Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Corporation

Junya Shimada

Tetsuo Kikuchi

Shinya Tanaka

Hajime Imai

Hideki Kitagawa

Mitsunori Imade

Chikao Yamasaki

Yoshihito Hara

Atsuhito Murai

Jun Nishimura

Kazunori Morimoto

Yoshiharu Kataoka

Masahiro Yoshida

Takuya Watanabe

Satoshi Horiuchi

Isao Ogasawara

Takao Matsumoto

A source and drain electrode layer () of an oxide TFT element () is formed by a first conductive layer. A gate electrode () of the oxide TFT element () and a gate electrode () of an a-Si TFT element () are formed by a single conductive layer, that is, a second conductive layer. A source and drain electrode layer () of the a-Si TFT element () is formed by a third conductive layer. The third conductive layer is formed above the second conductive layer in a thickness direction in which each conductive layer is stacked on an insulating substrate (). Further, the first conductive layer is formed below the second conductive layer in the thickness direction. Therefore, it is possible to provide a circuit board that can have an improved degree of integration of transistor elements formed on the insulating substrate.

Circuit board and display device

A circuit board () includes a plurality of transistor elements on an insulating substrate (). At least one of the plurality of transistor elements is an oxide TFT () including, as a channel layer (), an oxide semiconductor. At least one of the plurality of transistor elements is an a-SiTFT () (i) being different from the oxide TFT () in functions as circuit components and (ii) including, as a channel layer (), an amorphous silicon semiconductor. The oxide TFT () is a top gate transistor, and the a-SiTFT () is a bottom gate transistor. This provides: a configuration that can (a) enhance the performance of the circuit board equipped with the TFTs differing in their respective functions as circuit components and (b) reduce the area necessary for mounting the TFTs; and a method for producing the circuit board.

Circuit board and display device including first and second channel layers made of different semiconductor materials

Thin film transistors having a high current drive capability and a suitable threshold voltage are provided. The thin film transistor includes a gate electrode, an insulating layer formed on the gate electrode, a semiconductor layer formed on the insulating layer, and source/drain electrodes formed on the semiconductor layer. The semiconductor layer includes a plurality of regions separated from each other in a longitudinal direction of the source/drain electrodes.

Thin film transistor and shift register

The present invention is to provide a display panel and a display apparatus which can reduce the picture-frame area while sufficiently preventing the delay of signals by allowing a required amount of current to flow. The display panel of the present invention is a display panel which includes a circuit substrate, and an opposed substrate facing the circuit substrate, and which is featured in that the circuit section is arranged in the picture-frame area of the display panel, in that the circuit section includes trunk wiring, and branch wiring connected to the gate electrode or the source electrode of a transistor in the circuit section, and in that all or a part of the trunk wiring is provided on the opposed substrate, and the branch wiring is provided on the circuit substrate so as to be electrically connected to the trunk wiring via a conductor.

Display panel and display apparatus

A shift register is formed by connecting unit circuitsin multi-stage. One electrode of a capacitor Capin the unit circuitis connected to the gate terminal (node N) of a transistor T, and the other connected to a node N. A compensation circuit composed of transistors Tto Tprovides a clock signal CKB to the node Nwhen the node Npotential is at low level, and applies a low-level potential to the node Nwhen the node Npotential is at high level. Accordingly, even when the gate potential of the transistor Tchanges with a change in a clock signal CK, a signal that cancels out the change is provided through the capacitor Cap, stabilizing the gate potential of the transistor T. Thus, a change in the control terminal potential of an output transistor associated with a change in a clock signal is prevented.

Shift register

The present invention provides a shift register and a display device, each of which operates stably. The present invention relate to a shift register, comprising a thin-film transistor which includes a source electrode, a drain electrode, and a gate electrode, the thin-film transistor being a bottom gate thin-film transistor which includes a comb-shaped source/drain structure, the gate electrode being provided with at least one of a cut and an opening in at least one of a region overlapping with the source electrode and a region overlapping with the drain electrode.

Shift register and display apparatus

A signal distribution circuit () includes (i) a redundancy TFT element () provided so as to have a channel width identical to those of driving TFT elements (), (ii) first redundancy lines (), (iii) a second redundancy line (), and (iv) a third redundancy line (). It is therefore possible to provide a liquid crystal display device including the signal distribution circuit () in which, even in a case where a leaking part (a defect part) is generated in any of the driving TFT elements (), it does not take long to restore the leaking part, and productivity can be improved, the driving TFT elements () keeping respective channel widths identical to one another even after the leaking part is restored.

Display device

Transflective-type and reflection type liquid crystal display devices having a high image quality are provided with a good production efficiency. A liquid crystal display device according to the present invention is a liquid crystal display device which includes; a first substrate and a second substrate between which liquid crystal is interposed; a first electrode and a second electrode formed on the first substrate for applying a voltage for controlling an orientation of the liquid crystal; a transistor having an electrode which is electrically connected to the first electrode; a metal layer being formed on the first substrate and including a protrusion, a recess, or an aperture; and a reflective layer formed above the metal layer on the first substrate for reflecting incident light toward a display surface. The metal layer is made of a same material as that of a gate electrode of the transistor. The reflective layer includes a protrusion, a recess, or a level difference which is formed in accordance with a protrusion, a recess, or an aperture of the metal layer.

Liquid crystal display and method of manufacturing liquid crystal display

In a liquid crystal display device provided with a monolithic gate driver, a panel frame area is to be reduced as compared with a conventional configuration so that the device size can be reduced. In a region on an array substrate located outside of a display region, a third metal () is formed as a metal film in addition to a source metal () and a gate metal (). The source metal () forms a wiring pattern that includes source electrodes of thin film transistors disposed in a pixel circuit and a gate driver, and the gate metal () forms a wiring pattern that includes gate electrodes of the thin film transistors. The third metal () is electrically connected to at least one of the source metal () and the gate metal () through a contact.

Liquid crystal display device

A second stem wires (), formed by a reflective pixel electrode layer formed as a different layer from first stem wires (), is provided in such a way as to extend along a long side of its adjacent one of the first stem wires (). This makes it possible to achieve a TFT array substrate () on which a gate drive circuit () and its wires () have been monolithically formed, wherein the width of a frame part in which the a gate drive circuit () and its wires () are formed can be reduced.

Active matrix substrate and active matrix display device

The circuit board () of the present invention includes a plurality of transistor elements provided on a single insulating substrate () for respective pixels that are two-dimensionally arranged or respective pixels in a group of a predetermined number of the pixels. At least one of the plurality of transistor elements is an oxide TFT () having a channel layer () formed by an oxide semiconductor, and at least another of the plurality of transistor elements is an a-Si TFT () having a channel layer () formed by, for example, an amorphous silicon semiconductor. Each of the oxide TFT () and the a-Si TFT () is a bottom-gate transistor.

The present invention provides a circuit board with a reduced circuit area, and a display device comprising the circuit board and a narrower picture frame. The circuit board of the present invention comprises: a bottom gate thin film transistor comprising a first semiconductor layer, a first gate electrode, a first source electrode, and a first drain electrode; and a top gate thin film transistor comprising a second semiconductor layer, a second gate electrode, a second source electrode, and a second drain electrode, wherein the first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer are formed from the same material, and the first drain electrode or the first source electrode and the second gate electrode are connected without interposing any other thin film transistor therebetween, and have the same electric potential.

Provided is a shift register configured by cascade connecting unit circuits each including a bootstrap circuit. In at least one example embodiment, for the unit circuits, a time period during which a transistor is in an ON state and a clock signal is high level corresponds to a clock passing period. Among transistors whose one conduction terminal is connected to a gate of the transistor, channel lengths of transistors configured such that a low-level potential is fed to gates of the transistors to turn the transistors to an OFF state in the clock passing period and that a low-level potential is applied to the conduction terminal of the transistors in the clock passing period are made longer than the channel length of the transistor. With this, it is possible to reduce a leakage current in the clock passing period, and to prevent the fluctuation of a gate potential of the transistor and dullness in an output signal from occurring.

A liquid crystal display device has a plurality of pixels and a reflection section for reflecting incident light toward a display surface. The reflection section includes a metal layer having a plurality of apertures, and a reflective layer formed on the metal layer with an insulating layer interposed therebetween. A surface of the reflective layer includes a plurality of recesses or protrusions formed in accordance with a cross-sectional shape of the metal layer.

Liquid crystal display device and method of manufacturing liquid crystal display device

A liquid crystal display device according to the present invention includes a vertical alignment type liquid crystal layer. Each pixel electrode thereofhas a plurality of unit electrode portions, each of which has a conductive film and slitsthat have been cut through the conductive film. When a predetermined voltage is applied between the pixel electrode and a counter electrode, a liquid crystal domain is produced in association with each unit electrode portion and liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal domain come to have a substantially radially tilting alignment state. As a result, the device of the present invention achieves a wide viewing angle and a fast response characteristic.

Growing community of inventors

Osaka, Japan

Junya Shimada