Mitsubishi Electric ADVANCE Vol.83

VOL. 83/JUN. 1998 Thin-Film Transistor LCDs Edition MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC A Quarterly Survey of New Products, Systems, and Technology Color liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) must possess on/off switching characteristics adequate to ensure ●Vol. 83/Jun. 1998 Mitsubishi Electric ADVANCE that the proper voltages are applied to the elec- trodes controlling pixel elements, and must use highly reliable thin-film transistors (TFTs). These are the basic requirements in forming TFT arrays. The Shisui Factory (shown upper left) uses a single larger glass panel measuring 410 x 520mm (and only 0.7mm thick, shown in the center) to form four 12.1” TFT arrays. Each array comprises some 1.5 million elements. Color filter panels are laminated onto these arrays to form cells which are then filled with liquid-crystal material to complete display Thin-Film Transistor LCDs Edition panels like that shown at the lower right. CONTENTS Editor-in-Chief Shin Suzuki TECHNICAL REPORTS Editorial Advisors Jozo Nagata OVERVIEW Toshimasa Uji Introducing the Special Edition on TFT-LCDs .......................................... 1 Kazumi Iwaizumi by Makoto Morishita Yasuo Kobayashi Masao Hataya The Concept and Vertical Ramp of the Shisui Toshiharu Nozawa TFT-LCD Fabrication Line .......................................................................... 2 Seiya Inoue by Ikuo Ogo and Kazuo Yoshida Hiroaki Kawachi Static Electricity Control and Glass-Cutting Akihiko Naito Technique for Narrow Margins .................................................................. 7 Nobuo Yamamoto by Takayuki Ohishi and Dr. Kazushi Haruna Shingo Maeda Toshikazu Saita Design Technologies Akira Inokuma for Low-EMI Notebook Personal Computers .......................................... 11 Kouji Kadota by Dr. Eishi Gofuku and Shinji Tanabe An Optimum Pixel Light-Shield Pattern Design Vol. 83 Feature Articles Editor for TFT-LCDs ............................................................................................. 16 Makoto Morishita by Shigeru Yachi and Yasuo Fujita Editorial Inquiries An LCD with a Wide Viewing Angle for PC Monitor Applications ..................................................................... 19 Kouji Kadota by Shin Tahata and Masaya Mizunuma Corporate Total Productivity Management & Environmental Programs A 15.1-Inch XGA LCD Monitor .................................................................. 23 Mitsubishi Electric Corporation by Kazuyuki Iimura and Kunihiko Hashimoto 2-2-3 Marunouchi Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0005, Japan Fax 03-3218-2465 TECHNICAL HIGHLIGHTS A TFT-LCD Panel for Thin Notebook Personal Computers .................... 26 Product Inquiries by Katsuhiko Honda and Mitsumasa Umesaki Kazumi Iwaizumi Global Strategic Planning Dept. NEW PRODUCTS ................................................................................. 28 Corporate Marketing Group Mitsubishi Electric Corporation MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC OVERSEAS NETWORK 2-2-3 Marunouchi Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0005, Japan Fax 03-3218-3455 Orders: Four issues: ¥6,000 (postage and tax not included) Ohm-sha Co., Ltd. 1 Kanda Nishiki-cho 3-chome Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0054, Japan Mitsubishi Electric Advance is published quarterly (in March, June, September, and December) by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation. Copyright © 1998 by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation; all rights reserved. Printed in Japan. TECHNICAL REPORTS Overview Introducing the Special Edition on TFT-LCDs by Makoto Morishita* Liquid-crystal display (LCD) devices, and in particular those driven by thin-film transistors (TFT-LCDs), are slim, lightweight, compact, and consume very little power. Recent strides in engineering have enabled the realization of larger screens, higher resolutions and wider viewing angles, and they are being adopted for use on the desktop as well as in portable applications. Mitsubishi Electric Corporation manufactures color TFT-LCDs and, jointly with Asahi Glass Company, has founded Advanced Display Inc. (ADI) which develops and markets large-screen direct-view products with screen sizes of 10" and above. In addition to development activities by ADI itself, research staff at Mitsubishi Electric and the corporation’s Manufacturing Engineering Center, with those of Asahi Glass, provide in-depth support for the development of a wide range of technologies essential to TFT-LCD production, from panel manufacture to module assembly. ADI’s state-of-the-art Shisui Factory is provided with automated lines for integrated production from panel manufacture through module assembly. It commenced mass production just three months after delivery of the production equipment. ADI’s technology is being provided to Taiwan’s Chunghwa Picture Tube Company as part of a global business strategy. Mitsubishi Electric views LCD modules as a tool for use in man-machine interfaces. Recognizing that these modules are entire systems comprising semiconductors, panels, circuits and backlights, we are conducting development in four major areas critical to such systems—performance, quality and price, system functions, and friendliness to the environment. Together with efforts to extend the performance limitations of displays, the Shisui Factory is using production lines that can flexibly adapt to changes in products and processes in order to achieve higher productivity and reduce costs, utilizing optimized factory automation as a key plant design concept to ensure stable product quality. LCDs are a byword for the efficient use of resources and environmental friendliness thanks to their low power consumption, but the plant is also grappling with the problems of electromagnetic interference (EMI), which have drawn attention in this age of digital devices, as well as issues of power consumption, recycling, and waste-liquid processing in plant operations. Mitsubishi Electric is also drawing on its mainstream semiconductor technologies for the development of LCDs which operate as information display devices that combine video and text to meet the demands of the multimedia age. ❑ *Makoto Morishita is with the LCD Marketing Division. June 1998 · 1 TECHNICAL REPORTS The Concept and Vertical Ramp of the Shisui TFT-LCD Fabrication Line by Ikuo Ogo and Kazuo Yoshida* While the newest active-matrix liquid-crystal 1.6 display (LCD) products boast features such as 1.4 wide viewing angles and higher aperture ratios, to successfully market these products requires 1.2 that production costs face the same scrutiny as 1.0 established LCD products. A manufacturing 0.8 line for advanced 12.1" LCDs, which are pro- Panel size 0.6 12.1" jected to be the most popular size for notebook productivity Investment (arbitrary units) 13~14" 0.4 computer applications at least through 1998, 15" was constructed at the Shisui Factory of Ad- 0.2 410 ✕ 520 550 ✕ 650 550 ✕ 670 vanced Display Inc. The fully automated line was designed for a three-month vertical ramp Substrate size (mm) from equipment delivery to mass production. Fig. 1 Productivity of investment for three To satisfy these requirements, Mitsubishi Elec- substrate sizes. tric needed to develop technologies for fabri- cating four 12.1" displays on a 410 × 520mm capacity production six months after startup. sheet with a 3.25mm border. This report de- scribes the design concepts and process tech- Glass Panel Size nologies used at the Shisui Factory. Panel sizes of 400 × 500mm, 450 × 550mm and 550 × 650mm were considered. The final 410 × Design Goals 520mm size was selected based on the follow- Facility construction for the line began in spring ing criteria: LCDs with screen sizes of 11.3~ of 1995 and production began a year later in 12.1" were seen as mainstream products. Based spring of 1996. The sheet size was boosted from on minimum sheet size, four-per-sheet 12.1" the standard 400 × 500mm size of the 2.5 phase screens and two-per-sheet 15.1" screens ap- line to a unique 410 × 520mm, which supports peared to offer the best return on investment, the production of four 12.1" panels. Goals for with the ideal sheet size being 450 × 550mm. the line were as follows: However, transport equipment for this sheet size was anticipated to cost as much as that for HIGH PRODUCTIVITY, LOW COST. Considering large 550 × 650mm sheets. Furthermore, equip- the large potential demand for LCD panels in ment for handling 550 × 650mm panels was not PC monitor applications, we targeted efficient fully developed, and would have required longer production of 12.1" panels, which are expected setup times. In contrast, proven equipment for to have substantial market longevity, while at- 400 × 500mm panels was already available and tempting to reduce facility costs by keeping the could be readily modified to handle 410 × glass sheet dimensions as small as possible. 520mm sheets. The projected investment productivity for 12.1~15.1" panels based on this FLEXIBLE, AUTOMATED P RODUCTION. Automated sheet size far surpassed that for 550 × 650mm manufacturing and information systems simi- sheet technology (Fig. 1). lar to those used in semiconductor production were implemented in a flexible system designed The investment productivity (TE) can be calcu- to adapt to future process changes, extending lated as: the production line’s useful life. TE = EEC × ETP × ENP × EBC, VERTICAL RAMP UP. To facilitate recovery of investment cost, the line was designed to enter where EEC = equipment cost for 410 × 520mm operation three months after the production sheets divided by equipment cost for other-sized equipment was delivered and to achieve full- sheets, ETP = throughput

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