Display Panel Insulating Layer Concavity and Protrusion
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Solution Overview
Problem
The manufacturing of liquid crystal display panels is costly and inefficient due to the need for complex processes and the accumulation of excess liquid crystals in recessed insulating layers, which affects the uniformity of the cell gap and display quality.
Innovation Solution
A display panel design featuring a concave insulating layer over the storage electrode and a protruding portion on the opposite substrate to reduce liquid crystal accumulation, combined with a simplified manufacturing method using fewer masks to pattern the thin film transistors, thereby maintaining a uniform cell gap and reducing manufacturing costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the insulating layer is recessed to increase storage capacitor capacitance, then the storage capacitor's capacitance increases, but the amount of liquid crystal filled in the recessed portion increases, affecting cell gap uniformity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating a protruding portion only in the specific region where the insulating layer is recessed (directly above the storage electrode), while maintaining the original insulating layer thickness in other regions. This localized structural modification increases storage capacitor capacitance without uniformly affecting the entire cell gap, thus resolving the contradiction between capacitance enhancement and cell gap uniformity.
2Manufacturing precision
If a five mask process is used to pattern thin film transistor components, then manufacturing precision is improved, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the patterning of multiple thin film transistor components (active layer, ohmic contact layer, and source/drain electrodes) into a single mask process. By combining these separate patterning steps into one unified process, the patent reduces manufacturing complexity and the number of masks required while maintaining the necessary patterning precision through proper mask design and alignment.
3Reliability
If the insulating layer is recessed to increase storage capacitor capacitance, then the storage capacitor's capacitance increases, but manufacturing cost increases due to additional process steps
Solution Approach 1:
The patent reduces manufacturing cost by applying the recessed insulating layer structure only locally above the storage electrode rather than across the entire substrate. This localized approach minimizes the amount of additional material and processing required while still achieving the necessary capacitance increase, thereby reducing overall manufacturing cost.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the formation of the protruding portion with the existing insulating layer deposition and patterning processes, integrating multiple functions into single manufacturing steps. This merging of processes eliminates the need for separate additional steps to create the protruding portion, thereby reducing manufacturing cost while maintaining the storage capacitor capacitance enhancement.
Data Source
AI summary
A display panel and a method of manufacturing the same in which a storage electrode is formed on a first base substrate, and an insulating layer is formed on the first base substrate to cover the storage electrode. The insulating layer is recessed directly above the storage electrode. A pixel electrode faces the storage electrode and is formed on the insulating layer. A protruding portion is formed on a second base substrate facing the first base substrate. The protruding portion protrudes toward a concaved portion of the insulating layer.