like single-sided polishing, CMP can also be performed in the order of rough polishing, intermediate polishing and fine polishing.

Single-side rubbing as a single-side polishing method for optical grades can be combined with single-side etching for glass-grade grades. The process includes: reducing the thickness of the TFT substrate 1001 to a certain value with a glass-suitable etching method, and removing surface undulations generated by the glass-suitable-grade etching method by fine grinding as an optical-suitable polishing method . In this case, a protective adhesive or tape that is resistant to corrosion by hydrofluoric acid-based etchants is required.

Single-side CMP, which is used as an optically suitable single-side polishing method, can be combined with an optically suitable single-side etching method. This process includes: etching the back surface 1001b of the TFT substrate 1001 made of quartz glass to a certain value with a hydrofluoric acid-based etchant, and removing surface undulations generated by the glass etching by CMP, which is used as an optically applicable grade polishing method . Even in this case, a protective adhesive or tape that is resistant to corrosion by hydrofluoric acid-based etchants is required.

Figure 19C shows the steps of bonding the microlens array to the TFT substrate. The microlens array is bonded to the polished back surface 1001b of the TFT substrate 1001 through an optical resin 1005 . More specifically, this step includes: a step of preparing a microlens substrate (ML substrate) 1004 in which a microlens plane 1004r is set in a two-dimensional pattern by processing optical glass such as quartz glass or crystallized glass (Neo Ceram, new ceramics) and aligning and overlapping the polished backsides 1001b of the ML substrate 1004 and the TFT substrate 1001, filling the gap therebetween with a transparent optical resin 1005 having a refractive index higher than that of the respective substrates 1001 and 1004, and curing the optical resin Resin 1005 steps. In this case, a closed gap is formed between the TFT substrate 1001 and the ML substrate 1004 by bonding the ML substrate 1004 to the back surface 1001b of the TFT substrate 1001 with a sealing material 1006, and then using a transparent high-refractive-index Optical resin 1005 fills the gap.

The latter filling/curing step is described more fully below.

A frame made of a sealing material 1006 and having a filling port is formed around an ML substrate (microlens substrate) 1004, and a TFT substrate 1001 thinned by polishing is superimposed on the ML substrate 1004. In this state, the sealing material is cured. If the sealing material 1006 is made of a heat-curable adhesive, it is cured by heating at a certain temperature, but if the sealing material 1006 is made of a UV-curable adhesive, it is cured by using a certain energy of UV- irradiated to cure. Alternatively, if the sealing material is composed of a heat-curing/UV-curing hybrid adhesive, curing is performed by a combination of heating at a certain temperature and UV-irradiation at a certain energy.

A high-refractive-index transparent optical resin 1005 is injected into the gap from the filling port, and the filling port is sealed with a UV-curable adhesive. The optical resin 1005 is then thermally cured. In the case of using an acrylic-based or epoxy-acrylic-based high-refractive-index transparent resin (viscosity: 20-100cps) as the optical resin 1005, the filling port is dispense-coated with resin or immersed in a vacuum state The resin is then injected into the gap through the filling port by the pressure returned to atmospheric pressure. At this point, proper pressure can be added to inject resin into the gap through the fill port. Such a high refractive index transparent resin is then cured at a temperature of 70-80° C. for 120 minutes to obtain a high refractive index transparent optical resin 1005 with a refractive index of 1.59-1.67.

Since the high refractive index optical resin 1005 is injected into the lens plane 1004r formed in the microlens substrate 1004 having a relatively low refractive index and cured, microlenses are automatically formed. In addition, in order to align the lens plane 1004r on the side of the microlens substrate 1004 with the pixel electrode on the side of the TFT substrate 1001 in a one-to-one correspondence, the TFT substrate and the ML substrate are aligned through alignment marks formed on the mutually aligned TFT substrate and ML substrate. overlap each other and are fixed by sealing material 1006 .

Figure 19D shows the step of peeling off the base glass. The spent susceptor glass 1002 is peeled off from the front surface 1001f of the TFT substrate 1001 to bond the microlens array with the rear surface 1001b of the TFT substrate 1001 . Specifically, the susceptor glass can be peeled from the TFT substrate 1001 by heating or ultraviolet irradiation. In the case of using a thermoplastic polymer (crystal adhesive) or cyanoacrylate-based adhesive as the adhesive 1003, after the base glass is peeled off by heating, an organic solvent such as acetone, a mixture of acetone and ethanol, methanol, or IPA ultrasonically cleans the entire ML substrate. In the case of using a hot-melt water-soluble wax (such as "Aqua Wax 80/553" or "PEG Wax 20" from Nikka Seiko Co., Ltd.) as the binder 1003, use pure water or pure Water to ultrasonically clean the entire ML substrate. In addition, spent high-precision susceptor glass is preferably re-used after cleaning.

Fig. 19E shows the steps of completing the liquid crystal display device. A microlens TFT substrate (MLTFT substrate) 1007 obtained by combining a single-side polished TFT substrate 1001 with a microlens substrate 1004 and a microlens counter substrate (MLTFT substrate) obtained by combining a microlens substrate with a counter substrate The opposite substrates) 1017 are overlapped with each other, and a certain gap is maintained therebetween, and the gap is filled with liquid crystal 1009 and then sealed to obtain an active matrix liquid crystal display device with a double microlens structure.

The microlens counter substrate 1017 can be obtained through the same steps as the microlens TFT substrate 1007. More specifically, the front surface side of the opposing substrate 1011 is polished, and the microlens substrate 1014 is bonded to the polished surface of the opposing substrate 1011 via a sealing material 1016 . The microlens plane 1014r is preformed on the microlens substrate 1014 . A high-refractive-index transparent optical resin 1015 is filled in a gap between the single-sided polished counter substrate 1011 and the microlens substrate 1014 and cured to obtain a ML counter substrate 1017 . In addition, a counter electrode is formed in advance on the front surface of the counter substrate 1011 to be in contact with the liquid crystal 1009 .

The liquid crystal display device manufactured by the manufacturing method according to this embodiment has a panel structure in which the liquid crystal 1009 is fixed between the pixel electrode formed on the side of the MLTFT substrate 1007 and the counter electrode formed on the side of the ML counter substrate 1017 . A microlens serving as a condenser lens for each pixel electrode is arranged in a two-dimensional pattern, and a microlens array composed of the microlens is integrally formed on the ML counter substrate 1017 side. A microlens used as a field lens for each pixel electrode is arranged in a two-dimensional pattern, and a microlens array composed of the microlens is integrally formed on the MLTFT substrate 1007 side.

In the above-mentioned polishing step, the TFT substrate 1001 and/or the counter substrate 1011 are polished to reduce the thickness, so that in the state of the finished panel, the focus of each microlens used as a field lens is aligned with the corresponding microlens used as a condensing lens. The principal point of the lens (principal point) is almost corresponding. For example, according to the present embodiment, since the TFT substrate 1001 is thinned to a thickness of about 20 [mu]m, the above-mentioned requirement can be satisfied. By arranging microlens arrays on both the TFT substrate 1001 side and the opposite substrate 1011 side, so that the focal point of each field lens almost corresponds to the principal point of the condenser lens, it is possible to expand the effective aperture ratio of the pixel to the maximum.

Along the direction toward more subdivided pixels, the focal point of each microlens develops in a shorter direction, and accordingly, the thickness of each substrate needs to be reduced considerably. From this point of view, the manufacturing method of the present invention is advantageous in terms of rationality, effectively thinning both the TFT substrate and the counter substrate.

The lens planes 1004r and 1014r of the microlenses may each be formed as a spherical surface, an aspherical surface, or a Fresnel plane. Spherical lenses are advantageous in terms of ease of manufacture; however, since the radius of curvature of the lens that minimizes the focal length is limited by the pixel size, it is difficult to shorten the focal length unless the refraction at the interface between the lens planes can be effectively ensured. rate difference. Aspheric and Fresnel lenses are excellent in shortening the focal length and planarizing the main plane of the lens, and are effective in suppressing the divergence angle of light emitted from the light source.

A second embodiment of a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 20 .

20 is a process diagram showing the manufacturing steps of the liquid crystal display device of this embodiment, wherein a multi-chip module process is performed in steps S1 to S6, a single-chip module process is performed in steps S7 and S8, and between steps S7 and S8 An ML counter substrate (one-chip module substrate) was prepared.

In this embodiment, a large-area TFT substrate (TFT large-scale substrate) is used as a multi-chip module substrate to facilitate rationalization of the manufacturing process. More specifically, a large-area substrate (multi-chip module substrate) is used in steps S1 to S6, and is divided into individual substrates (single-chip module substrates) corresponding to individual panels in step S7.

In step S1, a TFT large-sized substrate having a diameter of, for example, 8 inches is prepared. In step S2, a susceptor glass having a diameter of 8 inches is bonded to the TFT large-scale substrate. In step S3, the thickness of the TFT large-size substrate is reduced to 20 μm by an optically suitable single-side polishing method. In step S4, the ML substrate (diameter: 8 inches) in which the microlens plane is formed in advance is bonded to the polished surface of the TFT large-scale substrate through a sealing material, and the microlens plane is filled with a high refractive index resin to A microlens array is formed therebetween. In step S5, the waste susceptor glass is peeled off, and the TFT large-size substrate is cleaned.

In step S6, the exposed surface of the TFT large-size substrate is subjected to an alignment process. For example, a polyimide alignment film is formed on the surface of the TFT large-scale substrate and subjected to rubbing treatment. In this case, since a high-refractive-index resin with relatively low thermal resistance is injected and formed into a microlens array in the preceding step, it is preferable to use polyimide specially used as a low-temperature curable type in the alignment process of step S6. Alignment film. However, since many existing polyimide resins are curable at relatively low temperatures, the polyimide film does not have to be specifically low temperature curable. DLC (diamond like carbon, diamond-like carbon) film can be used to replace the polyimide alignment film, wherein the DLC film can be aligned by ion irradiation with a specific direction. Alternatively, a SiOx alignment film formed by oblique vapor-deposition of SiOx in which alignment of SiOx is obtained by oblique vapor-deposition may be used instead of the polyimide film.

In the case of using a polyimide alignment film, the polyimide film is formed by a roll-coating method or a spin coating method, and is subjected to rubbing treatment by using a rubbing material. In the case of using a DLC alignment film, a DLC film having a thickness of about 5 nm is formed and subjected to alignment processing by ion irradiation having a specific directionality. In the case of using the SiO alignment film, the SiO film is formed by oblique vapor-deposition of SiO.

In step S7, the TFT large-size substrate having a diameter of 8 inches is divided into individual individual substrates each having a size of 0.9 square inches, for example, by dicing or _CO2 laser cutting. Individual TFT substrates each including microlens arrays were thus obtained.

Next, individual counter substrates each including a microlens array, which were rated as acceptable products, were also prepared.

In step S8, each of the above-mentioned single opposing substrates is overlapped with one of the single TFT substrates that are rated as qualified products and include a microlens array, and a certain gap is maintained between them, and the gap is filled by a filling port. Liquid crystals, such as nematic liquid crystals, then seal the fill port. More specifically, a sealing material frame having a filling port is formed along a peripheral portion of the TFT substrate including the microlens array or a peripheral portion of the counter substrate including the microlens array. The TFT substrate including the microlens array is overlapped with the opposite substrate including the microlens array while the alignment marks formed on the respective substrates are aligned with each other, and then the sealing material is cured. After the liquid crystal is injected into the gap through the filling port, the filling port is sealed with a UV-curable adhesive. The liquid crystal is heated and rapidly cooled to adjust the alignment of the liquid crystal.

As previously described, according to this embodiment, a large-area substrate (single substrate to be divided into a plurality of corresponding individual panels) undergoes a bonding step, a polishing step, a bonding step, and a peeling step to bond a plurality of individual micro The large-area microlens array of the lens array is divided into individual substrates corresponding to independent panels in an appropriate step (step S7). Therefore, it is possible to promote the rationalization of the manufacturing process. In this embodiment, the TFT large-size substrate, on which microlens arrays corresponding to a plurality of individual microlens arrays are formed, is divided into individual TFT substrates, and each individual TFT substrate is connected with a pre-prepared single microlens array formed thereon. One of the single opposing substrates of the microlens array is overlapped with a certain gap therebetween to obtain a panel (step S8). In addition, according to the present embodiment, after the susceptor glass is peeled off from the surface of the TFT large-size substrate and the TFT large-size substrate is cleaned in the peeling step (step S5), the microlens array formed in step S4 will not be damaged by heat. Within the resistive temperature range, an alignment layer for aligning the liquid crystal layer is formed on the exposed surface of the TFT large-size substrate (see step S6).

21A and 21B are typical diagrams showing a specific division method used in the division step (step S7) shown in FIG. 20 . The division method is realized by dividing large-sized substrates by small square cutting or _CO2 laser cutting to prepare individual TFT substrates each having a certain size, including microlens arrays.

As shown, the method consists of two steps. In the first step (first small square cutting) shown in FIG. 21A , the large-size substrate 1007 is cut along the boundary portion defined for dividing the large-size substrate 1007 into individual panels by using a V-notch cutting blade 1021, V-shaped grooves are formed in cross section. In the second step (second small square cutting) shown in FIG. 21B , the groove of the large-size substrate 1007 is completely cut using a general-purpose cutting blade 1022 to separate the large-size substrate into individual panels. Through these steps, a single substrate with tapered end faces can be obtained.

Bevel cutting ( chamfer) per single substrate. Such chamfered individual substrates are advantageous in preventing the occurrence of cracks or chipping at the end faces of the TFT thin substrates when the TFT substrates are assembled into a panel. In addition, it is preferable to use a double dicing machine to continuously perform the first dice cutting and the second dice cutting.

A third embodiment of a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 22 .

22 is a process block diagram showing the manufacturing steps of the liquid crystal display device in this embodiment, wherein, in steps S1 to S7, a multi-chip module process is performed, in step S8 a single-chip module process is performed, and between steps S6 and S7 A ML counter substrate (one-chip module substrate) was prepared. The difference between this embodiment and the foregoing embodiment shown in FIG. 20 is that the foregoing steps S7 and S8 are opposite to each other. In this embodiment, in step S7, a qualified single ML counter substrate that has undergone alignment treatment is overlapped on a qualified and alignment-processed TFT large-size substrate including ML, and then assembled, and liquid crystal is injected therebetween and sealed; in step S8, the TFT large-size substrate including ML is divided to obtain individual panels. Compared to the previous embodiment shown in FIG. 20, this embodiment is justified because the multi-chip module process can be continued immediately before the final step. As described above, according to the present embodiment, after the microlens arrays corresponding to a plurality of individual microlens arrays are formed on the TFT large-size substrate, each individual opposing substrate on which the individual microlens arrays are preformed is assembled onto the TFT large-size substrate (step S7), and the TFT large-size substrate is divided to form independent panels (step S8).

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a specific assembly method used in the aforementioned assembly step S7 shown in FIG. 22 . As shown in the figure, a qualified single substrate 1017 including a microlens array overlaps with a qualified part of a TFT large-size substrate 1007 including a microlens, with a certain gap therebetween, and is fixed by a sealing material 1008, and then the liquid crystal 1009 The gap between the two substrates 1007 and 1017 is injected and sealed.

More specifically, after the MLTFT large-size substrate 10 is coated with a UV-curing or heat-curing type sealing material 1008, the ML counter substrate 1017 is positioned to the corresponding surface of the MLTFT large-size substrate 1007 by using the alignment marks provided thereon. The sealing material 1008 is fixed by curing the sealing material 1008 by UV irradiation or heating. Next, liquid crystal is injected into the gap through the filling port, and the filling port is sealed with a UV-curable adhesive.

After the assembly work in step S7 is completed, the MLTFT large-size substrate 1007 is divided into individual substrates by dicing or laser cutting. As indicated by the scribe lines, the MLTFT large-scale substrate 1007 is cut along the border of each panel to obtain panels. At this time, in order to prevent the end face of the TFT thin substrate 1007 from being cracked or notched, the small square cutting is preferably performed as follows: use a V-notch cutting blade to cut the TFT thin substrate 1007 along the boundary portion to form a V-shaped groove, and then use a general cutting blade to cut the TFT thin substrate 1007. The blade completely cuts the groove of the TFT thin substrate 1007 to separate the TFT thin substrate into panels.

24A and 24B are process diagrams showing an example of a method of manufacturing the ML counter substrate 1017 shown in FIG. 23 .

As shown in FIG. 24A, a frame of a sealing material 1016 is formed around the peripheral portion of the ML substrate 1014 on which the microlens plane 1014r is formed in advance. A cover glass substrate 1011 overlaps with the ML substrate 1014 with a certain gap therebetween. In such a state, the sealing material 1016 is cured.

As shown in FIG. 24B, a high-refractive-index transparent optical resin 1015 is injected into the gap between the cover glass substrate 1011 and the ML substrate 1014, and cured by heating, and the gap is sealed with a UV-curable adhesive. The backside side thickness of the cover glass substrate 1011 was reduced by an optically suitable grade single-side polishing method to prepare the ML counter substrate 1017 . A transparent conductive film (such as ITO) is formed on the polished backside of the cover glass substrate 1011 to form the counter electrode 1018 . A polyimide alignment film 1019 is formed on the counter electrode 1018, and subjected to alignment treatment such as rubbing treatment. At this time, the ML substrate 1014 and the cover glass substrate 1011 are polished according to an optical double-side polishing method, and the thickness of the ML counter substrate 1017 can be adjusted to a certain value. For this case, after the ML substrate 1014 is formed by filling the microlens plane 1014r with a high-refractive-index transparent resin, a transparent resin film can be formed on the resin surface opposite to the microlens plane, and thereon also by sputtering or Vapor-deposition forms a SiO ₂ film. Forming such a stacked layer film can eliminate the need to provide the cover glass substrate 1014, thereby reducing manufacturing costs.

As shown in FIG. 23 , the single ML counter substrate 1017 thus formed is mounted on a multi-chip module type large-size MLTFT substrate 1007 .

A fourth embodiment of a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 25 .

FIG. 25 shows the manufacturing steps of the liquid crystal display device in this embodiment, wherein the multi-chip module process is performed in steps S1-S6, the single-chip module process is performed in steps S7 and S8, and the ML opposite is prepared between steps S7 and S8. Substrate (single-chip module substrate).

This embodiment is modified from the embodiment shown in FIG. 20 .

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 20, in step S4, a microlens array made of high refractive index resin is formed between the TFT large-size substrate and the ML large-size substrate; in step S6, the polyimide alignment film is placed on the TFT is formed on a large-size substrate and subjected to alignment treatment. In these steps, the polyimide film used for the alignment process must select a low-temperature curable polyimide film in accordance with the thermal resistance of the high-refractive-index resin used for the microlens array.

In contrast, in this embodiment, a polyimide film for alignment processing is first formed in step S2, and then a microlens array made of a high-refractive index resin is formed in step S5. The polyimide film used for the alignment treatment thus does not need to select a low-temperature curable polyimide film, but a high-temperature curable polyimide film excellent in performance and stability can be selected.

Thus, according to the present embodiment, before performing a series of steps, i.e., a bonding step, a polishing step, a bonding step, and a peeling step to bond a microlens array to the back surface of a TFT large-size substrate, the alignment step (step 2 ), forming an alignment layer for aligning the liquid crystal layer on the surface of the TFT large-size substrate.

Common polyimide resins are curable at high temperatures of about 180°C, whereas common high-refractive index transparent resins are curable at low temperatures in the range of 60˜120°C. Therefore, it is not desirable to form a film made of common polyimide on a TFT large-sized substrate on which a microlens array made of common high-refractive index resin is premounted. For this reason, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 20, a low temperature curable polyimide film or DLC film is used as the alignment film. On the contrary, in this embodiment, since the alignment film used for the alignment treatment has been formed before the microlens array is made of the high-refractive-index resin, an ordinary polyimide curable at a high temperature of about 180° C. A thin film made of resin can be used as an alignment film.

A fifth embodiment of a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 26 .

26 is a process block diagram showing the manufacturing steps of the liquid crystal display device in this embodiment, wherein the multi-chip module process is performed in steps S1 to S6, the single-chip module process is performed in steps S7 and S8, and the process is performed between steps S6 and S7. Prepare the ML counter substrate (single-chip module substrate) in between.

In this present embodiment, as in the previous embodiment shown in FIG. 22 , a single ML counter substrate is assembled onto the MLTFT large-size substrate, and then the MLTFT large-size substrate is divided into individual substrates corresponding to individual panels; however, and FIG. 22 The previous embodiment shown in is different in that an alignment process using an alignment film is performed in step S2, and then a formation process of a microlens array using a high-refractive-index transparent resin is performed in step S5. Therefore, like the embodiment shown in FIG. 25, a film made of high temperature curable polyimide resin can be used as the alignment film.

A sixth embodiment of a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 27. FIG.

27 is a process block diagram showing the manufacturing steps of the liquid crystal display device in the present embodiment, wherein a multi-chip module process is performed in steps S1 to S7, a single-chip module process is performed in step S8, and ML is prepared between steps S6 and S7. Relatively large size substrate (multi-chip module substrate).

According to this embodiment, in step S7, the ML relatively large-size substrate is assembled on the MLTFT large-size substrate; in step S8, the assembly of the MLTFT large-size substrate and the ML relatively large-size substrate is divided into independent panels. This manufacturing process is all the more rational since the two large-size substrates are used immediately before the final step. However, in the present embodiment, after the final step, selection as to whether a product is acceptable or not is made by checking individual products.

As mentioned above, according to this embodiment, the ML relatively large-size substrate overlaps the MLTFT large-size substrate with a certain gap therebetween so as to be assembled into a large-size panel portion corresponding to a plurality of panels (step S7), wherein the ML The relatively large-sized substrate includes microlens arrays corresponding to a plurality of individual microlens arrays, and the MLTFT large-sized substrate also includes microlens arrays corresponding to a plurality of individual microlens arrays; then the assembly is divided into individual panels (step S8). Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, a microlens array using a high-refractive-index transparent optical resin is formed in step S4, and a low-temperature curable polyimide film or DLC film for alignment processing is formed in step S6.

A seventh embodiment of a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 28 .

28 is a process block diagram showing the manufacturing steps of the liquid crystal display device in this embodiment, wherein a multi-chip module process is performed in steps S1 to S7, a single-chip module process is performed in step S8, and ML is prepared between steps S6 and S8. Relatively large size substrate (multi-chip module substrate).

In this embodiment, as in the previous embodiment shown in FIG. 27 , the ML relatively large-size substrate is assembled onto the TFT large-size substrate, and then the assembly is divided into individual panels; however, unlike the previous implementation shown in FIG. 27 The difference is that the alignment film used for the alignment process is formed in step S2, and the microlens array using a high refractive index transparent resin is formed in step S5. Therefore, a general high-temperature curable polyimide film can be used as an alignment film for alignment treatment.

An eighth embodiment of a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 29 .

29 is a process block diagram representing the manufacturing steps of the liquid crystal display device in this embodiment, wherein a multi-chip module process is performed in step S1, a single-chip module process is performed in steps S2 to S8, and ML is prepared between steps S7 and S8. Counter substrate (single-chip module substrate).

In this embodiment, unlike the previous embodiments, the panel is obtained by basically employing a single-chip module process instead of a multi-chip module process.

The 8-inch diameter TFT large-size substrate was prepared in step S1, and then divided into individual TFT substrates each with a size of 0.9 square inches by square cutting or _CO2 laser cutting. If necessary, the TFT individual substrate can be coated with a resist film to protect the surface and prevent contamination from halogen gas.

In step S3, a susceptor glass having a size of 0.9 square inches is bonded on each TFT individual substrate. The base glass may be borosilicate glass, and the TFT substrate may be made of artificial quartz glass. The parallelism of the base glass is precisely processed to 1-2 μm. The base glass is bonded to the TFT substrate by double-sided tape of thermoplastic transparent polymer type or UV-curable adhesive, or double-sided tape of thermosetting adhesive.

In step S4, the back surface of the TFT substrate is polished to a thickness of 20 [mu]m by optically suitable grade single-side polishing. The thickness variation of the TFT substrate is preferably suppressed within ±3 μm. In step S5, a microlens substrate (ML substrate) having a size of 0.9 square inches in which a microlens plane is formed in advance is superimposed on the thinned TFT substrate, and a high-refractive-index transparent resin is injected into the gap between them and sealed .

In step S6, the susceptor glass is peeled from the TFT substrate by heating, for example, and the TFT substrate is cleaned with an organic solvent. The peeled base glass processed with high precision can be used again. In addition, the base glass may be peeled off and the TFT substrate may be cleaned after the sealing material is cured by UV irradiation in a subsequent step. In step S7, for example, forming a low-temperature curable polyimide alignment film and subjecting the polyimide film to rubbing treatment with a rubbing material; or forming a DLC film and subjecting the DLC film to directional ion irradiation, for alignment processing.

In step S8, a single ML opposite substrate is overlapped with the MLTFT substrate with a certain gap therebetween, and liquid crystal is injected into the gap and sealed. More specifically, a frame such as a UV-curable sealing material is formed on one substrate, and the other substrate is overlapped with a certain gap therebetween, and alignment marks provided thereon are aligned with each other. The sealing material is cured by UV irradiation to fix the two substrates to each other. An empty panel (in the state before it was filled with liquid crystals) was thus obtained. The liquid crystal is injected into the panel through the filling port formed in the sealing material and sealed, thereby completing the fabrication of the double microlens array type liquid crystal display device.

A ninth embodiment of a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 30 .

30 is a process block diagram showing the manufacturing steps of the liquid crystal display device in this embodiment, wherein a multi-chip module process is performed in step S1, a single-chip module process is performed in steps S2 to S8, and ML is prepared between steps S7 and S8. Counter substrate (single-chip module substrate).

In this embodiment, as in the previous embodiment shown in FIG. 29 , the panel is obtained by basically employing a one-chip module process; however, unlike the previous embodiment shown in FIG. 29 , the The alignment film is formed in step S3, and the microlens array using high refractive index transparent optical resin is formed after the ML substrate is bonded to the TFT substrate in step S6.

A tenth embodiment of a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 31 .

Fig. 31 is a process block diagram showing the manufacturing steps of the liquid crystal display device in this embodiment.

In a preliminary step, the ML counter substrate 1017 is obtained by bonding a microlens array to the first substrate on which the counter electrode is formed in advance. In the assembly step, the opposite substrate (ML substrate) 1017 incorporating the microlens array overlaps with the front surface 1001f of the TFT substrate 1001 on which the pixel electrodes and switching devices for driving the pixel electrodes are preformed, with a certain gap therebetween. , the liquid crystal is injected into the gap and sealed to obtain a panel. In the bonding step, the base glass 1002 is bonded to the front surface of the TFT substrate 1001 by using an adhesive 1003, such as water-soluble wax based on hot melt, beeswax, or cyanoacrylate based adhesive. 1001f overlaps the ML facing substrate 1017 . The adhesive 1003 can be obtained by diluting acrylate with a chlorine-free organic solvent (acetone, a mixture of acetone and ethanol, or IPA). In the polishing step, the back surface 1001b of the TFT substrate is polished in a state of being fixed by the susceptor glass 1002 . In the bonding step, the microlens array is bonded on the polished back surface 1001b of the TFT substrate 1001 .

Different from the previous embodiments, after the pre-fabrication of the panel, the backside of the TFT substrate is polished, and the microlens array is bonded to the polished backside of the TFT substrate.

In the manufacturing method shown in FIG. 31 , since the TFT substrate 1001 on which the pixel electrodes and thin film transistors are preliminarily combined is polished, it is preferable to take certain measures to resist damage caused by static electricity.

Fig. 32 shows an example of a measure against electrostatic breakdown, in which an electroconductive paste 1024 having a coating portion free of residue is used as a measure against electrostatic breakdown. As shown in FIG. 32 , an adhesive tape, in particular, a conductive paste adhesive tape having a portion having no residual coating and having a thickness almost the same as that of the counter substrate 1017 including microlenses, is used to connect the output terminals formed on the TFT substrate 1001. A short-circuit manner is provided in which the base glass is fixed to the ML counter substrate 1017 by an adhesive 1003 .

Fig. 33 shows another example of measures against electrostatic breakdown. As shown in Figure 33, a connector 1026 composed of a flexible printed board for external connection is assembled on the connection terminal of the TFT substrate 1001 by thermo-compression bonding, and the base glass 1002 is bonded by an adhesive 1003 or double-sided The adhesive tape is fixed to the ML counter substrate 1017 . To stabilize the connector 1026, a gap-filling adhesive 1003 between the base glass 1002 and the TFT substrate 1001 or a tape member 1025 having a thickness almost equal to that of the counter substrate 1017 including the microlens array. The connector 1026 can be shortened to a certain extent without adversely affecting the polishing of the TFT substrate 1001 by an optically suitable single-side polishing method in subsequent steps, and the terminals of the connector 1026 are short-circuited or covered so as not to be damaged Contaminated by abrasives, etc. Thus, to take measures against electrostatic breakdown, the back surface of the TFT substrate 1001 should be polished in a state that a plurality of external connection terminals formed on the TFT substrate maintain the same potential.

FIG. 34 is a typical schematic view showing the polishing process of the panel shown in FIG. 32 . As shown in the figure, the base glass 1002 side of the panel is bonded to a polishing table 1029, and the back surface 1001b of the TFT substrate 1001 is polished with the base glass 1002 as a reference. To prevent the liquid crystal 1009 enclosed in the panel from being heated to a critical temperature or higher, it is preferable to cool the TFT substrate 1001 during polishing by the optically suitable single-side polishing method. This makes it possible to maintain the alignment state of the liquid crystal 1009 . In the example shown, single-side rubbing is performed as an optical grade single-side polishing method. By applying a certain load to the TFT substrate 1001 , the back surface 1001 b of the TFT substrate 1001 is pressed onto a polishing platen 1027 . At this time, a certain amount of abrasive is delivered to the polishing platen 1027 .

More specifically, the polishing work is performed by continuously dropping a certain amount of liquid on the polishing platen 1027 by rotating the polishing platen 1027 (such as a tin platen, vinyl plate or cloth platen) along its axis, Such as water, oil or organic solvents that have included abrasives such as emery, aluminum oxide or diamond; surface. Polishing is carried out in the order of rough polishing, intermediate polishing and fine polishing, and the size of abrasive particles is reduced accordingly, thereby gradually improving the polishing accuracy. If the amount to be polished is large, the workpiece is firstly thinned to a thickness close to the target thickness through rough-polishing, and then processed through intermediate-polishing and fine-polishing. If the TFT substrate 1001 has a thickness of 800 μm, the substrate 100 is first thinned to 100 μm by rough-polishing, then further thinned to 50 μm by intermediate-polishing, and finally processed to a thickness of 20 μm by finish-polishing. In this case, assuming that the tolerance of the thickness of the TFT substrate is 20±3 μm, while the finish polishing is performed, the remaining thickness is detected by an optical or laser type step depth meter, and the alignment marks on the surface of the TFT substrate are used as A reference for each 10μm polishing amount. During such polishing, the panel is not peeled off. This is because the TFT substrate is overlapped to the counter substrate with a gap of 1-3 [mu]m therebetween, and is fixed by a sealing material, and the spacer is kept in contact with each pixel.

Fig. 35 is a typical schematic view showing a polishing process using particle blasting. As shown in the figure, sandblasting is carried out in this way: a laminar flow of high-pressure air is prepared, wherein particles of abrasives such as corundum, boron carbide or diamond are scattered; A certain amount of laminar flow scans the nozzle on the back surface 1001b of the TFT substrate 1001 in a reciprocating direction at the same time, thereby polishing the back surface 1001b of the TFT substrate 1001 . The sandblasting process is carried out in the order of coarse sandblasting, intermediate sandblasting and fine sandblasting, and the particle size of the abrasive particles is reduced accordingly, thereby gradually improving the polishing accuracy. If the amount to be polished is large, the workpiece is firstly thinned to a thickness close to the target thickness by rough-sandblasting, and then processed by intermediate-sandblasting and fine-sandblasting. If the TFT substrate 1001 has a thickness of 800 μm, the substrate 100 is first thinned to 300 μm by rough-sandblasting, then further thinned to 200 μm by intermediate-sandblasting, and finally processed to a thickness of 50 μm by fine-sandblasting .

Assuming that the tolerance of the thickness of the TFT substrate is 20±3 μm, after the TFT substrate has been processed to a thickness of 50 μm by finish-sandblasting, the TFT substrate can be further polished by the finish-rubbing as shown in FIG. processing. While fine polishing is in progress, the remaining thickness is detected by an optical or laser-type step depth gauge, and the alignment mark on the surface of the TFT substrate is used as a reference for each 10 μm polishing amount.

FIG. 36 shows a step of bonding the ML substrate 1004 to the back surface of the TFT substrate 1001 after the polishing step shown in FIG. 34 . As shown in the figure, in a state where the base glass 1002, the counter substrate 1017 including ML, and the TFT substrate 1001 are bonded to each other, by dispensing-coating the sealing material 1006, the back peripheral portion surrounding the TFT thin substrate 1001 is formed by Frame of sealing material 1006 made of UV-curable adhesive or UV-curable/heat-curable hybrid adhesive. The ML substrate 1004 is overlapped with the TFT thin substrate 1001 with a specific gap therebetween, and the alignment marks disposed thereon are aligned with each other, and the sealing material 1006 is cured by UV irradiation. At this time, the focal length of each microlens is finely adjusted by the thickness of the sealing material 1006 . For easy fine adjustment, the sealing material 1006 may include a certain size and a certain number of spacers that will not degrade the sealing properties. The spacer is made of metal, glass, ceramics, or the like. These materials may be used alone or in combination. The material is preferably used in the form of particles having a spherical or fibrous shape.

FIG. 37 shows a filling step following the bonding step shown in FIG. 36. FIG. As shown, a high-refractive-index transparent optical resin 1005 is press-injected into the gap under vacuum through a filling port provided in a frame-shaped sealing material 1006, and the filling port is sealed with a UV-curable adhesive. But not shown, in the case of using a cyanoacrylate-based adhesive as the adhesive 1003, the cyanoacrylate-based adhesive is melted by heating to peel off the base glass 1002, followed by an organic solvent, Such as IPA, acetone, acetone and ethanol mixture, or methanol, to clean the entire panel. In the case where a hot-melt type water-soluble wax is used as the adhesive 1003, the water-soluble wax is melted by heating to peel off the base glass 1002, followed by pure water or hot pure water at 50 to 60°C for the entire process. Ultrasonic cleaning of panels.

FIG. 38A shows an example of using a jig 1002a instead of a base glass to support a panel. A jig 1002a serving as a base glass is fixed to a table 1029 of a polishing platen. A passage 1002b for vacuum suction is formed in the jig 1002a and the table 1029 . A panel obtained by mounting the TFT substrate 1001 onto the counter substrate 1017 including the microlens array is polished in a state held by the jig 1002a. In this case, to prevent electrostatic damage during polishing, it is preferable to short-circuit the external connection terminal 1001f of the TFT substrate 1001 and the conductive pad 1002p provided on the jig 1002a.

Figures 38B and 38C show an example of the LCD panel being fixed to a table 1029 of a large size polishing platen, on which a plurality of holders 1002a for the base glass are provided. The ML-facing substrate 1017 side of each panel is set in the groove of the jig 1002a, the TFT substrate 1001 side faces upward, and is fixed thereto by vacuum attraction, and in this state, the back surface of the TFT substrate is polished. Even in this case, to prevent electrostatic damage in polishing, it is preferable to short-circuit the external connection terminals of the TFT substrate and the conductive pads provided on the jig 1002a.

Generally, artificial quartz glass used as a material of a TFT substrate and a counter substrate in a high-temperature polysilicon TFTLCD for a projector is specified to be processed to have high-precision surface roughness and dimensions. From this point of view, according to the embodiments shown in FIGS. 31 to 38 , by sufficiently detecting the film thickness of the counter substrate during polishing, the counter substrate can be used instead of the base glass to eliminate the need for a base glass. , thereby reducing manufacturing costs.

Fig. 39 is a typical sectional view of still another example of a liquid crystal display device manufactured according to the present invention.

The opposite substrate 1017 including the microlens array overlaps and fixes the TFT substrate 1007 including the microlens array, with a specific gap therebetween, and the liquid crystal 1009 is enclosed in the gap therebetween. Wherein, the microlens array combined on the back surface of the polished and thinned TFT substrate 1001 is configured so that the lens plane "r" has a double structure. More specifically, the convex lens plane "r" formed on the transparent resin layer 1004 having a refractive index "ng1-2" passes through the sealing material 1006 and the convex lens formed on the transparent resin layer 1004' having a refractive index "ng2-2". The planes "r" are relatively spaced apart; and a transparent optical resin 1005 with a refractive index "n1" is enclosed therebetween to form a microlens array. At this time, the refractive index "n1" of the transparent optical resin 1005 is lower than the refractive index "ng1-2" of the transparent resin layer 1004 and the refractive index "ng2-2" of the transparent resin layer 1004'. The opposite substrate 1017 side including the microlens array has the same structure in which a transparent optical resin 1015 with a refractive index of "n1" is inserted into a transparent resin layer with a refractive index of "ng1-1" and a transparent resin layer with a refractive index of "ng2-1" between the transparent resin layers.

Fig. 40 shows examples of specific shapes and dimensions of a liquid crystal display device manufactured according to the present invention. The MLTFT substrate 1007 is overlapped and fixed to the ML counter substrate 1017 with a certain gap therebetween, and the liquid crystal 1009 is enclosed in the gap therebetween. The focal length (equivalent value in air) of each microlens on the ML-facing substrate 1017 side is F1 = 30.69 μm. The microlens has a structure in which a transparent resin layer having a refractive index of 1.45 is in contact with a transparent resin layer 1015 having a refractive index of 1.66 at a boundary defined by a lens plane 1014r. The counter substrate 1011 is made of crystallized glass "Neo Ceram" and is thinned by polishing. The depth of the lens plane 1014r is 10.3 μm, and the thickness of the counter substrate 1011 is reduced to 20 μm. On the other hand, the focal length (equivalent value in air) of each microlens formed on the MLTFT substrate 1007 is F2 = 41.4 μm (actual distance: 64.6 μm). A transparent resin layer having a refractive index of 1.44 is in contact with a transparent optical resin 1005 having a refractive index of 1.596 at boundaries defined by lens planes 1004r to form microlenses. Quartz glass 1001 with a refractive index of 1.46 is thinned to 20 μm. Therefore, the distance between the principal point of the microlens serving as a condenser lens formed on the ML opposing substrate 1017 side and the principal point of a microlens serving as a field lens formed on the MLTFT substrate 1007 side is 64.6 μm. In addition, the TFT pixel pitch is 18μm. The dimensions above are actual dimensions except for the focal length.

As previously stated, the effect of the present invention is to eliminate the need for a cover glass typically required for microlens arrays, such as single microlens arrays (SML) or double microlens arrays (DML), and thus the present invention The invention facilitates the thinning of microlens arrays. Another effect is that the mechanical stress applied to the microlens array is reduced due to the installation of the microlens array with a flattened surface in the liquid crystal panel. Therefore, the present invention facilitates the manufacture of high-efficiency and high-precision microlens arrays, and at the same time facilitates the improvement of the yield and performance of the microlens arrays.

Another function of the present invention is to realize a liquid crystal display device with a double microlens array structure, wherein one microlens array is arranged on the opposite substrate side, and the other microlens array is arranged on the TFT substrate side. Such a display device is advantageous in improving the effective aperture ratio and the utilization efficiency of light emitted from a light source, thereby improving luminance. Applying the liquid crystal display device according to the present invention to a projector can reduce the size of the projector and reduce the cost of the projection lens.

Since the TFT large-size substrate is divided by partially cutting the TFT large-size substrate to form a V-shaped groove, and then completely cutting the large-size substrate at the V-shaped-groove, it is possible to chamfer a single substrate. Such chamfered individual substrates are beneficial in preventing cracks and notches in the TFT thin substrates, thereby improving yield and quality. Therefore, according to the present invention, damage due to static electricity and cracking of the TFT thin substrate can be prevented during the polishing of the TFT thin substrate with optically suitable single-side polishing, thereby improving yield and quality.

While preferred embodiments of the invention have been described in technical terms, such description is for purposes of illustration only, and it will be understood that modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Claims (22)

1. liquid crystal display device with panel construction comprises:

Driving substrate has formed pixel electrode and the switching device that drives described pixel electrode at least on it;

The subtend substrate has formed counter electrode at least on it; And

Liquid crystal layer is inserted between described driving substrate and the described subtend substrate, and wherein two substrates is bonded into and makes described pixel electrode relative with described counter electrode and leave a specific gap therebetween;

Wherein on described subtend substrate, assemble the microlens array of forming by the lenticule of arranging with the X-Y scheme of the described pixel electrode array pattern of correspondence at least; And

Wherein said microlens array has the back side that joins described subtend substrate to and the front surface of leveling; And

Described counter electrode is formed on the leveling front surface of described microlens array by diaphragm.

2. according to the liquid crystal display device of claim 1; wherein; after being pre-formed on the leveling front surface that described diaphragm on supporting is adhered to described microlens array, remove described support described diaphragm is exposed, and described counter electrode being formed on the diaphragm of described exposure.

3. according to the liquid crystal display device of claim 1, wherein said diaphragm is by Al ₂O ₃, a-DLC, TiO ₂, TiN or Si make.

4. according to the liquid crystal display device of claim 1, wherein said microlens array has dual structure, comprises being arranged on away from described liquid crystal layer one side, as first lenticule of collector lens be arranged near described liquid crystal layer one side, basically as second lenticule of field lens; And

Distance between each described second lenticular principal point and the described liquid crystal layer is set to 10 μ m or the littler interior value of scope.

5. projector comprises:

Light source is used to launch light;

Liquid crystal display device has the function of optical modulation incident light; And

Projecting lens is used for the light of projection through described liquid crystal display device modulation;

Described liquid crystal display device has panel construction, comprising:

Driving substrate has formed pixel electrode and the switching device that drives described pixel electrode at least on it;

The subtend substrate has formed counter electrode at least on it; And

Liquid crystal layer is inserted between described driving substrate and the described subtend substrate, and wherein this two substrates is bonded into and makes described pixel electrode relative with described counter electrode and leave a specific gap therebetween;

Wherein on described subtend substrate, assemble the microlens array of forming by the lenticule of arranging with the X-Y scheme of the described pixel electrode array pattern of correspondence at least; And

Wherein said microlens array has the back side that joins described subtend substrate to and the front surface of leveling; And

Described counter electrode is formed on the leveling front surface of described microlens array by diaphragm.

6. manufacture method with liquid crystal display device of panel construction, this liquid crystal display device comprises:

First substrate, have the switching device that has formed pixel electrode on it at least and driven described pixel electrode front surface and with this front surface opposing backside surface;

Second substrate, have the front surface that formed counter electrode on it at least and with this front surface opposing backside surface; And

Liquid crystal layer is inserted between described first and second substrates, and wherein this two substrates is bonded into and makes described pixel electrode relative with described counter electrode and leave a specific gap therebetween;

Wherein by two-dimensional arrangements, first microlens array formed to the lenticule on the described pixel electrode of converging ray is formed on one of described first and second substrates respectively; And

By two-dimensional arrangements, make that be focused at light on the described pixel electrode respectively passes second microlens array that lenticule wherein forms and be formed on in described first and second substrates another;

Described method comprises:

Adhesion step, the front surface of bonding base plate and each described first and second substrate;

Polishing step, under the state that described substrate is fixed by described base plate, the back side of polishing described substrate is to reduce the thickness of described substrate;

Bonding step is higher or lower than the transparent optical resin of described substrate refractive index by refractive index, a corresponding polished back face to described substrate in bonding described first and second microlens arrays; And

Strip step is peeled off described base plate and is cleaned described substrate from the front surface of described substrate, thereby corresponding microlens array is attached to the back side of described substrate.

7. according to the manufacture method of the liquid crystal display device of claim 6, also comprise segmentation procedure, if one of described at least first and second substrates are the multi-chip module substrates that has corresponding to the zone of a plurality of panels, then described multi-chip module is divided into the single substrate of corresponding separate panels;

Wherein, after being attached on the described multi-chip module substrate by described adhesion step, polishing step, bonding step and strip step corresponding to the corresponding one in described first and second microlens arrays a plurality of panels, a plurality of, described multi-chip module substrate is divided into the single substrate of corresponding separate panels in the suitable stage.

8. according to the manufacture method of the liquid crystal display device of claim 7, one in wherein said first and second substrates is the multi-chip module substrate that has corresponding to the zone of a plurality of panels, and another is the single chip module substrate; And

Wherein, describedly be formed on the described multi-chip module substrate corresponding to corresponding one in first and second microlens arrays a plurality of panels, a plurality of;

Described multi-chip module substrate is divided into the single substrate of corresponding separate panels immediately in described segmentation procedure;

Preparation combines one described single chip module substrate corresponding in described first and second microlens arrays in advance; And

From described multi-chip module substrate cut apart and the described single substrate that comes with man-to-man relation with described single chip module substrate overlapping and leave certain interval therebetween, will be mounted on the separate panels.

9. according to the manufacture method of the liquid crystal display device of claim 7, one in wherein said first and second substrates is the multi-chip module substrate that has corresponding to the zone of a plurality of panels, and another is the single chip module substrate; And

Wherein, be formed on the described multi-chip module substrate corresponding to the corresponding one in described first and second microlens arrays a plurality of panels, a plurality of;

Preparation combines one described single chip module substrate corresponding in described first and second microlens arrays in advance;

Described single chip module substrate is assembled on the described multi-chip module substrate; And

The described multi-chip module substrate that has assembled described single chip module substrate is divided into separate panels in described segmentation procedure.

10. according to the manufacture method of the liquid crystal display device of claim 7, one in wherein said first and second substrates is the multi-chip module substrate that combines the corresponding one of a plurality of described first and second microlens arrays that are used for a plurality of panels, and in described first and second substrates another also is another the multi-chip module substrate that combines a plurality of described first and second microlens arrays that are used for a plurality of panels; And

Wherein said multi-chip module substrate overlaps each other and leaves certain interval therebetween, will be mounted on the panel pedestal of corresponding a plurality of panels; And

Described panel pedestal is divided into separate panels in described segmentation procedure.

11. according to the manufacture method of the liquid crystal display device of claim 7, wherein said segmentation procedure comprises:

The first blockage cutting step by the cutting of first blockage, along described multi-chip module substrate is divided into the defined border of separate panels, partly cuts described multi-chip module substrate, has the groove of V-shape xsect with formation; And

The second blockage cutting step fully cuts described groove by the cutting of second blockage, thereby forms the single substrate with the end face of cutting sth. askew.

12. the manufacture method according to the liquid crystal display device of claim 6 further comprises:

The orientation step, after in described strip step, peeling off described base plate and clean described substrate from the front surface of described substrate, in the temperature range of not damaging the thermal resistance that is combined in the described microlens array on the described substrate, on the exposure front surface of described substrate, form and be used for the both alignment layers of the described liquid crystal layer of orientation.

13. the manufacture method according to the liquid crystal display device of claim 6 further comprises:

The orientation step forms on the front surface of described substrate and is used for the both alignment layers of the described liquid crystal layer of orientation;

Wherein, described orientation step was carried out before described microlens array is attached on the described substrate back by described adhesion step, polishing step, bonding step and strip step.

14. according to the manufacture method of the liquid crystal display device of claim 6, wherein said polishing step is to be suitable for level by optics to play one or both or multiple combination of wiping, particulate sandblast, chemical-mechanical polishing and chemical etching and carry out.

15. manufacture method according to the liquid crystal display device of claim 6, wherein at described polishing step, the thickness of the described substrate of attenuate is come at the back side of polishing described substrate by following manner, promptly, at described first and second substrates of assembling in panel the time, make as each lenticular focus of described second microlens array of field lens corresponding to each lenticular principal point as described first microlens array of collector lens.

16. according to the manufacture method of the liquid crystal display device of claim 6, wherein said bonding step comprises:

The optical glass material that has a low-refraction by processing prepares the step of the described microlens array of being made up of the lenticule plane that is arranged in X-Y scheme; And

Described microlens array is navigated on the polished back face of described substrate, described microlens array is overlapped at this place also leave certain interval betwixt, the transparent optical resin that is higher or lower than described substrate refractive index with refractive index is filled this gap, and the step of solidifying this transparent optical resin.

17. according to the manufacture method of the liquid crystal display device of claim 16, wherein said bonding step comprises:

Be fixed to described microlens array and keep certain interval therebetween with the back side of encapsulant with described substrate polishing, the transparent optical resin that is higher or lower than described substrate refractive index with refractive index is filled this gap, and the step that seals this gap.

18. according to the manufacture method of the liquid crystal display device of claim 16, wherein this lenticule planar shaped becomes the shape of sphere, aspheric surface or Fresnel face.

19. the manufacture method according to the liquid crystal display device of claim 6 further comprises:

Cleaning step, for again-utilize described base plate, in described strip step, clean the described base plate of being stripped from as waste.

20. the manufacture method according to the liquid crystal display device of claim 6 further comprises:

Preliminary step, with in described first and second microlens arrays corresponding one be attached on described second substrate; With

Installation step is assembled to described second substrate that combines described microlens array on the front surface of described first substrate;

Wherein said adhesion step comprises the step that described base plate is adhered to the front surface side of described second substrate on the front surface that is assemblied in described first substrate;

Described polishing step is included in described panel is polished the back side of described first substrate down by the fixing state of described base plate step; And

Described bonding step comprises a corresponding step that bonds to the polished back face of described first substrate in described first and second microlens arrays.

21. according to the manufacture method of the liquid crystal display device of claim 20, wherein said polishing step comprises:

In the step that is used for the back side of described first substrate of polishing under the state that the outside a plurality of terminals that connect remain on same potential that is formed on described first substrate.

22. according to the manufacture method of the liquid crystal display device of claim 20, wherein said adhesion step comprises:

Described second substrate-side of described panel is installed to the described base plate that is fixed on the polishing platen that is used for described polishing step.

Images