Method of manufacturing thin film transistor substrate having etched trenches with color filter material disposed therein

1. A method of manufacturing a thin film transistor substrate, comprising:

forming a signal line section on a base substrate to define a plurality of pixel areas;

etching the base substrate using the signal line section as a mask to form a plurality of trenches in the base substrate, the plurality of trenches corresponding to the pixel areas, respectively;

disposing a color filter material in each trench by using an inkjet printing method to form a color filter layer;

forming an organic layer on the color filter layer and the signal line section;

forming a thin film transistor on the organic layer; and

forming a pixel electrode electrically connected to the thin film transistor,

wherein a first distance from a lower surface of the base substrate to an upper surface of the color filter layer is identical to a second distance from the lower surface of the base substrate to a lower surface of the signal line section.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the color filter layer has a thickness identical to a depth of each trench.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the signal line section comprises a plurality of data lines extending in a first direction and a plurality of gate lines extending in a second direction, substantially perpendicular to the first direction, and each of the plurality of gate lines is divided into a plurality of gate-line pieces, each of which is arranged between two adjacent data lines of the plurality of data lines.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein prior to forming the thin film transistor on the organic layer, an opening is formed in the organic layer that exposes a gate electrode of the thin film transistor, first and second contact holes are formed in the organic layer that expose both ends of each of the plurality of the gate-line pieces, respectively, and a third contact hole is formed in the organic layer that partially exposes the plurality of data lines.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein forming the thin film transistor comprises:

forming a semiconductor layer for the thin film transistor corresponding to the opening; and

forming a source electrode and a drain electrode spaced apart from the source electrode on the semiconductor layer.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the source electrode is connected to a corresponding data line, of the plurality of data lines, through the third contact hole.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein forming the source and drain electrodes comprises forming a bridge electrode electrically connecting two adjacent gate-line pieces, of the plurality of gate-line pieces, to each other through the first and second contact holes.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising forming a storage electrode prior to forming the pixel electrode.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the storage electrode is formed on a same layer as the signal line section.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the storage electrode is formed on a same layer as source and drain electrodes of the thin film transistor.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, prior to forming the pixel electrode;

forming a protective layer covering the thin film transistor; and

forming a fourth contact hole through the protective layer to expose the drain electrode of the thin film transistor.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the pixel electrode is formed on the protective layer and the pixel electrode is electrically connected to the drain electrode of the thin film transistor through the fourth contact hole.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the organic layer comprises a low dielectric material having a dielectric constant of about 3.

14. A method of manufacturing a thin film transistor substrate, comprising:

forming a signal line section on a base substrate to define a plurality of pixel areas;

etching the base substrate using the signal line section as a mask to form a plurality of trenches in the base substrate, the plurality of trenches corresponding to the pixel areas, respectively, wherein each of the plurality of trenches is defined by etched side surfaces and an etched upper surface corresponding to the pixel areas and formed by the etching, and a depth of the trench is smaller than a thickness of the base substrate;

disposing a color filter material in each trench by using an inkjet printing method to form a color filter layer;

forming an organic layer on the color filter layer and the signal line section;

forming a thin film transistor on the organic layer; and

forming a pixel electrode electrically connected to the thin film transistor,

wherein a first distance from a lower surface of the base substrate to an upper surface of the color filter layer is equal to a second distance from the lower surface of the base substrate to a lower surface of the signal line section.