CN106200141B

CN106200141B - Display device

Info

Publication number: CN106200141B
Application number: CN201510214582.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陈政雄; 陈培杰; 王兆祥; 陈奕静
Original assignee: Innolux Display Corp
Current assignee: Innolux Corp
Priority date: 2015-04-30
Filing date: 2015-04-30
Publication date: 2024-03-01
Anticipated expiration: 2035-04-30
Also published as: CN118011691A; CN106200141A

Abstract

An array substrate of a display device has at least one pixel structure including a first conductive layer, a second conductive layer and an oxide semiconductor layer. The first conductive layer is provided with a wiring part extending along a first direction, and the wiring part is provided with a first side and a second side opposite to the first side. The second conductive layer is arranged on the first conductive layer and is provided with two contact parts which are respectively and correspondingly arranged on the first side and the second side. The oxide semiconductor layer is arranged between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer, wherein the oxide semiconductor layer is respectively contacted with the contact parts and has a first width along a first direction, one of the contact parts and the first conductive layer are provided with an overlapping area, the overlapping area has a largest second width along the first direction, and the first width is smaller than the second width.

Description

Display device

Technical Field

The invention relates to a flat display device.

Background

With the progress of technology, flat display panels have been widely used in various fields, and have been increasingly used in place of conventional cathode ray tube display devices due to their superior characteristics of light and thin body, low power consumption, and no radiation, and are applied to various electronic products such as mobile phones, portable multimedia devices, notebook computers, liquid crystal televisions, liquid crystal screens, and the like.

Taking a liquid crystal display panel as an example, a conventional liquid crystal display panel includes a thin film transistor substrate, a color filter substrate, and a liquid crystal layer disposed opposite to the color filter substrate, wherein the liquid crystal layer is sandwiched between the thin film transistor substrate and the color filter substrate. The thin film transistor substrate is provided with a plurality of pixels arranged on a substrate, and can control the turning of liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer by controlling the pixels so as to enable the display panel to display images.

In addition, due to the fast competition in the market, the display device with higher resolution and higher display quality is one of the continuous targets in the industry. Therefore, how to provide a display device with a smaller pixel structure for higher resolution products and higher display quality has become an important issue.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the foregoing, an object of the present invention is to provide a display device with a smaller size of a pixel structure, which can be applied to a product with higher resolution, and with higher display quality.

To achieve the above object, a display device according to the present invention includes an array substrate, a counter substrate, and a display medium layer. The array substrate has at least one pixel structure, and the pixel structure comprises a first conductive layer, a second conductive layer and an oxide semiconductor layer. The first conductive layer is provided with a wiring part extending along a first direction, and the wiring part is provided with a first side and a second side opposite to the first side. The second conductive layer is arranged on the first conductive layer and is provided with two contact parts which are respectively and correspondingly arranged on the first side and the second side. The oxide semiconductor layer is arranged between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer, two ends of the oxide semiconductor layer are respectively contacted with the contact parts and have a first width along a first direction, one of the contact parts and the first conductive layer have an overlapping area, the overlapping area has a largest second width along the first direction, and the first width is smaller than the second width. The display medium layer is arranged between the array substrate and the opposite substrate.

In an embodiment, the first conductive layer further has a protruding portion extending from the second side of the trace portion.

In an embodiment, the trace portion and one of the contact portions have a partial overlap, and the protrusion portion and the other of the contact portions have a partial overlap.

In one embodiment, the oxide semiconductor layer has a connection portion and two end portions located at two sides of the connection portion, and a width of the connection portion along the first direction is smaller than a width of one of the end portions along the first direction.

In an embodiment, the pixel structure further includes a first insulating layer disposed between the oxide semiconductor layer and the second conductive layer, the first insulating layer having two openings corresponding to the contact portions, and the contact portions being in contact with the oxide semiconductor layer through the openings.

In one embodiment, one of the openings completely exposes one of the ends of the oxide semiconductor layer.

In one embodiment, the first insulating layer covers the other end of the oxide semiconductor layer.

In an embodiment, the pixel structure further includes a second insulating layer and an electrode, the second insulating layer is disposed on the second conductive layer, the electrode is disposed on the second insulating layer, and the electrode is connected to one of the contact portions through a via hole of the second insulating layer.

In an embodiment, the pixel structure further includes a light shielding rod disposed on the first side of the first conductive layer, and the through hole is correspondingly located between the light shielding rod and the trace portion.

In one embodiment, the second conductive layer further has a conductive line portion extending along a second direction, the conductive line portion is connected to another one of the contact portions, and the first direction is substantially perpendicular to the second direction.

In the display device of the present invention, the second conductive layer of the pixel structure has two contact portions respectively disposed on the first side and the second side of the wiring portion of the first conductive layer, and the oxide semiconductor layer is disposed between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer, and both ends of the oxide semiconductor layer respectively contact the contact portions. In addition, a first width of the oxide semiconductor layer along the first direction is smaller than a second width of an overlapping region of one of the contact portions and the first conductive layer along the first direction. Therefore, by the design of the pixel structure, the pixel structure has smaller size and is applied to products with higher resolution, and has better electrical performance and higher display quality.

Drawings

FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram of a display device according to a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram of a plurality of pixel structures in the display device of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 1C is an enlarged schematic view of a pixel structure in FIG. 1B;

FIG. 1D is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 1C;

fig. 1E is another schematic diagram of a display device 1 according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a pixel structure according to another embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3A to fig. 3E are schematic views of pixel structures according to different aspects of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The display device according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like elements are described with like reference numerals.

Referring to fig. 1A to 1D, fig. 1A is a schematic diagram of a display device 1 according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, fig. 1B is a schematic diagram of a plurality of pixel structures P in the display device 1 of fig. 1A, fig. 1C is an enlarged schematic diagram of one pixel structure P in fig. 1B, and fig. 1D is a schematic cross-sectional view along a line A-A in fig. 1C. In the illustration, a first direction D1, a second direction D2 and a third direction D3 are shown, and the first direction D1, the second direction D2 and the third direction D3 are substantially perpendicular to each other. The first direction D1 may be substantially parallel to the extending direction of the scan line, the second direction D2 may be substantially parallel to the extending direction of the data line, and the third direction D3 may be substantially perpendicular to the other direction of the first direction D1 and the second direction D2, respectively.

As shown in fig. 1A, the display device 1 includes an array substrate 11, a pair of opposite substrates 12, and a display medium layer 13.

The array substrate 11 is disposed opposite to the opposite substrate 12, and the display medium layer 13 is sandwiched between the array substrate 11 and the opposite substrate 12. The array substrate 11 and the opposite substrate 12 may respectively comprise a light-transmitting material, and are not limited thereto, and may be, for example, a glass substrate, a quartz substrate or a plastic substrate. The display device 1 of the present embodiment may be a liquid crystal display panel or an organic light emitting diode display panel. In this case, the liquid crystal display panel is taken as an example, so the display medium layer 13 is a liquid crystal layer. The array substrate 11 may be a thin film transistor substrate, the opposite substrate 12 may be a color filter substrate, and the array substrate 11, the display medium layer 13 and the opposite substrate 12 may form a liquid crystal display panel. However, in a different embodiment, if the display device 1 is an organic light emitting diode display panel, the display medium layer 13 may be an organic light emitting diode layer. In one embodiment, if the organic light emitting diode layer emits white light, the opposite substrate 12 may be a color filter substrate; in another embodiment, if the organic light emitting diode layer emits red, green and blue light, the opposite substrate 12 may be a protection substrate (Cover plate) to protect the organic light emitting diode layer from external moisture or foreign matters.

As shown in fig. 1B to 1D, the array substrate 11 has a substrate 110 (not shown in fig. 1B and 1C) and at least one pixel structure P disposed on the substrate 110. In this embodiment, a plurality of pixel structures P are taken as an example, and the pixel structures P may be arranged in a two-dimensional matrix. The pixel structure P at least comprises a first conductive layer 111, a second conductive layer 112 and an oxide semiconductor layer 113. Here, the first conductive layer 111, the second conductive layer 112, and the oxide semiconductor layer 113 may form at least one thin film transistor, and may be a switching element of the pixel. In addition, as shown in fig. 1D, the pixel structure P of the present embodiment further includes a first insulating layer 114, a second insulating layer 115, an electrode 116, a light shielding rod 117 and a dielectric layer 118. For the sake of clarity, the electrode 116 of fig. 1B is shown with a dotted line, and fig. 1C only shows the first conductive layer 111, the second conductive layer 112, the oxide semiconductor layer 113 and a light shielding rod 117 of the pixel structure P, but does not show other layers.

As shown in fig. 1C and fig. 1D, the first conductive layer 111 is disposed on the substrate 110 of the array substrate 11, and has a trace portion 1111 extending along the first direction D1, and the trace portion 1111 has a first side S1 and a second side S2 opposite to the first side S1. The first side S1 of the present embodiment is an upper side of the trace portion 1111 of the first conductive layer 111 in fig. 1C, and the second side S2 is another side (a lower side of the trace portion 1111) opposite to the first side S1. The material of the first conductive layer 111 may be a single-layer or multi-layer structure formed by metal (such as aluminum, copper, silver, molybdenum, or titanium) or an alloy thereof. The first conductive layer 111 can be used as a gate (not shown) of the thin film transistor and the pixel scan line.

The dielectric layer 118 is disposed on the first conductive layer 111 and the substrate 110, and the dielectric layer 118 may be an organic material such as an organic silicon oxide compound, or an inorganic material such as silicon nitride, silicon oxide, silicon oxynitride, silicon carbide, aluminum oxide, hafnium oxide, or a multi-layer structure thereof. The dielectric layer 118 of the present embodiment covers the gate electrode and the light shielding rod 117, and optionally covers part or all of the substrate 110.

The second conductive layer 112 is disposed on the first conductive layer 111, and has two contact portions respectively disposed on the first side S1 and the second side S2. The contact corresponding to the first side S1 is denoted as a first contact C1 (which may be regarded as a drain of the thin film transistor, not denoted), and the contact corresponding to the second side S2 is denoted as a second contact C2 (which may be regarded as a source of the thin film transistor, not denoted). In addition, the second conductive layer 112 may further have a conductive wire portion 1121 extending along the second direction D2, and the conductive wire portion 1121 is connected to the second contact portion C2. Here, the wire portion 1121 may be a data line of a pixel.

The oxide semiconductor layer 113 is disposed between the first conductive layer 111 and the second conductive layer 112, and both ends of the oxide semiconductor layer 113 contact the contacts, respectively. The first contact portion C1 and the second contact portion C2 of the present embodiment are provided on the oxide semiconductor layer 113, respectively, and contact both ends of the oxide semiconductor layer 113. The oxide semiconductor layer 113 may be a channel layer of a thin film transistor, for example, but not limited to, including metal oxide semiconductor, and may include one of indium, gallium, zinc, and tin, for example, indium gallium zinc oxide (Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide, IGZO).

In addition, as shown in fig. 1C, the first conductive layer 111 further has a protrusion 1112, and the protrusion 1112 extends from the trace 1111 to protrude. Here, the protruding portion 1112 extends from the second side S2 of the trace portion 1111 (the protruding portion 1112 extends parallel to the second direction D2). The trace portion 1111 and the first contact portion C1 have a partial overlap in the third direction D3, and the protrusion portion 1112 and the second contact portion C2 also have a partial overlap in the third direction D3.

The first contact portion C1 and the second contact portion C2 have a space therebetween. Here, the term "gap" means a distance between the first contact portion C1 and the second contact portion C2 without being connected. In addition, a first insulating layer 114 is provided between the oxide semiconductor layer 113 and the second conductive layer 112. Here, the first insulating layer 114 is provided over the oxide semiconductor layer 113 (channel layer), and has two openings O1, O2 corresponding to the first contact portion C1 and the second contact portion C2, and the first contact portion C1 and the second contact portion C2 are in contact with the oxide semiconductor layer 113 via the openings O1, O2, respectively.

When the oxide semiconductor layer 113 (channel layer) of the thin film transistor is not on, the first contact portion C1 and the second contact portion C2 are electrically separated. The first insulating layer 114 may be made of an organic material such as an organic silicon oxide compound, or a single-layer inorganic material such as silicon nitride, silicon oxide, silicon oxynitride, silicon carbide, aluminum oxide, hafnium oxide, or a multi-layer structure of a combination thereof, but is not limited thereto. However, in other embodiments, the first contact portion C1 and the second contact portion C2 may be directly provided on the oxide semiconductor layer 113 without providing the first insulating layer 114.

The first insulating layer 114 of the present embodiment is an etch stop layer, and the first contact portion C1 and the second contact portion C2 are respectively disposed in the openings O1 and O2 of the first insulating layer 114 and cover a portion of the first insulating layer 114, and are respectively in contact with the oxide semiconductor layer 113 through the openings O1 and O2 of the first insulating layer 114. Accordingly, since the first contact portion C1 and the second contact portion C2 disposed in the openings O1 and O2 only partially overlap (have a smaller overlapping area) with the first conductive layer 111 in the third direction D3, parasitic capacitance (e.g., cgd, cgs) of the thin film transistor can be reduced, and thus, an electrical defect caused by a feed forward (feed through) phenomenon in the pixel structure P can be reduced, thereby improving display quality. In addition, the shapes of the two openings O1 and O2 in the present embodiment are different, so that the shapes of the first contact portion C1 and the second contact portion C2 correspondingly disposed in the openings O1 and O2 are also different, and therefore, the contact areas (the contact resistance values are adjusted) of the first contact portion C1 and the oxide semiconductor layer 113 and the contact areas of the second contact portion C2 and the oxide semiconductor layer 113 can be adjusted by the sizes of the openings O1 and O2, so as to reduce the leakage current of the thin film transistor.

In addition, the oxide semiconductor layer 113 of the present embodiment extends along the second direction D2, such that the trace portion 1111 is substantially perpendicular to the oxide semiconductor layer 113. The oxide semiconductor layer 113 has a connection portion 1131 and two end portions 1132 and 1133 located at two sides of the connection portion 1131. The connection portion 1131 extends along the second direction D2, and a width along the first direction D1 is smaller than a width along the first direction D1 of one of the end portions 1132, 1133. In other words, the oxide semiconductor layer 113 of the present embodiment is substantially perpendicular to the trace portion 1111 of the first conductive layer 111, and the oxide semiconductor layer 113 has a shape with wider sides and narrower middle, so that the width of the two adjacent pixel structures P along the first direction D1 (i.e. the distance between the data lines of the adjacent pixel structures P is reduced to make the size of the pixel structures P smaller) can be applied to a product with higher resolution, and further, the contact areas between the first contact portion C1 and the second contact portion C2 located in the openings O1 and O2 and the oxide semiconductor layer 113 are larger, so as to reduce the contact resistance.

In addition, as shown in fig. 1C and 1D, one of the openings O1 and O2 of the present embodiment completely exposes one end of the oxide semiconductor layer 113, and the first insulating layer covers the other end of the oxide semiconductor layer 113. Here, the opening O1 (of the drain terminal) completely exposes one end of the oxide semiconductor layer 113 (the right end of the oxide semiconductor layer 113 in fig. 1D), and the end 1132 contacts the first contact C1, while the opening O2 (of the source terminal) partially exposes the end 1133 (of the left side of the oxide semiconductor layer 113 in fig. 1D), and the partially exposed end 1133 contacts the second contact C2, and the first insulating layer 114 covers the left end of the oxide semiconductor layer 113. In addition, the oxide semiconductor layer 113 has a first width w1 along the first direction D1, one of the contact portions C1 and C2 and the first conductive layer 111 have an overlap region Z, and the overlap region Z has a second width w2 along the first direction D1, and the first width w1 is smaller than the second width w2. The first width w1 of the present embodiment is, for example and without limitation, the maximum width of the connection portion 1131 of the oxide semiconductor layer 113 along the first direction D1, and the second width w2 is, for example, the maximum width of the overlapping region (overlapping region Z) of the first contact portion C1 and the first conductive layer 111 in the third direction D3, and the first width w1 is smaller than the second width w2. In addition, the maximum width of the overlapping region of the second contact portion C2 and the first conductive layer 111 in the third direction D3 in the present embodiment is a third width w3, and the first width w1 is also smaller than the third width w3. By the design of the pixel structure P, the first contact portion C1, the second contact portion C2 and the oxide semiconductor layer 113 can have a larger contact area (lower contact resistance value), so that the thin film transistor (pixel structure P) has better electrical performance and better display quality.

Referring to fig. 1D again, the second insulating layer 115 is disposed on and covers the second conductive layer 112, the electrode 116 is disposed on the second insulating layer 115, and the electrode 116 can be connected to one of the contact portions C1 and C2 through a via H of the second insulating layer 115. The material of the second insulating layer 115 may be an organic material, such as but not limited to perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether copolymer (PFA), and the material of the electrode 116 may be Indium Tin Oxide (ITO), indium Zinc Oxide (IZO), aluminum Zinc Oxide (AZO), cadmium Tin Oxide (CTO), tin oxide (SnO) ₂ ) The transparent conductive material such as zinc oxide (ZnO) is not limited. The electrode 116 in this embodiment is a pixel electrode, and the electrode 116 is disposed on the second insulating layer 115 and fills the through hole H of the second insulating layer 115 to connect the first contact portion C1.

In addition, the light shielding rod 117 is disposed on the first side S1 of the first conductive layer 111, and the through hole H is correspondingly located between the light shielding rod 117 and the trace portion 1111. Here, the light shielding rod 117 and the first conductive layer 111 may be made of the same material and manufactured by the same process, so as to shield the light leakage phenomenon caused by abnormal alignment of the liquid crystal molecules at the turning position of the electrode 116 (pixel electrode).

Therefore, when the plurality of scanning lines of the array substrate 11 receive a scanning signal, the thin film transistors of the pixel structures P corresponding to the scanning lines are turned on, and a data signal corresponding to each row of pixels is transmitted to the electrode 116 corresponding to the pixel structure P through the plurality of data lines, so that the electrode 116 and a common electrode can form a voltage difference to drive the corresponding liquid crystal molecules, and the display device 1 can display an image.

In addition, please refer to fig. 1E, which is another schematic diagram of the display device 1 of the present invention.

The display device 1 of the present embodiment further includes a backlight module 14, and when the light E emitted from the backlight module 14 sequentially passes through the array substrate 11, the display medium layer 13 and the opposite substrate 12, the display panel can display color to form an image.

In addition, fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a pixel structure Pa according to another embodiment of the invention.

The pixel structure Pa is mainly different from the pixel structure P of fig. 1D in that the pixel structure Pa is not provided with the first insulating layer 114, so that the first contact portion C1 and the second contact portion C2 of the second conductive layer 112 are directly disposed on the oxide semiconductor layer 113 and respectively contact two sides of the oxide semiconductor layer 113.

In addition, other technical features of the pixel structure Pa may refer to the same elements of the pixel structure P, and will not be described again.

In addition, please refer to fig. 3A to 3E, which are schematic diagrams of the pixel structures Pb to Pf according to different aspects of the present invention. Here, fig. 3A to 3D show only the first conductive layer 111, the second conductive layer 112, and the oxide semiconductor layer 113 of the pixel structures Pb to Pf, and no other film layers are shown.

As shown in fig. 3A, unlike the pixel structure P, the end (upper side) of the pixel structure Pb corresponding to the first contact portion C1 is completely overlapped with the trace portion 1111 of the first conductive layer 111 in the third direction D3.

In addition, as shown in fig. 3B, unlike the pixel structure Pb, the width of the overlapping portion of the wire portion 1121 of the pixel structure Pc and the first conductive layer 111 in the third direction D3 along the first direction D1 is larger.

In addition, as shown in fig. 3C, unlike the pixel structure Pb, the end portion (lower side) of the pixel structure Pd corresponding to the second contact portion C2 also completely overlaps the protruding portion 1112 of the first conductive layer 111 in the third direction D3.

In addition, as shown in fig. 3D, unlike the pixel structure Pd, the protruding portion 1112 of the first conductive layer 111 of the pixel structure Pe is large in width in the first direction D1, and the shape of the oxide semiconductor layer 113 is L-shaped.

In addition, as shown in fig. 3E, the pixel structure Pf is mainly different from the pixel structure P of fig. 1D in that the pixel structure Pf has only the trace portion 1111 and no protrusion portion 1112, and the width of the trace portion 1111 in the second direction D2 is larger than the trace portion 1111 of the pixel structure P.

In addition, other technical features of the pixel structures Pb to Pf may refer to the same elements of the pixel structure P, and will not be described again.

In summary, in the display device of the present invention, the second conductive layer of the pixel structure has two contact portions respectively disposed on the first side and the second side of the trace portion of the first conductive layer, and the oxide semiconductor layer is disposed between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer, and both ends of the oxide semiconductor layer respectively contact the contact portions. In addition, a first width of the oxide semiconductor layer along the first direction is smaller than a second width of an overlapping region of one of the contact portions and the first conductive layer along the first direction. Therefore, by the design of the pixel structure, the pixel structure has smaller size and is applied to products with higher resolution, and has better electrical performance and higher display quality.

The foregoing is by way of example only and is not limiting. Any equivalent modifications or variations to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof are intended to be included in the claims.

Claims

1. A display device, comprising:

an array substrate having at least one pixel structure, the pixel structure comprising:

a first conductive layer having a trace portion extending along a first direction, the trace portion having a first side and a second side opposite to the first side;

the second conductive layer is arranged on the first conductive layer and is provided with two contact parts which are respectively and correspondingly arranged on the first side and the second side; and

An oxide semiconductor layer disposed between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer, wherein two ends of the oxide semiconductor layer respectively contact the contact portions and have a first width along the first direction, one of the contact portions and the first conductive layer have an overlap region, the overlap region has a maximum second width along the first direction, and the first width is smaller than the second width;

a pair of opposite substrates; and

the display medium layer is arranged between the array substrate and the opposite substrate;

the first conductive layer is further provided with a protruding part, and the protruding part extends and protrudes from the second side of the wiring part;

the contact part and the wiring part correspondingly arranged on the first side are partially overlapped.

2. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the oxide semiconductor layer has a connection portion and two end portions located on both sides of the connection portion, and wherein a width of the connection portion in the first direction is smaller than a width of one of the end portions in the first direction.

3. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the pixel structure further comprises a first insulating layer disposed between the oxide semiconductor layer and the second conductive layer, the first insulating layer has two openings corresponding to the contact portions, and the contact portions are in contact with the oxide semiconductor layer through the openings.

4. A display device according to claim 3, wherein one of the openings completely exposes one of ends of the oxide semiconductor layer.

5. The display device according to claim 4, wherein the first insulating layer covers the other end of the oxide semiconductor layer.

6. The display device of claim 1, wherein the pixel structure further comprises a second insulating layer and an electrode, the second insulating layer is disposed on the second conductive layer, the electrode is disposed on the second insulating layer, and the electrode is connected to one of the contact portions through a via hole of the second insulating layer.

7. The display device of claim 6, wherein the pixel structure further comprises a light shielding rod disposed on the first side of the first conductive layer, and the through hole is correspondingly located between the light shielding rod and the trace portion.

8. The display device of claim 7, wherein the second conductive layer further has a conductive line portion extending along a second direction, the conductive line portion is connected to another one of the contact portions, and the first direction is substantially perpendicular to the second direction.