Active matrix crystal display apparatus using thin film transistor

• US 5,668,379 A
• Filed: 07/26/1995
• Issued: 09/16/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Liquid Crystal Display Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Ono, Kikuo, Suzuki, Masahiko, Nakayoshi, Yoshiaki, Hashimoto, Kenichi, Tsumura, Makoto, Kaneko, Toshiki, Onisawa, Kenichi, Ogawa, Kazuhiro, Sakuta, Hiroki, Minemura, Tetsuro
• Primary Examiner(s): TRAN, MINH LOAN
• Application Number:
  US08/507,778
• Time in Patent Office: 783 Days
• Field of Search: 257/59, 257/61, 257/72, 257/347, 359/54, 359/59, 359/87, 359/88
• US Class Current: 257/59
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133512 Light shielding layers, e.g. black matrix G02F1/136209 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/136213 Storage capacitors associated with the pixel electrode
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/136218 Shield electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/1368 in which the switching element is a three-electrode device G02F1/136277 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/124 with a particular composition, shape or layout of the wiring layers specially adapted to the circuit arrangement, e.g. scanning lines in LCD pixel circuits wiring structures per se H01L23/52
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/1259 Multistep manufacturing methods

Abstract

In order to provide a liquid crystal display apparatus having bright image display and a preferable production yield, a gate insulating film under a transparent pixel electrode on a transparent substrate is provided with an aperture smaller than a plane area of the pixel electrode, a source electrode pattern under the pixel electrode is composed so as to cross the aperture, and thin film transistor (TFT) having a gate electrode of which end portion is tapered with a taper angle equal to or less than three times (where, less than 90°) of a taper angle at the end portion of a semiconductor pattern is provided.

Claims

1. A semiconductor device, comprising:

a substrate, and

a semiconductor switching element comprising;

a gate electrode on said substrate,

an insulating layer and a semiconductor layer, providing a laminate layer on the gate electrode, and

a source electrode and a drain electrode which are formed so as to cross over said gate electrode, wherein

said laminate layer has an end portion which is tapered, and said gate electrode has an end portion which is tapered, and

a taper angle θ

g of said end portion of said gate electrode is formed so as to be less than 90°

, and also equal to or less than three times, of a taper angle θ

s of said end portion of said laminate layer.

5. A semiconductor device as claimed in any one of claims 1, 2, and 3, wherein said gate electrode is coated with an anodic oxide film.

2. A semiconductor device, comprising:

a substrate, and

a semiconductor switching element comprising;

a gate electrode on said substrate,

an insulating layer and a semiconductor layer, providing a laminate layer on said gate electrode, and

a source electrode and a drain electrode which are formed so as to cross over said gate electrode, wherein

said laminate layer has an end portion which is tapered, and said gate electrode has an end portion which is tapered,

said gate electrode is made of a material selected from a group consisting of Ta, indium-tin oxide, MoSi₂, TaSi₂, CrSi₂, WSi₂, TiN, and TaN, and

a taper angle θ

g of said end portion of said gate electrode is formed so as to be less than 90°

, and also equal to or less than three times, of a taper angle θ

s of said end portion of said laminate layer.

3. A semiconductor device, comprising:

a substrate, and

a semiconductor switching element comprising;

a gate electrode on said substrate,

an insulating layer and a semiconductor layer, providing a laminate layer on said gate electrode, and

a source electrode and a drain electrode which are formed so as to cross over said gate electrode, wherein

said laminate layer has an end portion which is tapered, and said gate electrode has an end portion which is tapered,

said gate electrode is made of a material selected from a group consisting of Ta, Cr, Mo, W, Al, Cu, Au, and Ni, and

a taper angle θ

g of said end portion of said gate electrode is formed so as to be less than 90°

, and also equal to or less than three times, of a taper angle θ

s of said end portion of said laminate layer.

4. A semiconductor device as claimed in claim 3, wherein

the taper angle θ

g of said end portion of said gate electrode is between 10° and

40°

.

6. A semiconductor device, comprising:

a substrate, and

a semiconductor switching element comprising;

a gate electrode on said substrate,

an insulating layer and a semiconductor layer, providing a laminate layer on said gate electrode, and

a source electrode and a drain electrode which are formed so as to cross over said gate electrode, wherein

said insulating layer has an end portion which is tapered, and said gate electrode has an end portion which is tapered, said insulating layer being provided on said gate electrode, and

said gate electrode and said insulating layer are so composed that a taper ratio (B/A) of gate electrode thickness (B) to planar projected distance from an end of a lower surface to an end of an upper surface of the gate electrode (A) is equal to or less than three times of a taper ratio (B'"'"'/A'"'"') of said insulating layer thickness (B'"'"') to a planar projected distance from an end of a lower surface to an end of an upper surface of said insulating layer (A'"'"').

7. A semiconductor device as claimed in claim 6, wherein

the taper ratio (B/A) of said gate electrode is between 0.2 and 0.8.

8. A liquid crystal display apparatus comprising

thin film transistors, which are arranged in a vicinity of intersections of a plurality of scanning signal lines with a plurality of image signal lines, said scanning signal lines and said image signal lines being formed on one substrate of paired substrates so as to cross over each other, gate electrodes, drain electrodes, and source electrodes of the thin film transistors being respectively connected to said scanning signal lines, said image signal lines, and pixel electrodes, the thin film transistors further comprising a laminate layer formed of an insulating layer and a semiconductor layer, the laminate layer being on the gate electrodes, wherein

the laminate layer has an end portion which is tapered, each of said gate electrodes having an end portion which is tapered,

a taper angle of the end portion of each of the gate electrodes θ

g is formed so as to be less than 90°

, and also equal to or less than three times, of a taper angle of the end portion of each laminate layer θ

s, and

a liquid crystal layer is held between the paired substrates.

10. A liquid crystal display apparatus as claimed in claim 8 or 9, wherein the taper angle θ

g of said gate electrodes is between 10° and

40°

.

11. A liquid crystal display apparatus as claimed in claim 8 or 9, wherein the taper ratio (B/A) of said gate electrodes is between 0.2 and 0.8.

12. A liquid crystal display apparatus as claimed in claim 8 or 9, wherein said gate electrodes are made of a material selected from a group consisting of indium-tin oxide, MoSi₂, TaSi₂, CrSi₂, WSi₂, TiN, and TaN.

13. A liquid crystal display apparatus as claimed in claim 8 or 9, wherein said gate electrodes are made of a material selected from a group consisting of Ta, Cr, Mo, W, Al, Cu, Au, and Ni.

14. A liquid crystal display apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein said gate electrodes and said scanning signal lines are coated with an anodic oxide film.

15. A liquid crystal display apparatus as claimed in claim 8 or 9, wherein said gate electrodes and said scanning signal lines are coated with an anodic oxide film.

9. A liquid crystal display apparatus comprising

thin film transistors, which are arranged in a vicinity of intersections of a plurality of scanning signal lines with a plurality of image signal lines, the scanning signal lines and the image signal lines being formed on one substrate of paired substrates so as to cross over each other, and gate electrodes, drain electrodes, and source electrodes of the thin film transistors being respectively connected to said scanning signal lines, said image signal lines, and pixel electrodes, the thin film transistors further including a laminate layer formed of an insulating layer and a semiconductor layer, the laminate layer being on the gate electrodes, wherein

said insulating layer of the laminate layer has an end portion which is tapered, said gate electrodes having an end portion which is tapered,

said insulating layer of the laminate layer is formed on said gate electrodes, and a taper ratio (B/A) of film thickness of the gate electrodes (B) to a planar projected distance from an end of a lower surface to an end of an upper surface of the gate electrodes (A) is equal to or less than three times of a taper ratio (B'"'"'/A'"'"') of said insulating layer thickness (B'"'"') to a planar projected distance from an end of a lower surface to an end of an upper surface of said insulating layer (A'"'"'), and

a liquid crystal layer is held between the paired substrates.