Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Hitoshi Kondo

Eiichi Ohta

Yuji Kimura

Katsuyuki Yamada

Kenji Kameyama

Masaetsu Takahashi

Makoto Tanabe

The present invention discloses a method of operating an active matrix liquid crystal display device having a liquid crystal layer between a pair of substrates and at least one active device to each of picture element electrodes on at least one of the substrates, so that a driving signal applied to a picture element electrode during one frame cycle is always on a side of a voltage having an identical polarity, which is substantially free from scattering in the display, can be operated at a low driving voltage and obtain high contrast.

Method of driving an LCD employing combining two voltages which change

A deposited multi-layer device of an electronic element and a plastic substrate on which an inorganic substance thin film layer is simultaneously formed on both surfaces of the substrate wherein each of the electronic element, plastic substrate and inorganic thin film have internal and thermal stress not equal to zero. The device is free from peeling, deformation or curl of the substrate and degradation due to impurities such as acid, alkali and water.

Deposited multi-layer device with a plastic substrate having an

An active matrix board comprising: an electrically insulating transparent substrate; a pixel electrode disposed in two dimensions on the substrate for each pixel; a scanning electrode arranged in common to the pixel electrodes disposed along a predetermined direction; and a switching element disposed between each of the pixel electrodes and the scanning electrode. The switching element is constituted from a thin film two-terminal element which is composed of a first conductor, a second conductor, and a hard carbon film. The hard carbon film is disposed between the first and second conductors. The element has a standard deviation of current distribution in a surface of the substrate when applied with a predetermined voltage which deviation is less than 35% of the current average.

Active matrix board

The invention is directed to an active matrix-type liquid crystal display using a horizontal MIM device as a non-linear resistance device. The layers of the metal-insulator-metal elements are formed in a horizontal direction and use a hard carbon film as the insulator layer of the horizontal MIM device. The hard carbon film comprises carbon and hydrogen and a constituent element such as a group III element, group IV element, group V element, alkali metal element, alkaline earth metal element, nitrogen atoms, oxygen atoms, chalcogen atoms or halogen atoms, and has typical specific resistivities of from 10.sup.4 to 10.sup.13 ohm.cm. The claimed devices are economical to produce and substantially free from short circuits caused by pinholes or voids in the insulator layer. In a preferred embodiment, the electrodes of the MIM device are inter-digital in shape.

Active matrix-type liquid crystal display containing a horizontal MIM

Disclosed herein is an MIM device having a hard carbon film as the insulator. The hard carbon film contains at least one of the following elements: a group III element, a group IV element, a group V element, an alkali metal element, an alkaline earth metal element, nitrogen, oxygen, a chalcogen element or a halogen element.

MIM element with a doped hard carbon film

A liquid crystal display has a liquid crystal layer supported by a pair of substrates therebetween; a transparent common electrode formed inside at least one of the substrates; and a plurality of transparent picture element electrodes respectively formed inside the at least one of the substrates and connected to each other through at least one active device; the transparent common electrode being disposed below one of the transparent picture element electrodes through an insulator layer; and the transparent common electrode being electrically connected to the transparent picture element electrodes adjacent to the one of the transparent picture element electrodes through the at least one active device. The transparent picture element electrodes are disposed such that the transparent picture element electrodes do not overlap the transparent common electrode.

Liquid crystal display

Disclosed herein is a liquid crystal display comprising liquid crystal material sandwiched between two substrates, a plurality of picture element electrodes disposed on at least one of the substrates, a lead electrode connected with the picture element electrodes by means of at least one conductor-insulator-conductor device, and a light-shielding layer disposed in a region other than the display region on at least one of the substrates, the insulator being a hard carbon film. The insulator may simultaneously serve as a light-shielding layer, wherein a hard carbon film having a thickness of 1100 to 8000 .ANG., a specific resistivity (.rho.) of 10.sup.6 to 10.sup.13 ohm cm, an optical band gap (Egopt) of 1.0 to 3.0 eV, a hydrogen amount in the film (C.sub.H) of 10 to 50 atom %, an SP.sup.3 /SP.sup.2 ratio of 2-4, a Vickers hardness of 2500 to 9500 kg.multidot.mm.sup.-2, a refractive index (n) of 1.9 to 2.4, a defect density of 10.sup.17 to 10.sup.19 cm.sup.-3, a specific dielectric constant of 2 to 6, and an average optical density in the visible ray region of not less than 0.5 is used.

Liquid crystal display with a light blocking film of hard carbon

A liquid crystal display device that includes a pair of transparent substrates between which a liquid crystal layer is disposed. A common electrode is formed on an inside of at least one of the substrates. A plurality of pixel electrodes are formed on an inside of at least one of the substrates. At least one MIM layered structure is connected to each of the pixel electrodes. A hard carbon film constitutes an insulator layer of the MIM structure.

LCD having obliquely split or interdigitated pixels connected to MIM

A thin film two terminal element comprises a lower metallic electrode disposed on an insulating substrate; an insulating film disposed on the insulating substrate and formed by a hard carbon film including at least one of amorphous and microcrystal properties with carbon and hydrogen atoms as a main structure forming element; and an upper metallic electrode disposed on the insulating substrate and formed by a metal having a standard free energy in the production of an oxide at a room temperature equal to or greater than that in the production of H.sub.2 O or CO.sub.2. The lower metallic electrode is disposed to partially overlap a transparent electrode and is formed by a metal having a standard electrode potential in an aqueous solution equal to or higher than that of the transparent electrode.

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Machida, Japan

Hitoshi Kondo