DISPLAY PANEL, DISPLAY DEVICE, AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING DISPLAY PANEL

• US 20100085499A1
• Filed: 02/12/2008
• Published: 04/08/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/14/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Hirato, Shinichi
• Granted Patent: US 8,300,167 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 349/39
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/136213 Storage capacitors associated with the pixel electrode
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/136227 Through-hole connection of the pixel electrode to the active element through an insulation layer
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/136272 Auxiliary lines
• 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

A display panel includes: pairs of electrodes each forming an auxiliary capacitor (Cs2) by overlapping each other, wherein one electrode of each pair of the electrodes is an electrode (79) to have a picture element electrode potential, and the other one electrode of each pair of the electrodes is an auxiliary capacitor electrode (91); and auxiliary capacitor bus lines (CSLj+1) for applying voltages to the auxiliary capacitor electrodes (91), respectively each auxiliary capacitor electrode (91) being provided on an upper side of a corresponding auxiliary capacitor bus line (CSLj+1) in a film thickness direction and being connected with the corresponding auxiliary capacitor bus line (CSLj+1) through a contact hole (82), and each electrode (79) to have the picture element electrode potential being provided on an upper side of the auxiliary capacitor electrode (91) paired therewith, in the film thickness direction. This makes it possible to achieve a display panel in which the variation in the auxiliary capacitance within substrates can be minimized even if the auxiliary bus line is patterned by wet etching.

Claims

1. An active matrix type display panel comprising:

pairs of electrodes each forming an auxiliary capacitor by overlapping each other, wherein one electrode of each pair of the electrodes is an electrode to have a picture element electrode potential, and the other one electrode of each pair of the electrodes is an auxiliary capacitor electrode; and

auxiliary capacitor bus lines for applying voltages to the auxiliary capacitor electrodes, respectively

each auxiliary capacitor electrode being provided on an upper side of a corresponding auxiliary capacitor bus line in a film thickness direction and being connected with the corresponding auxiliary capacitor bus line through a contact hole, and

each electrode to have the picture element electrode potential being provided on an upper side of the auxiliary capacitor electrode paired therewith, in the film thickness direction.

2. The display panel according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary capacitor bus lines are formed in a same layer as scanning signal lines, in a laminated structure of the display panel.

3. The display panel according to claim 2, wherein the auxiliary capacitor bus lines are formed from a same material as that of the scanning signal lines.

4. The display panel according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary capacitor electrodes are formed in a same layer as data signal lines, in the/a laminated structure of the display panel.

5. The display panel according to claim 4, wherein the auxiliary capacitor electrodes are formed from a same material as that of the data signal lines.

6. The display panel according to claim 1, further comprising picture elements each of which includes a plurality of sub picture elements that share one scanning signal line and one data signal line, the sub picture elements each being provided with the auxiliary capacitors, respectively.

7. The display panel according to claim 6, wherein:

each picture element includes a first sub picture element and a second sub picture element as the plurality of sub picture elements, the first sub picture element and the second sub picture element being disposed adjacent with each other across the one scanning line along a panel surface,

the auxiliary capacitor bus lines are provided between the scanning signal lines, and

each picture element being adjacent with each other in such a manner that the first sub picture element of each picture element shares a corresponding auxiliary capacitor bus line with the second sub picture element of a picture element being adjacent to the picture element along a direction in which the data signal lines extend, the corresponding auxiliary capacitor bus line being provided between scanning signal lines respectively corresponding to the picture element and the picture element adjacent to the picture element along the direction.

8. The display panel according to claim 1, wherein:

the electrodes to have the picture element electrode potential are picture element electrodes, and

the display panel comprises;

a selective element per picture element; and

one or more insulating films between the picture element electrodes and the auxiliary capacitor electrodes, the one or more insulating films covering the selective elements from above.

9. The display panel according to claim 8, which is a liquid crystal display panel driven by a VA mode.

10. The display panel according to claim 1, wherein:

the electrodes to have the picture element electrode potential are auxiliary capacitor counter electrodes respectively connected with picture element electrodes therebelow via corresponding contact holes, and

the display panel comprises;

a selective element per picture element; and

one or more insulating films between the picture element electrodes and the auxiliary capacitor electrodes, the one or more insulating films covering the selective elements from above.

11. The display panel according to claim 10, which is a liquid crystal display panel driven by a TN mode.

12. The display panel according to claim 1, further comprising:

TFTs as the selective elements of the picture elements or as selective elements of picture elements,

wherein the contact holes connecting the auxiliary capacitor bus lines with the auxiliary capacitor electrodes respectively are formed in an insulating film or the one or more insulating films, and the insulating film or the one or more insulating films are part of a film constituting a gate insulating film of each TFT.

13. A display device comprising a display panel as set forth in claim 1.

14. A method for manufacturing a display panel as set forth in claim 1, the method comprising:

performing wet etching to pattern a first metal layer into scanning signal lines and the auxiliary capacitor bus lines, concurrently, the first metal layer being foamed on an insulating substrate;

forming a first insulating film on pattern surfaces of the auxiliary capacitor bus lines and the scanning signal lines;

forming a second metal layer on the first insulating film;

performing dry etching to the second metal layer, so as to pattern the second metal layer into data signal lines and the auxiliary capacitor electrodes, concurrently, and so as to connect the auxiliary capacitor electrodes with the auxiliary capacitor bus lines through contact holes of the first insulating film respectively; and

forming the electrodes to have the picture electrode potential, above the auxiliary capacitor electrodes in such a manner that the electrodes to have the picture electrode potential and the auxiliary capacitor electrodes sandwich a second insulating film.

15. A method for manufacturing a display panel as set forth in claim 1, the method comprising:

performing wet etching to pattern a first metal layer into scanning signal lines and the auxiliary capacitor bus lines, concurrently, the first metal layer being formed on an insulating substrate;

forming a first insulating film on pattern surfaces of the auxiliary capacitor bus lines and the scanning signal lines;

forming a second metal layer on the first insulating film, the second metal layer being a laminate film;

performing dry etching to at least a lowest-layer film of the second metal layer, so as to pattern the second metal layer into data signal lines and the auxiliary capacitor electrodes, concurrently, and so as to connect the auxiliary capacitor electrodes with the auxiliary capacitor bus lines through contact holes of the first insulating film respectively; and

forming the electrodes to have the picture electrode potential, above the auxiliary capacitor electrodes in such a manner that the electrodes to have the picture electrode potential and the auxiliary capacitor electrodes sandwich a second insulating film.

16. A method for manufacturing a display panel as set forth in claim 1, the method comprising:

forming a first insulating film on pattern surfaces of scanning signal lines and the auxiliary capacitor bus lines;

forming a second metal layer on the first insulating film, the second metal layer being a laminate film;

patterning the second metal layer into a metal layer pattern including patterns of the auxiliary capacitor electrodes; and

aligning a pattern of a transparent electrode to the metal layer pattern by a lens-scanning method or a stepper method with use of the metal layer pattern as a position reference, the transparent electrode and the metal layer pattern sandwiching a second insulating film therebetween.