JP4765337B2 - Inorganic alignment film forming apparatus and inorganic alignment film forming method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to the formation how the inorganic alignment film forming apparatus and an inorganic alignment layer.

A projection display device that projects an image on a screen is known. In this projection display device, a liquid crystal panel is mainly used for image formation.
Such a liquid crystal panel usually has an alignment film set so as to develop a predetermined pretilt angle in order to align liquid crystal molecules in a certain direction. In order to manufacture these alignment films, a method of rubbing a thin film made of a polymer compound such as polyimide formed on a substrate with a cloth such as rayon in one direction is known (for example, , See Patent Document 1).

However, an alignment film composed of a polymer compound such as polyimide may cause photodegradation depending on the use environment, use time, and the like. When such photodegradation occurs, constituent materials such as the alignment film and the liquid crystal layer are decomposed, and the decomposition products may adversely affect the performance of the liquid crystal. In addition, the rubbing process generates static electricity and dust, which reduces the reliability and the like.
In order to solve such a problem, there is an attempt to employ an alignment film (inorganic alignment film) made of an inorganic material. The inorganic alignment film is generally formed by a vapor deposition method using an inorganic material (inorganic alignment film forming material) as a target. However, the conventional method has the following problems.

That is, the target film forming material adheres to the inner wall of a vapor phase film forming apparatus (chamber) in addition to the base material on which the inorganic alignment film is to be formed. Such deposits peel off from the inner wall and contaminate the inside of the chamber as dust or dust-like foreign matter (dirt). When such a foreign substance exists, it may adhere to the base material or the formed inorganic alignment film. When such foreign matter adheres to the substrate or the inorganic alignment film, the alignment characteristics of the inorganic alignment film are significantly impaired. It is also possible to remove the deposit from the surface of the inorganic alignment film after the formation of the inorganic alignment film, but it is difficult to completely remove the deposit and the productivity of the inorganic alignment film (yield). From the point of view, it is not preferable.
In order to solve the above-described problems, for example, an adhesion-preventing plate having a surface sprayed with aluminum has been attached to the inner wall surface of the chamber. Such a configuration has an advantage that by removing the adhesion preventing plate, dirt attached to the adhesion preventing plate can be removed from the inside of the chamber, and the operation of removing the foreign matter in the chamber can be simplified.

However, even when the above-described deposition preventive plate is used, the adhered matter is prevented by an increase in the amount of adhered matter or a change in temperature or pressure in the apparatus (chamber). It may peel off from the landing plate and cause the same problem as above.
Thus, a technique has been proposed in which an Al layer having a predetermined surface shape is formed on the surface of the deposition preventing plate by thermal spraying using a mask (see, for example, Patent Document 2). By adopting such a technique, the exfoliation of the deposit due to temperature change or the like is suppressed, but the problem as described above has not been sufficiently solved.

JP-A-10-161133 JP-A-8-176816

An object of the present invention, the deterioration of the quality to be formed inorganic alignment film, in a providing child a method of forming an inorganic alignment film forming apparatus and the inorganic alignment film can be reliably prevented.

Such an object is achieved by the present invention described below.
An inorganic alignment film forming apparatus of the present invention is an inorganic alignment film forming apparatus used for producing an inorganic alignment film by a vapor deposition method using a film formation target in a chamber,
The entire inner wall surface of the chamber and the vicinity of the surface of the target holding member that holds the target are made of the same material as the constituent material of the target.
Thereby, the inorganic alignment film shaping | molding apparatus which can prevent reliably the quality deterioration of the inorganic alignment film which should be formed can be provided.

In the inorganic alignment film forming apparatus of the present invention, the target is irradiated with an ion beam from an ion beam source, the sputtered particles are extracted, and the sputtered particles are incident on the substrate, whereby the inorganic alignment film is formed. It is preferable to form.
Sputtering using an ion beam generally has the advantage that the amount of dust adhering to the chamber wall surface is less than that of electron beam evaporation, etc., but if the panel characteristics are taken into account, the amount of dust generated Is excessive, and the harmful effects associated therewith are likely to occur. In the present invention, even when such an ion beam sputtering method is applied, it is possible to enjoy the advantages of applying the ion beam method while sufficiently preventing the occurrence of the above problems. As a result, an inorganic alignment film having excellent characteristics can be more reliably formed.

In the inorganic alignment film forming apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable that the constituent material of the target is composed of silicon oxide.
As a result, it is possible to more reliably prevent the deposits attached to the inner wall surface of the chamber from peeling off, and the alignment characteristics of the inorganic alignment film can be made particularly excellent.
The inorganic alignment film forming method of the present invention is characterized by using the apparatus of the present invention.
Thereby, the shaping | molding method of the inorganic alignment film which can prevent reliably the quality deterioration of the inorganic alignment film which should be formed can be provided.

In the method for forming an inorganic alignment film of the present invention, the sputtered particles are deposited on the substrate from a direction inclined by a predetermined angle θ _{s with} respect to a vertical direction of a surface of the substrate on which the inorganic alignment film is formed. Incident,
Formed on the base material is an inorganic alignment film in which columnar crystals mainly composed of an inorganic material are aligned in an inclined state with respect to the surface direction of the surface of the base material on which the inorganic alignment film is formed. It is preferable.
As a result, the pretilt angle can be controlled more reliably, and the alignment characteristics of the inorganic alignment film (function of regulating the alignment state of the liquid crystal material) can be made particularly excellent.

In the method for forming an inorganic alignment film of the present invention, the predetermined angle θ _s is preferably 40 ° or more.
As a result, the shape near the top of the columnar crystals constituting the inorganic alignment film can be made into a shape that allows the liquid crystal material to be more stably aligned. As a result, the alignment characteristics of the inorganic alignment film are further improved. Can be.

In the method for forming an inorganic alignment film of the present invention, it is preferable to control the shape near the top of the columnar crystal by controlling the energy and / or the number of the sputtered particles that reach the substrate.
As a result, the shape near the top of the columnar crystals constituting the inorganic alignment film can be made into a shape that allows the liquid crystal material to be more stably aligned. As a result, the alignment characteristics of the inorganic alignment film are further improved. Can be.

In the method of forming an inorganic alignment film of the present invention, serial columnar crystal is preferred for the base material is obtained by orienting a state inclined by a predetermined angle theta _c.
Thereby, an appropriate pretilt angle can be expressed and the alignment state of the liquid crystal material can be more suitably regulated .

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
First, prior to description of the inorganic alignment film forming apparatus and the method of forming the inorganic alignment film, the liquid crystal panel of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 1 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view showing a first embodiment of the liquid crystal panel of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an inorganic alignment film formed by the method of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the liquid crystal panel 1A includes a liquid crystal layer 2, inorganic alignment films 3A and 4A, transparent conductive films 5 and 6, polarizing films 7A and 8A, and substrates 9 and 10. .

The liquid crystal layer 2 is mainly composed of a liquid crystal material.
As the liquid crystal material constituting the liquid crystal layer 2, any liquid crystal material may be used as long as it can be aligned, such as nematic liquid crystal and smectic liquid crystal. However, in the case of a TN type liquid crystal panel, a material that forms nematic liquid crystal is preferable. For example, phenylcyclohexane derivative liquid crystal, biphenyl derivative liquid crystal, biphenylcyclohexane derivative liquid crystal, terphenyl derivative liquid crystal, phenyl ether derivative liquid crystal, phenyl ester derivative liquid crystal, bicyclohexane derivative liquid crystal, azomethine derivative liquid crystal, azoxy derivative liquid crystal, pyrimidine derivative liquid crystal, dioxane Examples include derivative liquid crystals and cubane derivative liquid crystals. Furthermore, liquid crystal molecules in which a fluorine-based substituent such as a monofluoro group, a difluoro group, a trifluoro group, a trifluoromethyl group, a trifluoromethoxy group, or a difluoromethoxy group is introduced into these nematic liquid crystal molecules are also included.
On both surfaces of the liquid crystal layer 2, inorganic alignment films 3A and 4A are arranged.
The inorganic alignment film 3A is formed on a base material 100 composed of a transparent conductive film 5 and a substrate 9 as described later, and the inorganic alignment film 4A includes a transparent conductive film 6 and a substrate 10 as described later. It is formed on the base material 101 which consists of.
The inorganic alignment films 3A and 4A have a function of regulating the alignment state (when no voltage is applied) of the liquid crystal material (liquid crystal molecules) constituting the liquid crystal layer 2.

Such inorganic alignment films 3A and 4A are formed by, for example, a method described later (formation method of the inorganic alignment film of the present invention), and as shown in FIG. with respect to the surface direction of the surface on which the alignment film is formed, it has a configuration which is arranged in a state inclined by a predetermined angle theta _c in the direction of a predetermined (constant). In particular, in this embodiment, the shape near the top of the columnar crystals constituting the inorganic alignment films 3A and 4A is a shape that can stably align the liquid crystal material.

In the present embodiment, the columnar crystals constituting the inorganic alignment films 3A and 4A are relatively flat and have the inorganic alignment film of the substrate 100 formed in the vicinity of the top of the columnar crystals as shown in FIG. The angle θ _c ′ formed with the surface to be formed has a portion smaller than the inclination angle θ _{c of the} columnar crystal. With such a configuration, since the liquid crystal molecules are stably arranged in each of the relatively flat portions of each columnar crystal, an appropriate pretilt angle can be expressed, and the liquid crystal molecules at the time of voltage application Can be more suitably regulated.

The inclination θ _c of the columnar crystal with respect to the substrate 100 is preferably 30 to 60 °, and more preferably 40 to 50 °. Thereby, a more appropriate pretilt angle can be expressed, and the alignment state of the liquid crystal molecules can be more suitably regulated.
In addition, the width W of such columnar crystals is preferably 10 to 40 nm, and more preferably 10 to 20 nm. Thereby, a more appropriate pretilt angle can be expressed, and the alignment state of the liquid crystal molecules can be more suitably regulated.

The inorganic alignment films 3A and 4A are mainly composed of an inorganic material. In general, inorganic materials have excellent chemical stability compared to organic materials, and therefore have particularly excellent light resistance compared to conventional alignment films composed of organic materials. .
Moreover, it is preferable that the inorganic material which comprises the inorganic alignment films 3A and 4A can be crystallized in a columnar shape as shown in FIG. Thereby, the alignment state (pretilt angle) of the liquid crystal molecules constituting the liquid crystal layer 2 (when no voltage is applied) can be more easily regulated.

Examples of the inorganic material described above include silicon oxide (silicon oxide) such as SiO ₂ and SiO, aluminum oxide (aluminum oxide) such as Al ₂ O ₃ , and zinc oxide such as ZnO (zinc oxidation). ), Various metal oxides such as MgO and ITO can be used. Among these, it is particularly preferable to use silicon oxide. Thereby, the obtained liquid crystal panel has more excellent light resistance.

  The inorganic alignment films 3A and 4A preferably have an average thickness of 0.02 to 0.3 [mu] m, and more preferably 0.02 to 0.08 [mu] m. If the average thickness is less than the lower limit, it may be difficult to make the pretilt angle at each portion sufficiently uniform. On the other hand, when the average thickness exceeds the upper limit value, the drive voltage increases and the power consumption may increase.

A transparent conductive film 5 is disposed on the outer surface side of the inorganic alignment film 3A (the surface side opposite to the surface facing the liquid crystal layer 2). Similarly, the transparent conductive film 6 is disposed on the outer surface side of the inorganic alignment film 4A (the surface side opposite to the surface facing the liquid crystal layer 2).
The transparent conductive films 5 and 6 have a function of driving (changing the orientation of) the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer 2 by energizing them.

Control of energization between the transparent conductive films 5 and 6 is performed by controlling a current supplied from a control circuit (not shown) connected to the transparent conductive film.
The transparent conductive films 5 and 6 have conductivity, and are made of, for example, indium tin oxide (ITO), indium oxide (IO), tin oxide (SnO ₂ ), or the like.
On the outer surface side of the transparent conductive film 5 (surface side opposite to the surface facing the inorganic alignment film 3A), a substrate 9 is disposed. Similarly, the substrate 10 is disposed on the outer surface side of the transparent conductive film 6 (the surface side opposite to the surface facing the inorganic alignment film 4A).

The substrates 9 and 10 have a function of supporting the liquid crystal layer 2, the inorganic alignment films 3A and 4A, the transparent conductive films 5 and 6, and the polarizing films 7A and 8A described later. The constituent materials of the substrates 9 and 10 are not particularly limited, and examples thereof include glass such as quartz glass and plastic materials such as polyethylene terephthalate. Among these, it is particularly preferable that the glass is made of glass such as quartz glass. Thereby, it is possible to obtain a liquid crystal panel which is less likely to be warped or bent and which is more stable. In FIG. 1, the description of the sealing material, the wiring, etc. is omitted.
A polarizing film (polarizing plate, polarizing film) 7A is arranged on the outer surface side of the substrate 9 (the surface side opposite to the surface facing the transparent conductive film 5). Similarly, a polarizing film (polarizing plate, polarizing film) 8A is disposed on the outer surface side of the substrate 10 (the surface side opposite to the surface facing the transparent conductive film 6).

Examples of the constituent material of the polarizing films 7A and 8A include polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). Moreover, as a polarizing film, you may use what doped the said material with iodine.
As a polarizing film, what extended | stretched the film comprised with the said material to the uniaxial direction can be used, for example.

By disposing the polarizing films 7A and 8A as described above, it is possible to more reliably control the light transmittance by adjusting the energization amount.
The direction of the polarization axis of the polarizing films 7A and 8A is usually determined according to the alignment direction of the inorganic alignment films 3A and 4A.
In the present embodiment, the inorganic alignment film has a structure as shown in FIG. 2, but is not limited to this, and any shape can be used as long as the liquid crystal molecules are stably aligned. It may be.

Next, an inorganic alignment film forming apparatus and an inorganic alignment film forming method used for forming the inorganic alignment film as described above will be described.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an inorganic alignment film forming apparatus of the present invention used in the method for forming an inorganic alignment film.
First, an inorganic alignment film forming apparatus will be described.
An inorganic alignment film forming apparatus S100 shown in FIG. 3 includes an ion source (ion beam source) S1 that irradiates an ion beam, a vacuum chamber S3, an exhaust pump S4 that controls the pressure in the vacuum chamber S3, and an inorganic alignment film. It has a substrate holder S5 for fixing the substrate to be formed in the vacuum chamber S3, and a target holding member (backing plate) S6 for holding the target 500.

The ion source S1 has a plasma discharge chamber and an extraction electrode S12 therein. In addition, a gas supply source S13 that supplies gas into the ion source S1 is connected to the ion source S1.
In addition, the target holding member S6 is usually made of a metal material having excellent thermal conductivity, such as stainless steel, copper, or a copper alloy. When forming the inorganic alignment film, the target 500 is fixed to the target holding member S6 via a bonding agent such as In.

  The inner surface of the vacuum chamber (chamber) S3 is composed of a plate member S31 made of the same material as the target. In other words, the vacuum chamber S3 has at least a part of the inner wall surface S32 made of the same material as the target 500. Such an inner wall surface S <b> 32 (plate-like member S <b> 31) is excellent in adhesion with sputtered particles drawn out from the target 500. For this reason, when the target 500 is irradiated with the ion beam, it is assumed that some of the sputtered particles extracted from the target 500 do not accumulate on the base material and adhere to the inner wall surface S32 of the vacuum chamber S3. In addition, such deposits can be reliably retained. In particular, sufficient adhesion can be maintained even when a temperature change or a pressure change occurs in the vacuum chamber S3. Thereby, it can prevent effectively that the deposit | attachment by a sputtered particle peels from inner wall surface S32. As a result, it is possible to reliably prevent occurrence of problems such as deposits due to the sputtered particles peeling off from the inner wall surface and contaminating the inside of the chamber or the substrate as dust or dusty foreign matter (dirt). Further, since the inner wall surface S32 of the vacuum chamber S3 is made of the same material as the target 500, when forming an inorganic alignment film as described later, a part of the ion beam is not the target but the vacuum chamber S3. Even if the inner wall surface S32 has been irradiated, it is possible to prevent a material other than the constituent material of the inorganic alignment film from being pulled out, and to adversely affect the properties of the formed inorganic alignment film. It can prevent more reliably. Further, the vacuum chamber S3 having such a configuration can exhibit the excellent effects as described above over a long period of time. Accordingly, maintenance of the inorganic alignment film forming apparatus S100 is easy.

  The vacuum chamber S3 only needs to have at least a part of the inner wall surface S32 made of the same material as the target 500. However, in the illustrated configuration, the entire inner wall surface S32 of the vacuum chamber S3 is connected to the target 500. It is formed by a plate-like member S31 made of the same material. Thereby, it can prevent effectively that the deposit | attachment by a sputtered particle peels from inner wall surface S32.

  The thickness of the plate member S31 constituting the inner wall surface S32 of the vacuum chamber S3 (thickness of the portion made of the same material as the target 500) is not particularly limited, but is 0.5 to 3.0 mm. Preferably, it is 1-2 mm. If the thickness of the plate-like member S31 is less than the lower limit value, the effects of the present invention may not be sufficiently exhibited depending on the target 500, the constituent material of the plate-like member S31, and the like. On the other hand, when the thickness of the plate-like member S31 exceeds the upper limit, the above-described effect is saturated and further improvement cannot be expected.

  Further, the plate-like member S31 is preferably removable from the chamber body S30 as necessary. Thereby, when the amount of deposits on the plate-like member S31 increases (for example, when the thickness of the deposit becomes 5000 nm or more), the plate-like member S31 can be easily replaced. it can. In addition, since the deposit | attachment is excellent in adhesiveness with plate-shaped member S31, when removing such a plate-shaped member, it can prevent reliably that a deposit | attachment peels off.

  As described above, the inorganic alignment film forming apparatus S100 only needs to have the inner wall surface S32 of the vacuum chamber S3 made of the same material as the target 500, but the members in the vacuum chamber S3, that is, the substrate holder S5. The target holding member S6 and the like may also be formed of the same material as the target 500 (the same material as the inner wall surface S32) in the vicinity of the surface. Thereby, generation | occurrence | production of the above problems can be prevented more reliably. In such a case, the thickness of the part made of the same material as the target 500 (the same material as the inner wall surface S32) of these members is preferably 0.5 to 3.0 mm. More preferably, it is ˜2 mm.

Next, a method for forming an inorganic alignment film of the present invention using an inorganic alignment film forming apparatus having the configuration shown in the figure will be described. Hereinafter, the case where the inorganic alignment film 3A is formed will be typically described.
<1> First, the target 500 is installed on the target holding member S6 in the vacuum chamber S3. Those of the material constituting the target 500 is selected as appropriate depending on materials forming the inorganic alignment film 3A, for example, in the case of forming the inorganic alignment film made of SiO ₂ is the targeting 500, composed of SiO ₂ Further, when an inorganic alignment film made of SiO is formed, a target made of SiO can be suitably used as the target 500.

<2> Next, the base material 100 is installed in the base material holder S5 in the vacuum chamber S3.
<3> Next, the vacuum chamber S3 is depressurized by the exhaust pump S4.
<4> Next, gas is supplied from the gas supply source S13 into the ion source S1.
<5> Next, a voltage is applied to the filament from a power source (not shown) to generate thermoelectrons. The thermoelectrons generated in this way collide with the gas introduced into the ion source S1. Thereby, gas is ionized and plasma is generated. In such a state, an ion acceleration voltage is applied to the extraction electrode S12 to accelerate the ions and irradiate the target 500 as an ion beam.

Sputtered particles are extracted from the target 500 irradiated with the ion beam, and the sputtered particles are incident on and deposited on the substrate 100.
Then, by continuing the irradiation of the ion beam as described above, the incident and deposition of the sputtered particles on the base material 100 proceed, and the substrate on which the inorganic alignment film 3A is formed on the base material 100 (the electron of the present invention). A device substrate (electronic device substrate 200)) is obtained.

At the time of ion beam irradiation, sputtered particles generated from the target 500 are formed on the substrate 100 by a predetermined angle (irradiation angle) θ _{s with} respect to the direction perpendicular to the surface of the substrate 100 on which the inorganic alignment film 3A is formed. It is preferable to set the installation angle of the base material holder S5 so that the light enters from the inclined direction. Thereby, it is possible to form an inorganic alignment film in which columnar crystals mainly composed of an inorganic material are aligned in an inclined state with respect to the surface direction of the surface of the base material on which the inorganic alignment film is formed. As a result, the pretilt angle of the inorganic alignment film can be controlled more reliably, and the alignment characteristics of the inorganic alignment film (function to regulate the alignment state of the liquid crystal material) can be made particularly excellent.

The angle θ _s is preferably 40 ° or more, more preferably 50 to 87 °, and still more preferably 70 to 87 °. Thereby, the shape in the vicinity of the top of the columnar crystal constituting the inorganic alignment film 3A can be made into a shape in which the liquid crystal molecules can be more stably aligned. As a result, the obtained inorganic alignment film 3A is a liquid crystal The function of regulating the orientation state of the molecules becomes better. On the other hand, if the angle θ _s is too small, a sufficient pretilt angle cannot be obtained, and the function of regulating the alignment state of liquid crystal molecules may not be sufficiently obtained. On the other hand, if the angle θ _s is too large, it becomes difficult to reliably attach the sputtered particles drawn from the target 500 onto the base material 100. As a result, the adhesion between the base material 100 and the inorganic alignment film 3A is difficult. There is a possibility that a problem such as deterioration will occur.

  In addition, the present inventor can more suitably control the orientation of the inorganic alignment film by controlling the energy and / or number of sputtered particles that reach the substrate when forming the film as described above. I found. More specifically, by controlling the energy and / or number of sputtered particles reaching the substrate, the liquid crystal material can be more stably aligned with the shape near the top of the columnar crystal constituting the inorganic alignment film 3A. As a result, the alignment characteristics of the inorganic alignment film can be further improved.

Furthermore, it is preferable to satisfy at least one of the following conditions (1) and (2), and it is more preferable to satisfy two simultaneously.
(1) The acceleration voltage of the ion beam applied to the extraction electrode S12 is 1200 V or more.
(2) The ion beam current of the irradiated ion beam is 50 to 500 mA.

By satisfying at least one of the conditions (1) and (2), the shape in the vicinity of the top of the columnar crystal constituting the inorganic alignment film is a shape in which the liquid crystal molecules are more stably aligned. As a result, the pretilt angle can be controlled more reliably.
In particular, by satisfying the conditions (1) and (2) at the same time, the above-described effect becomes more remarkable.

As described above, the acceleration voltage of the ion beam is preferably 1200 V or more, but more preferably 1400 V or more. If the acceleration voltage is less than the lower limit, it may be difficult to more reliably control the shape near the top of the columnar crystal.
As described above, the ion beam current is preferably 50 to 500 mA, more preferably 200 to 500 mA. If the ion beam current is less than the lower limit, the sputtering rate may be reduced, and sufficient productivity may not be obtained. On the other hand, when the ion beam current exceeds the upper limit value, the orientation of liquid crystal molecules tends to vary.

  In general, when the sputtered particles are incident on the base material under a predetermined condition, columnar crystals inclined in a direction corresponding to the incident angle (irradiation angle) of the sputtered particles can be grown, and the entire inorganic alignment film However, the orientation of liquid crystal molecules may vary. However, if the above conditions are satisfied, the shape near the top of the columnar crystals constituting the inorganic alignment film 3A can be controlled to a shape that allows liquid crystal molecules to be more stably aligned. Thus, the pretilt angle can be controlled more reliably.

The pressure in the vacuum chamber S3, that is, the pressure of the atmosphere when forming the inorganic alignment film 3A is preferably 5.0 × 10 ⁻² Pa or less, and is 1.0 × 10 ⁻² Pa or less. More preferably. Thereby, the inorganic alignment film 3A in which the liquid crystal molecules can be more stably aligned can be formed. On the other hand, if the pressure in the vacuum chamber S3 is too high, the straightness of the sputtered particles may be deteriorated, and as a result, the columnar crystals may not be sufficiently formed. In addition, the crystal orientation may not be sufficiently aligned.

The gas supplied from the gas supply source S13 into the ion source S1 is not particularly limited, but is preferably a rare gas, and more preferably an argon gas. Thereby, the formation speed (sputter rate) of the inorganic alignment film 3A can be improved.
The temperature of the base material 100 when forming the inorganic alignment film 3A is preferably relatively low. Specifically, the temperature of the substrate 100 is preferably 150 ° C. or less, more preferably 80 ° C. or less, and further preferably 20 to 50 ° C. As a result, the phenomenon that the sputtered particles attached to the substrate 100 move from the position where they are first attached, that is, the phenomenon of migration, can be suppressed, and the inorganic alignment film 3A in which the liquid crystal molecules can be aligned more stably can be formed. . In addition, you may cool as needed so that the temperature of the base material 100 at the time of forming inorganic alignment film 3A may become the thing of the said range.

The formation speed (deposition speed) of the inorganic alignment film 3A is not particularly limited, but is preferably 1 to 15 nm / min, and more preferably 6 to 10 nm / min. Thereby, an inorganic alignment film can be formed more efficiently without impairing the orientation of the obtained inorganic alignment film.
Although the case where the inorganic alignment film 3A is formed has been described above, the inorganic alignment film 4A can be formed in the same manner.

Next, a second embodiment of the liquid crystal panel of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 4 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view showing a second embodiment of the liquid crystal panel of the present invention. Hereinafter, the liquid crystal panel 1 </ b> B illustrated in FIG. 4 will be described focusing on differences from the first embodiment, and description of similar matters will be omitted.
As shown in FIG. 4, a liquid crystal panel (TFT liquid crystal panel) 1B includes a TFT substrate (liquid crystal drive substrate) 17, an inorganic alignment film 3B bonded to the TFT substrate 17, a counter substrate 12 for liquid crystal panel, and a liquid crystal panel. The outer surface side of the TFT substrate (liquid crystal drive substrate) 17 and the liquid crystal layer 2 made of liquid crystal sealed in the gap between the inorganic alignment film 3B and the inorganic alignment film 4B. The polarizing film 7B bonded to (the surface opposite to the surface facing the inorganic alignment film 4B) and the outer surface side of the counter substrate 12 for liquid crystal panel (the surface opposite to the surface facing the inorganic alignment film 4B) And a polarizing film 8B bonded to the surface side). The inorganic alignment films 3B and 4B are formed by the same method (formation method of the inorganic alignment film of the present invention) as the inorganic alignment films 3A and 4A described in the first embodiment, and the polarizing films 7B and 8B. These are the same as the polarizing films 7A and 8A described in the first embodiment.
The counter substrate 12 for the liquid crystal panel is provided on the microlens substrate 11, the surface layer 114 of the microlens substrate 11, the black matrix 13 in which the opening 131 is formed, and the black matrix 13 on the surface layer 114 so as to cover the black matrix 13. A transparent conductive film (common electrode) 14.

  The microlens substrate 11 includes a microlens concave substrate (first substrate) 111 provided with a plurality of (many) concave portions (microlens concave portions) 112 having a concave curved surface, and the microlens concave substrate 111. And a surface layer (second substrate) 114 joined via a resin layer (adhesive layer) 115 on the surface provided with the recess 112, and the resin layer 115 fills the recess 112. The microlens 113 is formed by the resin thus formed.

The substrate with concave portions for microlenses 111 is manufactured from a flat base material (transparent substrate), and a plurality of (many) concave portions 112 are formed on the surface thereof. The recess 112 can be formed by, for example, a dry etching method, a wet etching method, or the like using a mask.
The substrate with concave portions 111 for microlenses is made of glass, for example.

The thermal expansion coefficient of the base material is preferably approximately the same as the thermal expansion coefficient of the glass substrate 171 (for example, the ratio of the thermal expansion coefficients of the two is about 1/10 to 10). As a result, in the obtained liquid crystal panel, warpage, deflection, peeling, and the like caused by differences in the thermal expansion coefficients of the two when the temperature changes are prevented.
From this point of view, it is preferable that the substrate 111 with concave portions for microlenses and the glass substrate 171 are made of the same type of material. This effectively prevents warpage, deflection, peeling, and the like due to differences in the thermal expansion coefficient when the temperature changes.

  In particular, when the microlens substrate 11 is used in a high-temperature polysilicon TFT liquid crystal panel, the substrate 111 with concave portions for microlenses is preferably made of quartz glass. The TFT liquid crystal panel has a TFT substrate as a liquid crystal driving substrate. For such a TFT substrate, quartz glass whose characteristics are unlikely to change depending on the manufacturing environment is preferably used. For this reason, the micro liquid crystal substrate 111 with concave portions for microlenses is made of quartz glass, so that a TFT liquid crystal panel with excellent stability that is less likely to be warped or bent can be obtained.

A resin layer (adhesive layer) 115 that covers the recess 112 is provided on the upper surface of the substrate with recesses 111 for microlenses.
The concave portion 112 is filled with the constituent material of the resin layer 115 to form the microlens 113.
The resin layer 115 can be made of, for example, a resin (adhesive) having a refractive index higher than the refractive index of the constituent material of the substrate 111 with concave portions for microlenses. For example, acrylic resin, epoxy resin, acrylic epoxy It can be suitably configured with an ultraviolet curable resin or the like.

A flat surface layer 114 is provided on the upper surface of the resin layer 115.
The surface layer (glass layer) 114 can be made of glass, for example. In this case, it is preferable that the thermal expansion coefficient of the surface layer 114 is substantially equal to the thermal expansion coefficient of the substrate 111 with concave portions for microlenses (for example, the ratio of the thermal expansion coefficients of the two is about 1/10 to 10). As a result, warpage, deflection, peeling, and the like caused by the difference in thermal expansion coefficient between the substrate 111 with concave portions for microlenses and the surface layer 114 are prevented. Such an effect can be more effectively obtained when the substrate with concave portions for microlenses 111 and the surface layer 114 are made of the same material.

When the microlens substrate 11 is used in a liquid crystal panel, the thickness of the surface layer 114 is usually about 5 to 1000 μm, more preferably about 10 to 150 μm, from the viewpoint of obtaining necessary optical characteristics.
In addition, the surface layer (barrier layer) 114 can also be comprised, for example with ceramics. Examples of ceramics include nitride ceramics such as AlN, SiN, TiN, and BN, oxide ceramics such as Al ₂ O ₃ and TiO ₂ , and carbide ceramics such as WC, TiC, ZrC, and TaC. Can be mentioned. When the surface layer 114 is made of ceramics, the thickness of the surface layer 114 is not particularly limited, but is preferably about 20 nm to 20 μm, and more preferably about 40 nm to 1 μm.
Such a surface layer 114 can be omitted if necessary.

The black matrix 13 has a light blocking function and is made of, for example, a metal such as Cr, Al, Al alloy, Ni, Zn, Ti, or a resin in which carbon, titanium, or the like is dispersed.
The transparent conductive film 14 has conductivity and is made of, for example, indium tin oxide (ITO), indium oxide (IO), tin oxide (SnO ₂ ), or the like.
The TFT substrate 17 is a substrate that drives the liquid crystal of the liquid crystal layer 2, and is a glass substrate 171 and a plurality (large number) of pixel electrodes 172 provided on the glass substrate 171 and arranged in a matrix (matrix). And a plurality of (many) thin film transistors (TFTs) 173 corresponding to the respective pixel electrodes 172. In FIG. 4, the description of the sealing material, wiring, etc. is omitted.

The glass substrate 171 is preferably made of quartz glass for the reasons described above.
The pixel electrode 172 drives the liquid crystal of the liquid crystal layer 2 by charging and discharging with the transparent conductive film (common electrode) 14. The pixel electrode 172 is made of, for example, the same material as that of the transparent conductive film 14 described above.

The thin film transistor 173 is connected to the corresponding pixel electrode 172 in the vicinity. The thin film transistor 173 is connected to a control circuit (not shown) and controls a current supplied to the pixel electrode 172. Thereby, charging / discharging of the pixel electrode 172 is controlled.
The inorganic alignment film 3B is bonded to the pixel electrode 172 of the TFT substrate 17, and the inorganic alignment film 4B is bonded to the transparent conductive film 14 of the counter substrate 12 for liquid crystal panel.

The liquid crystal layer 2 is made of a liquid crystal material (liquid crystal molecules), and the alignment of the liquid crystal molecules, that is, the liquid crystal changes corresponding to the charge / discharge of the pixel electrode 172.
In such a liquid crystal panel 1B, normally, one micro lens 113, one opening 131 of the black matrix 13 corresponding to the optical axis Q of the micro lens 113, one pixel electrode 172, and such a pixel. One thin film transistor 173 connected to the electrode 172 corresponds to one pixel.

  Incident light L incident from the liquid crystal panel counter substrate 12 side passes through the microlens concave substrate 111 and is condensed when passing through the microlens 113, while opening the resin layer 115, the surface layer 114, and the black matrix 13. 131, the transparent conductive film 14, the liquid crystal layer 2, the pixel electrode 172, and the glass substrate 171 are transmitted. At this time, since the polarizing film 8B is provided on the incident side of the microlens substrate 11, when the incident light L passes through the liquid crystal layer 2, the incident light L is linearly polarized light. At this time, the polarization direction of the incident light L is controlled in accordance with the alignment state of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer 2. Therefore, the luminance of the emitted light can be controlled by transmitting the incident light L transmitted through the liquid crystal panel 1B to the polarizing film 7B.

  As described above, the liquid crystal panel 1 </ b> B has the microlens 113, and the incident light L that has passed through the microlens 113 is collected and passes through the openings 131 of the black matrix 13. On the other hand, the incident light L is shielded in a portion where the opening 131 of the black matrix 13 is not formed. Accordingly, in the liquid crystal panel 1B, unnecessary light is prevented from leaking from portions other than the pixels, and attenuation of the incident light L at the pixel portions is suppressed. For this reason, the liquid crystal panel 1B has a high light transmittance in the pixel portion.

  In the liquid crystal panel 1B, for example, inorganic alignment films 3B and 4B are formed on a TFT substrate 17 and a liquid crystal panel counter substrate 12 manufactured by a known method, respectively, and then a sealing material (not shown) is formed. Then, the two can be joined together, and then liquid crystal can be injected into the gap from the gap hole (not shown) formed thereby, and then the hole is closed.

In the liquid crystal panel 1B, the TFT substrate is used as the liquid crystal drive substrate. However, a liquid crystal drive substrate other than the TFT substrate, for example, a TFD substrate or an STN substrate may be used as the liquid crystal drive substrate.
Moreover, a liquid crystal panel provided with the inorganic alignment film as described above can be suitably used for those having a strong light source and those used outdoors.

Next, an electronic apparatus (liquid crystal display device) of the present invention including the liquid crystal panel 1A as described above will be described in detail based on the embodiment shown in FIGS.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a mobile (or notebook) personal computer to which the electronic apparatus of the present invention is applied.
In this figure, a personal computer 1100 includes a main body 1104 having a keyboard 1102 and a display unit 1106. The display unit 1106 is supported by the main body 1104 via a hinge structure so as to be rotatable. Yes.
In the personal computer 1100, the display unit 1106 includes the liquid crystal panel 1A described above and a backlight (not shown). An image (information) can be displayed by transmitting light from the backlight to the liquid crystal panel 1A.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a mobile phone (including PHS) to which the electronic apparatus of the present invention is applied.
In this figure, a cellular phone 1200 includes the above-described liquid crystal panel 1A and a backlight (not shown) as well as a plurality of operation buttons 1202, an earpiece 1204 and a mouthpiece 1206.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a digital still camera to which the electronic apparatus of the present invention is applied. In this figure, connection with an external device is also simply shown.
Here, an ordinary camera sensitizes a silver halide photographic film with a light image of a subject, whereas a digital still camera 1300 photoelectrically converts a light image of a subject with an imaging device such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device). An imaging signal (image signal) is generated.

The above-described liquid crystal panel 1A and a backlight (not shown) are provided on the back of the case (body) 1302 in the digital still camera 1300. The liquid crystal panel 1A is configured to perform display based on an imaging signal from the CCD. Functions as a finder that displays the subject as an electronic image.
A circuit board 1308 is installed inside the case. The circuit board 1308 is provided with a memory that can store (store) an imaging signal.

A light receiving unit 1304 including an optical lens (imaging optical system), a CCD, and the like is provided on the front side of the case 1302 (on the back side in the illustrated configuration).
When the photographer confirms the subject image displayed on the liquid crystal panel 1A and presses the shutter button 1306, the CCD image pickup signal at that time is transferred and stored in the memory of the circuit board 1308.

  In the digital still camera 1300, a video signal output terminal 1312 and an input / output terminal 1314 for data communication are provided on the side surface of the case 1302. As shown in the figure, a television monitor 1430 is connected to the video signal output terminal 1312 and a personal computer 1440 is connected to the data communication input / output terminal 1314 as necessary. Further, the imaging signal stored in the memory of the circuit board 1308 is output to the television monitor 1430 or the personal computer 1440 by a predetermined operation.

Next, as an example of the electronic apparatus of the present invention, an electronic apparatus (liquid crystal projector) using the liquid crystal panel 1B will be described.
FIG. 8 is a diagram schematically showing an optical system of the electronic apparatus (projection display device) of the present invention.
As shown in the figure, the projection display apparatus 300 includes a light source 301, an illumination optical system including a plurality of integrator lenses, a color separation optical system (light guide optical system) including a plurality of dichroic mirrors, and the like. A liquid crystal light valve (liquid crystal optical shutter array) 24 corresponding to red (liquid crystal optical shutter array) 24 corresponding to red, a liquid crystal light valve (liquid crystal optical shutter array) 25 corresponding to green (liquid crystal optical shutter array) 25, and a liquid crystal light valve corresponding to blue (for blue) ) A liquid crystal light valve (liquid crystal light shutter array) 26, a dichroic prism (color combining optical system) 21 formed with a dichroic mirror surface 211 reflecting only red light and a dichroic mirror surface 212 reflecting only blue light, and projection And a lens (projection optical system) 22.

  The illumination optical system includes integrator lenses 302 and 303. The color separation optical system includes mirrors 304, 306, and 309, a dichroic mirror 305 that reflects blue light and green light (transmits only red light), a dichroic mirror 307 that reflects only green light, and a dichroic that reflects only blue light. A mirror (or a mirror that reflects blue light) 308 and condenser lenses 310, 311, 312, 313, and 314 are included.

The liquid crystal light valve 25 includes the liquid crystal panel 1B described above. The liquid crystal light valves 24 and 26 have the same configuration as the liquid crystal light valve 25. The liquid crystal panels 1B included in these liquid crystal light valves 24, 25 and 26 are connected to driving circuits (not shown).
In the projection display device 300, the dichroic prism 21 and the projection lens 22 constitute the optical block 20. The optical block 20 and liquid crystal light valves 24, 25 and 26 fixedly installed on the dichroic prism 21 constitute a display unit 23.

Hereinafter, the operation of the projection display apparatus 300 will be described.
White light (white light beam) emitted from the light source 301 passes through the integrator lenses 302 and 303. The light intensity (luminance distribution) of the white light is made uniform by the integrator lenses 302 and 303. The white light emitted from the light source 301 preferably has a relatively high light intensity. Thereby, the image formed on the screen 320 can be made clearer. In addition, since the projection display device 300 uses the liquid crystal panel 1B having excellent light resistance, excellent long-term stability can be obtained even when the intensity of light emitted from the light source 301 is large.

White light transmitted through the integrator lenses 302 and 303 is reflected to the left side in FIG. 8 by the mirror 304, and blue light (B) and green light (G) of the reflected light are respectively reflected by the dichroic mirror 305 in FIG. The red light (R) is reflected downward and passes through the dichroic mirror 305.
The red light transmitted through the dichroic mirror 305 is reflected downward in FIG. 8 by the mirror 306, and the reflected light is shaped by the condenser lens 310 and enters the liquid crystal light valve 24 for red.

Green light of blue light and green light reflected by the dichroic mirror 305 is reflected to the left in FIG. 8 by the dichroic mirror 307, and the blue light passes through the dichroic mirror 307.
The green light reflected by the dichroic mirror 307 is shaped by the condenser lens 311 and enters the green liquid crystal light valve 25.

Further, the blue light transmitted through the dichroic mirror 307 is reflected on the left side in FIG. 8 by the dichroic mirror (or mirror) 308, and the reflected light is reflected on the upper side in FIG. 8 by the mirror 309. The blue light is shaped by the condenser lenses 312, 313, and 314, and enters the liquid crystal light valve 26 for blue.
As described above, the white light emitted from the light source 301 is separated into the three primary colors of red, green, and blue by the color separation optical system, and is guided to the corresponding liquid crystal light valve and enters.

At this time, each pixel (the thin film transistor 173 and the pixel electrode 172 connected thereto) of the liquid crystal panel 1B included in the liquid crystal light valve 24 is subjected to switching control by a drive circuit (drive means) that operates based on the image signal for red. (On / off), ie modulated.
Similarly, green light and blue light are incident on the liquid crystal light valves 25 and 26, respectively, and modulated by the respective liquid crystal panels 1B, thereby forming a green image and a blue image. At this time, each pixel of the liquid crystal panel 1B included in the liquid crystal light valve 25 is switching-controlled by a drive circuit that operates based on a green image signal, and each pixel of the liquid crystal panel 1B included in the liquid crystal light valve 26 is used for blue color. Switching control is performed by a drive circuit that operates based on the image signal.

As a result, red light, green light, and blue light are modulated by the liquid crystal light valves 24, 25, and 26, respectively, and a red image, a green image, and a blue image are formed, respectively.
The red image formed by the liquid crystal light valve 24, that is, the red light from the liquid crystal light valve 24, enters the dichroic prism 21 from the surface 213, is reflected by the dichroic mirror surface 211 to the left in FIG. The light passes through the surface 212 and exits from the exit surface 216.

Further, the green image formed by the liquid crystal light valve 25, that is, the green light from the liquid crystal light valve 25, enters the dichroic prism 21 from the surface 214, passes through the dichroic mirror surfaces 211 and 212, and exits. The light exits from the surface 216.
Further, the blue image formed by the liquid crystal light valve 26, that is, the blue light from the liquid crystal light valve 26 is incident on the dichroic prism 21 from the surface 215, and is reflected by the dichroic mirror surface 212 to the left in FIG. The light passes through the dichroic mirror surface 211 and exits from the exit surface 216.

  Thus, the light of each color from the liquid crystal light valves 24, 25 and 26, that is, the images formed by the liquid crystal light valves 24, 25 and 26 are synthesized by the dichroic prism 21, thereby forming a color image. Is done. This image is projected (enlarged projection) on the screen 320 installed at a predetermined position by the projection lens 22.

In addition to the personal computer (mobile personal computer) of FIG. 5, the mobile phone of FIG. 6, the digital still camera of FIG. 7, and the projection display device of FIG. , Video camera, viewfinder type, monitor direct-view video tape recorder, car navigation device, pager, electronic notebook (including communication function), electronic dictionary, calculator, electronic game device, word processor, workstation, video phone, crime prevention TV monitors, electronic binoculars, POS terminals, devices equipped with touch panels (for example, cash dispensers of financial institutions, automatic ticket vending machines), medical devices (for example, electronic thermometers, blood pressure monitors, blood glucose meters, electrocardiographs, ultrasonic diagnostic devices) , Endoscope display devices), fish detectors, various measuring instruments, instruments (for example, Two, aircraft, gauges of a ship), such as flight simulators, and the like. And it cannot be overemphasized that the liquid crystal panel of this invention mentioned above is applicable as a display part of these various electronic devices, and a monitor part.
As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated based on embodiment of illustration, this invention is not limited to this.

For example, in the inorganic alignment film forming apparatus of the present invention, the configuration of each part can be replaced with an arbitrary configuration that exhibits the same function, and an arbitrary configuration can be added.
Further, in the above-described embodiment, it has been described as being applied to the sputtering method using an ion beam, but the present invention is applied to other vapor deposition methods (other sputtering methods, ion plating methods, etc.). It may be done.

In the method for forming an inorganic alignment film of the present invention, one or two or more optional steps may be added. Further, for example, in the electronic device substrate, the liquid crystal panel, and the electronic apparatus of the present invention, the configuration of each part can be replaced with any configuration that exhibits the same function, and any configuration is added. You can also.
In the above-described embodiment, the projection display device (electronic device) has three liquid crystal panels, and the liquid crystal panel of the present invention is applied to all of them, but at least these One of them may be the liquid crystal panel of the present invention. In this case, it is preferable to apply the present invention to at least a liquid crystal panel used for a liquid crystal light valve for blue.

Example 1
[Manufacture of inorganic alignment film forming apparatus]
First, an inorganic alignment film forming apparatus as shown in FIG. 3 was manufactured.
In the vacuum chamber S3, a plate-like member S31 made of SiO ₂ is arranged on the entire inner surface of the chamber body S30. The thickness of the plate member S31 was 1 mm. In addition, the inner surface of the chamber body was made of SiO ₂ .
Further, the target holding member S6 was used having a base part made of copper and a surface layer made of SiO ₂ . The thickness of the surface layer was 1.5 mm.
Further, the base material holder S5 used was a base having a base portion made of copper and a surface layer made of SiO ₂ . The thickness of the surface layer was 1.5 mm.

[Manufacture of LCD panels]
Using the inorganic alignment film forming apparatus as described above, a liquid crystal panel as shown in FIG. 4 was manufactured as follows.
First, a microlens substrate was manufactured as follows.
Prepare a raw quartz glass substrate (transparent substrate) with a thickness of about 1.2 mm as a base material, and immerse it in a cleaning solution (mixed solution of sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide solution) at 85 ° C. to perform cleaning. The surface was cleaned.

Thereafter, a polycrystalline silicon film having a thickness of 0.4 μm was formed on the front and back surfaces of the quartz glass substrate by a CVD method.
Next, an opening corresponding to the recess to be formed was formed in the formed polycrystalline silicon film.
This was done as follows. First, a resist layer having a concave pattern to be formed was formed on the polycrystalline silicon film. Next, the polycrystalline silicon film was dry-etched with CF gas to form an opening. Next, the resist layer was removed.

Next, the quartz glass substrate was immersed in an etching solution (mixed aqueous solution of 10 wt% hydrofluoric acid + 10 wt% glycerin) for 120 minutes and wet-etched (etching temperature 30 ° C.) to form a recess on the quartz glass substrate.
Thereafter, the quartz glass substrate was immersed in a 15 wt% tetramethylammonium hydroxide aqueous solution for 5 minutes to remove the polycrystalline silicon film formed on the front and back surfaces, thereby obtaining a substrate with concave portions for microlenses.

Next, an ultraviolet (UV) curable acrylic optical adhesive (refractive index of 1.60) is applied without bubbles on the surface of the substrate with concave portions for microlenses, and then the optical adhesive is used. A cover glass (surface layer) made of quartz glass was bonded to the optical adhesive, and then the optical adhesive was cured by irradiating the optical adhesive with ultraviolet rays to obtain a laminate.
Thereafter, the cover glass was ground and polished to a thickness of 50 μm to obtain a microlens substrate.
In the obtained microlens substrate, the thickness of the resin layer was 12 μm.

With respect to the microlens substrate obtained as described above, a light shielding film (Cr film) having a thickness of 0.16 μm in which an opening is provided at a position corresponding to the microlens of the cover glass by using a sputtering method and a photolithography method. That is, a black matrix was formed. Further, an ITO film (transparent conductive film) having a thickness of 0.15 μm was formed on the black matrix by a sputtering method to manufacture a counter substrate for a liquid crystal panel.
An inorganic alignment film was formed on the transparent conductive film of the counter substrate for a liquid crystal panel thus obtained using the inorganic alignment film forming apparatus as described above.

First, a target 500 made of SiO ₂ was placed on a target holding member S6 made of copper via In as a bonding agent.
Next, a counter substrate for a liquid crystal panel was placed on the substrate holder S5 in the vacuum chamber S3, and the inside of the vacuum chamber S3 was depressurized to 5.0 × 10 ⁻⁴ Pa by the exhaust pump S4.
Next, argon gas is supplied from the gas supply source S13 into the ion source S1, voltage is applied to the filament, plasma is generated, and an ion acceleration voltage of 1500 V is applied to the extraction electrode S12 to accelerate ions. Then, the target 500 was irradiated as an ion beam. The ion beam current of the irradiated ion beam was 250 mA.

Sputtered particles were extracted from the target 500 irradiated with the ion beam toward the counter substrate for the liquid crystal panel, and an inorganic alignment film composed of SiO ₂ having an average thickness of 0.05 μm was formed on the transparent conductive film. Note that the irradiation angle (incident angle) θ _s of the sputtered particles was 80 °. The temperature of the counter substrate for liquid crystal panel during film formation was 100 ° C.
Inclination angle theta _c with respect to the liquid crystal panel for a counter substrate of columnar crystals constituting the inorganic alignment film formed as described above is at 45 °, the width of the columnar crystal was 25 nm.

In addition, an inorganic alignment film was formed on the surface of a separately prepared TFT substrate (made of quartz glass) in the same manner as described above.
The counter substrate for a liquid crystal panel on which the inorganic alignment film was formed and the TFT substrate on which the inorganic alignment film was formed were bonded via a sealing material. This bonding was performed such that the alignment direction of the inorganic alignment film was shifted by 90 ° so that the liquid crystal molecules constituting the liquid crystal layer were twisted to the left.
Next, liquid crystal (Merck Corp .: MJ99247) was injected into the gap from the gap hole formed between the inorganic alignment film and the inorganic alignment film, and then the hole was closed. The formed liquid crystal layer had a thickness of about 3 μm.

Thereafter, a polarizing film 8B and a polarizing film 7B are bonded to the outer surface side of the counter substrate for the liquid crystal panel and the outer surface side of the TFT substrate, respectively, thereby manufacturing a TFT liquid crystal panel having a structure as shown in FIG. did. As the polarizing film, a film made of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and stretched in a uniaxial direction was used. The bonding directions of the polarizing film 7B and the polarizing film 8B were determined based on the alignment directions of the inorganic alignment film 3B and the inorganic alignment film 4B, respectively. That is, the polarizing film 7B and the polarizing film 8B are bonded so that the incident light is not transmitted when a voltage is applied and the incident light is transmitted when no voltage is applied.
The pretilt angle of the manufactured liquid crystal panel was in the range of 3 to 7 °.

(Examples 2 to 6)
The configuration of the inorganic alignment film forming apparatus and the conditions for forming the inorganic alignment film are shown in Table 1, and the same as in Example 1 except that the inorganic alignment film formed of SiO ₂ was formed. Thus, a liquid crystal panel was manufactured.
(Examples 7 to 10)
Except for using SiO as the target 500, and forming the inorganic alignment film made of SiO as shown in Table 1 with the configuration of the inorganic alignment film forming apparatus and the conditions for forming the inorganic alignment film as shown in Table 1. A liquid crystal panel was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 1.

(Comparative Example 1)
Without using an apparatus as shown in FIG. 3, a polyimide resin (PI) solution (manufactured by Nippon Synthetic Rubber Co., Ltd .: AL6256) is prepared and applied on the transparent conductive film of the counter substrate for the liquid crystal panel by spin coating. A liquid crystal panel was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 1 except that a film having an average thickness of 0.05 μm was formed, and a rubbing treatment was performed so that the pretilt angle was 2 to 3 ° to obtain an alignment film. . In Comparative Example 1, dusty material was generated during the rubbing process.

(Comparative Example 2)
Instead of the SiO ₂ plate member S31, a plate material in which a sprayed aluminum film (thickness: 50 μm) is coated on a stainless steel substrate is used, and the target holding member S6 and the substrate holder S5 are made of SiO _2. A liquid crystal panel was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that a copper member having no surface layer composed of was used.

(Comparative Example 3)
Without using the SiO ₂ made of plate-like member S31, the vacuum chamber S3 and those composed only of the chamber body, the target holding member S6, as a substrate holder S5, no surface layer formed of SiO _2, A liquid crystal panel was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that a copper member was used.
(Comparative Example 4)
A liquid crystal panel was manufactured in the same manner as in Comparative Example 2 except that the sputtered particles generated from the target 500 were incident on the liquid crystal panel counter substrate without being inclined.

[Evaluation of clean condition of the surface of inorganic alignment film in vacuum chamber]
About each said Example and Comparative Examples 2-4, formation of the inorganic alignment film was repeated by the method similar to what was mentioned above, respectively, and 100 liquid crystal panels were manufactured.
The state (clean state) in the vacuum chamber after 100 liquid crystal panels were manufactured was evaluated according to the following four criteria.
A: No dust or dusty foreign matter was found on the floor in the chamber.
○: Dust, dust-like foreign matter, etc. were hardly observed on the floor in the chamber.
(Triangle | delta): Dust, the dusty foreign material, etc. were slightly recognized on the floor in a chamber.
X: Dust, dust-like foreign matter, etc. were remarkably recognized on the floor in the chamber.

Moreover, about the 90-100th liquid crystal panel, the mode of the surface was observed and evaluated according to the following four steps | paragraphs of criteria.
A: No foreign matter was observed.
A: Almost no foreign matter was observed.
Δ: Slight adhesion of foreign matter was observed.
X: Adherence of foreign matters was recognized remarkably.

[LCD panel evaluation]
The light transmittance was continuously measured for the liquid crystal panels manufactured in each of the above Examples and Comparative Examples (the first liquid crystal panel manufactured). The light transmittance was measured by placing each liquid crystal panel at a temperature of 50 ° C. and irradiating it with white light having a light flux density of 15 lm / mm ² without applying voltage.

As the evaluation of the liquid crystal panel, the time (light resistance time) from the start of the white light irradiation of the liquid crystal panel manufactured in Comparative Example 1 until the light transmittance is reduced by 50% compared to the initial light transmittance. As a standard, evaluation was performed in four stages as follows.
A: Light resistance time is 5 times or more that of Comparative Example 1.
○: Light resistance time is 2 times or more and less than 5 times that of Comparative Example 1.
Δ: Light resistance time is 1 to 2 times that of Comparative Example 1.
X: Light resistance time is inferior to that of Comparative Example 1.
Table 1 shows the structure of the inorganic alignment film forming apparatus, the formation conditions of the inorganic alignment film, the average thickness of the inorganic alignment film, the evaluation results of the pretilt angle in each liquid crystal panel, and the cleanness of the surface of the inorganic alignment film in the vacuum chamber. The evaluation of a state and the evaluation result of the liquid crystal panel were shown collectively.

As is apparent from Table 1, in the present invention, no foreign matter was observed in the chamber and on the surface of the inorganic alignment film. On the other hand, in the comparative example, the presence of foreign matters was observed in the chamber and on the surface of the inorganic alignment film. Such foreign substances are considered to have an adverse effect on the manufactured inorganic alignment film (liquid crystal panel).
Moreover, in the liquid crystal panel of this invention, compared with the liquid crystal panel of the comparative example 1, the outstanding light resistance was shown. Further, in the liquid crystal panel of the present invention, a sufficient pretilt angle was obtained, and the alignment state of the liquid crystal molecules could be reliably regulated. However, in the liquid crystal panel of Comparative Example 4, a sufficient pretilt angle was not obtained, It was difficult to regulate the alignment state of the liquid crystal molecules.

[Evaluation of LCD projector (electronic equipment)]
A liquid crystal projector having a structure as shown in FIG. 8 using the TFT liquid crystal panel manufactured in each of the above examples and comparative examples (the liquid crystal panel manufactured for the 100th sheet for each of the examples and comparative examples 2 to 4). (Electronic device) was assembled, and this liquid crystal projector was continuously driven for 5000 hours.

As an evaluation of the liquid crystal projector, a projected image immediately after driving and a projected image after 5,000 hours after driving were observed, and sharpness was evaluated in four stages as follows.
A: A clear projected image was observed.
○: An almost clear projected image was observed.
(Triangle | delta): The projection image somewhat inferior to a clearness was observed.
X: The projection image which is not clear was confirmed.
The results are shown in Table 2.

As is clear from Table 2, the liquid crystal projector (electronic device) manufactured using the liquid crystal panel of the present invention obtained a clear projected image even when it was continuously driven for a long time.
On the other hand, in the liquid crystal projector manufactured using the liquid crystal panel of Comparative Example 1, the sharpness of the projected image clearly decreased with the driving time. This is presumably because the alignment of the liquid crystal molecules is uniform in the initial stage, but the alignment film deteriorates and the alignment of the liquid crystal molecules decreases due to long-term driving. In addition, in the liquid crystal projector manufactured using the liquid crystal panel of Comparative Examples 2-4, a clear projection image was not obtained from the beginning of a drive. This is presumably because foreign matters (for example, dust, dust-like foreign matters or metal materials constituting the chamber body) mixed during the formation of the inorganic alignment film had an adverse effect.
Moreover, when a personal computer, a cellular phone, and a digital still camera equipped with the liquid crystal panel of the present invention were manufactured and evaluated in the same manner, similar results were obtained.
From these results, it can be seen that the liquid crystal panel and the electronic device of the present invention are excellent in light resistance and can obtain stable characteristics even after long-term use.

It is a typical longitudinal section showing a 1st embodiment of a liquid crystal panel of the present invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the inorganic alignment film formed by the method of this invention. It is a schematic diagram of the inorganic alignment film formation apparatus of this invention used for the formation method of an inorganic alignment film. It is a typical longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows 2nd Embodiment of the liquid crystal panel of this invention. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a mobile (or notebook) personal computer to which an electronic apparatus of the present invention is applied. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the mobile telephone (PHS is also included) to which the electronic device of this invention is applied. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the digital still camera to which the electronic device of this invention is applied. It is a figure which shows typically the optical system of the projection type display apparatus to which the electronic device of this invention is applied.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1A, 1B ... Liquid crystal panel 2 ... Liquid crystal layer 3A, 3B ... Inorganic alignment film 4A, 4B ... Inorganic alignment film 5 ... Transparent conductive film 6 ... Transparent conductive film 7A, 7B ... Polarizing film 8A, 8B ... Polarizing film 9 ... Substrate 10 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS ... Substrate 100 ... Base material 101 ... Base material 200 ... Substrate for electronic device 500 ... Target S1 ... Ion source S12 ... Extraction electrode S13 ... Gas supply source S100 ... Inorganic alignment film forming apparatus S3 ... Vacuum chamber (chamber) S30 ... Chamber body DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS S31 ... Plate-shaped member S32 ... Inner wall surface S4 ... Exhaust pump S5 ... Base material holder S6 ... Target holding member (backing plate) 11 ... Microlens substrate 111 ... Substrate with a concave part for microlenses 112 ... Concave 113 ... Microlens 114 ... Surface layer 115 ... Resin layer 12 ... Counter substrate for liquid crystal panel 13 ... Black Queue matrix 131 ... Opening 14 ... Transparent conductive film 17 ... TFT substrate 171 ... Glass substrate 172 ... Pixel electrode 173 ... Thin film transistor 1100 ... Personal computer 1102 ... Keyboard 1104 ... Main body 1106 ... Display unit 1200 ... Mobile phone 1202 ... Operation buttons 1204 ... Earpiece 1206 ... Mouthpiece 1300 ... Digital still camera 1302 ... Case (body) 1304 ... Light receiving unit 1306 ... Shutter button 1308 ... Circuit board 1312 ... Video signal output terminal 1314 ... Input / output terminal for data communication 1430 ... Television monitor 1440 ... Personal computer 300 ... Projection type display device 301 ... Light source 302, 303 ... Integrator lens 304, 306, 309 ... Mirror 305, 3 7, 308 ... Dichroic mirror 310-314 ... Condensing lens 320 ... Screen 20 ... Optical block 21 ... Dichroic prism 211, 212 ... Dichroic mirror surface 213-215 ... Surface 216 ... Outgoing surface 22 ... Projection lens 23 ... Display unit 24- 26 ... Liquid crystal light valve

Claims (8)

An inorganic alignment film forming apparatus used for producing an inorganic alignment film by a vapor deposition method using a film formation target in a chamber,
The inorganic alignment film forming apparatus, wherein the entire inner wall surface of the chamber and the vicinity of the surface of the target holding member for holding the target are made of the same material as the constituent material of the target.   The inorganic alignment film according to claim 1, wherein the inorganic alignment film is formed by irradiating the target with an ion beam from an ion beam source to extract sputtered particles and causing the sputtered particles to be incident on the substrate. Film forming device. The inorganic alignment film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a constituent material of the target is made of silicon oxide.   A method for forming an inorganic alignment film, wherein the apparatus according to claim 1 is used. The sputtered particles are incident on the base material from a direction inclined by a predetermined angle θ _{s with} respect to a direction perpendicular to a surface of the base material on which the inorganic alignment film is formed;
Formed on the base material is an inorganic alignment film in which columnar crystals mainly composed of an inorganic material are aligned in an inclined state with respect to the surface direction of the surface of the base material on which the inorganic alignment film is formed. The method for forming an inorganic alignment film according to claim 4 . The method for forming an inorganic alignment film according to claim 5, wherein the predetermined angle θ _s is 40 ° or more. The formation of an inorganic alignment film according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein the shape of the vicinity of the top of the columnar crystal is controlled by controlling the energy and / or number of the sputtered particles that reach the substrate. Method. The method for forming an inorganic alignment film according to claim 7, wherein the columnar crystal is oriented in a state inclined by a predetermined angle θ _{c with} respect to the base material.

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