JP6068082B2 - Liquid crystal display - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device using an electrode provided with a plurality of openings.

  In order to improve the viewing angle characteristics when a voltage is applied to a liquid crystal display device, it is effective to use multi-domain alignment in which the alignment direction of liquid crystal molecules in a liquid crystal layer is divided into a plurality of directions within one pixel (display unit). is there. As a method for realizing multi-domain alignment, for example, in Japanese Patent No. 4107978 (Patent Document 1), an oblique electric field is generated in each of two directions different from each other by 180 ° in a liquid crystal layer by devising an electrode shape. An oblique electric field alignment control method for aligning liquid crystal molecules along a direction has been proposed. Specifically, in the liquid crystal display device (liquid crystal display element) of Patent Document 1, a plurality of openings are provided in the upper and lower electrodes of the upper and lower substrates, respectively, and these are alternately and periodically arranged in plan view. An electrode is formed. This makes it possible to generate an oblique electric field from the vicinity of the edge of each opening and to control the alignment of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer along the oblique electric field. ° Different multi-domain orientations are realized. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-122271 (Patent Document 2) discloses a liquid crystal display device in which the alignment uniformity is improved by further devising the shape of each opening and the display quality in appearance observation is further improved. Has been.

  By the way, in general, when a liquid crystal display device is manufactured, a plurality of liquid crystal display devices are often manufactured simultaneously with a set of mother glass substrates (so-called multi-cavity). For this reason, the etching accuracy at the time of patterning the electrodes tends to vary depending on the position of the mother glass substrate in the substrate surface. In addition, there is also variation due to the difference in production lots. Due to such variations, for example, due to excessive etching, adjacent openings in the longitudinal direction are coupled to each other, causing a problem that a part of the electrode is disconnected. Such a problem can be solved to some extent by reducing the etching rate by selecting an etching chemical or controlling temperature. However, since the production efficiency is lowered by reducing the etching rate, it is not preferable as a solution.

Japanese Patent No. 4107978 JP 2009-122271 A

  A specific aspect of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of preventing disconnection of an electrode without reducing production efficiency in a liquid crystal display device using an electrode having a plurality of openings. I will.

A liquid crystal display device according to one embodiment of the present invention includes (a) a first substrate and a second substrate that are arranged to face each other, and (b) a plurality of first openings, and is provided on the first substrate. A first electrode; (c) a plurality of second openings; and a second electrode provided on the second substrate; and (d) a vertical alignment disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate. (E) a display portion is defined in a region where the first electrode and the second electrode overlap, and (f) the plurality of first openings and the plurality of second openings are respectively Extending in one direction and arranged alternately with respect to a second direction orthogonal to the first direction only in the display unit, and (g) the first electrode has a contour of the display unit. One or more edge portions formed along at least a portion, and the second electrode crosses the edge portion of the first electrode and is outside the display portion. (H) the edge portion exists at a position that intersects at least the first direction, and (i) the plurality of first openings are predetermined from the edge portion to the inside of the display portion. In the liquid crystal display device, the plurality of second openings are not disposed in the edge vicinity region set in the range but are also disposed in the edge vicinity region inside the display unit.

  According to the above configuration, in a liquid crystal display device using an electrode having a plurality of openings, it is possible to prevent disconnection of the electrode without reducing production efficiency.

In the above liquid crystal display device, the plurality of first openings are alternately arranged in the first direction, and those adjacent in the first direction are separated from each other by a predetermined distance. May be arranged side by side on the same line along the longitudinal direction.

  When the edge portion is present at a position intersecting with the longitudinal direction of each first opening, the electrode is particularly likely to break, but this can be prevented.

  In the above liquid crystal display device, it is also preferable that there are a plurality of edge portions, an edge vicinity region is set for at least one of them, and a plurality of first openings are not arranged in the edge vicinity region. .

  Thereby, conduction is reliably ensured in at least one edge portion, and disconnection of the electrode can be prevented.

In the liquid crystal display device of the second opening of the multiple it may be arranged alternately with respect to the first direction.

In the above liquid crystal display device, it is also preferable that each of the plurality of first openings and the plurality of second openings has a rectangular planar view shape extending in the first direction. The plurality of first openings and the plurality of second openings may each have a planar view shape that extends in the first direction and is bent in a direction different from the first direction.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the basic structure of the liquid crystal display device of the first embodiment. FIG. 2A is a plan view showing an example of the first electrode and the second electrode, and the first opening and the second opening provided in the first electrode and the second electrode. FIG. 2B is a plan view showing another example of the first electrode and the second electrode and the first opening and the second opening provided in the first electrode and the second electrode. FIG. 2C is a plan view showing a comparative example of the first electrode and the second electrode and the first opening and the second opening provided in the first electrode and the second electrode. 3A is a diagram showing a structure of the second electrode corresponding to the structure of the comparative example shown in FIG. 2C, and FIG. 3B is a diagram showing the structure of FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of the 1st electrode corresponded to the structure of the shown comparative example. FIG. 3C is a diagram showing the calculation result of the oriented structure. FIG. 4A shows a structure of the first electrode corresponding to the structure shown in FIG. 2A or 2B. FIG. 4B is a diagram showing the calculation result of the oriented structure. FIG. 5A is a plan view showing the first electrode and the second electrode overlapped, FIG. 5B is a plan view showing the first electrode, and FIG. 5C is a plan view showing the second electrode. It is the shown top view. 5D is an enlarged view of the BX portion shown in FIG. 5A, FIG. 5E is an enlarged view of the BS portion shown in FIG. 5B, and FIG. FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the BC section shown in FIG. 6A is a plan view showing the first electrode and the second electrode superimposed, FIG. 6B is a plan view showing the first electrode, and FIG. 6C shows the second electrode. It is the shown top view. 6D is an enlarged view of the CX section shown in FIG. 6A, FIG. 6E is an enlarged view of the CS section shown in FIG. 6B, and FIG. It is an enlarged view of CC part shown to FIG. 6 (C). FIG. 7A is a plan view showing the first electrode and the second electrode overlapped, FIG. 7B is a plan view showing the first electrode, and FIG. 7C is a plan view showing the second electrode. It is the shown top view. 7D is an enlarged view of the AX portion shown in FIG. 7A, FIG. 7E is an enlarged view of the AS portion shown in FIG. 7B, and FIG. ) Is an enlarged view of the AC section shown in FIG. FIG. 8A is a plan view showing an example of the first electrode and the second electrode overlapped, and FIG. 8B is a plan view showing the other example of the first electrode and the second electrode overlapped. is there. 8C is an enlarged view of the GG section shown in FIG. 8A, and FIG. 8D is an enlarged view of the HH section shown in FIG. 8B. FIG. 9A shows a structure of the first electrode in the liquid crystal display device according to the modification, and FIG. 9B is a plan view showing a structure of the second electrode in the liquid crystal display device according to the modification. FIG. 9C is a diagram showing the calculation result of the orientation texture.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the basic structure of the liquid crystal display device of the first embodiment. The liquid crystal display device includes a first substrate 11 and a second substrate 12 which are disposed to face each other, a first electrode 13 provided on the first substrate 11, a second electrode 14 provided on the second substrate 12, A liquid crystal layer 17 disposed between the first substrate 11 and the second substrate 12 is provided as a basic configuration.

  The first substrate 11 and the second substrate 12 are transparent substrates such as a glass substrate and a plastic substrate, respectively. As illustrated, the first substrate 11 and the second substrate 12 are bonded to each other with a predetermined gap (for example, about 4 μm).

  The first electrode 13 is provided on one surface side of the first substrate 11. Similarly, the second electrode 14 is provided on one surface side of the second substrate 12. The first electrode 13 and the second electrode 14 are each configured by appropriately patterning a transparent conductive film such as indium tin oxide (ITO), for example. The first electrode 13 is provided with a plurality of first openings 18, and the second electrode 14 is provided with a plurality of second openings 19. The detailed structure of each first opening 18 and each second opening 19 will be described later.

  The first alignment film 15 is provided on one surface side of the first substrate 11 so as to cover the first electrode 13. The second alignment film 16 is provided on one surface side of the second substrate 12 so as to cover the second electrode 14. As the first alignment film 15 and the second alignment film 16, vertical alignment films that restrict the alignment state of the liquid crystal layer 17 to the vertical alignment are used. Each alignment film is not subjected to uniaxial alignment treatment such as rubbing treatment.

  The liquid crystal layer 17 is provided between the first substrate 11 and the second substrate 12. In the present embodiment, the liquid crystal layer 17 is configured using a liquid crystal material having a negative dielectric anisotropy Δε. The refractive index anisotropy Δn of the liquid crystal material is, for example, about 0.09. The thick line shown in the liquid crystal layer 17 schematically shows the alignment direction of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer 17. The liquid crystal layer 17 of the present embodiment is set to a vertical alignment in which the alignment direction of liquid crystal molecules when no voltage is applied is perpendicular to the substrate surfaces of the first substrate 11 and the second substrate 12.

  The first polarizing plate 21 is disposed outside the first substrate 11. Similarly, the second polarizing plate 22 is disposed outside the second substrate 12. The first polarizing plate 21 and the second polarizing plate 22 are arranged so that their absorption axes are substantially orthogonal to each other. In addition, an optical compensation plate such as a C plate may be appropriately disposed between each polarizing plate and each substrate. For example, in the present embodiment, optical compensation plates 23 and 24 are disposed between the first substrate 11 and the first polarizing plate 21 and between the second substrate 12 and the second polarizing plate 22, respectively.

  Next, the structure of the 1st electrode and the 2nd electrode and the 1st opening part and 2nd opening part which are provided in them is demonstrated in detail. First, as an example, a case will be described in which a plurality of first electrodes and a plurality of second electrodes each formed in a stripe shape extending in one direction are arranged with their extending directions substantially orthogonal to each other. Such an electrode structure is used in, for example, a dot matrix display type liquid crystal display device by simple matrix driving.

  FIG. 2A is a plan view showing an example of each first electrode and second electrode, and a first opening and a second opening provided thereon. The first electrode 13 and the second electrode 14 shown here are formed in a stripe shape in which the first electrode 13 extends in the vertical direction in the figure, and the stripe shape in which the second electrode 14 extends in the horizontal direction in the figure. The two are partially overlapped. FIG. 2A is a plan view seen from the second electrode 14 side. As illustrated, a rectangular region 20 defined by intersecting the first electrode 13 and the second electrode 14 corresponds to a pixel portion (display portion).

  Each first opening 18 is formed in a rectangular shape extending in the left-right direction in the figure, and is arranged in a matrix along the up-down direction and the left-right direction in the figure. In detail, the first openings 18 that are adjacent in the left-right direction are spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance, and are arranged side by side along the same longitudinal direction. In addition, the first openings 18 that are adjacent in the vertical direction are spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance, and are arranged side by side along the short direction.

  Similarly, each of the second openings 19 is formed in a rectangular shape extending in the left-right direction in the figure, and is arranged in a matrix along the up-down direction and the left-right direction in the figure. Specifically, the second openings 19 are adjacent to each other in the left-right direction by a predetermined distance from each other, and are arranged side by side along the same longitudinal direction. The second openings 19 are adjacent to each other in the vertical direction at a predetermined distance from each other, and are arranged side by side along the short direction. In addition, the first openings 18 and the second openings 19 are alternately arranged in the vertical direction without overlapping each other, and the respective end portions are arranged substantially in the vertical direction.

Here, in the edge vicinity region 30 defined as a region from the left edge of the rectangular region 20 defined by the left edge of the first electrode 13 to the inside of the rectangular region 20 up to a predetermined distance, the first opening 18 is formed. Not placed. As a result, there is no opening at a fixed distance from the left edge of the first electrode 13, so it is easy to prevent disconnection of the first electrode 13. On the other hand, the second opening 19 is also provided in the edge vicinity region 30 inside the rectangular region 20 . This is an electrode structure in which the extending direction of the second electrode 14 and the longitudinal direction of each second opening 19 are substantially the same, and the second electrode 14 projects outward from the left edge of the rectangular region 20. For this reason, even if each second opening 19 is provided up to the left edge of the rectangular region 20, no disconnection occurs in the second electrode 14.

  FIG. 2B is a plan view showing another example of the first electrode and the second electrode and the first opening and the second opening provided in the first electrode and the second electrode. As shown in the figure, an edge vicinity region 30 may be provided also on the right edge of the rectangular region 20. In this case, since the first opening 18 is not provided in the right edge vicinity region 30 of the rectangular region 20, the effect of preventing the disconnection of the first electrode 13 is further enhanced.

  FIG. 2C is a plan view showing a comparative example of the first electrode and the second electrode and the first opening and the second opening provided in the first electrode and the second electrode. In this comparative example, since the plurality of first openings 18 are provided up to the left and right edges of the rectangular region 20, the first electrode 13 is likely to be disconnected. For example, when the dividing portion that separates the first opening portions 18 adjacent in the longitudinal direction completely disappears due to defective etching, the first electrode 13 is disconnected at the boundary.

  Although not illustrated here, an edge vicinity region can be further provided at the upper and lower edges of the rectangular region 20. In this case, since it is the first electrode 13 that extends outward from the rectangular region 20 in the direction substantially orthogonal to the upper and lower edges, the region extending from the upper and lower edges of the rectangular region 20 to a predetermined distance inward. Is set as the edge vicinity region.

  Next, the result of simulation analysis for observing the difference in the alignment structure in the liquid crystal display device having the above-described electrode structure will be described. This analysis was carried out using LCD MASTER 3D version 7, a 3D analysis simulator manufactured by Shintech. The calculation conditions for the simulation analysis are as follows (the same applies to the following embodiments). The observation region was set by dividing a 160 × 160 μm region into a 40 × 40 mesh. Each surface of the upper substrate and the lower substrate is vertically aligned with a pretilt angle of 90 °, and the liquid crystal material has a negative dielectric anisotropy Δε and a refractive index anisotropy Δn of approximately 0.09. Was assumed. Then, 4 V was applied to the electrode on the upper substrate and 0 V was applied to the electrode on the lower substrate, and the alignment structure after the alignment state of the liquid crystal layer was stabilized in a steady state was calculated.

  3A is a diagram showing a structure of the second electrode corresponding to the structure of the comparative example shown in FIG. 2C, and FIG. 3B is a diagram showing the structure of FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of the 1st electrode corresponded to the structure of the shown comparative example. In this example, the first electrode is aligned with the edge of the pixel portion (display portion), and the second electrode protrudes outward in the direction perpendicular to the edge of the pixel portion. The length in the longitudinal direction of each first opening and each second opening is approximately 90 μm, the width is approximately 10 μm, and the distance between the edges of the first opening and the second opening adjacent in the vertical direction is approximately 40 μm. Is set.

  FIG. 3C is a diagram showing the calculation result of the oriented structure. The front side polarizing plate (A) is set at a direction of 45 ° clockwise with respect to the longitudinal direction of each opening, and the back side polarizing plate (P) is 45 counterclockwise with respect to the longitudinal direction of each opening. Set in the direction of °. As shown in the figure, a plurality of dark regions having a pattern in which the V shape is laid out periodically are generated so as to connect the end portions of the first opening and the second opening near the right edge of the pixel portion. I understood it. This is because liquid crystal molecules are aligned in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of each opening due to an oblique electric field near the right edge of the pixel portion, so that the liquid crystal molecules continuously rotate in the plane around these dark regions. It shows that it is oriented. In the orientation structure shown in the drawing, the vertex of the V shape is observed evenly at the approximate center between the long side edges of the first opening and the second opening, but there is no structurally fixing element, In an actual liquid crystal display device, there is a concern about the disorder of alignment due to the presence of a gap material or the like.

  FIG. 4A shows a structure of the first electrode corresponding to the structure shown in FIG. 2A or 2B. The structure of the second electrode is the same as in the comparative example described above (see FIG. 3A). As shown in FIG. 4A, the first electrode has an edge with a width of approximately 30 μm on the right side of the rectangular area. A neighborhood region was set, and the first opening was not disposed in the edge neighborhood region.

  FIG. 4B is a diagram showing the calculation result of the oriented structure. The arrangement of each polarizing plate is the same as described above. As shown in the drawing, the connection is made between the end face of the short side of each second opening extending to the pixel part edge on the second electrode and the short side of the first opening closest to the pixel part edge of the first electrode. A dark region is formed in the dark region as if it is V-shaped, but its period is twice that of the comparative example described above. The end of the V-shaped dark region is fixed at the short side of the first opening, and it is considered that the fear of orientation disturbance due to foreign matters such as gap material is suppressed. Although the area of the dark region is slightly widened, it is considered that the generation pattern of the dark region near the pixel portion edge becomes regular and contributes to display uniformity when the appearance is observed.

  In the above example, the width of the edge vicinity region set in the pixel portion is approximately 30 μm. However, this width is preferably 50 μm or less, and more preferably 30 μm or less.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a structural example suitable for a so-called segment display type liquid crystal display device will be described as an example of the structure of the first electrode and the second electrode and the structure of the first opening and the second opening provided thereon. Here, the segment display type liquid crystal display device is configured so that the region where the electrodes overlap forms a character or design to be displayed, and can basically display only predetermined characters, etc. A region whose area ratio in the region is about 50% or less contributes to the display of characters and the like. Note that the liquid crystal display device may be a dot matrix display type in which a plurality of pixels are arranged in a matrix, or may be a mixture of a segment display type and a dot matrix type. Since the entire configuration of the liquid crystal display device is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted here.

  FIG. 5A is a plan view showing the first electrode and the second electrode overlapped, FIG. 5B is a plan view showing the first electrode, and FIG. 5C is a plan view showing the second electrode. It is the shown top view. Here, an example of an electrode structure for displaying the English letter “S” is shown. As shown in each figure, the first electrode 13 and the second electrode 14 have openings regularly and periodically arranged, and are alternately arranged between the first electrode 13 and the second electrode 14. The The longitudinal direction of each opening coincides with the horizontal direction in the figure. 5D is an enlarged view of the BX portion shown in FIG. 5A, FIG. 5E is an enlarged view of the BS portion shown in FIG. 5B, and FIG. FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the BC section shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5D, a region where the first electrode 13 and the second electrode 14 overlap constitutes a display unit. In the illustrated portion (the upper right portion of the letter “S”), Outside the vicinity of the upper edge of the edge, the second electrode 14 protrudes beyond the edge of the display portion rather than the first electrode 13. Accordingly, as shown in FIGS. 5D and 5E, an edge vicinity region is set at least in the vicinity of the edge of the display portion, and the first electrode 13 is set at a certain distance (for example, 50 μm width) from the edge to the inside. The first opening 18 is not arranged. Conversely, as shown in FIG. 5D and FIG. 5F, the first electrode 13 protrudes more outward than the second electrode 14 near the upper edge of the display portion. The second opening 19 is not arranged in the second electrode 14 at a constant distance from the edge to the inside. However, in this region, since the angle formed by the longitudinal direction of the second opening 19 of the second electrode 14 and the display portion edge is relatively small, the second opening 19 may be provided. Specifically, when the angle formed between the edge of the display portion and the longitudinal direction of the second opening 19 is 15 ° or less, it is considered that there is no problem even if the second opening 19 is provided in this region.

  Here, another example of the electrode structure for displaying the English letter “S” will be described. 6A is a plan view showing the first electrode and the second electrode superimposed, FIG. 6B is a plan view showing the first electrode, and FIG. 6C shows the second electrode. It is the shown top view. As shown in each figure, the first electrode 13 and the second electrode 14 have openings regularly and periodically arranged, and are alternately arranged between the first electrode 13 and the second electrode 14. The The longitudinal direction of each opening coincides with the horizontal direction in the figure. 6D is an enlarged view of the CX section shown in FIG. 6A, FIG. 6E is an enlarged view of the CS section shown in FIG. 6B, and FIG. It is an enlarged view of CC part shown to FIG. 6 (C). As shown in FIGS. 6D and 6E, in this example, edge vicinity regions are set near both the right edge and the left edge of the display portion, and a certain distance (for example, 50 μm width) from the edge to the inside. The first opening 18 is not disposed in the first electrode 13. Conversely, as shown in FIG. 6D and FIG. 6F, the first electrode 13 protrudes more outward than the second electrode 14 in the vicinity of the upper edge of the display portion. The second opening 19 is not arranged in the second electrode 14 at a constant distance from the edge to the inside. However, in this region, since the angle formed by the longitudinal direction of the second opening 19 of the second electrode 14 and the display portion edge is relatively small, the second opening 19 may be provided. Specifically, when the angle formed between the edge of the display portion and the longitudinal direction of the second opening 19 is 15 ° or less, it is considered that there is no problem even if the second opening 19 is provided in this region.

  Here, another example of the electrode structure of the comparative example will also be described. FIG. 7A is a plan view showing the first electrode and the second electrode overlapped, FIG. 7B is a plan view showing the first electrode, and FIG. 7C is a plan view showing the second electrode. It is the shown top view. 7D is an enlarged view of the AX portion shown in FIG. 7A, FIG. 7E is an enlarged view of the AS portion shown in FIG. 7B, and FIG. ) Is an enlarged view of the AC section shown in FIG. As shown in each drawing, a plurality of first openings 18 and a plurality of second openings 19 are regularly and periodically arranged in the first electrode 13 and the second electrode 14, respectively. Such an edge vicinity region 30 is not provided. As shown in FIG. 7D and FIG. 7E, each first opening 18 terminates at the edge of the display unit and is arranged only in the display unit. Similarly, as shown in FIGS. 7D and 7F, each of the second openings 19 terminates at the edge of the display unit and is disposed only in the display unit. Since each first opening 18 is aligned in the left-right direction in the drawing, when the openings adjacent to each other in this direction are joined due to poor etching, the first electrode 13 has a broken portion. Can occur.

  Here, as another example of the electrode structure in the segment display type liquid crystal display device, an example of an electrode structure for displaying the English letter “T” will be described. FIG. 8A is a plan view showing an example of the first electrode and the second electrode overlapped, and FIG. 8B is a plan view showing the other example of the first electrode and the second electrode overlapped. is there. 8C is an enlarged view of the GG section shown in FIG. 8A, and FIG. 8D is an enlarged view of the HH section shown in FIG. 8B. As shown in FIGS. 8A and 8C, in the portion where the second electrode 14 that protrudes outward from the edge of the display portion is present, an edge vicinity region is set at a certain distance inside the edge of the display portion. The first opening 40 is not disposed in the first electrode 13 in the edge vicinity region. In this example, each 2nd opening part 19 provided in the 2nd electrode 14 does not have a parting part which isolate | separates each other in those longitudinal directions, and is formed from one edge of the display part to the other edge. On the other hand, each 1st opening part 18 provided in the 1st electrode 13 has a parting part in those longitudinal directions. On the other hand, in the example shown in FIG. 8B and FIG. 8D, each first opening 18 provided in the first electrode 13 also has no dividing portion that separates each other in the longitudinal direction, The display portion is formed to be connected from one edge to the other edge. In any electrode structure, the first electrode 13 is not disconnected.

(Modified Example)
In addition, this invention is not limited to the content of embodiment mentioned above, In the range of the summary of this invention, it can change and implement variously. For example, in each of the embodiments described above, the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer are shown as being vertically aligned with a pretilt angle of 90 ° when no voltage is applied, but may be in other alignment states. For example, a horizontally aligned liquid crystal layer in which the alignment direction of the liquid crystal molecules at the center in the layer thickness direction of the liquid crystal layer when no voltage is applied is substantially orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of each opening and the pretilt angle is approximately 0 °. The present invention can also be applied to a liquid crystal display device having

  In each of the embodiments described above, the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer are aligned in two directions with each opening as a boundary when a voltage is applied. However, this is limited to the case where the liquid crystal layer is vertically aligned. For example, it is possible to control the orientation direction to two or more directions. This case will be described while showing the result of simulation analysis.

  FIG. 9A shows a structure of the first electrode in the liquid crystal display device according to the modification, and FIG. 9B is a plan view showing a structure of the second electrode in the liquid crystal display device according to the modification. As shown in the figure, an opening that is bent in two directions and extends in the left-right direction is disposed on each electrode. Thereby, the alignment direction of the liquid crystal molecules can be controlled in four directions. The width of each opening was set to about 10 μm, and the distance between the long edges of each opening on the first electrode and the second electrode was set to about 50 μm. In addition, the first electrode has a region near the edge in a range of about 30 μm inside the pixel edge, and has a structure in which no opening is provided here, and an opening is provided in the second electrode which is the opposing surface of this part It was. The conditions for simulation analysis are the same as described above. FIG. 9C is a diagram showing the calculation result of the orientation texture. A sawtooth-shaped dark region is generated at the pixel edge portion, but the dark region (disclination) can be fixed at the edge of the opening, suggesting that the appearance is observed uniformly. Although a V-shaped opening that is bent in two directions is used here, the same effect can be obtained by using an opening that is bent in two or more directions (for example, a Y-shaped opening). .

11: First substrate 12: Second substrate 13: First electrode 14: Second electrode 15: First alignment film 16: Second alignment film 17: Liquid crystal layer 18: First opening 19: Second opening 20: Rectangular area (display area or pixel area)
21: First polarizing plate 22: Second polarizing plate 23, 24: Optical compensator 30: Edge vicinity region

Claims (6)

A first substrate and a second substrate disposed opposite to each other;
A plurality of first openings, a first electrode provided on the first substrate;
A plurality of second openings, a second electrode provided on the second substrate;
A vertically aligned liquid crystal layer disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate;
Including
A display portion is defined in a region where the first electrode and the second electrode overlap;
The plurality of first openings and the plurality of second openings are each disposed so as to extend in the first direction, and in the second direction orthogonal to the first direction only in the display unit. Are alternately arranged,
The first electrode has one or more edge portions formed along at least a part of a contour of the display unit, and the second electrode intersects the edge portion of the first electrode and It has a part that protrudes outward from the display part,
The edge portion exists at a position that intersects at least the first direction;
The plurality of first openings are not arranged in an edge vicinity region set in a predetermined range from the edge portion to the inside of the display unit, and the plurality of second openings are arranged on the inside of the display unit. It is also arranged in the edge vicinity area,
Liquid crystal display device.   The plurality of first openings are alternately arranged with respect to the first direction, and those adjacent to each other in the first direction are separated from each other by a predetermined distance. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid crystal display device is arranged side by side along the same line.   The edge portion includes a plurality of edges, the edge vicinity region is set for at least one of the edge portions, and the plurality of first openings are not disposed in the edge vicinity region. The liquid crystal display device described.   4. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of second openings are alternately arranged in the first direction.   5. The liquid crystal display according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of first openings and the plurality of second openings has a rectangular planar shape extending in the first direction. apparatus.   The plurality of first openings and the plurality of second openings each have a planar view shape that extends in the first direction and is bent in a direction different from the first direction. Liquid crystal display device.