Patent Application
20150116643
This application claims priority from and the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2013-0127426, filed on Oct. 24, 2013, which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
1. Field
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a display device including an alignment layer for aligning liquid crystal molecules and a method for manufacturing the same.
2. Discussion of the Background
Generally, a liquid crystal display device may be classified as a twisted nematic (TN) liquid crystal display device, an in-plane switching (IPS) mode liquid crystal display device, or a vertical alignment (VA) mode liquid crystal display device, according to the properties of a liquid crystal layer.
In the vertical alignment (VA) mode liquid crystal display device, in the absence of electric field application, the major axes of the liquid crystal molecules are aligned in a vertical direction with respect to the surface of a substrate. Accordingly, a viewing angle of a vertical alignment mode liquid crystal display is wide and the contrast ratio is large.
Rubbing methods or photo alignment methods may be used to align liquid crystal molecules in a certain direction. In the vertical alignment mode liquid crystal display device, the liquid crystal molecules may be aligned by using a reactive mesogen, according to one method of photo alignment. The reactive mesogen is disposed in an uncured state in a liquid crystal layer and becomes cured when exposed to light, to align the liquid crystal molecules.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide a method for manufacturing a display device including a forming method of an alignment layer effectively pretilting liquid crystal molecules.
Exemplary embodiments of present invention also provide a display device manufactured by the above-described method and having improved display quality.
Additional features of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
An exemplary embodiment of the present invention discloses liquid crystal display devices including two substrates facing each other, a liquid crystal layer disposed between the two substrates, and alignment layers disposed between the liquid crystal layer and each of the substrates. The alignment layer includes a main layer and an alignment-forming layer disposed on the main layer. The alignment layer further includes a plurality of domains that are phase-separated from the main layer.
An exemplary embodiment of the present invention also discloses methods for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device including forming a liquid crystal layer between two substrates, each substrate including an initial alignment layer, and exposing the alignment layer by applying an electric field and light to the initial alignment layer. The forming of the initial alignment layer on each substrate includes coating an alignment solution on the substrate, pre-curing the alignment solution to form a main layer and an alignment-forming layer provided on the main layer and including a plurality of domains phase separated from the main layer, and curing the main layer and the alignment forming layer.
According to an embodiment of the inventive concept, an alignment layer capable of effectively pretilting liquid crystal molecules is provided. Thus, a display device having improved display quality is provided.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the inventive concept, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the inventive concept and, together with the description, serve to explain principles of the inventive concept.
Exemplary embodiments of the inventive concept will be described below in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The inventive concept may, however, be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the inventive concept to those skilled in the art.
In the drawings, like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout and the dimensions of layers and regions are exaggerated for clarity of illustration. It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements and should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another element. Thus, a first element discussed below could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element. The singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. It will also be understood that when a layer, a film, a region, a plate, etc. is referred to as being ‘on’ or ‘connected to’ another layer, film, region, plate, etc., it can be directly on or connected to the other layer, film, region, plate, etc., or intervening elements may also be present. Further, it will be understood that when a layer, a film, a region, a plate, etc. is referred to as being ‘under’ another layer, film, region, plate, etc., it can be directly under, and one or more intervening elements may also be present.
Referring to
The first substrate SUB1 includes a first base substrate BS1, a first electrode EL1 disposed on the first base substrate BS1, and a first alignment layer ALN1 disposed on the first electrode EL1.
The first base substrate BS1 may include a transparent insulating substrate, such as glass, quartz, plastic, and/or another appropriate material, and may have a rectangular shape having a pair of parallel planar surfaces. The first base substrate BS1 may have a rectangular shape including a pair of long sides and a pair of short sides.
The first electrode EL1 may include transparent conductive material. Particularly, the first electrode EL1 may be formed using a transparent conductive oxide. The transparent conductive oxide may include indium tin oxide (ITO), indium zinc oxide (IZO), indium tin zinc oxide (ITZO), and/or other appropriate materials.
Even though not illustrated, signal wiring such as a gate line, a data line, a storage line, and the like, and a thin film transistor connected to the signal wiring and switching a voltage application to the first electrode EL1 may be disposed on the first base substrate BS1.
The first alignment layer ALN1 is disposed on the first electrode EL1 and pretilts liquid crystal molecules in a liquid crystal layer LCL.
The second substrate SUB2 includes a second base substrate BS2, a second electrode EL2 provided on the second base substrate BS2, and a second alignment layer ALN2 provided on the second electrode EL2.
The second substrate BS2 faces the first base substrate BS1. The second base substrate BS2 may be a transparent insulating substrate like the first base substrate BS1 and may include glass, quartz, plastic, and/or another appropriate material. The second base substrate BS2 may be provided with a substantially the same shape as the first base substrate BS1. However, the second base substrate BS2 may have a smaller area than the first base substrate BS1.
The second electrode EL2 is disposed on the second base substrate BS2 and drives the liquid crystal layer LCL by forming an electric field in conjunction with the first electrode EL1. The second electrode EL2 may be formed by using a transparent conductive material including a conductive metal oxide such as ITO, IZO, ITZO, and other appropriate materials.
The second alignment layer ALN2 is disposed on the second electrode EL2 and pretilts liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer LCL.
The liquid crystal layer LCL, including liquid crystal molecules is disposed between the first substrate SUB1 and the second substrate SUB2.
In the liquid crystal display device, when an electric field is formed between the first electrode E and the second electrode EL2, by an applied voltage to the second electrode EL2 and the first electrode EL1 the liquid crystal molecules are driven by the electric field. In this manner, the amount of light penetrating the liquid crystal layer LCL may be changed and an image may be displayed.
Hereinafter, the first alignment layer ALN1 and the second alignment layer ALN2 will be described in detail with reference to
Referring to
The main layer ML is disposed on the substrate BS to cover most of the substrate BS. The main layer ML may include a polymer such as polyimide, polyamic acid, polyamide, polyamic imide, polyester, polyethylene, polyurethane, or polystyrene, and/or a polymer including a mixture thereof, as a main chain.
In the main layer ML, a side chain having a vertical alignment group vertically aligning the liquid crystal molecules may be included. The vertical alignment group aligns the liquid crystal molecules vertically and is not limited specifically. The vertical alignment group may include, for example, an alkyl group having 1 to 25 carbon atoms. In an embodiment of the inventive concept, the vertical alignment group may include at least one of an alkoxy group including an aliphatic alkyl group having 1 to 25 carbon atoms, a cholesteric group, an alicyclic group including an aliphatic alkyl group having 3 to 16 carbon atoms, and an aromatic group including an aliphatic alkyl group having 3 to 16 carbon atoms. In an embodiment of the inventive concept, the alkoxy group including the aliphatic alkyl group may include
(where n is 5 to 18). The aromatic group including the aliphatic alkyl group may include
(where n is 3 to 16).
The main layer ML may be more hydrophilic than the alignment forming layer PFL. When the main layer ML includes a polymer, a receding contact angle with respect to water on the polymer may be less than or equal to about 40°, for example, about 33°. Here, the receding contact angle is a contact angle measured by using a measuring method of a dynamic contact angle. The dynamic contact angle may include an advancing contact angle, a measurement of which may be obtained by dropping water drops on an initial alignment layer with a pipe, and measuring the angle between the initial alignment layer and the water droplets. The dynamic contact angle may further include a receding contact angle, a measurement of which may be obtained by removing water with a pipe and measuring the angle between the initial alignment layer and the water droplets. Both of the advancing contact angle and the receding contact angle may increase when the hydrophobicity of the initial alignment layer increases.
The alignment forming layer PFL forms a plurality of domains in a portion of the main layer ML and pretilts liquid crystal molecules. As illustrated in
In another embodiment of the inventive concept, as illustrated in
The alignment forming layer PFL may include a polymer such as polyimide, polyamic acid, polyamide, polyamic imide, polyester, polyethylene, polyurethane, or polystyrene, or a polymer including a mixture thereof as a main chain, and may include a polymerized reactive mesogen as a side chain for pretilting the liquid crystal molecules. The reactive mesogen is a functional group that generates a polymerization reaction when receiving energy such as ultraviolet light to form a side chain.
The alignment forming layer PFL may not be completely distinct from the main layer ML, and may be connected with at least a portion of the main layer ML through a network. The alignment forming layer PFL corresponds to a region in which side chains composed of the reactive mesogen are provided in high concentration. Particularly, the polymerized reactive mesogen is provided in markedly high concentration in the domains, and each of the domains corresponds to a reactive mesogen-rich area. The exposed surface area of the alignment forming layer PFL, with respect to the total exposed surface area of the alignment layer may be greater than or equal to about 5%, to sufficiently pretilt liquid crystal molecules.
The reactive mesogen may include at least one among an acrylate group, a methacrylate group, an epoxy group, an oxetane group, a vinyl-ether group, a styrene group and a thiolane group. The reactive mesogen may be polymerized by the polymerization reaction and may pretilt the liquid crystal molecules so as to have a predetermined angle of inclination with respect to one side of the substrate BS.
The reactive mesogen may be selected from the compounds represented by the following Formula 1.
P1-Sp1-A1-Sp2-(A2)m-Sp3-A3-Sp4-P2 [Formula 1]
In Formula 1, P1 is a terminal group including 1 to 7 reactive groups causing a polymerization reaction. The reactive group may induce the polymerization reaction and may include, for example, an acrylate group, a methacrylate group, an epoxy group, an oxetane group, a vinyl-ether group, a styrene group and/or a thiolane group. P2 is a terminal group including 1 to 7 reactive groups causing a polymerization reaction and is provided independently from P1. The reactive group may induce the polymerization reaction and may include, for example, an acrylate group, a methacrylate group, an epoxy group, an oxetane group, a vinyl-ether group, a styrene group, and/or a thiolane group.
Each of Sp1, Sp2, Sp3 and Sp4 independently is at least one among a single bond, —CH2—, —COO—, —CO—CH═CH—, —COO—CH═CH—, —CH2OCH2— and —CH2O—.
Each of A1 and A3 independently represents at least one among a single bond, a cyclohexyl group, a phenyl group, a thiophenyl group, and a polycyclic aromatic group, or a derivative thereof substituted by 0 to 10 of —F, —Cl, —OCH3, and an alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms.
A2 is at least one among a cyclohexyl group, a phenyl group, a thiophenyl group and a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon group, or a derivative thereof substituted by 0 to 10 of —F, —Cl, —OCH3, and an alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms.
In Formula 1, m is a natural number between 1 and 4.
A single type of the reactive mesogen may be used or two or more types of the reactive mesogens may be used. For example, one or two of the reactive mesogens represented by the following Formulae 2 and 3 may be used. In the following Formula 3, n is a natural number between 1 and 12.
The alignment forming layer PFL may further include a vertical alignment group to vertically align the liquid crystal molecules. The vertical alignment group aligns the liquid crystal molecules vertically and is not specifically limited. For example, the vertical alignment group may include, for example, an alkyl group having 1 to 25 carbon atoms.
The reactive mesogen may include at least one of an alkoxy group including an aliphatic alkyl group having 1 to 25 carbon atoms, a cholesteric group, an alicyclic group including an aliphatic alkyl group having 3 to 16 carbon atoms, and an aromatic group including an aliphatic alkyl group having 3 to 16 carbon atoms. The alkoxy group including the aliphatic alkyl group may include
(where n is a natural number between 5 and 18). The aromatic group including the aliphatic alkyl group may include
(where n is a natural number between 3 and 16).
Here, the vertical alignment group of the main layer ML and the vertical alignment group of the alignment forming layer PFL may be the same or different. For example, the vertical alignment group of the main layer ML may be a cholesteric group, and the vertical alignment group of the alignment forming layer PFL may be an alkoxy group having an aliphatic alkyl group having 3 to 16 carbon atoms.
The alignment forming layer PFL is more hydrophobic than the main layer ML. The receding contact angle of the alignment forming layer PFL with respect to water is greater than or equal to about 60°, for example about 66°.
The alignment forming layer PFL may be disposed on the main layer ML and may be thinner than the main layer ML. Each of the domains formed by the alignment forming layer PFL may a circular region, an elliptical region, or a closed region formed by a closed curve similar to a circle or an ellipse; that is, an island shape. The mean diameter of each domain may be less than or equal to about 1 μm. For example, the mean diameter of each domain may be less than or equal to about 400 nm. Alternatively, a bi-continuous shape in which two phases are continuously arranged may be formed. Each of the domains may include the closed region formed by the closed curve, and may include a connection between adjacent closed regions.
From a plan view, the region in which the alignment forming layer PFL is not formed is the exposed region of the main layer ML. The area of the alignment forming layer PFL with respect to the top surface of the main layer ML may be changed according to the manufacturing process.
In
Hereinafter, a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device having the above-described structure will be explained.
Referring to
First, the first electrode is formed on the first base substrate. Even though not separately illustrated, a wiring part including a gate line, a data line, a storage line and other components, and a thin film transistor connected to the gate line and the data line may be formed between the first base substrate and the first electrode. The wiring part and the thin film transistor may be formed using a mask in a photolithography process. The first electrode may be formed by first forming a transparent conductive material and then patterning by a photolithography process.
Separate from the first substrate, a second electrode may be formed on a second base substrate (Step S130), and a second initial alignment layer is formed on the second base substrate (Step S140).
Even though not illustrated, a color filter, a black matrix, and other components may be formed between the second base substrate and the second electrode. The color filter and the black matrix, and the other components may be formed using a mask in a photolithography process. The second electrode may be formed by first forming a transparent conductive material and then patterning by a photolithography process.
The first initial alignment layer may be formed on the first base substrate including the first electrode, the second initial alignment layer may be formed on the second base substrate including the second electrode. The first initial alignment layer and the second initial alignment layer may be formed using substantially the same material by means of substantially the same method. Therefore, a method of forming an “initial alignment layer” will be explained without distinction of the two initial alignment layers referring to
To form the initial alignment layer, an alignment solution is coated on a substrate (Step S10). The alignment solution may be coated on the substrate by various methods, for example, an inkjet method, a roll printing method, a slit coating method, and other such methods.
The alignment solution includes a solvent that includes a solid polymer. The solvent may be provided by from about 92 wt % to about 97 wt %, and the solid content may be provided by from about 3 wt % to about 8 wt % based on the total amount of the alignment solution.
The amounts of the solvent and the solid content may be changed according to the method of forming the alignment solution. For example, when the alignment solution is coated on the substrate by the inkjet method, the solvent may be about 97 wt % and the solid content may be about 3 wt %. In addition, when the alignment solution is coated on the substrate by the roll printing method, the solvent may be from about 92 wt % to about 95 wt % and the solid content may be from about 5 wt % to about 8 wt %.
The solid content may include a polymer and a cross-linking agent. The polymer may include polyimide, polyamic acid, polyamide, polyamic imide, polyester, polyethylene, polyurethane or polystyrene, and/or a mixture thereof. The polymer may be included by from about 90 wt % to about 97 wt %, for example, about 93.8 wt %, based on 100 wt % of the total amount of the solid content.
In the polymer, the polymer for forming the main layer may be included from about 80 wt % to about 90 wt %, and the polymer for forming the alignment forming layer may be included from about 3.8 wt % to about 10 wt %. For example, the polymer for forming the main layer may be about 85 wt %, and the polymer for forming the alignment forming layer may be about 8.3 wt %.
In the polymer for forming the main layer, the vertical alignment group may be a cholesteric group. In the polymer for forming the alignment forming layer, the reactive mesogen may be synthesized by mixing two types of the reactive mesogens represented by the above Formulae 2 and 3. The reactive mesogens of the above Formula 2 and Formula 3 may be included in a ratio of about 1:2. The vertical alignment group may be an aromatic group, including an aliphatic alkyl group having 3 to 16 carbon atoms, and may be included by an amount of about 33 wt % of the reactive mesogen. In other words, the weight ratio of the reactive mesogen of Formula 2, the reactive mesogen of Formula 3 and the vertical alignment group may be about 1:2:1.
In an embodiment of the inventive concept, the reactive mesogen and the vertical alignment group may attach to sites where the side chains are attached in the polymer for forming the alignment forming layer. The side chains may attach to the sites corresponding to about 40% to about 60% of the total sites.
The cross-linking agent may be an epoxy-based cross-linking agent. The epoxy-based cross-linking agent may combine with the polymer and may increase the hardness and the density of the surface of the alignment layer. The cross-linking agent may be included in an amount from about 3 wt % to about 10 wt % based on 100 wt % of the total amount of the solid content, for example, in an amount representing about 6.2 wt %.
The solvent may dissolve the polymer and the epoxy-based cross-linking agent so that a liquid crystal aligning agent may be coated on a substrate in a liquid state. The solvent may be at least one among γ-butyrolactone (γ-BL), ethylene glycol butyl ether (or butyl cellosolve) and N-methyl pyrrolidone, or a solution including at least two among the three solvents. However, the inventive concept is not limited thereto and various solvents other than the above-described solvents may be used.
Then, the alignment solution is pre-cured to form a main layer and an alignment forming layer provided on the main layer and including a plurality of domains phase separated from the main layer (Step S20).
During the pre-curing step at least a portion of the solution is removed. The pre-curing may be performed at a temperature from about 40 degrees C. to about 120 degrees C. for from about 30 seconds to about 2 minutes. For example, the pre-curing may be performed at from about 50 degree C. to about 90 degrees C. for about 70 seconds.
In the pre-curing step, micro-phase separation of the alignment solution occurs, and the alignment solution is separated into a main layer and an alignment forming layer. The micro-phase separation may be generated when mixing two or more polymers having different physical properties by the gathering phenomenon of materials having similar physical properties in flowing conditions. For example, when solvents are removed, polymers included in the solvents may flow. In this case, the hydrophobic polymers may gather together, and the hydrophilic polymers may gather together. According to the micro-phase separation, the polymer included by smaller amounts among the two polymers may form domains in the remaining polymer. However, the two kinds of the polymers are not always completely phase separated, and each domain may become a region including one polymer in higher concentration than the other polymer. In an embodiment of the inventive concept, each domain corresponds to a reactive mesogen-rich area.
The phase separation phenomenon of the polymer and the shape of each domain may be controlled by the component ratio of the mixed composition of the two polymers, the molecular weight of each polymer, the solvent used in the mixture, the temperature during the phase separation, the solubility of each polymer, the polymer dispersity index of each polymer, and the like. With respect to the alignment solution, the alignment forming layer may be formed according to a growing process after forming a core.
As a result, the polymer for the main layer including the vertical alignment group and the polymer for forming the alignment forming layer including the second and the vertical alignment group have different physical properties, particularly different hydrophobicity, and may be separated sequentially. Thus, a main layer including a relatively hydrophilic polymer compound and an alignment forming layer including a relatively hydrophobic polymer compound are formed.
Then, the main layer and the alignment forming layer may be formed by performing a main curing (Step S30).
During the main curing step, the reaction between the cross-linking agent and each polymer is terminated, and the remaining solvents not removed at the pre-curing step may be removed. The main curing may be performed at a temperature from about 180 degrees C. to about 250 degrees C. for about 10 minutes to about 20 minutes. For example, the main curing may be performed at from about 200 degrees C. to about 220 degrees C. for about 15 minutes.
Referring to
Next, the first initial alignment layer and the second initial alignment layer may be exposed to an electric field (Step S160). An electric field may be formed between the first electrode and the second electrode, and the electric field may be formed by applying different voltages to the first electrode and the second electrode (Step S161). In addition, first light (for example, ultraviolet light) is applied to the first initial alignment layer and the second initial alignment layer while applying the electric field to the liquid crystal composition to perform first curing (Step S162). The electric field and the first light may be provided so as to drive the liquid crystal molecules and to cause the polymerization reaction of the reactive mesogen, and the ranges thereof are not limited specifically. For example, the electric field may be applied in a range of about 9 V to about 40 V, and the first light may be provided in an energy level from about 5 to about 15 J. In another embodiment of the inventive concept, the electric field may be applied at about 20 V, and the energy level of the first light may be about 6 J.
The reactive mesogens of the first initial alignment layer and the second alignment layer may perform a reaction induced by the first light. More particularly, each of the reactive mesogen in the alignment forming layer of the first initial alignment layer and the reactive mesogen in the alignment forming layer of the second initial alignment layer induces the polymerization reaction, and a network between the reactive mesogens is formed. Here, since the reactive mesogen forms the network while the liquid crystal molecules are aligned by the electric field, the network has specific directional properties along the mean alignment direction of the liquid crystal molecules. Thus, the liquid crystal molecules adjacent to the network may have a pretilt angle even when the electric field is inactive.
Then, second light (for example, ultraviolet light) is applied to the first initial alignment layer and the second initial alignment layer while removing the electric field to perform second curing (Step S170). The second light may have different wavelengths from the first light, for example, shorter wavelengths. The second curing may be performed by providing the second light for less than or equal to about 120 minutes. During the second curing process, the remaining reactive mesogen unreacted during the first curing may be polymerized.
In the liquid crystal display device having the above-described structure, the reactive mesogen provided in the alignment forming layer may easily pretilt the liquid crystal molecules. The pretilt angle of the liquid crystal molecules may be controlled by changing the shape and the forming method of the alignment forming layer. For example, the pretilt angle may be controlled by the component ratio of the mixed composition of the polymers, the molecular weight of each polymer, the type and the amount of the solvents in the mixed composition, the temperature during the phase separation, the solubility of each polymer, the polymer dispersity index of each polymer, and the like.
In
Referring to
Through
In exemplary embodiments of
Referring to
Through
Referring to
As described above, the alignment forming layer may be formed by using the micro-phase separation, and the pretilt angle of the liquid crystal molecules may be controlled according to the area of the alignment forming layer.
The above-disclosed subject matter is to be considered illustrative and not restrictive, and the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications, enhancements, and other embodiments, which fall within the true spirit and scope of the inventive concept.
Thus, to the maximum extent allowed by law, the scope of the inventive concept is to be determined by the broadest permissible interpretation of the following claims and their equivalents, and shall not be restricted or limited by the foregoing detailed description.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2013-0127426 | Oct 2013 | KR | national |
