CN100428002C - Device for automatically repairing liquid crystal display - Google Patents

Abstract

A device for automatically repairing a liquid crystal display comprises at least a data line and a scan line. A protective layer is formed on the data line and the scan line, and a plurality of contact holes and a conductive layer are formed on the protective layer. When the data line or the signal line is broken, the signal can automatically avoid the broken area via the contact hole structure and the conductive layer, thereby achieving the purpose of automatically repairing the liquid crystal display.

Description

Device for automatically repairing liquid crystal displays

technical field

The invention relates to a structure for repairing a liquid crystal display, and in particular to a device for automatically repairing a liquid crystal display.

Background technique

In recent years, due to the progress of flat panel display technology, the development of related industries has been caused. Among them, thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) has characteristics such as lighter weight, thinner volume, and low power consumption compared with traditional kinescope display, so that the application range of thin film transistor display is very wide. A TFT liquid crystal display is to manufacture a large number of TFT units on a display glass substrate to form an array. However, the number of transistors on the array is very large, and in order to control these transistors and the pixel electrodes on them, the wiring of the entire glass substrate is also very complicated. Some errors or omissions may occur in the process during the production process, resulting in defects such as disconnection of the scan line (Gate/Scan line) or data line (Data/Source line) on the array, so in order to reduce costs and improve process yield , various methods of repairing broken wires or other defects have been proposed.

A common method is to make a plurality of annular repair lines (repair lines) around the array to solve the above problems. Please refer to FIG. 1 , which is a schematic diagram of a glass substrate with multiple circular repair lines. There are a plurality of horizontal scan lines 102 and vertical data lines 104 in the array 100 on the glass substrate, and a plurality of annular repair lines 106 around the array.

When there is a disconnected area 108 on the data line 104 , the transistors below the disconnected area 108 cannot operate because they cannot receive signals. At this time, a circular repair line 106 is selected to repair the broken line area 108 . By welding the upper and lower cross points of the ring-shaped repair line 106 and the data line 104 that produces the broken line area 108 to form a welding point 110, the signal of the data line 104 will be transferred to the broken line by the ring-shaped repair line 106 Below the area 108, the display area below the broken line area 108 can work normally.

If the data line 104 and the scan line 102 form a leak point at the intersection, that is, when the data line 104 and the scan line 102 contact each other at the intersection, signals will interfere with each other. The method of repairing this kind of missing is also the same as the method of repairing the broken line. By welding the two intersections of the annular repair line 106 and the data line 104 that produces the leakage point, it forms a welding point 110, and cuts off an appropriate distance from the top and bottom of the leakage point. The data line 104. Let the signal of the data line 104 avoid this leakage point, and use the loop repair line to transmit the data instead.

However, the glass substrate repaired by this method requires a long transmission path for the signal to be transmitted to the transistor, which is prone to serious signal delay (RC time delay); and the repair action requires a large-area panel to be moved, which will cause a decrease in production efficiency. ; In addition, the ring-shaped repair line structure needs to occupy an area for wiring, which reduces the utilization rate of the glass substrate.

Based on the above problems, how to make the signal do not need to go through a long transmission path after repairing, and how to lay out ring-shaped repairing lines without wasting the area of the glass substrate is the goal pursued by various panel manufacturers today.

Contents of the invention

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a device for repairing a liquid crystal display, so that the signal does not need to go through a long transmission path after repairing, and does not need to waste the area of the glass substrate for laying out ring-shaped repairing lines.

Based on the above purpose, a device for automatically repairing a liquid crystal display is proposed, which includes a wire, a protective layer, a plurality of contact holes, and a conductive layer. A protective layer is placed over the wires. The contact hole is located in the protective layer on the wire and extends down to contact the wire. The conductive layer is covered on the protection layer, forms a parallel structure with the wire, and is connected with the wire through the contact hole. When the wire is disconnected, the signal can be transmitted through the conductive layer instead. Wherein the wire is a scan line or a data line.

Therefore, the present invention has the advantage of forming a plurality of contact holes and conductive layers on the data line or the scanning line through an array process. When a disconnection occurs, the signal can be automatically passed through the conductive layer to avoid the disconnected area, so that the signal can be repaired. Afterwards, there is no need to go through a long transmission path, and there is no need to waste the area of the glass substrate to lay out the ring-shaped repair line to increase the utilization rate of the glass substrate, automatically repair the broken line, improve the yield, and do not need to move the large-area panel for the broken line Repair can greatly increase production efficiency.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a glass substrate with multiple ring-shaped repair lines.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of an automatic repair liquid crystal display according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional structure diagram of the scanning line along line I-II in FIG. 1 according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a liquid crystal display panel according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention if the scanning lines and the data lines are in contact with each other.

FIG. 5 shows a plane structure diagram of an automatic repair liquid crystal display according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a liquid crystal display panel according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention if the scanning lines and the data lines are in contact with each other.

Symbol Description:

100: array on glass substrate

102: scan line

104: data line

106: Circular repair line

108: Disconnect area

110: welding point

200: display area

202: pixel electrode

204: scan line

206: data line

208: Contact hole

210: conductive layer

300: Scan line profile structure

302: glass substrate

304: Gate insulating layer

306: protective layer

308: Disconnect area

402: leak point

500: display area

502: pixel electrode

504: scan line

506: data line

508: Data line contact hole

510: scan line contact hole

512: Data line conductive layer

514: scan line conductive layer

602: Leak point

Detailed ways

Two embodiments of automatically repairing the liquid crystal display structure are proposed below. The data line, the transmission line, and the formation method of the whole structure in each embodiment are the array technology of the known thin film liquid crystal display, so no more details are given when describing the embodiment. Only the relative positions and functions of structural components are described. Those skilled in the art can consider their needs and change some structural settings or materials to match the process or other design parameters.

First embodiment:

The first embodiment illustrates that in the present invention, the protection layer on the scan line covers a complete and continuous conductive layer. There are a plurality of contact holes extending downwards to contact the data lines on the protection layer. And the conductive layer and the data line form a parallel structure, and are connected with the data line through the contact hole. When the scanning line is broken, the signal can be redirected to the upper conductive layer to automatically avoid the broken line area. When a leakage point occurs, the signal is diverted to the upper conductive layer by cutting the scanning line to avoid the leakage point.

Please refer to FIG. 2 , which shows a plane structure diagram of an automatic repair liquid crystal display according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2 , the pixel electrode 202 can be made of other materials with similar properties such as Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) or Indium Zine Oxide (IZO). The pixel electrodes 202 are surrounded by scan lines 204 and data lines 206 . The scan lines 204 and the data lines 206 are located on different planes without contacting each other, wherein the data lines 206 are located above the scan lines 204 and cross across the scan lines 204 . Both the scan lines 204 and the data lines 206 are covered with a protective layer (not shown in the figure). In this embodiment, a plurality of contact holes 208 and a conductive layer 210 are further formed on the protection layer in the area of the scan lines 204 . The conductive layer 210 is made of the same material as the pixel electrode 202 , and the conductive layer 210 is not in contact with the pixel electrode 202 . For the convenience of reading, in this embodiment, the conductive layer 210 and the contact hole 208 formed in the protective layer on the scanning line 204 are simply represented as the conductive layer 210 and the contact hole 208 respectively.

In order to clearly describe the structure of this embodiment and the signal transmission process, it will be explained with FIG. 3 . FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional structure diagram 300 of the scan line 204 along the line I-II in FIG. 2 , and it is assumed that the scan line 204 has a broken line region 308 . Scanning lines 204 are first formed on the glass substrate 302 . A gate insulating layer 304 is formed above the scan line 204 . Next, the data lines 206 are formed on the gate insulating layer 304 . The data lines 206 and the scanning lines 204 are formed on the glass substrate 302 and perpendicularly intersect with each other. The gate insulating layer 304 is separated therebetween, so they are not connected to each other. That is, the data line 206 is located on the scan line 204 and crosses the scan line 204 .

Afterwards, a protection layer 306 is formed to cover the data lines 206 and the scan lines 204 . The protective layer 306 can be an inorganic protective layer, an organic protective layer, or a multilayer structure composed of an inorganic protective layer and an organic protective layer. Then form a plurality of contact holes 208 on the protection layer 306, and extend downwards to the scanning lines 204. In this embodiment, the contact holes 208 are only formed on the protection layer 306 in the range of the scanning lines 204, and the scanning lines 204 and data lines Contact hole 208 is not formed at the intersection of 206 . Finally, a conductive layer 210 is formed on the passivation layer 306 and the contact hole 208 in the area of the scan line 204 .

When the scan line 204 forms a broken line region 308 due to a process error or omission, the signal that should be transmitted by the scan line 204 cannot continue to be transmitted by the scan line 204 . However, the setting of the contact hole 208 allows the conductive layer 210 and the scanning line 204 to be connected to each other, and the signal of the scanning line 204 that cannot pass through the broken line will automatically flow along the conductive layer 210 in the contact hole 208 to the conductive layer above the protective layer 306 210. After flowing through the broken line region 308 , it flows back to the scan line 204 through another contact hole 208 , so that the broken line region 308 can be avoided.

Under normal circumstances, the impedance of the scanning line 204 is smaller than that of the conductive layer 210, and most signals will not choose to flow through the channel of the conductive layer 210, but when the scanning line 204 produces a broken line area 308, the scanning line 204 is broken here. The impedance of the area 308 becomes infinite, and the signal will automatically flow through the upper conductive layer 210 through the disconnection area 308 , and then flow back to the scan line 204 through the contact hole 208 .

Applying the same working principle, it can also be used to repair the abnormal situation where the scan line 204 contacts the data line 206 . Please refer to FIG. 4 . FIG. 4 shows the same area as in FIG. 2 , and assumes a situation where a leakage point 402 is generated.

At this time, the scan line 204 and the data line 206 may contact each other at the intersection of the scan line 204 and the data line 206 due to uneven formation of the gate insulating layer 304 or other process factors, resulting in a leak point 402, resulting in a gap between the two lines. An abnormal situation where signals interfere with each other. At this time, as long as the appropriate power laser is used to cut off the appropriate scanning line 204 around the leakage point 402 from the bottom of the glass substrate, the signal of the scanning line 204 will automatically pass through the upper conductive layer 110, so that the problem can be solved because the two lines are in contact with each other. , resulting in an abnormal situation where the signals interfere with each other.

In addition to being applied to scan lines, this embodiment can also be applied to data lines. At this time, the contact holes are located in the protection layer on the data lines and extend downward to contact the data lines. The conductive layer is formed above the protective layer in the area of the data line, so that the conductive layer covers the protective layer on the data line, forms a parallel structure with the data line, and is connected to the data line through the contact hole. When the data line is disconnected, according to the same principle, the data line signal will be automatically transferred to the conductive layer to avoid the disconnected area. If the data line and the scanning line are in contact with each other, resulting in leakage points that make the signal abnormal, use Laser with appropriate power can solve the problem of signal abnormality by cutting off the appropriate data lines above and below the leakage point.

Second embodiment:

The second embodiment is to cover the protective layer on the scan line and the data line with a conductive layer at the same time, so that when the scan line or the data line is disconnected, the conductive layer can be used to automatically avoid the disconnection area, and when the leakage point occurs When the data line is cut, the signal is redirected to the upper conductive layer to avoid the leakage point.

Please refer to FIG. 5 , which shows a structural diagram of an automatic repair liquid crystal display according to a second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5 , the pixel electrode 502 may be made of other materials with similar properties such as ITO or IZO. The pixel electrode 502 is surrounded by scan lines 504 and data lines 506 . The structure of the scan line 504 and the data line 510 is the same as that of the previous embodiment, they are located on different planes without contacting each other, and the data line 510 crosses the scan line 504 . Both the scan lines 504 and the data lines 506 are covered with a protective layer (not shown in the figure), and the protective layer can be an inorganic protective layer, an organic protective layer, or a multilayer structure composed of an inorganic protective layer and an organic protective layer.

In this embodiment, a plurality of contact holes 508 , 510 and a conductive layer 512 , 514 are formed above the protection layer in the range of the scan line 504 and the data line 510 . The conductive layers 512 , 514 are made of the same material as the pixel electrode 202 , and the conductive layers 512 , 514 are not electrically connected to the pixel electrode 502 . For the convenience of reading, in this embodiment, the conductive layer 514 and the contact hole 510 of the protective layer formed on the scan line 504 are respectively represented by the scan line conductive layer 514 and the scan line contact hole 510, which are formed on the data line 506. The conductive layer 512 of the passivation layer and the contact hole 508 are represented by the data line conductive layer 512 and the data line contact hole 508 respectively.

In this embodiment, the data line conductive layer 512 is a complete and continuous structure, and the scan line conductive layer 514 is a discontinuous structure. The scanning line conductive layer 514 is not electrically connected to the data line conductive layer 512, the scanning line conductive layer 514 only covers the scanning line 504 range between the two data lines 506, and the scanning line conductive layer 514 is conductive to the data line. The minimum distance between the layers 512 is the distance that does not create an electrical connection. Because most of the structural settings of this embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment, only the configuration of the scanning line conductive layer 514 is changed, and the data line conductive layer 512 and the data line connection hole 508 are added. The difference from the first embodiment can be described, so the cross-sectional structure diagram of the scan line 504 or the data line 506 will not be described in detail.

When the data line 506 forms a disconnection area due to a process error or omission, the signal that should be transmitted by the data line 506 cannot continue to be transmitted by the data line 506 . However, the setting of the data line contact hole 508 allows the data line conductive layer 512 and the data line 506 to be connected to each other. to the data line conductive layer 512 above the protective layer. After the signal flows through the disconnection area, it will flow back to the data line 506 through another data line contact hole 508, so that the disconnection area can be avoided.

Under normal circumstances, the impedance of the data line 506 is smaller than the data line conductive layer 512, and most of the signals will not choose to flow through the data line conductive layer 512, but when the data line 506 produces a disconnected area, the data line 506 is here The impedance of the disconnection area becomes infinite, and the signal will automatically flow through the upper data line conductive layer 512 through the disconnection area, and then flow back to the data line 506 through the data line contact hole 508 . When the scanning line 504 has a broken line area, the scanning line contact hole 510 and the scanning line conductive layer 514 can also be set in the same way, so that the signal of the scanning line 504 can automatically avoid the broken line area, so as to automatically repair the liquid crystal display.

Applying the same working principle, it can also be used to repair the abnormal situation where the scan line 504 contacts the data line 506 . Please refer to FIG. 6. FIG. 6 shows the same area as that in FIG. 5, but the scan line 504 and the data line 506 may intersect with each other at the intersection due to uneven growth of the insulating layer or other process factors. contact, a leakage point 602 is generated, resulting in an abnormal situation in which the signals of the two lines interfere with each other. At this time, as long as the appropriate power laser is used to cut off the appropriate data line 506 above and below the leakage point 602 from the bottom of the glass substrate, the signal of the data line 506 will automatically pass through the upper data line conductive layer 512, so that it can be solved. An abnormal situation in which signals interfere with each other due to contact with each other.

The feature of this embodiment is that the scan line conductive layer 514 and the data line conductive layer 512 are formed at the same time, and no matter when the data line 506 or the scan line 504 is disconnected, the disconnected area can be repaired automatically. Although the scan line conductive layer 514 is not a complete and continuous conductive layer, but in the array process, the scan line 504 is usually thicker and wider than the data line 506, and the probability of disconnection is much less than that of the data line 506. Therefore, selecting the data line conductive layer 512 to be a complete and continuous structure will greatly improve the process yield, that is to say, using this structure can almost completely provide automatic disconnection repair for the entire liquid crystal display.

From the above two preferred embodiments of the present invention, it can be seen that after applying the present invention to repair defects, the signal can cross the defect area without bypassing a long signal transmission path, and there is no need to additionally lay out the repair line area to increase glass. The utilization rate of the substrate can automatically repair broken wires, so the process rate can be improved, and there is no need to move large-area panels to repair broken wires, which can improve production efficiency.

Although the present invention has been disclosed above with preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Any person skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore The scope of protection of the present invention should be defined by the claims.

Claims (20)

1. the device of an auto-mending LCD comprises at least:

One lead;

One protective seam is positioned on this lead;

A plurality of contacts hole is arranged in the protective seam on this lead, and extends this lead of contact downwards; And

One conductive layer is formed on this protective seam, becomes by described contact hole and this lead to connect structure in the lump, and in order to when this conductor cord disconnection, a signal can be via this conductive layer transmission, and it is regional to avoid this broken string.

2. the device of auto-mending LCD as claimed in claim 1, wherein this lead is the one scan line.

3. the device of auto-mending LCD as claimed in claim 1, wherein this lead is a data line.

4. the device of auto-mending LCD as claimed in claim 1, wherein this protective seam is an inorganic protective layer, an organic protection layer, or the sandwich construction of this inorganic protective layer and this organic protection layer composition.

5. the device of auto-mending LCD as claimed in claim 1, wherein this auto-mending LCD device also comprises a plurality of pixel electrodes.

6. the device of auto-mending LCD as claimed in claim 5, wherein this conductive layer and described pixel electrode are same materials.

7. the device of an auto-mending LCD comprises at least:

The one scan line;

One data line is positioned at this sweep trace top, and intersects across this sweep trace;

One protective seam is positioned on this data line and this sweep trace;

A plurality of contacts hole is arranged in this protective seam on this data line, and extends this data line of contact downwards; And

One conductive layer is formed on this protective seam of this data line top, becomes by described contact hole and this data line to connect structure in the lump.

8. the device of auto-mending LCD as claimed in claim 7, wherein this protective seam is an inorganic protective layer, an organic protection layer, or the sandwich construction of this inorganic protective layer and this organic protection layer composition.

9. the device of auto-mending LCD as claimed in claim 7, wherein this auto-mending LCD device also comprises a plurality of pixel electrodes.

10. the device of auto-mending LCD as claimed in claim 9, wherein this conductive layer and described pixel electrode are same materials.

11. the device of an auto-mending LCD comprises at least:

The one scan line;

One data line is positioned at this sweep trace top, and intersects across this sweep trace;

One protective seam is positioned on this data line and this sweep trace;

A plurality of contacts hole is arranged in this protective seam on this sweep trace, and extends this sweep trace of contact downwards; And

One conductive layer is formed on this protective seam on this sweep trace, links to each other with this sweep trace by described contact hole.

12. the device of auto-mending LCD as claimed in claim 11, wherein this protective seam is an inorganic protective layer, an organic protection layer, or the sandwich construction of this inorganic protective layer and this organic protection layer composition.

13. the device of auto-mending LCD as claimed in claim 11, wherein this auto-mending LCD device also comprises a plurality of pixel electrodes.

14. the device of auto-mending LCD as claimed in claim 13, wherein this conductive layer and described pixel electrode are same materials.

15. the device of an auto-mending LCD comprises at least:

The one scan line;

One data line is positioned at this sweep trace top, and intersects across this sweep trace;

One protective seam is positioned on this data line and this sweep trace;

A plurality of contacts hole is formed in this protective seam, and extends this data line of contact and this sweep trace downwards; And

One conductive layer is formed on this protective seam, links to each other with this data line and this sweep trace by described contact hole, and the conductive layer on this sweep trace does not link to each other mutually with conductive layer on the data line.

16. the device of auto-mending LCD as claimed in claim 15, wherein this protective seam is an inorganic protective layer, an organic protection layer, or the sandwich construction of this inorganic protective layer and this organic protection layer composition.

17. the device of auto-mending LCD as claimed in claim 15, wherein this auto-mending LCD device also comprises a plurality of pixel electrodes.

The device of 18 auto-mending LCD as claimed in claim 17, wherein this conductive layer and described pixel electrode are same materials.

The device of 19 auto-mending LCD as claimed in claim 15, wherein this conductive layer will be if above the protective seam on complete this data line of continuous covering, then the conductive layer on this sweep trace will can not be covered on this data line and this sweep trace infall.

20. the device of auto-mending LCD as claimed in claim 15, wherein this conductive layer will be if above the protective seam on complete this sweep trace of continuous covering, then the conductive layer on this data line will can not be covered on this data line and this sweep trace infall.

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