The application is a U.S. National Phase Entry of International Application No. PCT/CN2014/086809 filed on Sep. 18, 2014, designating the United States of America and claiming priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201410224631.1 filed on May 26, 2014. The present application claims priority to and the benefit of the above-identified applications and the above-identified applications are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
At least one embodiment of the present invention relates to an array substrate, a manufacturing method thereof and a display device.
Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are widely applied in various fields such as computers, mobile phones, TV sets and measurement instruments display due to the advantages of low working voltage, low power consumption, flexible display mode, low radiation and the like. The LCD may comprise an LCD panel. The LCD panel comprises an array substrate provided with thin-film transistors (TFTs), a color filter (CF) substrate arranged in cell-assembly with the array substrate, and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the two substrates. In the working process of the LCD, liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer are driven by electric fields generated between pixel electrodes on the array substrate and common electrode(s) on the CF substrate, so that the liquid crystal molecules at various positions in the liquid crystal layer have different deflection angles, and the LCD can achieve display.
At least one embodiment of the present invention provides an array substrate, a manufacturing method thereof and a display device to prevent the oxidization of metal such as copper in the process of patterning a transparent conductive film and ensure the conductivity of source electrodes and drain electrodes.
At least one embodiment of the present invention provides an array substrate, which comprises a plurality of pixel unit regions arranged in an array. The pixel unit regions each include a TFT and a pixel electrode; a first insulating layer is formed between an active layer of the TFT and the pixel electrode and provided with a first through hole and a second through hole which respectively correspond to both ends of the active layer; a source electrode of the TFT is connected with the active layer through the first through hole; and a drain electrode of the TFT is lapped onto the pixel electrode and connected with the active layer through the second through hole.
At least one embodiment of the present invention provides a display device, which comprises the foregoing array substrate.
At least one embodiment of the present invention provides a method for manufacturing an array substrate. The method comprises: forming patterns of an active layer of a TFT, a first insulating layer and a pixel electrode, in which the first insulating layer is provided with a first through hole and a second through hole which respectively correspond to both ends of the active layer; and forming patterns of a source electrode and a drain electrode of the TFT, in which the source electrode of the TFT is connected with the active layer through the first through hole and the drain electrode of the TFT is lapped onto the pixel electrode and connected with the active layer through the second through hole.
Simple description will be given below to the accompanying drawings of the embodiments to provide a more clear understanding of the technical proposals of the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the drawings described below only involve some embodiments of the present invention but are not intended to limit the present invention.
For more clear understanding of the objectives, technical proposals and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention, clear and complete description will be given below to the technical proposals of the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings of the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the preferred embodiments are only partial embodiments of the present invention but not all the embodiments. All the other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative efforts on the basis of the embodiments of the present invention illustrated shall fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.
The inventors have noted that: in the process of forming layer structures of an array substrate, structures such as a source electrode and a drain electrode may be formed with a metal such as copper at first, and the a transparent conductive film is formed and patterned to form a pixel electrode. In the process of patterning the transparent conductive film, because the structures such as the source electrode and the drain electrode made from the metal such as copper are exposed, the metal surface tends to be oxidized. Moreover, the thickness of an oxide layer on the metal surface may be continuously increased as time lapses. When the thickness of the oxide layer is relatively large, the conductivity of the source electrode and the drain electrode may be disadvantageously affected, and the array substrate may not work properly. Thus, the yield of products can be affected and the user experience can be reduced.
At least one embodiment of the present invention provides an array substrate. As illustrated in
Herein, a source region and a drain region of the active layer are respectively exposed by the first through hole 5 and the second through hole 6; the source electrode 24 of the TFT 2 is electrically connected with the active layer 21 through the first through hole 5; and the drain electrode 25 of the TFT 2 is electrically connected with the active layer 21 through the second through hole 6.
Obviously, in the embodiment of the present invention, as the drain electrode of the TFT is lapped onto the pixel electrode and connected with the active layer through the second through hole, the pixel electrode can be formed at first, and then the source electrode and the drain electrode are formed, which prevents the undesirable phenomena such as the oxidization of the structures such as the source electrode and the drain electrode due to the exposure of the structures such as the source electrode and the drain electrode made from a metal such as copper in the process of forming the pixel electrode after forming the source electrode and the drain electrode, guarantees the conductivity of the source electrode and the drain electrode, and the guarantees the normal operation of the array substrate, the yield of products and the user experience.
Obviously, as illustrated in
It should be noted that: before the process of forming the patterns of the active layers 21, the first insulating layer 4 and the pixel electrodes 3, as illustrated in
Obviously, the array substrate as shown in
The key technical characteristics of the ADS technology are described as follows: a multi-dimensional electric field is formed by electric fields produced on edges of slit electrodes in the same plane and electric fields produced between a slit electrode layer and a plate electrode layer, so that liquid crystal molecules in all the alignments over electrodes and between slit electrodes in a liquid crystal cell can rotate, and the working efficiency of the liquid crystals and the transmittance can be improved. The ADS technology can improve the image quality of thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) products and has the advantages of high resolution, high transmittance, low power consumption, wide viewing angle, high aperture opening ratio, low color difference, no push Mura, etc. The improvements of the ADS technology include high-transmittance I-ADS technology, high-aperture-opening-ratio H-ADS technology, high-resolution S-ADS technology and the like as for different applications.
In order to ensure that a multi-dimensional electric field can be formed between the common electrode 10 and the pixel electrode 3, in one embodiment, the common electrode 10 in
In one embodiment, the common electrode 10 and the second insulating layer 9 may be disposed below the pixel electrode 3. For instance, as illustrated in
At this point, in order to ensure that a multi-dimensional electric field can be formed between the common electrode 10 and the pixel electrode 3, in one embodiment, the common electrode 10 in
Because people have higher and higher requirements on the transmittance, resolution, power consumption and the like of display devices in recent years, all the display devices are developed towards high transmittance, high resolution, low power consumption, etc. When the resolution of the display device becomes higher, the size of each pixel unit is smaller. When the side length of the pixel unit is converted from dozens of micrometers to a dozen of micrometers, obviously, the size of the pixel unit is greatly reduced. At this point, if the width of black matrixes for dividing the pixel units is still unchanged, compared with the pixel units, the black matrixes will become notable, and the display effect of the display device can be undesirably affected. Therefore, the width of the black matrixess can be correspondingly reduced to ensure the display effect of the display device. Subsequently, color filters are formed above display regions of corresponding pixel units defined by the black matrixess.
However, the reduced width of the black matrixes may result in the deviation of the cell-assembly between the array substrate and the CF substrate, and the undesirable phenomena such as light leakage can be produced. Thus, the width of black matrixes on the CF substrate cannot be randomly reduced. In order to avoid the undesirable phenomena such as light leakage due to the reduced size of the black matrixes, both the black matrixes and the CFs may be formed on the array substrate. Because the black matrixes are disposed on the array substrate, when the width of the black matrixes is appropriately reduced, the black matrixes not only can fully shield the structures, where light shielding is required, such as the gate lines, the data lines and the TFTs, but also can reduce the possibility of the light leakage phenomenon, and the not only the resolution and the transmittance can be improved but also the display effect of the display device can be guaranteed. The technology is also referred to as color filter on array (COA) technology.
In one embodiment of the present invention, as illustrated in
In different embodiments, the structures such as the first insulating layer 4, the gate insulating layer 23 and the second insulating layer 9 may all be made from an insulating material such as silicon oxide, silicon nitride, hafnium oxide and resin.
At least one embodiment of the present invention further provides a display device, which comprises any foregoing array substrate. For instance, the display device may be any product or component with display function such as LCD panel, E-paper, organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panel, LCD TV, LCD, digital picture frame, mobile phone, tablet PC and the like.
The LCD device provided by an embodiment of the present invention comprises an array substrate and an opposing substrate which are subjected to cell-assembly to form a liquid crystal cell which is filled with liquid crystal materials. The opposing substrate is, for instance, a color filter (CF) substrate. When the array substrate is a COA substrate, black matrixes and color filters may be not formed on the opposing substrate again. In some embodiments, an LCD device further comprises a backlight configured to provide backlight for the array substrate.
At least one embodiment of the present invention further provides a method for manufacturing an array substrate. As illustrated in
Step S101: forming patterns of an active layer of a TFT, a first insulating layer and a pixel electrode. The first insulating layer is provided with a first through hole and a second through hole which respectively correspond to both ends of the active layer.
Step S102: forming patterns of a source electrode and a drain electrode of the TFT. The source electrode of the TFT is connected with the active layer through the first through hole, and the drain electrode of the TFT is lapped onto the pixel electrode and connected with the active layer through the second through hole.
Obviously, in the technical solution of the embodiment of the present invention, the method of forming the pixel electrode at first and then forming the patterns of the source electrode and the drain electrode can effectively prevent the undesirable phenomena such as the oxidization of the structures such as the source electrode and the drain electrode due to the exposure of the structures such as the source electrode and the drain electrode made from a metal such as copper in the process of forming the pixel electrode after forming the source electrode and the drain electrode, guarantee the conductivity of the source electrode and the drain electrode, and the guarantee the normal operation of the array substrate, the yield of products and the user experience.
Obviously, before the step S101, as illustrated in
In one embodiment of the present invention, as illustrated in
Step S1011: forming the pattern of the active layer.
As illustrated in
Step S1012: forming the first insulating layer and a transparent conductive film.
As illustrated in
Step S1013: patterning the first insulating layer and the transparent conductive film, forming the first through hole and the second through hole of the first insulating layer, and forming the pixel electrode.
For instance, as illustrated in
The transparent conductive film 13 and the first insulating layer 4 corresponding to the full exposure area 141 are etched by an etching process to form a pixel electrode 3, a first transparent conductive portion 15 and a second transparent conductive portion 16. Gaps 17 are formed among the pixel electrode 3, the first transparent conductive portion 15 and the second transparent conductive portion 16 by etching. The width of each gap 17 is, for instance, greater than 3 micrometers. Thus, the mutual insulation among the pixel electrode 3, the first transparent conductive portion 15 and the second transparent conductive portion 16 can be guaranteed. As illustrated in
It should be noted that the photoresist layer 14 is a transparent structure and is not shown in
Obviously, as illustrated in
The photoresist layer of the partial exposure area 143 is removed by an ashing process, and the first insulating layer 4 and the transparent conductive film 13 corresponding to the first through hole 5 and the first insulating layer 4 and the transparent conductive film 13 corresponding to the second through hole 6 are exposed; and the first insulating layer 4 and the transparent conductive film 13 corresponding to the first through hole 5 and the second through hole 6 are etched in sequence by corresponding etching ways, as illustrated in
Finally, the photoresist layer 14 of the non-exposure area 141 is removed, so that the pattern of the first insulating layer 4 and the patterns of the structures such as the pixel electrode 3 may be respectively formed in the same patterning process, as illustrated in
Subsequently, the step S102 may be executed to form the source electrode 24 and the drain electrode 25 to complete the manufacturing process of the TFT 2. It should be noted that: if the patterns of the pixel electrode 3 and the first insulating layer 4 are formed by the manufacturing method including the steps S1011 to S1013, as corresponding regions of the active layer 21 are exposed by the gap 17 between the first transparent conductive portion 15 and the second transparent conductive portion 16 formed in the step S1013, as illustrated in
Finally, the array substrate as shown in
In the embodiment of the present invention, as the first transparent conductive portion 15 is laid beneath the source electrode 24, the source electrode 24 is in parallel connection with the first transparent conductive portion 15, which is equivalent to reduce the resistance between the active layer 21 and the data line 7 and is more conducive to the transmission of electrical signals. Similarly, the second transparent conductive portion 16 is laid beneath the drain electrode 25, so that the resistance between the active layer 21 and the pixel electrode 3 can be reduced.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the data line 7 and the source electrode 24 and the drain electrode 25 may be formed in the same patterning process, namely the step of forming the patterns of the source electrode 24 and the drain electrode 25 of the TFT 2 includes: forming the data line 7 and the patterns of the source electrode 24 and the drain electrode 25 of the TFT 2.
The array substrate provided by the embodiment of the present invention may also be an ADS array substrate. Therefore, in one embodiment, the method for manufacturing the array substrate may further comprise: forming a second insulating layer and a common electrode. The second insulating layer is disposed between the pixel electrode and the common electrode.
For instance, the second insulating layer 9 and the common electrode 10 may be formed on the basis of the array substrate as shown in
The array substrate provided by the embodiment of the present invention may also be a COA array substrate. Therefore, in one embodiment, the method for manufacturing the array substrate may further comprise: forming black matrixes and color filters.
For instance, in the embodiment of the present invention, as illustrated in
The foregoing is only the preferred embodiments of the present invention and not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention. Any change or replacement that may be easily thought of by those skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed by the present invention shall fall within the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention shall be defined by the appended claims.
The application claims priority to the Chinese patent application No. 201410224631.1 submitted on May 26, 2014. The disclosure content of the Chinese patent application is incorporated by reference herein as part of the application.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2014 1 0224631 | May 2014 | CN | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/CN2014/086809 | 9/18/2014 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2015/180302 | 12/3/2015 | WO | A |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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