Liquid crystal display device and method of manufacturing the same

• US 20080143940A1
• Filed: 10/31/2007
• Published: 06/19/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Shibasaki, Masakazu, Tashiro, Kunihiro, Ueda, Kazuya, Tasaka, Yasutoshi, Yoshida, Hidefumi, Kamada, Tsuyoshi, Kobayashi, Tetsuya
• Application Number:
  US11/981,348
• Publication Number:
  US 20080143940A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 349/114
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133371 Cells with varying thickness of the liquid crystal layer
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133504 Diffusing, scattering, diffracting elements associated to illuminating devices G02F1/133606
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133555 Transflectors
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133638 Waveplates, i.e. plates with a retardation value of lambda/n
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133707 Structures for producing distorted electric fields, e.g. bumps, protrusions, recesses, slits in pixel electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/134336 Matrix
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/1393 the birefringence of the liquid crystal being electrically controlled, e.g. ECB-, DAP-, HAN-, PI-LC cells G02F1/1396, G02F1/141 take precedence

Abstract

The invention relates to a liquid crystal display device used as a display part of an information equipment and a method of manufacturing the same, and has an object to provide the liquid crystal display device which can obtain excellent display characteristics without raising the manufacture cost and the method of manufacturing the same. The liquid crystal display device includes a pair of substrates disposed to be opposite to each other, a liquid crystal sealed between the pair of substrates and aligned almost vertically to the substrate when a voltage is not applied, a pair of quarter-wave plates respectively disposed at outer sides of the pair of substrates, a pair of polarizing plates respectively disposed at outer sides of the pair of quarter-wave plates, and a pixel area including a reflection area provided with a reflecting plate having an almost flat reflecting surface and for reflecting light incident from one of the substrates, and a transmission area for causing light incident from the other of the substrates to be transmitted toward the one of the pair of substrates.

Claims

1. A liquid crystal display device, comprising:

a pair of substrates disposed to be opposite to each other;

a liquid crystal sealed between the pair of substrates and aligned almost vertically to the substrate when a voltage is not applied;

a pair of quarter-wave plates respectively disposed at outer sides of the pair of substrates;

a pair of polarizing plates respectively disposed at outer sides of the pair of quarter-wave plates; and

a pixel area including a reflection area provided with a reflecting plate having a reflecting surface and for reflecting light incident from one of the pair of substrates, and a transmission area for causing light incident from the other of the pair of substrates to be transmitted toward the one of the pair of substrates.

2. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, further comprising an optical scattering layer disposed at an outer side of the one of the pair of substrates.

3. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 2, wherein the optical scattering layer scatters only light incident at an incident angle in a specified range.

4. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein the reflecting plate is formed of a same formation material as an electrode of a thin film transistor formed in the pixel area.

5. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein the reflecting plate is one electrode of a storage capacitor or source/drain formed in the pixel area.

6. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein the reflecting plate is disposed to overlap with a pixel electrode formed in the pixel area when viewed in a direction vertical to a substrate surface.

7. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 6, wherein the reflecting plate is electrically connected to the pixel electrode.

8. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 6, wherein the reflecting plate is electrically separated from the pixel electrode.

9. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein the reflecting plate is disposed not to overlap with a pixel electrode formed in the pixel area when viewed in a direction vertical to a substrate surface.

10. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of the reflecting surface is formed of aluminum.

11. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 10, wherein the reflecting plate includes a conductive layer made of a material other than aluminum, and an aluminum layer which is formed as an under layer of the conductive layer and whose surface is exposed in an area where the conductive and/or the insulating layer is removed.

12. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 11, wherein a transparent electrode is formed to cover the aluminum layer.

13. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 11, wherein the conductive layer is a titanium layer.

14. A method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device, comprising the steps of:

forming an aluminum layer and a conductive layer made of a material other than aluminum in this order;

patterning the conductive layer and the aluminum layer;

forming an insulating layer on the patterned conductive layer; and

removing the insulating layer on the conductive layer to form an opening part, removing the conductive layer exposed through the opening part to expose the aluminum layer, and forming a reflecting surface of a reflecting plate.

15. A method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to claim 14, further comprising a step of forming a transparent electrode covering the aluminum layer.