Liquid crystal device having a polymer wall on another wall and surrounding a liquid crystal region and method for fabricating the same

• US 6,061,117 A
• Filed: 07/14/1997
• Issued: 05/09/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 10/14/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Okamoto, Masayuki, Yamada, Nobuaki, Shiomi, Makoto, Kozaki, Shuichi, Yamahara, Motohiro, Horie, Wataru
• Primary Examiner(s): Sikes, William L.
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGO, HUYEN LE
• Application Number:
  US08/892,047
• Time in Patent Office: 1,030 Days
• Field of Search: 349/156, 349/135, 349/86, 349/92, 349/94
• US Class Current: 349/156
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133371 Cells with varying thickness of the liquid crystal layer
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133377 Cells with plural compartments or having plurality of liquid crystal microcells partitioned by walls, e.g. one microcell per pixel
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/13394 spacers regularly patterned on the cell subtrate, e.g. walls, pillars G02F1/133377 takes precedence
• 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 liquid crystal device includes a pair of electrode substrates opposing each other, a polymer wall, and a liquid crystal region surrounded by the polymer wall, the polymer wall and the liquid crystal region being sandwiched by the pair of electrode substrates. At least one of a concave portion and a convex portion is formed on a surface of at least one of the pair of electrode substrates facing the liquid crystal region, and liquid crystal molecules are oriented in the liquid crystal region axial-symmetrically around the vicinity of the at least one of concave portion and convex portion as an axis vertical to the electrode substrates.

Claims

1. A method for fabricating a liquid crystal device, comprising the steps of:

fabricating a cell by forming a first wall on at least one of a pair of electrode substrates, forming at least one of a concave portion and a convex portion at a center portion of a region surrounded by the first wall or forming an alignment film having at least one of a concave portion and a convex portion at the center portion of the region surrounded by the first wall, and then disposing the pair of electrode substrates to oppose each other;

injecting a mixture of at least liquid crystal and a curable resin into the cell; and

phase-separating the liquid crystal from the curable resin by first heating the mixture to a homogeneously miscible temperature of the mixture and then gradually cooling the mixture, and curing the curable resin to form a polymer wall on the first wall.

2. A method for fabricating a liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the curable resin is cured while at least one of a voltage and a magnetic field is applied to the cell.

3. A method for fabricating a liquid crystal device according to claim 2, wherein active driving elements for driving the liquid crystal by applying a voltage to electrodes of the electrode substrates are formed on one of the pair of electrode substrates, and a gate driving signal voltage applied to the active driving elements at the curing of the curable resin is synchronous with a source driving signal voltage applied to the active driving elements, and a pulse width of the gate driving signal voltage is a half or less of a cycle of the source driving signal voltage.

4. The method for fabricating a liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein a height H of the first wall and a height h of the convex portion have a relation of H>

h.

5. A method for fabricating a liquid crystal device, comprising the steps of:

fabricating a cell by forming a first wall on at least one of a pair of electrode substrates, forming an alignment film having axial-symmetric orientation axes by phase-separating a mixed material containing two or more different types of polymer materials in a region surrounded by the first wall, and then disposing the pair of electrode substrates to oppose each other;

injecting a mixture of at least liquid crystal and a curable resin into the cell; and

phase-separating the liquid crystal from the curable resin by first heating the mixture to a homogeneously miscible temperature of the mixture and then gradually cooling the mixture, and curing the curable resin to form a polymer wall on the first wall.

6. A method for fabricating a liquid crystal device according to claim 5, wherein the curable resin is cured while at least one of a voltage and a magnetic field is applied to the cell.

7. A method for fabricating a liquid crystal device according to claim 6, wherein active driving elements for driving the liquid crystal by applying a voltage to electrodes of the electrode substrates are formed on one of the pair of electrode substrates, and a gate driving signal voltage applied to the active driving elements at the curing of the curable resin is synchronous with a source driving signal voltage applied to the active driving elements, and a pulse width of the gate driving signal voltage is a half or less of a cycle of the source driving signal voltage.