Liquid crystal display and method of manufacturing the same

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2006-0061060, filed in Korea on Jun. 30, 2006, which is hereby incorporated by reference.

1. Field

This document relates to a display apparatus, and more particularly, to a crystal liquid display and a method of manufacturing the same.

2. Description of the Related Art

In liquid crystal displays, a liquid crystal layer having an anisotropic dielectric constant characteristic is formed between a color filter substrate and an array substrate. When an electric field is applied to a liquid crystal material, molecular arrangement of the liquid crystal material changes by the intensity of an electric field to transmit light through the color filer substrate. An amount of light transmitted through the color filter substrate is controlled, thereby displaying a desired image.

The liquid crystal display including a thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) generally uses a thin film transistor as a switching device. The liquid crystal displays are classified into an in-plane switching (IPS) mode liquid crystal display and a twisted nematic (TN) mode liquid crystal display depending on a direction of an electric field for driving a liquid crystal. In the IPS mode liquid crystal display, an electric field is applied in a horizontal direction. In the TN mode liquid crystal display, an electric field is applied in a vertical direction.

The liquid crystal display is manufactured through a deposition process, a photolithography process, an etching process, and the like. The photolithography process includes a coating process of a photoresist film, an exposure process, a development process, and an etching process.

In particular, the array substrate being a lower substrate of the liquid crystal display is formed by depositing a thin film and performing a photolithography process using a mask several times. Therefore, there occurs a critical dimension (CD) variation during the photolithography process. Due to the CD variation, stains frequently appear on the array substrate.

The stains cause a CD variation between a pixel electrode and a common electrode. The CD variation between the electrodes causes a field difference between the pixel electrode and the common electrode, thereby causing non-uniformity of a luminance of the liquid crystal display.

In one aspect, a liquid crystal display comprises upper and lower substrates that face each other, a thin film transistor provided at an intersection of a gate line and a data line on the lower substrate, the gate line and the data line crossing at right angles, a pixel electrode provided in a pixel area defined by the gate line and the data line, and a passivation layer that covers the entire surface of the lower substrate and includes an opening having an elevation difference surface on a predetermined portion thereof, a concave-convex pattern being provided along the elevation difference surface of the opening.

The concave-convex pattern may have one of semicircle, trapezoid, rectangular, and triangle shapes.

The liquid crystal display may further comprise a barrier in the center of the opening.

The barrier may have an elevation difference surface with one of semicircle, trapezoid, rectangular, and triangle shapes.

The opening may have an elevation difference of about 2.0-2.3 μm.

The predetermined portion where the opening is formed may be an area for the contact of the thin film transistor and the pixel electrode.

The predetermined portion where the opening is formed may be a formation area of a sealant used to assemble the upper substrate and the upper substrate.

The predetermined portion where the opening is formed may be a gate pad area connected to the gate line and a gate driving circuit.

The predetermined portion where the opening is formed may be a data pad area connected to the data line and a data driving circuit.

The thin film transistor may comprise a gate electrode divided from the gate line, a gate insulating layer positioned on a front surface including the gate electrode, a semiconductor layer positioned on an upper portion of the gate insulating layer corresponding to the gate electrode, and a source electrode and a drain electrode that are space apart from each other with the semiconductor layer therebetween.

In another aspect, a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display comprises forming a gate line and a data line on a lower substrate so that the gate line and the data line cross each other, and forming a thin film transistor at an intersection of the gate line and the data line, depositing a passivation layer on the entire surface of the thin film transistor, patterning the passivation layer to form an opening having an elevation difference surface on a predetermined portion of the passivation layer and to form a concave-convex pattern along the elevation difference surface of the opening.

After forming the concave-convex pattern, the method may further comprise depositing a pixel electrode on the passivation layer, coating photoresist on the pixel electrode, and patterning the pixel electrode using the photoresist as a mask to form the pixel electrode in a pixel area.

The opening may have an elevation difference of about 2.0-2.3 μm.

The concave-convex pattern may have one of semicircle, trapezoid, rectangular, and triangle shapes.

The method may further comprise a barrier in the center of the opening.

The predetermined portion where the opening is formed may be an area for the contact of the thin film transistor and the pixel electrode.

The predetermined portion where the opening is formed may be a formation area of a sealant used to assemble an upper substrate and the upper substrate.

The predetermined portion where the opening is formed may be a gate pad area connected to the gate line and a gate driving circuit.

The predetermined portion where the opening is formed may be a data pad area connected to the data line and a data driving circuit.

Coating the photoresist on the pixel electrode may comprise dropping the photoresist on the pixel electrode, and coating the photoresist along a pattern of the passivation layer using a spin coating method.

The accompany drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated on and constitute a part of this specification illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plane view of an array substrate of a liquid crystal display according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is cross-sectional views of a sealant formation area A-A′, a thin film transistor formation area B-B′, a gate pad formation area C-C′, and a data pad formation area D-D′ in an array substrate of a liquid crystal display according to an embodiment;

FIGS. 3 to 5 illustrate various pattern structures of a passivation layer in a liquid crystal display according to an embodiment; and

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display according to an embodiment.

Reference will now be made in detail embodiments of the invention examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

An explanation will be given of an example of an in-plane switching (IPS) mode liquid crystal display in an embodiment.

FIG. 1 is a plane view of an array substrate of a liquid crystal display according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is cross-sectional views of a sealant formation area A-A′, a thin film transistor formation area B-B′, a gate pad area C-C′, and a data pad area D-D′ in an array substrate of a liquid crystal display according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1 , an array substrate 100 of a liquid crystal display according to an embodiment includes a plurality of gate lines GL, a plurality of common lines 120 , and a plurality of data lines DL. The gate lines GL are arranged in parallel in one direction with a predetermined distance therebetween. The common lines 120 are arranged in parallel in one direction to be close to the gate lines GL. The data lines DL cross the gate lines GL to define a pixel area PXL.

A thin film transistor T functioning as a switching device is formed at each of intersections of the gate lines GL and the data lines DL. In each pixel area PXL, a pixel electrode 112 and a common electrode 122 are alternately formed. The pixel electrode 112 generates a horizontal electric field, and the common electrode 122 is connected to a common line 120 .

The common line 120 is formed in parallel to the gate line GL with the pixel area PXL therebetween.

In the thin film transistor formation area B-B′ of FIG. 2 , the thin film transistor T includes a gate electrode 102 divided from the gate line GL, a gate insulating layer 103 formed on the gate electrode 102 , an active layer 104 , an ohmic contact layer 105 , a source electrode 106 and a drain electrode 107 , that are spaced apart from each other on ohmic contact layer 105 with the active layer 104 therebetween, and a passivation layer 108 .

The source electrode 106 contacting the ohmic contact layer 105 is connected to the data line DL. The drain electrode 107 contacting the ohmic contact layer 105 is connected to a pixel line 110 .

The passivation layer 108 covers the entire surface of the array substrate 100 . An opening 108 b is provided in an area for the contact of the drain electrode 107 and the pixel line 110 to expose the drain electrode 107 .

In the formation area A-A′ (refer to FIG. 2 ) of a sealant 132 used to assemble the array substrate 100 and a color filter substrate 200 , the passivation layer 108 is formed on a substrate 101 and includes the opening 108 b having an elevation difference surface 108 a provided at a sealant formation position.

In the gate pad formation area C-C′ of FIG. 2 , a plurality of gate pads 170 each includes a gate pad lower electrode 171 formed on the substrate 101 and a gate pad upper electrode 172 formed on the gate pad lower electrode 171 . The gate pad lower electrode 171 is protruded from the gate line GL.

The passivation layer 108 covers the entire surface of the array substrate 100 . The opening 108 b having the elevation difference surface 108 a is formed in the passivation layer 108 by opening the gate pads 170 .

In the data pad formation area D-D′ of FIG. 2 , a plurality of data pads 180 are formed by simultaneously etching the gate insulating layer 103 , the active layer 104 , the ohmic contact layer 105 , and the drain electrode 107 , and then depositing a data pad electrode 182 on the drain electrode 107 .

In the same way as the gate pad 170 , the opening 108 b having the elevation difference surface 108 a is formed in the passivation layer 108 by opening the data pad 180 .

In these areas, the opening 108 b having the elevation difference surface 108 a is formed in the passivation layer 108 . A concavo-convex pattern 108 c is formed along the elevation difference surface 108 a of the opening 108 b.

The passivation layer 108 may be formed of photoacryl and benzocyclobutene (BCB) as an organic film, or SiO x and SiN x as an inorganic film.

The opening 108 b has an elevation difference of about 2.0-2.3 μm.

The concavo-convex pattern 108 c has a shape in which a plurality of semicircles is formed successively. The opening 108 b has a larger surface area than a related art opening having straight-line shaped patterns. Accordingly, when a photoresist is coated in a subsequent photolithography process, the photoresist is smoothly dispersed without aggregation and popping of the photoresist.

In other words, the photoresist dropping on the opening 108 b of the passivation layer 108 flows along the surface of the opening 108 b , and then is dispersed by the concavo-convex pattern 108 c . Accordingly, the photoresist is evenly coated on the entire surface of the substrate 101 as well as the opening 108 b.

The photoresist is coated through a spin coating process. Therefore, dispersion stains can be prevented without a separate device.

The opening 108 b and the concavo-convex pattern 108 c are formed by patterning a predetermined portion using a separate mask. The kind of the mask used depends on a shape of the concavo-convex pattern 108 c.

The opening 108 b may be formed using a dry method or a wet method. In the wet method, the opening 108 b is formed by dipping a formation area of the opening 108 b into an etchant and then removing the passivation layer 108 .

In the dry method, the opening 108 b is formed by selectively scanning the substrate 101 using beam type or bar type atmosphere plasma (AP) and then removing the passivation layer 108 .

FIGS. 3 to 5 illustrate various pattern structures of a passivation layer in a liquid crystal display according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 3 , a passivation layer 208 includes an opening 208 b having an elevation difference surface on a predetermined portion thereof. Trapezoid-shaped concavo-convex patterns 208 c are formed along the elevation difference surfaces of the opening 208 b.

Referring to FIG. 4 , a passivation layer 308 includes an opening 308 b having an elevation difference surface on a predetermined portion thereof. Rectangular-shaped concavo-convex patterns 308 c are formed along the elevation difference surfaces of the opening 308 b.

The predetermined portion of FIGS. 3 and 4 means a portion having stain occurrence possibility. Examples of the predetermined portion include the formation portion of the sealant used to assemble the array substrate and the color filter substrate, the formation portion of the thin film transistor used as a switching device, the formation portion of the plurality of gate pads, and the formation portion of the plurality of data pads.

The passivation layers 208 and 308 may be formed of photoacryl and benzocyclobutene (BCB) as an organic film, or SiO x and SiN x as an inorganic film. The openings 208 b and 308 b each have an elevation difference of about 2.0-2.3 μm

Triangle-shaped or sawtooth-shaped concavo-convex patterns may be provided in addition to the trapezoid-shaped and rectangular-shaped concavo-convex patterns 208 c and 308 c . A shape of the concavo-convex patterns may be changed variously as long as the surface areas of the openings 208 b and 308 b increase and the photoresist is smoothly dispersed.

Referring to FIG. 5 , a passivation layer 408 includes an opening 408 b having an elevation difference surface on a predetermined portion thereof. Semicircle-shaped concavo-convex patterns 408 c are formed along the elevation difference surfaces of the opening 408 b . An island-shaped barrier 408 d is formed in the center of the opening 408 b.

The barrier 408 d reduces the width of the opening 408 b , but increases the surface area of the opening 408 b so as to evenly disperse the photoresist. Therefore, a flow amount of the photoresist decreases. This results in a sufficient reduction in the occurrence of dispersion stains.

As described above, the concavo-convex patterns 408 c may have various shapes in addition to the semicircle-shape. Similar to the concavo-convex patterns 408 c of the opening 408 b , elevation difference surfaces of the barriers 408 d may have various shapes such as semicircle, trapezoid, rectangular, triangle, sawtooth shapes.

In the passivation layers 208 , 308 and 408 of FIGS. 3 to 5 , because flow directions of the photoresist meet each other at edges 208 f , 308 f and 408 f of the openings 208 b , 308 b and 408 b at which vertical lines and horizontal lines overlap, aggregation of the photoresist and the dispersion stains may frequently occur. However, the flow amount of the photoresist is reduced at the openings 208 b , 308 b and 408 b including the edges 208 f , 308 f and 408 f due to the concavo-convex patterns 208 c , 308 c and 408 c , thereby effectively preventing the dispersion stains.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display according to an embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 6 , in step S 101 , a plurality of electrodes and a plurality of electrode lines are formed on a lower substrate to form a thin film transistor in a matrix form.

Referring again to FIGS. 1 and 2 , the plurality of gate lines GL are formed in parallel on the substrate 101 with a predetermined distance therebetween. The plurality of gate electrodes 102 divided from the gate lines GL and the plurality of gate pads 170 protruded from the gate lines GL are formed on the lower substrate 101 .

The common lines 120 are arranged in parallel to the gate lines GL. The plurality of data lines DL are arranged in a direction perpendicular to the gate lines GL and cross the gate lines GL to define the pixel areas PXL.

The data pads 180 protruded from data lines DL are formed on the lower substrate 101 .

The thin film transistor is formed at each of the intersections of the gate lines GL and the data lines DL. The thin film transistor includes the gate electrode 102 , the gate insulating layer 103 , the active layer 104 , the ohmic contact layer 105 , the source electrode 106 , and the drain electrode 107 .

In step S 102 , the passivation layer 108 is deposited on the entire surface of the lower substrate 101 . In step S 103 , exposure and development processes are performed on the passivation layer 108 to form the opening 108 b and the concave-convex patterns 108 c using a separate mask.

Hence, the passivation layer 108 includes the opening 108 b having the elevation difference surface 108 a . The concave-convex patterns 108 c of semicircle, trapezoid, rectangular, or triangle shape are formed along the elevation difference surface 108 a.

Furthermore, an island-shaped barrier may be formed in the center of the opening 108 b.

A kind of the mask used depends on a shape of the concavo-convex pattern 108 c as well as the elevation difference surface of the barrier.

The opening 108 b has the elevation difference of about 2.0-2.3 μm. The opening formation portion is a portion having stain occurrence possibility.

Examples of the opening formation portion include the contact area of the pixel line 110 and the drain electrode 107 , the formation portion of the sealant 132 used to assemble the array substrate 100 and the color filter substrate, the formation portion of the gate pads connected to the gate lines GL and a gate driving circuit, and the formation portion of the data pads connected to the data lines DL and a data driving circuit.

In step S 104 , a transparent conductive material (for example, indium-tin-oxide (ITO)) is deposited on the passivation layer 108 .

The transparent conductive material is used to form the pixel electrode 112 , the gate pad upper electrode 172 , and the data pad upper electrode 182 .

In step S 105 , the photoresist is coated on the transparent conductive material along the shape of the passivation layer 108 . In step S 106 , the photoresist is coated on the entire surface of the substrate 101 trough a spin coating process.

The spin coating process is performed by coating the photoresist on the substrate 101 and then rotating the substrate 101 . In the spin coating process, the photoresist is dispersed from the center to the edge of the substrate 101 due to centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the substrate 101 , and coated on the entire surface of the substrate 101 in a thin film form.

The photoresist dropping on the opening 108 b flows along the surface of the opening 108 b through the spin coating process, and is dispersed by the concavo-convex pattern 108 c , thereby being evenly coated on the entire surface of the substrate 101 as well as the opening 108 b.

Accordingly, the aggregation and the popping of the photoresist on the elevation difference surface 108 a is prevented, thereby preventing the dispersion stain.

In step S 107 , exposure and development processes are performed on the transparent conductive material using the photoresist as a mask to form the pixel electrode 112 in the pixel area PXL.

In the IPS mode liquid crystal display, the pixel electrodes 112 and the common electrodes 122 are alternately formed in the pixel area PXL.

The liquid crystal display thus manufactured can prevent the dispersion stains, which will appear in the photolithography process using the spin coating method, by changing the structure of the passivation layer 108 deposited on the entire surface of the substrate 101 . Accordingly, the dispersion stains can be prevented without a separate device.

Although the explanation was given of an example of the IPS mode liquid crystal display in an embodiment, the present invention may be applied to liquid crystal displays of various modes such as a twist nematic (TN) mode, a fringe field switching (FFS) mode and a vertical alignment (VA) mode.

The liquid crystal display according to an embodiment prevents the dispersion stains without a separate device, and increases a luminance by reducing the CD variation between the electrodes.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the liquid crystal display device and array substrate for the same of the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.