Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to an anti-electrostatic device, a method for manufacturing the anti-electrostatic device and an array substrate including the anti-electrostatic device.
An array substrate of a liquid crystal display includes a pixel unit and a thin film transistor for driving the pixel unit. In general, during production of a thin film transistor, it may generate static electricity on different conductive layers of the thin film transistor due to friction and the like. An electrostatic breakdown phenomenon will occur if the static electricity has been accumulated to a certain degree. As a result, it will damage a pixel circuit on the array substrate due to short circuit.
In order to prevent the electrostatic breakdown phenomenon, it is generally necessary to form an anti-electrostatic device while manufacturing the thin film transistor, so as to avoid the electrostatic breakdown phenomenon between the different conductive layers.
As shown in
Thus, in the prior art, the electrostatic breakdown phenomenon is still present during the manufacture of the thin film transistor. The electrostatic breakdown can cause the pixel circuit on the array substrate in a display device to be damaged, and even cause the pixel circuit on the array substrate to be shorted, thereby the array substrate cannot work normally.
In addition, as shown in
The present disclosure aims to address at least one aspect of the above-described problems and defects in the prior art.
According to an objective of the present disclosure, there is provided an anti-electrostatic device, which is capable of eliminating potential differences between different conductive layers and effectively preventing electrostatic breakdown phenomenon between the different conductive layers.
According to another objective of the present disclosure, there is provided an anti-electrostatic device, which is capable of reducing a length of a via hole for connecting two conductive layers to each other and effectively reducing the probability of electrical open between the two conductive layers.
According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an anti-electrostatic device used in an array substrate of a liquid crystal display, comprising: a first conductive layer; a first insulation layer formed on the first conductive layer; a pattern formed on the first insulation layer, the pattern being formed in a same layer as an active layer of a thin film transistor in the array substrate and having an electric conductivity; an etching barrier layer formed on the pattern; a second conductive layer formed on the etching barrier layer and comprising a first portion and a second portion spaced apart from each other; a second insulation layer formed on the second conductive layer; and a third conductive layer formed on the second insulation layer, wherein the first portion and the second portion of the second conductive layer are respectively electrically connected to the pattern via a first via hole and a second via hole formed in the etching barrier layer, and respectively electrically connected to the third conductive layer via a third via hole and a fourth via hole formed in the second insulation layer; wherein one of the first portion and the second portion of the second conductive layer is electrically connected to the first conductive layer via a fifth via hole extending through the etching barrier layer and the first insulation layer.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an array substrate for a liquid crystal display comprising the above-described anti-electrostatic device.
According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method for manufacturing an anti-electrostatic device used in an array substrate of a liquid crystal display, comprising steps of:
forming a first insulation layer on a first conductive layer;
forming a pattern on the first insulation layer, the pattern being formed in a same layer as an active layer of a thin film transistor in the array substrate and having an electric conductivity;
forming an etching barrier layer on the pattern;
forming a first via hole and a second via hole extending through the etching barrier layer, and forming a fifth via hole extending through the etching barrier layer and the first insulation layer;
forming a second conductive layer on the etching barrier layer, wherein a first portion and a second portion of the second conductive layer are respectively electrically connected to the pattern via the first via hole and the second via hole, and one of the first portion and the second portion of the second conductive layer is electrically connected to the first conductive layer via a fifth via hole;
forming the second insulation layer on the second conductive layer;
forming the third via hole and the fourth via hole extending through the second insulation layer; and
forming the third conductive layer on the second insulation layer, wherein the third conductive layer is electrically connected to the first portion and the second portion of the second conductive layer via the third via hole and the fourth via hole.
In the anti-electrostatic device according to various above-described embodiments of the present disclosure, the second conductive layer is electrically connected to the first conductive layer via a single via hole, thus potential difference between the second conductive layer and the first conductive layer in the process of production may be timely eliminated, thereby effectively preventing the electrostatic breakdown phenomenon during the production process.
In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the pattern in the above-described anti-electrostatic device may be synchronously formed form the same or different materials while an active layer of a thin film transistor is manufactured, so that the electrostatic breakdown between different conductive layers may be avoided during the manufacture of the thin film transistor.
In addition, in the various above-described embodiments of the present disclosure, the via hole for connecting two conductive layers to each other only needs to extend through one insulation layer, therefore, it reduces the length of the via hole for connecting the two conductive layers to each other, and reduces the probability of electrical open between the two conductive layers.
Other objectives and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent and a comprehensive understanding of the present disclosure will be given upon the following description of the present disclosure with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The technical solution of the present disclosure will be described in further detail in view of the following embodiments, with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the specification, the same or similar reference numerals indicate the same or similar parts. The following description of embodiments of the present disclosure with reference to the accompanying drawings is intended to explain the general inventive concept of the present disclosure, but should not be construed as limiting the present disclosure.
In addition, in the following detailed description, for ease of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a comprehensive understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure. However, it will be apparent that one or more embodiments may also be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are illustrated by way of illustration to simplify the drawings.
According to a general concept of the present disclosure, there is provided an anti-electrostatic device used in an array substrate of a liquid crystal display, including: a first conductive layer; a first insulation layer formed on the first conductive layer; a pattern formed on the first insulation layer, the pattern being formed in a same layer as an active layer of a thin film transistor in the array substrate and having an electric conductivity; an etching barrier layer formed on the pattern; a second conductive layer formed on the etching barrier layer and comprising a first portion and a second portion spaced apart from each other;
wherein the first portion and the second portion of the second conductive layer are respectively electrically connected to the pattern via a first via hole and a second via hole formed in the etching barrier layer;
wherein one of the first portion and the second portion of the second conductive layer is electrically connected to the first conductive layer via a fifth via hole extending through the etching barrier layer and the first insulation layer.
According to the above-described structure, in contrast to the prior art, the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer may be electrically connected to each other before the third conductive layer is provided, thus it can eliminate potential differences between the above two different conductive layers and effectively prevent an electrostatic breakdown phenomenon between the different conductive layers.
With the above structure, a second insulation layer formed on the second conductive layer and a third conductive layer formed on the second insulation layer are further provided.
The first portion and the second portion of the second conductive layer are respectively electrically connected to the third conductive layer via a third via hole and a fourth via hole formed in the second insulation layer.
In this way, the structure in which the first conductive layer is directly electrically connected to the third conductive layer in the prior art is replaced with the structure in which the second conductive layer is electrically connected to the third conductive layer, in combination with the above-described structure in which the second conductive layer is electrically connected to the first conductive layer. Thus, a via hole of a relatively larger length is avoided, and the probability of electrical open between the third conductive layer and the first conductive layer is reduced.
In the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, an anti-electrostatic device used in an array substrate of a liquid crystal display is disclosed. As shown in
It should be noted that, the pattern 130 formed in the same layer as the active layer for TFT and having the electric conductivity herein refers to a pattern, which is structurally located at the same level as the active layer of the TFT, is made of the same or different materials from the active layer of the TFT, and has a certain electric conductivity. It is only sure that the pattern 130 has an ability to remove static electricity between the first conductive layer, the second conductive layer and/or the third conductive layer as the present disclosure proposes, but it does not need the pattern 130 to have an identical or similar electric conductivity to an excellent conductor.
For example, in general, the active layer for the TFT and the pattern 130 of the anti-electrostatic device may be formed by the same one manufacturing process, in this way, they are formed from the same materials by the same process. Therefore, the manufacturing process is simplified. Alternatively, the pattern 130 of the anti-electrostatic device may be formed of different materials from the active layer of the TFT if desired.
As shown in
Further referring to
In the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in
Although not shown, according to another general concept of the present disclosure, there is provided a substrate including the above-described anti-electrostatic device. The substrate further includes an array substrate having an array of thin film transistors.
Next, the method for manufacturing the anti-electrostatic device used in an array substrate of a liquid crystal display shown in
S110: forming the first insulation layer 120 on the first conductive layer 110, as shown in
S120: forming the pattern 130 on the first insulation layer 120, the pattern 130 being formed in a same layer as an active layer of a thin film transistor in the array substrate and having an electric conductivity, as shown in
S130: forming the etching barrier layer 140 on the pattern 130, as shown in
S140: forming the first via hole 10 and the second via hole 20 extending through the etching barrier layer 140, and forming the fifth via hole 50 extending through the etching barrier layer 140 and the first insulation layer 120, as shown in
S150: forming the second conductive layer 150 on the etching barrier layer 140, as shown in
S160: forming the second insulation layer 160 on the second conductive layer 150, as shown in
S170: forming the third via hole 30 and the fourth via hole 40 extending through the second insulation layer 160, as shown in
S180: forming the third conductive layer 170 on the second insulation layer 160, as shown in
In this way, the anti-electrostatic device as shown in
In the above-described manufacturing processes, as shown in
In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the above-described pattern in the anti-electrostatic device may be synchronously formed while the active layer of the thin film transistor is manufactured, so that the electrostatic breakdown between different conductive layers may be avoided during the manufacture of the thin film transistor, for example, the electrostatic breakdown between a source-drain layer and a gate electrode of the thin film transistor may be avoided during the manufacture of the thin film transistor.
In the various above-described embodiments of the present disclosure, as shown in
In the various above-described embodiments of the present disclosure, as shown in
In the above-described embodiments of the present disclosure, as shown in
Next, a method for manufacturing the anti-static device shown in
S210: a pixel electrode (such as an ITO layer) 202 is formed on a pixel region of the substrate 201; as shown in
S220: on the basis of the step S210, a gate layer covering the whole substrate 201 is formed, and the first conductive layer 110 in the lead jumper region, a gate electrode 210 in the TFT region, and part of a lead 203 on the pixel electrode 202 in the pixel region are formed by a process such as a gate mask, as shown in
S230: on the basis of the step S220, the first insulation layer 120 covering the whole substrate 201 is formed, and the pattern 130 in the lead jumper region and an active layer 230 in the TFT region are formed on the first insulation layer 120 by a patterning process, as shown in
S240: on the basis of the step S230, the etching barrier layer 140 covering the whole substrate 201 is formed. By means of etching the etching barrier layer 140, the first via hole 10, the second via hole 20, and the fifth via hole 50 extending through the etching barrier layer 140 and the first insulation layer 120 are formed in the lead jumper region, and the etching barrier layer 140 is etched to the active layer 230 in the TFT region to form a sixth via hole 60 and a seventh via hole 70, as shown in
S250: on the basis of the step S240, by means of a process such as depositing, a source and drain mask and so on, the second conductive layer 150 is formed in the lead jumper region, and a source-drain electrode layer 251 and 252 are formed in the TFT region, as shown in
S260: on the basis of the step S250, the second insulation layer 160 covering the whole substrate 201 is formed, and the third via hole 30 and the fourth via hole 40 extending through the second insulation layer 160 are formed in the lead jump region, and an eighth via hole 80 extending through the second insulation layer 160 is formed in the TFT region, as shown in
S270: on the basis of the step S260, an conductive layer is formed, and by means of a patterning process, the third conductive layer 170 is formed in the lead jumper region, and a common electrode 270 is formed in the pixel region. The third conductive layer 170 is electrically connected to the first portion 151 and the second portion 152 of the second conductive layer 150 via the third via hole 30 and the fourth via hole 40, and the common electrode 270 is connected to the drain electrode 252 in the TFT region via the eighth via hole 80.
In this way, the array substrate having the anti-electrostatic device shown in
It will be understood by those skilled in the art that, the above-described embodiments are illustrative, and modification may be made thereto by those skilled in the art, the structures described in the various embodiments can be freely combined without conflictions in structure and principle.
While the present disclosure has been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, the embodiments disclosed in the drawings are intended to be illustrative of the optional embodiments of the present disclosure, and are not construed as limiting the present disclosure.
While some embodiments of the present disclosure in accordance with general concept have been illustrated and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirits of the general concept of the present disclosure, and the scope of the present disclosure is defined by the claims and their equivalents.
It should be noted that the word “include” or “comprise” does not exclude other elements or steps, the word “a” or “an” does not exclude multiple items. In addition, any reference numerals in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present disclosure.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2016 1 0005081 | Jan 2016 | CN | national |
This application is a continuation-in-part of International Application No. PCT/CN2016/094107, filed on 9 Aug. 2016, and claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201610005081.3 filed on Jan. 5, 2016, entitled “ANTI-ELECTROSTATIC DEVICE AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME, AND SUBSTRATE” in the State Intellectual Property Office of China, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
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Entry |
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International Search Report and Written Opinion for International Application No. PCT/CN2016/094107, dated Oct. 31, 2016, 11 pages. |
English translation of International Search Report and Written Opinion for International Application No. PCT/CN2016/094107, dated Oct. 31, 2016, 13 pages. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20170293189 A1 | Oct 2017 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/CN2016/094107 | Aug 2016 | US |
Child | 15629975 | US |