LCD Electrode Layer Integration for Wide-Viewing-Angle Panels
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional liquid crystal display devices with transverse electrical field types require multiple manufacturing steps and masks, increasing costs and complexity, while offering superior viewing angles compared to vertical electrical field types.
Innovation Solution
A liquid crystal display device structure where the transistor and liquid crystal element electrodes are formed in the same layer as the semiconductor film, allowing for a simpler manufacturing process with fewer masks and lower costs, while maintaining wide viewing angles by controlling liquid crystal molecule orientation with a transverse electrical field.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If pixel electrode or common electrode is formed using light-transmissive conductive film (ITO), then light transmission is improved, but the number of manufacturing steps and masks increases, and manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the pixel electrode or common electrode formation with the semiconductor film formation by using the same conductive film layer for both purposes. This eliminates the need for separate ITO electrode layers and their associated photolithography masks, reducing manufacturing complexity while maintaining light transmission properties through the conductive film.
Solution Approach 2:
The conductive film formed in the semiconductor processing step serves dual functions: as the semiconductor layer for transistor fabrication and as the pixel electrode or common electrode for liquid crystal control. This multi-functional approach eliminates redundant manufacturing steps while preserving the necessary electrical and optical functions.
2Illumination intensity
If pixel electrode or common electrode is formed using light-transmissive conductive film (ITO), then light transmission is improved, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the pixel electrode or common electrode formation with the semiconductor film formation by using the same conductive film layer for both purposes. This eliminates the need for separate ITO electrode layers and their associated photolithography masks, reducing manufacturing complexity while maintaining light transmission properties through the conductive film.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses the semiconductor film itself as a copy that serves dual purposes - as the active semiconductor layer and as the electrode layer. This eliminates the need for separate electrode materials like ITO, reducing material costs and manufacturing steps while maintaining the necessary electrical conductivity and optical transmission.
3Adaptability or versatility
If transverse electrical field is used to control liquid crystal molecules, then viewing angle is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases due to electrode structure requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the electrode structure with the transistor semiconductor layer, eliminating the need for separate complex electrode patterns. The interdigitated comb-shaped electrode structure is formed using the same conductive film and processing steps as the transistor gates and channels, simplifying the overall device structure while maintaining the transverse electrical field configuration necessary for wide viewing angles.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enables the production of liquid crystal display devices with wide viewing angles at reduced manufacturing costs and complexity, improving efficiency and reducing the number of manufacturing steps.
Implementation Method 1
A transverse electrical field is generated by a potential difference between these electrodes (one of interdigitated electrodes is a pixel electrode and the other is a common electrode), which moves liquid crystal molecules in a plane parallel to the substrate
Implementation Method 2
The liquid crystal molecules which are oriented parallel to the substrate (so-called homogeneous orientation) can be controlled in a direction parallel to the substrate; therefore, a viewing angle is increased
Data Source
AI summary
A pixel electrode or a common electrode is a light-transmissive conductive film; therefore, it is formed of ITO conventionally. Accordingly, the number of manufacturing steps and masks, and manufacturing cost have been increased. An object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor device, a liquid crystal display device, and an electronic appliance each having a wide viewing angle, less numbers of manufacturing steps and masks, and low manufacturing cost compared with a conventional device. A semiconductor layer of a transistor, a pixel electrode, and a common electrode of a liquid crystal element are formed in the same step.