ELEN 4193 Lab 3B: Fabricating an LCD Display

Instructor: Ioannis Kymissis

Laboratory TA: John Sarik

1 Objective
Learn basic fabrication techniques and create a simple LCD display that will be
driven using the Arduino.

2 Prelab Questions
1. Briefly explain the basic operating principle of a liquid crystal display.
2. The cross section of an LCD is shown in Figure 1(a). Describe the purpose
of each layer. What important layers are not shown?

3. Photolithography is technique for optically transferring patterns onto a

substrate. The ITO electrodes will be patterned using a photolithographic
process described in section 3.1. Explain the purpose of each process step
and draw a cross section of the sample after each process step.

3 Fabrication

Silica Liquid Silica

Sphere Crystal Sphere
Polyimide
ITO

Glass Substrate

(a) LCD Cross Section (b) Electrode Layout (c) Assembled LCD

Figure 1: LCD Drawings

1
3.1 Create Electrodes
The LCD requires two identical electrodes. These will be created on a single
sample using photolithography.
• Spin coat photoresist(AZ 4620, 3000 RPM, 45 sec)

• Pre-bake (85◦ C, 5 min)

• Align the mask
• Expose (CL1, 30 sec)

• Develop (AZ 400K 1:3, 2 min)

• Post-bake (110◦ C, 15 min)
• Etch (Aqua Regia, 5 min)
• Strip photoresist (Acetone, IPA, DI, Kwik Strip)

• Clean (RIE: 250 torr O2, 100 W, 5 min)

• Break the sample

3.2 Assemble the Display

For the display to function properly, the samples need ”micro” grooves on the
electrodes and adequate spacing between the electrodes. The grooves will be
created in polyimide and silica spheres will provide the spacing.

• Spin coat polyimide (3000 RPM, 45 sec)

• Bake (150◦ C, 5 min)
• Create grooves along the electrodes with a microfiber

• Apply dilute solution of 5 µm silica beads to pixel area of one electrode

• Contact the pixel areas of the two electrodes and spread silica solution
• Separate the electrodes and remove excess solution

• Apply epoxy to one electrode

• Align and bond the electrodes
• Cure epoxy (5 min)
• Wick in liquid crystal

2
3.3 Breakout the Display
To interface with the Arduino the display must be connected to two breakout
boards. These connections will be made using heat seal connectors, which con-
tain an adhesive that becomes conductive when heat and pressure are applied.
(See “ELEN 4193 Lab 2B: Fabricating an EL Display” for processing details.)

4 Display Driving Procedure

Insert the breakout boards into COM and SEG 4193. Reuse the same code from
“ELEN 4193 Lab 3A: Driving an LCD Display”.