Display panel, preparation method thereof and display device

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a display panel, a manufacturing method thereof and a display device. The display panel comprises a first substrate, a first spacer column disposed on one side of the first substrate, the first spacer column being located between two adjacent sub-pixel regions in a first direction and extending in a second direction, the first direction being the direction of the arrangement of the sub-pixel regions in a row, and the second direction intersecting the first direction; and a second substrate, the second substrate being disposed opposite the first substrate, the second substrate comprising a second substrate and a second spacer column disposed on the side of the second substrate facing the first substrate and extending in the first direction, the second spacer column abutting the first spacer column corresponding to the i-th row of sub-pixel regions and the first spacer column corresponding to the i+1-th row of sub-pixel regions. The total abutting area of the first spacer column and the second spacer column is not affected by the alignment deviation, which ensures the support strength and is conducive to maintaining the uniformity of the cell thickness.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the technical field of display, and in particular, to a display panel, a manufacturing method thereof, and a display device. BACKGROUND

[0002] With the development of virtual reality technology (VR technology), the demand for liquid crystal display is higher and higher. The liquid crystal display panel includes a first substrate and a second substrate arranged in a cell, and a spacer column is arranged between the first substrate and the second substrate, which is used to maintain the uniformity of the cell thickness. In order to increase the amount of display information, the resolution of the display product is higher and higher, and the pixel is smaller and smaller, and the influence of the spacer column on the aperture ratio of the product is increased. SUMMARY

[0003] Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a display panel, a manufacturing method thereof, and a display device to solve or alleviate one or more technical problems in the prior art.

[0004] As a first aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a display panel, comprising a plurality of rows of sub-pixel regions, and the display panel further comprises:

[0005] a first substrate, comprising a first substrate and a first spacer column arranged on one side of the first substrate, the first spacer column being located between two adjacent sub-pixel regions in a first direction, the first spacer column extending in a second direction, the first direction being the direction of arrangement of the sub-pixel regions in a row of sub-pixel regions, and the second direction intersecting the first direction;

[0006] a second substrate, arranged in a cell with the first substrate, the second substrate comprising a second substrate and a second spacer column arranged on the side of the second substrate facing the first substrate, the second spacer column extending in the first direction, the second spacer column abutting the first spacer column corresponding to the i-th row of sub-pixel regions, and the second spacer column abutting the first spacer column corresponding to the (i+1)-th row of sub-pixel regions, wherein i is a natural number greater than or equal to 1.

[0007] In some embodiments, the gap between the first spacer column corresponding to the i-th row of sub-pixel regions and the first spacer column corresponding to the (i+1)-th row of sub-pixel regions in the second direction is less than or equal to 0.

[0008] In some embodiments, the size of the first end surface of the second spacer column in the first direction is greater than or equal to the interval between two adjacent sub-pixel regions in the first direction, and the first end surface is the end surface of the second spacer column on the side facing the first substrate.

[0009] In some embodiments, the first substrate further comprises a light shielding layer, the light shielding layer is disposed on a side of the first base substrate facing the second substrate, the first spacer is located on a side of the light shielding layer facing the second substrate, a projection of the light shielding layer on the first base substrate does not overlap with a projection of the corresponding sub-pixel region on the first base substrate, and a projection of the first spacer on the first base substrate is located within the projection of the light shielding layer on the first base substrate.

[0010] In some embodiments, a distance between each edge of the projection of the first spacer on the first base substrate and a corresponding edge of the projection of the light shielding layer on the first base substrate is the same.

[0011] In some embodiments, the light shielding layer comprises a first light shielding strip and a second light shielding strip, the first light shielding strip extends along the first direction, the first light shielding strip is located between two adjacent rows of sub-pixel regions, the second light shielding strip extends along the second direction, and the second light shielding strip is located between two adjacent sub-pixel regions in the first direction.

[0012] A difference between a size of the second light shielding strip in the first direction and a size of the first spacer in the first direction is the same as a size of the first light shielding strip in the second direction.

[0013] In some embodiments, a size of the first spacer in the second direction is greater than a size of the sub-pixel region in the second direction, a distance between an edge of the first spacer parallel to the first direction and an edge of the corresponding first light shielding strip is half of the size of the first light shielding strip in the second direction.

[0014] A distance between an edge of the first spacer and an edge of the corresponding second light shielding strip is half of the size of the first light shielding strip in the second direction.

[0015] In some embodiments, a material of the light shielding layer comprises metal, a material of the first spacer comprises metal, and the material of the light shielding layer is different from the material of the first spacer.

[0016] In some embodiments, the light shielding layer is connected to a common electrode signal of the display panel.

[0017] In some embodiments, two adjacent rows of sub-pixel regions are staggered, and two adjacent rows of first spacers are staggered.

[0018] As a second aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method for manufacturing a display panel, the display panel comprising a plurality of rows of sub-pixel regions, the method comprising:

[0019] The method for manufacturing the display panel comprises: forming a first spacer on a side of a first base substrate, the first spacer being located between two adjacent sub-pixel regions in a first direction, the first spacer extending along a second direction, the first direction being a direction in which one row of sub-pixel regions is located, and the second direction intersecting the first direction.

[0020] The second substrate includes a second substrate and a second spacer column arranged on one side of the second substrate, and the second spacer column extends along the first direction;

[0021] The second substrate is aligned with the first substrate, the second spacer column abuts the first spacer column corresponding to the i-th row of sub-pixel regions, and the second spacer column abuts the first spacer column corresponding to the i+1-th row of sub-pixel regions, where i is a natural number greater than or equal to 1.

[0022] In some embodiments, the first substrate further includes a light shielding layer arranged on the side of the first substrate facing the first spacer column, and the first spacer column is arranged on the side of the light shielding layer facing the second substrate; the first spacer column is formed on the side of the first substrate, including:

[0023] The light shielding material layer and the spacer column material layer are sequentially deposited on the side of the first substrate;

[0024] A photoresist pattern is formed on the side of the spacer column material layer away from the first substrate, and the orthographic projection of the photoresist pattern on the first substrate coincides with the orthographic projection of the light shielding layer on the first substrate;

[0025] The spacer column material layer is etched by a wet etching process, and the remaining spacer column material forms the first spacer column, and the edge of the first spacer column is recessed by a preset distance relative to the corresponding edge of the photoresist pattern;

[0026] The light shielding material layer is etched by a dry etching process, and the light shielding material outside the region where the photoresist pattern is located is removed, and the light shielding material located in the region where the photoresist pattern is located forms the light shielding layer.

[0027] As a fourth aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a display device including the display panel in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0028] The technical solution of the present disclosure, when the second spacer column and the first spacer column have a misalignment deviation, the total abutting area of the second spacer column and the first spacer column can remain unchanged, ensuring that the total abutting area of the second spacer column and the first spacer column is not affected by the misalignment deviation, ensuring the support strength of the second spacer column and the first spacer column, and being conducive to maintaining the uniformity of the cell thickness.

[0029] The above summary is only for the purpose of the description and is not intended to limit in any way. In addition to the above described illustrative aspects, embodiments and features, further aspects, embodiments and features of the present disclosure will be readily apparent from the drawings and the following detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0030] In the drawings, like reference numerals refer to same or similar components throughout the several views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale. It should be understood that the drawings only depict some embodiments of the disclosure and should not be considered to be limiting of its scope.

[0031] Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of a display panel in a related art;

[0032] Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of a display panel in a related art;

[0033] Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of a display panel in an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0034] Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of a display panel in an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0035] Figure 5 is a plan view of a first substrate in a display panel in an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0036] Figure 6 is a plan view of a first substrate in a display panel in another embodiment;

[0037] Figure 7 is a plan view of a first substrate in a display panel in another embodiment;

[0038] Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view of a first substrate in a display panel in an embodiment of the disclosure; Figure 5

[0039] Figure 9A is a cross-sectional view of a first substrate after deposition of a spacer material layer in an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0040] Figure 9B is a cross-sectional view of a first substrate after formation of a photoresist pattern in an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0041] Figure 9C is a cross-sectional view of a first substrate after formation of a first spacer in an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0042] Figure 10 is a plan view of a first substrate in a display panel in an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0043] Figure 11 is a cross-sectional view of a display panel in a related art;

[0044] Figure 12 is a comparison of the size of an opaque pattern in a first substrate in a related art and a first substrate in an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0045] ​Reference Signs List

[0046] 10, first substrate; 11, first base substrate; 12, light shielding layer; 121, first light shielding strip; 122, second light shielding strip; 13, first spacer;

[0047] 20, second substrate; 21, second base substrate; 22, black matrix; 23, second spacer. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0048] Hereinafter, only certain exemplary embodiments will be described simply. As can be recognized by those skilled in the art, the described embodiments can be modified in various different ways, and different embodiments can be combined arbitrarily without conflict, without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the drawings and the description are considered to be exemplary in nature rather than limiting. The numerical range defined by "about" in the present disclosure refers to a range of ±20%, ±10%, ±5% of a given specific numerical value.

[0049] Figure 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a display panel in a related art, Figure 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a display panel in another related art. As shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2 shown, the display panel includes a first substrate 10 and a second substrate 20 disposed in a cell, the first substrate 10 can be an array substrate, and the second substrate 20 can be a color film substrate. In order to maintain the uniformity of the cell thickness, spacers (PS) are provided on the first substrate 10 and / or the second substrate 20. For example, Figure 1 In the related art, the surface of the second substrate 20 facing the first substrate 10 is provided with spacers 201, and there is a step at the position of the spacers 201. The step at the position of the spacers 201 will affect the coating of the alignment film, resulting in liquid crystal disorder at the position of the spacers after the cell is formed, and further resulting in light leakage. The size of the light leakage is related to the height of the spacers. In the related art, a black matrix can be used to shield the light leakage.

[0050] In order to reduce the size of the light leakage caused by the spacers, as shown in Figure 2 , first spacers 13 can be provided on the first substrate 10, and second spacers 23 can be provided on the second substrate 20, and the second spacers 23 abut against the first spacers 13 to support the cell thickness. Figure 2 In the structure shown, since the height of the first spacers 13 and the height of the second spacers 23 are both less than the height of the spacers in Figure 1 , the size of the light leakage of the display panel shown in Figure 2 is reduced compared with the display panel shown in Figure 1 .

[0051] For the display panel shown in Figure 2In the display panel shown, the second spacer pillar 23 abuts against the first spacer pillar 13 to support the cell thickness. The contact area between the second spacer pillar 23 and the first spacer pillar 13 is related to the supporting strength of the spacer pillar. When the first substrate 10 and the second substrate 20 have misalignment in the cell, or when the display panel is pressed, causing misalignment between the first substrate 10 and the second substrate 20, the second spacer pillar 23 and the first spacer pillar 13 will have misalignment, resulting in a reduction in the contact area between the second spacer pillar 23 and the first spacer pillar 13. This reduces the supporting strength of the second spacer pillar 23 and the first spacer pillar 13, and reduces the uniformity of the cell thickness.

[0052] Figure 3 This is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of a display panel according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 4 This is another cross-sectional view of the display panel in one embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 5 This is a plan view of the first substrate in a display panel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 5 The image also shows the projection of the first end face 231 onto the first substrate 10, where the first end face 231 is the end face of the second spacer post 23 facing the first substrate 10. Figure 3 It can be Figure 5 Schematic diagram of section AA in the diagram. Figure 4 It can be Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the BB section. (See diagram below.) Figure 3-5 As shown, the display panel includes multiple rows of sub-pixel areas 30, and the direction in which the sub-pixel areas in a row of sub-pixel areas 30 are arranged can be defined as a first direction X. The display panel includes a first substrate 10 and a second substrate 20, which are disposed opposite to each other.

[0053] like Figure 5 As shown, the first substrate 10 includes a first substrate 11 and a first spacer post 13 disposed on one side of the first substrate 11. The first spacer post 13 may be disposed on the side of the first substrate 11 facing the second substrate 20. The first spacer post 13 is located between two adjacent sub-pixel regions 30 in a first direction X, and the first spacer post 13 extends along a second direction Y, which intersects with the first direction X. Exemplarily, the second direction Y may be perpendicular to the first direction X.

[0054] It should be noted that, for the sake of clarity and conciseness, multiple sub-pixel regions arranged along the first direction X are referred to as a row of sub-pixel regions in this article. However, it should be understood that the direction of a row of sub-pixel regions is not limited to the horizontal direction. The row direction can be other directions, as long as the second direction Y intersects the first direction X.

[0055] like Figure 3-5As shown, the second substrate 20 includes a second base substrate 21 and a second spacer 23. The second spacer 23 is disposed on the side of the second base substrate 21 facing the first substrate 10, and extends along the first direction X. The second spacer 23 abuts against the first spacer 13 corresponding to the i-th row of sub-pixel regions, and abuts against the first spacer 13 corresponding to the (i+1)-th row of sub-pixel regions, where i is a natural number greater than or equal to 1. That is, the first end surface 231 contacts the end surface (i.e., the upper end surface) of the first spacer 13 corresponding to the i-th row of sub-pixel regions on the side of the first substrate 10, and contacts the upper end surface of the first spacer 13 corresponding to the (i+1)-th row of sub-pixel regions. In Figure 5 In the embodiment, the second spacer 23 abuts against the first spacer 13a corresponding to the i-th row of sub-pixel regions, and abuts against the first spacer 13b corresponding to the (i+1)-th row of sub-pixel regions,

[0056] In the display panel of the embodiment of the present disclosure, the first spacer 13 is located between two adjacent sub-pixel regions in the first direction X, and extends along the second direction Y; the second spacer 23 extends along the first direction X, and abuts against the first spacer 13a corresponding to the i-th row of sub-pixel regions, and abuts against the first spacer 13b corresponding to the (i+1)-th row of sub-pixel regions. That is, the second spacer 23 simultaneously abuts against the first spacer 13a and the first spacer 13b. Assuming that the abutting area of the second spacer 23 and the first spacer 13a corresponding to the (i+1)-th row of sub-pixel regions is S1, and the abutting area of the second spacer 23 and the first spacer 13b corresponding to the (i+1)-th row of sub-pixel regions is S2, then the total abutting area of the second spacer 23 and the first spacer 13 can be S1+S2.

[0057] In the display panel of the embodiment of the present disclosure, when the second substrate 20 and the first substrate 10 have a positional deviation, causing the second spacer 23 and the first spacer 13 to have a positional deviation in the second direction Y, since the second spacer 23 simultaneously abuts against the first spacer 13a corresponding to the i-th row of sub-pixel regions and the first spacer 13b corresponding to the (i+1)-th row of sub-pixel regions, and the first spacer 13 extends along the second direction Y, thus, as shown in FIG. 6, the second spacer 23 and the first spacer 13 have a positional deviation in the second direction Y, and the positional deviation of the second spacer 23 and the first spacer 13 in the second direction Y is smaller than the positional deviation of the second substrate 20 and the first substrate 10 in the second direction Y. Figure 5As shown, when the second spacer 23 moves upward relative to the first spacer 13, the contact area between the second spacer 23 and the first spacer 13a increases by ΔS1, and the contact area between the second spacer 23 and the first spacer 13b decreases by ΔS2. ΔS1 = ΔS2, and the total contact area between the second spacer 23 and the first spacer 13 remains S1 + S2. When the second spacer 23 moves downward relative to the first spacer 13, the contact area between the second spacer 23 and the first spacer 13a decreases by ΔS3, and the contact area between the second spacer 23 and the first spacer 13b increases by ΔS4. ΔS3 = ΔS4, and the total contact area between the second spacer 23 and the first spacer 13 remains S1 + S2.

[0058] Therefore, in the display panel of this embodiment, when the second spacer post 23 and the first spacer post 13 have a misalignment in the second direction Y, the total contact area between the second spacer post 23 and the first spacer post 13 can remain unchanged, ensuring that the total contact area between the second spacer post 23 and the first spacer post 13 is not affected by the misalignment, thus guaranteeing the support strength of the second spacer post 23 and the first spacer post 13 and helping to maintain the uniformity of the box thickness.

[0059] like Figure 5 As shown, in a row of sub-pixel regions, the first spacer pillar 13 is located between two adjacent sub-pixel regions; therefore, a row of sub-pixel regions can correspond to multiple first spacer pillars 13. The second spacer pillar 23 can abut against a first spacer pillar 13 corresponding to the i-th row of sub-pixel regions, and the second spacer pillar 23 can abut against a first spacer pillar 13 corresponding to the (i+1)-th row of sub-pixel regions. For example, in... Figure 5 In the middle, the first end face 231 abuts against the first spacer post 13a corresponding to the i-th row sub-pixel region, and the first end face 231 abuts against the first spacer post 13b corresponding to the (i+1)-th row sub-pixel region.

[0060] In one embodiment, such as Figure 5 As shown, adjacent rows of sub-pixel regions are staggered, and adjacent rows of first spacer pillars 13 are staggered. The first spacer pillars 13a and 13b that abut against the same second spacer pillar 23 are two adjacent first spacer pillars 13 in the first direction X among two adjacent rows of first spacer pillars 13. The first spacer pillars 13a and 13b are adjacent in the first direction X.

[0061] Figure 6 This is a plan view of the first substrate in a display panel according to another embodiment. Figure 6 The projection of the first end face 231 onto the first substrate 10 is also shown. (See figure) Figure 6As shown, the display panel can include a plurality of sub-pixel regions arranged in multiple rows and multiple columns. Two first spacers 13 abutting the same second spacer 23 are located between the same two columns of sub-pixel regions. As shown, Figure 6 The first spacer 13a and the first spacer 13b abutting the same second spacer 23 can be located between the same two columns of sub-pixel regions, and the first spacer 13a and the first spacer 13b are both located between the jth column and the (j+1)th column of sub-pixel regions.

[0062] In one embodiment, the gap between the first spacer 13 corresponding to the ith row of sub-pixel regions and the first spacer 13 corresponding to the (i+1)th row of sub-pixel regions in the second direction Y is less than or equal to 0. As shown, Figure 5 As shown, the gap between the first spacer 13a and the first spacer 13b in the second direction Y is less than or equal to 0. When the lower boundary of the first spacer 13a is flush with the upper boundary of the first spacer 13b, the gap between the first spacer 13a and the first spacer 13b in the second direction Y is equal to 0.

[0063] Figure 7 A plan view of the first substrate in another embodiment display panel is shown, Figure 7 The projection of the first end surface 231 on the first substrate 10 is also shown in FIG. 8. As shown, Figure 7 As shown, when the first spacer 13a and the first spacer 13b overlap in the first direction X, the gap between the first spacer 13a and the first spacer 13b in the second direction Y is less than 0.

[0064] Setting the gap between the first spacer 13 corresponding to the ith row of sub-pixel regions and the first spacer 13 corresponding to the (i+1)th row of sub-pixel regions in the second direction Y to be less than or equal to 0 can make the total abutting area of the second spacer 23 and the first spacer 13 in the second direction Y greater than or equal to the size of the first end surface 231 in the second direction Y, increase the total abutting area of the second spacer 23 and the first spacer 13, improve the support strength of the spacers, and be conducive to improving the box thickness uniformity.

[0065] In one embodiment, as shown, Figure 5As shown, the size L1 of the first end surface 231 in the first direction X is greater than or equal to the interval d1 between two adjacent sub-pixel regions in the first direction X. In this way, when the second spacer column 23 has a positional deviation in the first direction X relative to the first spacer column 13, for example, the second spacer column 23 moves to the right relative to the first spacer column 13, so that when the second spacer column 23 abuts against the first spacer column 13c, the abutting area of the second spacer column 23 and the first spacer column 13c increases from 0 to ΔS5, and the abutting area of the second spacer column 23 and the first spacer column 13a remains unchanged or decreases by ΔS6 (ΔS6≤ΔS5), so that when the second spacer column 23 moves to the right relative to the first spacer column 13, the total abutting area of the second spacer column 23 and the first spacer column 13 remains unchanged or increases. When the second spacer column 23 moves to the left relative to the first spacer column 13, the total abutting area of the second spacer column 23 and the first spacer column 13 remains unchanged or increases.

[0066] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the size L1 of the first end surface 231 in the first direction X is greater than or equal to the interval d1 between two adjacent sub-pixel regions in the first direction X, so that when the second spacer column 23 has a positional deviation in the first direction X relative to the first spacer column 13, the total abutting area of the second spacer column 23 and the first spacer column 13 can remain unchanged or increase, and the support strength of the second spacer column 23 and the first spacer column 13 is further ensured, which is beneficial to maintaining the uniformity of the cell thickness.

[0067] In one embodiment, as shown in Figure 3-5 The first substrate 10 further includes a light shielding layer 12, which is disposed on the side of the first base substrate 11 facing the second substrate 20. The first spacer column 13 is located on the side of the light shielding layer 12 facing the second substrate 20. The orthogonal projection of the light shielding layer 12 on the first base substrate 11 does not overlap with the orthogonal projection of the corresponding sub-pixel region on the first base substrate 11, that is, the light shielding layer 12 is located in the region outside the sub-pixel region. The orthogonal projection of the first spacer column 13 on the first base substrate 11 is located in the orthogonal projection of the light shielding layer 12 on the first base substrate 11. In this way, the light shielding layer 12 can reduce cross talk between adjacent pixels and improve display performance.

[0068] In one embodiment, as shown in Figure 5 The distance by which each edge of the first spacer column 13 is recessed inward relative to the corresponding edge of the light shielding layer 12 is the same; or the distance between each edge of the orthogonal projection of the first spacer column 13 on the first base substrate 11 and the corresponding edge of the orthogonal projection of the light shielding layer 12 on the first base substrate 11 is the same.

[0069] As Figure 5As shown, the light shielding layer 12 can include first light shielding strips 121 and second light shielding strips 122, the first light shielding strips 121 extend along the first direction X and are located between two adjacent rows of the sub-pixel regions 30, and the second light shielding strips 122 extend along the second direction Y and are located between two adjacent sub-pixel regions 30 in the first direction X. At least part of the first spacer column 13 is located in the second light shielding strip 122.

[0070] For example, the distance by which each edge of the first spacer column 13 is recessed inwardly relative to the corresponding edge of the light shielding layer 12 is the same, which can be understood as, for example, Figure 5 As shown, the distance between the left edge of the first spacer column 13 and the left edge of the corresponding second light shielding strip 122 is the first distance; the distance between the right edge of the first spacer column 13 and the right edge of the corresponding second light shielding strip 122 is the first distance; the distance between the upper edge of the first spacer column 13 and the upper edge of the corresponding first light shielding strip 121 is the first distance; and the distance between the lower edge of the first spacer column 13 and the lower edge of the corresponding first light shielding strip 121 is the first distance.

[0071] The difference between the size W1 of the second light shielding strip 122 in the first direction X and the size W2 of the first spacer column 13 in the first direction X is the same as the size W3 of the first light shielding strip 121 in the second direction Y.

[0072] For example, W1 can be about 2.6 μm, and W2 can be about 1 μm. The values of W1 and W2 can be set as needed and are not specifically limited herein.

[0073] For example, the orthographic projection of the first spacer column 13 on the first substrate 11 can be located within the two boundaries of the second light shielding strip 122 parallel to the second direction Y. The orthographic projection of the first end surface 231 on the first substrate 11 can be located within the orthographic projection of the first light shielding strip 121 on the first substrate 11. Thus, the first spacer column 13 and the second spacer column 23 do not affect the light transmittance of the display panel.

[0074] In one embodiment, the first spacer column 13 is centrally aligned with the second light shielding strip 122. The size L2 of the first spacer column 13 in the second direction Y is greater than the size L3 of the sub-pixel region in the second direction Y, the distance d3 between the edge of the first spacer column 13 parallel to the first direction X and the edge of the corresponding first light shielding strip 121 is half the size W3 of the first light shielding strip 121 in the second direction Y. The distance between the edge of the first spacer column 13 and the edge of the corresponding second light shielding strip 122 is half the size W3 of the first light shielding strip 121 in the second direction Y. That is, the distance by which each edge of the first spacer column 13 is recessed inwardly relative to the corresponding edge of the light shielding layer 12 is half the size W3 of the first light shielding strip 121 in the second direction Y.

[0075] The material of the light shielding layer 12 includes metal, and the material of the first spacer 13 can include metal. The material of the light shielding layer 12 can be different from the material of the first spacer 13. The material of the second spacer 23 can include an organic material.

[0076] The first substrate 10 in the embodiments of the present disclosure has the same distance of each edge of the first spacer 13 being recessed relative to the corresponding edge of the light shielding layer 12, so that the first spacer 13 can be manufactured by using a self-alignment process when the first spacer 13 is manufactured on the light shielding layer 12, the distance between the boundary of the light shielding layer 12 and the corresponding boundary of the first spacer 13 is ensured to be the same, the influence of process fluctuation on the size of the first spacer 13 is reduced, and then the influence of process fluctuation on the aperture ratio is reduced.

[0077] The light shielding layer 12 can be connected with a common electrode signal of the display panel, so that the light shielding layer 12 can serve as a common electrode layer of the first substrate 10.

[0078] The first substrate 10 can include a gate line and a data line, the gate line can extend along the first direction X, and the gate line can be located in the area where the first light shielding strip 121 is located. The data line can include a first sub-section and a second sub-section connected with each other, the first sub-section can be located in the area where the second light shielding strip 122 is located, and the second sub-section can be located in the area where the first light shielding strip 121 is located.

[0079] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the first substrate 10 can further include a black matrix 11. The black matrix 11 is located on the side of the first substrate 10 facing the second substrate 20, and the first spacer 13 is located on the side of the black matrix 11 away from the second substrate 20. The orthogonal projection of the first spacer 13 on the first substrate 10 is located in the orthogonal projection of the black matrix 11 on the first substrate 10. Figure 3 and Figure 4 As shown in FIG. 1, the second substrate 20 can further include a black matrix 22. The black matrix 22 is located on the side of the second substrate 21 facing the first substrate 10, and the second spacer 23 is located on the side of the black matrix 22 away from the second substrate 21. The orthogonal projection of the second spacer 23 on the second substrate 21 is located in the orthogonal projection of the black matrix 22 on the second substrate 21.

[0080] In one embodiment, the size L1 of the first end surface 231 of the second spacer in the first direction X is 6 μm, and the size W5 of the first end surface 231 in the second direction Y is about 1 μm. The size of the end surface of the second spacer on the side facing the second substrate in the first direction X is about 7 μm, and the size of the end surface of the second spacer on the side facing the second substrate in the second direction Y is about 2 μm. The size L5 of the black matrix 22 in the first direction X is about 10.1 μm, and the size W5 of the black matrix 22 in the second direction Y is about 5.1 μm. The height of the first spacer is about 0.6 μm, and the height of the second spacer is about 1.3 μm.

[0081] The embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a preparation method of a display panel including a plurality of rows of sub-pixel regions, and the method includes steps S11-S13.

[0082] In step S11, the first substrate 10 is prepared. This step can include: forming the first spacers 13 on one side of the first substrate 11, the first spacers 13 being located between two adjacent sub-pixel regions in the first direction X, the first spacers 13 extending along the second direction Y, the first direction X being the direction in which a row of sub-pixel regions is located, and the second direction Y intersecting the first direction X.

[0083] In step S12, the second substrate 20 is provided. The second substrate 20 includes the second substrate 21 and the second spacers 23 provided on one side of the second substrate 21, the second spacers 23 extending along the first direction X.

[0084] In step S13, the second substrate 20 is aligned with the first substrate 10, the second spacers 23 abutting the first spacers 13 corresponding to the i-th row of sub-pixel regions, and the second spacers 23 abutting the first spacers 13 corresponding to the i+1-th row of sub-pixel regions, where i is a natural number greater than or equal to 1.

[0085] In one embodiment, the first substrate 10 further includes the light-shielding layer 12 provided on the side of the first substrate 11 facing the first spacers 13, the first spacers 13 being located on the side of the light-shielding layer 12 facing the second substrate 20.

[0086] Forming the first spacers 13 on one side of the first substrate 11 includes: sequentially depositing a light-shielding material layer and a spacer material layer on one side of the first substrate 11; forming a photoresist pattern 40 on the side of the spacer material layer away from the first substrate 11, the photoresist pattern 40 having a normal projection on the first substrate 11 that coincides with the normal projection of the light-shielding layer 12 on the first substrate 11; etching the spacer material layer 13’ using a wet etching process, the remaining spacer material forming the first spacers 13, the edges of the first spacers 13 being recessed by a predetermined distance M relative to the corresponding edges of the photoresist pattern 40; and etching the light-shielding material layer using a dry etching process, the light-shielding material outside the region where the photoresist pattern 40 is located being removed, and the light-shielding material located in the region where the photoresist pattern 40 is located forming the light-shielding layer 12.

[0087] Figure 8 For Figure 5 , a C-C cross-sectional view is shown. The following will use Figure 8 as an example to further illustrate the preparation process of the first substrate 10. It should be understood that, as used herein, “patterned” includes processes such as coating photoresist, mask exposure, development, etching, and stripping photoresist when the material being patterned is inorganic or metal, and includes processes such as mask exposure and development when the material being patterned is organic. As used herein, evaporation, deposition, coating, and the like are all mature preparation processes in the relevant art.

[0088] A photoresist layer 12' is deposited on one side of the first substrate 11, and a spacer material layer 13' is deposited on the photoresist layer 12', as shown in Figure 9A Figure 9A The photoresist layer 12' can be made of a first metal, and the spacer material layer 13' can be made of a second metal. The first metal and the second metal are different.

[0089] A photoresist layer 12' is deposited on one side of the first substrate 11, and a spacer material layer 13' is deposited on the photoresist layer 12', as shown in Figure 9B Figure 9B The photoresist layer 12' can be made of a first metal, and the spacer material layer 13' can be made of a second metal. The first metal and the second metal are different.

[0090] The spacer material layer 13' is etched by a wet etching process. The remaining spacer material forms a first spacer 13. The edges of the first spacer 13 are recessed by a predetermined distance M relative to the corresponding edges of the photoresist pattern 40, as shown in Figure 9C Figure 9C The photoresist layer 12' can be made of a first metal, and the spacer material layer 13' can be made of a second metal. The first metal and the second metal are different.

[0091] The photoresist layer 12' is etched by a dry etching process. The photoresist pattern 40 is removed. The first substrate is shown in Figure 8 Figure 5 The photoresist layer 12' can be made of a first metal, and the spacer material layer 13' can be made of a second metal. The first metal and the second metal are different.

[0092] ​​​​It should be noted that during the wet etching process for the spacer pillar material layer, this wet etching process will not etch the light-shielding material layer. For example, the material of the light-shielding layer 12 may include a first metal, and the material of the first spacer pillar 13 may include a second metal. For instance, the first metal may be titanium (Ti), and the second metal may be molybdenum (Mo). A suitable wet etching process can be selected based on the materials of the first spacer pillar 13 and the light-shielding layer 12, so that the wet etching process can etch the spacer pillar material without etching the light-shielding layer material. The materials of the light-shielding layer 12 and the first spacer pillar 13 can be selected in conjunction with the wet etching process so that the wet etching process can etch the spacer pillar material without etching the light-shielding layer material.

[0093] The first substrate prepared using the method of the embodiments of this disclosure, such as Figure 5 As shown, the edges of the first spacer pillar 13 are recessed by the same distance relative to the corresponding edges of the light-shielding layer 12. The difference between the dimension W1 of the second light-shielding strip 122 in the first direction X and the dimension W2 of the first spacer pillar 13 in the first direction X is the same as the dimension W3 of the first light-shielding strip 121 in the second direction Y. The first spacer pillar 13 and the second light-shielding strip 122 are center-aligned. The dimension L2 of the first spacer pillar 13 in the second direction Y is greater than the dimension L3 of the sub-pixel region in the second direction Y. The distance d3 between the edge of the first spacer pillar 13 parallel to the first direction X and the corresponding edge of the first light-shielding strip 121 is half of the dimension W3 of the first light-shielding strip 121 in the second direction Y. The distance between the edge of the first spacer pillar 13 and the corresponding edge of the second light-shielding strip 122 is half of the dimension W3 of the first light-shielding strip 121 in the second direction Y. This configuration allows for self-alignment during wet etching, ensuring that the boundary of the first spacer pillar 13 is recessed by the same distance from the boundary of the light-shielding layer 12. This achieves W1-W2=W3, d3=W3*(1 / 2), and a preset distance M=W3*(1 / 2), guaranteeing that the first spacer pillar 13 and the second light-shielding strip 122 are aligned. This is beneficial for improving the dimensional accuracy of the light-shielding layer 12 and the first spacer pillar 13.

[0094] Figure 10 This is a plan view of the first substrate in a display panel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 10 The diagram also shows a schematic of the first end face 231 and the black matrix 22. The display panel has a real-world subpixel size of 6μm * 8μm (i.e., Figure 8For example, in the case of d4=6μm and L4=8μm, the size W1 of the second light shielding strip 122 in the first direction X is about 2.6μm, the size W3 of the first light shielding strip 121 in the second direction Y is about 1.6μm, the L2 of the first spacer 13 formed by the self-alignment process is about 1μm, and the W2 is about 8μm. Correspondingly, the size of the first end surface 231 of the second spacer 23 in the second direction Y is about 1μm, and the size of the first end surface 231 in the first direction X is about 6μm. The size W5 of the required black matrix 22 is about 5.1μm, and the size L5 is about 10.1μm. The density of the total contact area of the first spacer 13 and the second spacer 23 is set to be about 320μm 2 / mm 2 The opening rate of the display panel is about 37.8% by calculation.

[0095] Figure 11 is a schematic view of a cross section of a display panel in the related art, Figure 12 is a comparison schematic view of the size of the light shielding pattern in the first substrate in the related art and the first substrate in the present disclosure, Figure 12 shows the projection of the black matrix 22 on the first substrate 10 in the present disclosure and the projection of the light shielding layer 12 pattern in the related art, and in Figure 12 , the same resolution of the present disclosure and the related art is taken as the basis.

[0096] As shown in Figure 11 , the first substrate 10 includes a first substrate 11, a light shielding layer 12, and a first spacer 13, and the shape of the first spacer 13 is circular, and the shape of the second spacer 23 is circular. In the related art, the influence of the alignment deviation on the contact area of the first spacer 13 and the second spacer 23 needs to be considered. When the alignment deviation M2 is about 3μm and the diameter M1 of the first end surface 231 of the second spacer 23 is about 1μm, in order to ensure that the contact area of the first spacer 13 and the second spacer 23 remains unchanged within the alignment deviation, the diameter 2*M2+M1 of the first spacer 13 is about 7μm, and correspondingly, the size M4 of the light shielding layer 12 is at least about 8.6μm. Obviously, in Figure 11 the related art, for a group of mutually contacting first spacers 13 and second spacers 23, the maximum diameter D of the light shielding pattern is about 8.6μm; in the present disclosure, for a group of mutually contacting first spacers 13 and second spacers 23, the maximum size W5*L5 of the light shielding pattern is about 5.1μm*10.1μm, and therefore, for the convenience of comparison, the size of the light shielding layer 12 in the related art and the size W5*L5 of the black matrix 22 in the present disclosure are plotted in Figure 12 .

[0097] The density of the total contact area of the first spacer 13 and the second spacer 23 is set to be about 320μm2 / mm 2 The opening rate of the display panel is about 37.1% by calculation. When the alignment deviation is greater than 3 μm, the contact area of the first spacer pillar 13 and the second spacer pillar 23 becomes smaller, resulting in insufficient support force, and there is a risk of causing a cell gap deviation.

[0098] It can be seen from the above comparison that, under the same resolution and the same alignment deviation, compared with the related art, the technical solution of the present disclosure improves the opening rate of the display panel, and the alignment deviation does not cause the contact area of the first spacer pillar 13 and the second spacer pillar 23 to decrease, so that the contact area of the first spacer pillar 13 and the second spacer pillar 23 is not affected by the alignment deviation, ensuring the support strength of the first spacer pillar 13 and the second spacer pillar 23, and being conducive to maintaining the uniformity of the cell thickness.

[0099] In the Figure 11 , M3 is about 0.8 μm, the upper end surface diameter M5 of the second spacer pillar 23 is about 2 μm, the distance M6 between the upper end surface edge of the second spacer pillar 23 and the corresponding edge of the black matrix 22 is about 1.55 μm, and M7 is about 5.1 μm. Figure 12 The diameter D in the

[0100] The display device can be a liquid crystal display device.

[0101] The display device can be any product or component with display function, such as a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a television, a display, a notebook computer, a digital photo frame, a navigator, a virtual reality display device, etc.

[0102] In the description of the present disclosure, it should be understood that the orientations or positional relationships indicated by the terms “center”, “longitudinal”, “lateral”, “length”, “width”, “thickness”, “upper”, “lower”, “front”, “rear”, “left”, “right”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, “top”, “bottom”, “inner”, “outer”, “clockwise”, “counterclockwise”, “axial”, “radial”, “circumferential” are based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present disclosure and simplifying the description, and therefore cannot be understood as indicating or implying that the devices or elements referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as limiting the present disclosure.

[0103] In addition, the terms "first", "second", etc. are used herein only to describe different one of similar objects at different times and are not used to denote or imply relative importance or a number of indications of the technical features indicated. Thus, the features defined as "first", "second", etc. can explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of the present disclosure, the meaning of "a plurality of" is two or more, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited.

[0104] In the present disclosure, unless explicitly specified and limited, the terms "mounting", "connecting", "connecting", "fixing" and the like should be understood broadly, for example, it can be fixed connection, or detachable connection, or integrated; it can be mechanical connection, or electrical connection, or communication; it can be directly connected, or indirectly connected through intermediate medium, or the communication between two elements or the interaction relationship between two elements. For those skilled in the art, the specific meaning of the above terms in the present disclosure can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0105] In the present disclosure, unless explicitly specified and limited, the first feature "on" or "under" the second feature can include that the first and second features are in direct contact, or that the first and second features are not in direct contact but are in contact through another feature between them. Moreover, the first feature "on", "above" and "on" the second feature includes that the first feature is directly above and obliquely above the second feature, or only indicates that the first feature is higher than the second feature in horizontal height. The first feature "under", "below" and "below" the second feature includes that the first feature is directly above and obliquely above the second feature, or only indicates that the first feature is lower than the second feature in horizontal height.

[0106] The above disclosure provides many different implementations or examples to realize different structures of the present disclosure. In order to simplify the present disclosure, the components and settings of specific examples are described above. Of course, they are only examples, and the purpose is not to limit the present disclosure. In addition, the present disclosure can repeatedly refer to numbers and / or letters in different examples, and such repetition is for the purpose of simplification and clarity, which does not indicate the relationship between the various embodiments and / or settings discussed.

[0107] The above is only a specific implementation of the present disclosure, but the protection scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and any skilled person in the art can easily think of various changes or replacements within the technical scope disclosed by the present disclosure, which should be covered by the protection scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the protection scope of the present disclosure should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A display panel, characterized by, The display panel comprises a plurality of sub-pixel regions, and further comprises: A first substrate comprising a first base substrate and a first spacer column disposed on a side of the first base substrate, the first spacer column being located between two adjacent sub-pixel regions in a first direction, the first spacer column extending in a second direction, the first direction being a direction in which the sub-pixel regions are arranged in a row of sub-pixel regions, and the second direction intersecting the first direction; A second substrate disposed opposite the first substrate, the second substrate comprising a second base substrate and a second spacer column disposed on a side of the second base substrate facing the first substrate, the second spacer column extending in the first direction, the second spacer column abutting the first spacer column corresponding to an i-th row of sub-pixel regions, and the second spacer column abutting the first spacer column corresponding to an (i+1)-th row of sub-pixel regions, wherein i is a natural number greater than or equal to 1.

2. The display panel of claim 1, wherein, A gap between the first spacer column corresponding to the i-th row of sub-pixel regions and the first spacer column corresponding to the (i+1)-th row of sub-pixel regions in the second direction is less than or equal to 0.

3. The display panel of claim 1, wherein, A first end surface of the second spacer column in the first direction has a size greater than or equal to a spacing between two adjacent sub-pixel regions in the first direction, the first end surface being an end surface of the second spacer column facing the first substrate.

4. The display panel of any one of claims 1-3, wherein, The first substrate further comprises a light shielding layer disposed on a side of the first base substrate facing the second substrate, the first spacer column being located on a side of the light shielding layer facing the second substrate, a projection of the light shielding layer on the first base substrate has no overlap with a projection of the sub-pixel region on the first base substrate, and a projection of the first spacer column on the first base substrate is located within the projection of the light shielding layer on the first base substrate.

5. The display panel of claim 4, wherein, Distances between each edge of the projection of the first spacer column on the first base substrate and a corresponding edge of the projection of the light shielding layer on the first base substrate are the same.

6. The display panel of claim 4, wherein, The light shielding layer comprises a first light shielding strip and a second light shielding strip, the first light shielding strip extending in the first direction, the first light shielding strip being located between two adjacent rows of sub-pixel regions, the second light shielding strip extending in the second direction, and the second light shielding strip being located between two adjacent sub-pixel regions in the first direction; A difference between a size of the second light shielding strip in the first direction and a size of the first spacer column in the first direction is the same as a size of the first light shielding strip in the second direction.

7. The display panel of claim 6, wherein, A size of the first spacer column in the second direction is greater than a size of the sub-pixel region in the second direction, a distance between an edge of the first spacer column parallel to the first direction and an edge of the corresponding first light shielding strip being half of the size of the first light shielding strip in the second direction; A distance between an edge of the first spacer column and an edge of the corresponding second light shielding strip is half of the size of the first light shielding strip in the second direction.

8. The display panel of claim 4, wherein, The material of the light-blocking layer comprises a metal, the material of the first spacers comprises a metal, and the material of the light-blocking layer is different from the material of the first spacers.

9. The display panel of claim 8, wherein, The light-blocking layer is connected to a common electrode signal of the display panel.

10. The display panel of claim 1, wherein, Two adjacent rows of sub-pixel regions are staggered, and two adjacent rows of first spacers are staggered.

11. A method for manufacturing a display panel, characterized by, The display panel comprises a plurality of rows of sub-pixel regions, and the method comprises: Preparation of a first substrate comprises: forming first spacers on one side of a first substrate, the first spacers being located between two adjacent sub-pixel regions in a first direction, the first spacers extending in a second direction, the first direction being the direction of a row of sub-pixel regions, and the second direction intersecting the first direction; A second substrate is provided, comprising a second substrate and second spacers provided on one side of the second substrate, the second spacers extending in the first direction; The second substrate is matched with the first substrate, the second spacers abutting the first spacers corresponding to the i-th row of sub-pixel regions, and the second spacers abutting the first spacers corresponding to the i+1-th row of sub-pixel regions, wherein i is a natural number greater than or equal to 1.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein, The first substrate further comprises a light-blocking layer provided on the side of the first substrate facing the first spacers, and the first spacers are located on the side of the light-blocking layer facing the second substrate; Forming first spacers on one side of a first substrate comprises: Depositing a light-blocking material layer and a spacer material layer on one side of the first substrate in sequence; Forming a photoresist pattern on the side of the spacer material layer away from the first substrate, the orthographic projection of the photoresist pattern on the first substrate coinciding with the orthographic projection of the light-blocking layer on the first substrate; Etching the spacer material layer by a wet etching process, the remaining spacer material forming the first spacers, and the edges of the first spacers being recessed by a preset distance relative to the corresponding edges of the photoresist pattern; Etching the light-blocking material layer by a dry etching process, removing the light-blocking material outside the region where the photoresist pattern is located, and the light-blocking material located in the region where the photoresist pattern is located forming the light-blocking layer.

13. A display device comprising: The display panel of any one of claims 1-10.

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