Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Corporation

Jnc Corporation

Hiroaki Asagi

Isamu Miyake

Koichi Miyachi

Akira Hirai

Kiyoshi Minoura

Toshihiro Matsumoto

Fumitaka Kondo

Youichiro Ooki

Provided is a horizontal electric field mode reflective or transflective liquid crystal display device that achieves an increased reflectance. The liquid crystal display device sequentially includes: a first substrate; a first alignment layer; a liquid crystal layer containing liquid crystal molecules horizontally aligned with no voltage applied; a second alignment layer; and a second substrate including a pixel electrode and a common electrode, the liquid crystal display device further including a reflective layer disposed in at least part of a pixel at a position closer to a back surface than the first alignment layer, the liquid crystal layer, the second alignment layer, the pixel electrode, and the common electrode, at least one alignment layer of the first alignment layer or the second alignment layer having an azimuthal anchoring energy value of less than 1&#xd7;10J/m.

Liquid crystal display device

A liquid crystal display device of the present invention includes a thin-film transistor substrate, a counter substrate facing the thin-film transistor substrate, a liquid crystal layer provided between the thin-film transistor substrate and the counter substrate, an alignment film provided on the thin-film transistor substrate; a sealing material which bonds together the thin-film transistor substrate and the counter substrate at the periphery of the liquid crystal layer, and a polymerized layer provided on the liquid crystal layer-side surface of the alignment film. The alignment film contains a first polymer and a second polymer of a different type from that of the first polymer and is chemically bonded to the sealing material, the first polymer and the second polymer contained in the alignment film are mixed in a surface layer in contact with the liquid crystal layer, and the first polymer and the second polymer have different photo-functional groups.

A liquid crystal cell including multiple antenna units includes a TFT board that includes a first dielectric substrate, TFTs on the first dielectric substrate, and patch electrodes electrically connected to the TFTs, a slot board that includes a second dielectric substrate and a slot electrode having slots on the second dielectric substrate, a conductive alignment film having conductivity on at least one of the patch electrodes and the slot electrode, and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the TFT board and the slot board with the patch electrodes and the slot electrode facing each other. The liquid crystal layer includes liquid crystal molecules that are horizontally aligned with respect to the TFT board and the slot board while no voltage is being applied across the patch electrodes and the slot electrode.

Liquid crystal cell and scanning antenna

A scanning antennaaccording to the present invention is a scanning antennain which antenna units U are arranged, and includes a thin film transistor (TFT) substratethat includes a first dielectric substrate, TFTsand patch electrodessupported by the first dielectric substrate, and a first alignment film Mdisposed so as to cover the patch electrodesand other elements, a slot substratethat includes a second dielectric substrate, a slot electrodesupported by the second dielectric substrateand including slots, and a second alignment film Mdisposed so as to cover the slot electrode, a liquid crystal layer LC that is interposed between the TFT substrateand the slot substrateof which the alignment films Mand Mface each other, and a reflective conductive platethat is disposed so as to face an opposite surfaceof the second dielectric substratewith a dielectric layerinterposed therebetween. The first alignment film Mand the second alignment film Mare acrylic alignment films containing an acrylic polymer.

Scanning antenna and method of producing scanning antenna

A liquid crystal panel includes substrates, a liquid crystal layer between the substrates, a spacer provided on an opposite surface of one of the substrates, and an alignment film provided on an opposite surface of another substrate. The display surface is curved around a curved axis or formed to be bendable around the curved axis, and the spacer directly or indirectly abuts on the alignment film provided on the opposite surface of the other substrate. The alignment film is a horizontal alignment film that contains a polymer having an alkylene chain structure having two or more carbon atoms in a main chain and allows liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer to be aligned horizontally to the alignment film, and in the alignment film provided on the opposite surface of the other substrate, the polymer is aligned such that the alkylene chain structure extends parallel to the curved axis.

Liquid crystal panel and liquid crystal display device

A liquid crystal cell in which antenna units are arrayed includes a TFT substrate, a slot substrate, an alignment film, and a liquid crystal layer. The TFT substrate includes a first dielectric substrate, TFTs supported by the first dielectric substrate, and patch electrodes electrically connected to the TFTs. The slot substrate includes a second dielectric substrate and a slot electrode including slots supported by the second dielectric substrate. The alignment film is provided on a surface of at least either each of the patch electrodes or the slot electrode. The alignment film includes a metal oxide film at the foremost surface of the alignment film. The liquid crystal layer is sandwiched between the TFT substrate and the slot substrate and contains liquid crystal molecules that are aligned parallel to the TFT substrate and the slot substrate when no voltage is applied between the patch electrode and the slot electrode.

A scanning antenna is a scanning antenna in which antenna units are arranged, including a TFT substrate provided with a first dielectric substrate, a TFT, a gate bus line, a source bus line, patch electrodes, and a first alignment film covering the patch electrodes; a slot substrate provided with a second dielectric substrate, a slot electrode, and a second alignment film covering the slot electrode; a liquid crystal layer provided between the TFT substrate and the slot substrate; and a reflective conductive plate. The slot electrode includes slots disposed corresponding to each of the patch electrodes. A sealing portion includes a main sealing portion that defines at least one injection port. Given, among directions orthogonal to a sealing pattern of the main sealing portion in the injection port, a direction from the injection port toward the liquid crystal layer as a flow direction, and a region of the liquid crystal layer close to the injection port and including a region extending in the flow direction from the injection port as a first region, angles between the flow direction and each of an orientation direction regulated by the first alignment film in the first region and an orientation direction regulated by the second alignment film in the first region are 20&#xb0; or less or 160&#xb0; or greater.

Scanning antenna and method of manufacturing scanning antenna

The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device including a photo-alignment film and capable of sufficiently improving the display quality. The method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device of the present invention is a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device including a photo-alignment film. The method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device successively includes a step (1) of forming on a substrate a film from a photo-alignment-film material that contains a solvent, a polymer including a photo-functional group that is capable of causing at least one chemical reaction selected from the group consisting of photodimerization, photoisomerization, and photo-Fries rearrangement, and a polymer including a polyamic acid backbone and free from the photo-functional group; a step (2) of pre-heating the film to evaporate the solvent; a step (3) of irradiating the pre-heated film with polarized light; and a step (4) of main-heating the polarized-light-irradiated film. The liquid crystal display device is of an in-plane switching mode or a fringe field switching mode in each of which a pre-tilt angle is substantially 0&#xb0;.

Method for manufacturing liquid crystal display device

The present invention provides a method for producing a liquid crystal display device which can produce a liquid crystal display device with favorable voltage holding ratio reliability and reduced image sticking. The method is for producing a liquid crystal display device, which is a horizontal alignment-mode liquid crystal display device including a drive substrate provided with paired electrodes and a counter substrate, the method including: an application step of applying an alignment film material to the surface of each of the drive substrate and the counter substrate; a photo-alignment treatment step of irradiating the applied alignment film material with light; a post-baking step of baking the alignment film material having been subjected to the photo-alignment treatment to form an alignment film on the surface of each of the drive substrate and the counter substrate; and an additional irradiation step of irradiating the alignment films with light, the alignment film material containing a polymer with a (meth)acrylic backbone and a photo-functional group that undergoes a dimerization or cross-linking reaction by photo-irradiation, the additional irradiation step irradiating the alignment film formed on the surface of the counter substrate with an irradiation dose higher than the irradiation dose for the alignment film formed on the surface of the drive substrate.

Method for producing liquid crystal display device with favorable voltage holding ratio reliability and reduced image sticking

A liquid crystal display device () includes a first substrate () and a second substrate () opposing each other, and a liquid crystal layer () provided between the first substrate and the second substrate. At least one of the first substrate and the second substrate includes a horizontal alignment film () provided on a side closer to the liquid crystal layer. The liquid crystal display device further includes an alignment sustaining layer () provided between the horizontal alignment film and the liquid crystal layer, the alignment sustaining layer containing a polymerization product of a photopolymerizable compound. The photopolymerizable compound contains an acrylate group or a methacrylate group. The polymerization product in the alignment sustaining layer contains an acrylate group or a methacrylate group as a residue. The horizontal alignment film contains an acrylate group or a methacrylate group.

Liquid crystal display device and manufacturing method therefor

The present invention provides a liquid crystal display device that sufficiently reduces image sticking, by forming a polymer layer with stable alignment control appropriately. In a method for manufacturing the liquid crystal display device of the present invention, base film forming conditions are different between the step of forming a base film on a substrate including an active element and the step of forming a base film on a substrate different from the substrate including an active element.

Liquid crystal display device and method for manufacturing same

Provided is a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device that includes a photoalignment film. The photoalignment film is formed from a liquid crystal alignment agent, and aligns liquid crystal molecules horizontally to the main face of the at least one of the substrates. The liquid crystal alignment agent contains a solvent and at least two kinds of polyamic acids or their derivatives obtained by reacting diamine and tetracarboxylic dianhydride. At least two of the diamines and at least one of the tetracarboxylic dianhydrides are compounds represented by predetermined formulas. The method includes the steps of: (1) forming the film of the liquid crystal alignment agent; (2) pre-baking the film; (3) irradiating the pre-baked film with light; and (4) post-baking the irradiated film, the step (4) including an operation of post-baking the film multiple times at temperatures ranging from low to high temperatures.

Growing community of inventors

Sakai, Japan

Hiroaki Asagi