Display device with a brightness enhancement structure

1. A display device comprising:

a) an electrophoretic display comprising display cells each of which is surrounded by partition walls and filled with an electrophoretic fluid; and

b) a brightness enhancement structure comprising micro-structures, wherein said micro-structures are on top of said partition walls and are separated from each other and they are not coated with a metal layer, wherein said micro-structures allow light that is reflected from the surface of the display cells and strikes the micro-structures to be deflected from the micro-structures, said light then strikes a top layer of the display device and transmits through the top layer; wherein the width of the partition walls is substantially equal to the width of the base of the micro-structures.

2. The display device of claim 1 , wherein the inner space of the micro-structures are left empty.

3. The display device of claim 1 , wherein the top angle of the micro-structure is greater than 30°.

4. The display device of claim 1 , wherein the top angle of the micro-structure is greater than 40°.

5. The display device according to claim 1 , wherein said display cells are sandwiched between a first layer comprising a common electrode and a second layer comprising a center electrode and at least one in-plane electrode.

6. The color display device of claim 5 , wherein the electrophoretic fluid comprises charged pigment particles dispersed in a dielectric solvent or solvent mixture.

7. The color display device of claim 6 , wherein each display cell displays the color of the charged pigment particles, the color of the dielectric solvent or solvent mixture or a background color.

8. The display device of claim 1 , wherein the electrophoretic fluid comprises charged pigment particles dispersed in a solvent.

9. A display device comprising:

a) an electrophoretic display comprising display cells each of which is filled with an electrophoretic fluid;

b) a brightness enhancement structure comprising micro-structures, wherein said micro-structures are separated from each other and they are not coated with a metal layer, wherein said micro-structures allow light that is reflected from the surface of the display cells and strikes the micro-structures to be deflected from the micro-structures, said light then strikes a top layer of the display device and transmits through the top layer; and

c) color filters; wherein dead spots between the color filters are aligned with the micro-structures.

10. The display device of claim 9 , wherein the micro-structures are on top of the color filters.

11. The display device of claim 9 , wherein the color filters are on top of the micro-structures.

12. A process for the manufacture of a display device, which process comprises

a) forming a brightness enhancement structure comprising micro-structures;

b) coating an electrode layer on a substrate layer over the micro-structures;

c) coating a photosensitive layer over the substrate layer;

d) radiating a light onto the photosensitive layer utilizing the micro-structures as a photomask; and

e) removing the exposed areas of the photosensitive layer to form display cells.

13. The process of claim 12 , further comprising filling the display cells with a display fluid and sealing the filled display cells with a polymeric sealing layer.

14. The process of claim 13 , further comprising laminating a second electrode layer over the filled and sealed display cells.

15. The process of claim 12 , wherein the micro-structures are formed by embossing.

16. The process of claim 12 , wherein said photosensitive layer comprises a positively working photoresist.

17. The process of claim 12 , wherein the display cells comprise partition walls and the micro-structures are aligned with the partition walls and sit on top of the partition walls.