Abstract: In an active matrix liquid-crystal display device, a metal common electrode 22 that also serves as a black matrix is disposed to cover the peripheral portion of a pixel electrode 24 which is formed of a transparent electrically conductive film. The common electrode 22 functions as the black matrix that covers the peripheral portion of a pixel and is held to a given potential, so that a region where the pixel electrode 24 and the common electrode 22 are overlapped with each other functions as an auxiliary capacitor 25. The auxiliary capacitor is structured through an insulation layer 23. The common electrode 22 is formed on the insulation layer 21 having a flatten surface to make the auxiliary capacitor 25 larger. With this structure, even though the insulation layer 23 is thinned to about 1 .mu.m, a pin hole, leakage, etc., between the common electrode and the pixel electrode can be prevented, to thereby obtain a larger auxiliary capacitor.

Abstract: A silicon film provided on a blocking film 102 on a substrate 101 is made amorphous by doping Si+, and in a heat-annealing process, crystallization is started in parallel to a substrate from an area 100 where nickel serving as a crystallization-promoting catalyst is introduced.

Abstract: In an active matrix display device integrated with peripheral drive circuits, an image sensor is provided on the same substrate as a pixel matrix and peripheral drive circuits. The image sensor is formed on the substrate having pixel electrodes, pixel TFTs connected to the pixel electrodes and CMOS-TFTs for driving the pixel TFTs. The light receiving unit of the image sensor has light receiving elements having a photoelectric conversion layer and light receiving TFTs. These TFTs are produced in the same step. The lower electrode and transparent electrode of the light receiving element are produced by patterning the same film as the light shielding film and the pixel electrodes arranged in the pixel matrix.

Abstract: Semiconductor devices such as thin-film transistors formed by annealing a substantially amorphous silicon film at a temperature either lower than normal crystallization temperature of amorphous silicon or lower than the glass transition point of the substrate so as to crystallize the silicon film. Islands, stripes, lines, or dots of nickel, iron, cobalt, or platinum, silicide, acetate, or nitrate of nickel, iron, cobalt, or platinum, film containing various salts, particles, or clusters containing at least one of nickel, iron, cobalt, and platinum are used as starting materials for crystallization. These materials are formed on or under the amorphous silicon film.

Abstract: After a pattern is transferred on silicon film crystallized by annealing, the silicon film is annealed by radiation of intense rays for a short time. Especially, in the crystallizing process by annealing, an element which promotes crystallization such as nickel is doped therein. The area not crystallized by annealing is also crystallized by radiation of intense rays and a condensed silicon film is formed.After a metal element which promotes crystallization is doped, annealing by light for a short time is performed by radiating intense rays onto the silicon film crystallized by annealing in an atmosphere containing halide. After the surface of the silicon film is oxidized by heating or by radiating intense rays in a halogenated atmosphere and an oxide film is formed on the silicon film, the oxide film is then etched. As a result, nickel in the silicon film is removed.

Abstract: The invention provides a peripheral drive circuit integrated active matrix LCD device in which thin-film transistors have different characteristics optimized for individual circuits of the active matrix LCD device. A pixel matrix portion includes thin-film transistors, each having offset gate regions 134 and 136 produced in a non-self-alignment manner, an n-channel driver portion includes thin-film transistors, each having lightly-doped regions 128 and 130 produced in a combination of the non-self-alignment manner and a self-alignment manner, and a p-channel driver portion includes thin-film transistors produced in a self-alignment manner. This construction makes it possible to arrange the thin-film transistors having characteristics required by the individual circuits.

Abstract: After a pattern is transferred on silicon film crystallized by annealing, the silicon film is annealed by radiation of intense rays for a short time. Especially, in the crystallizing process by annealing, an element which promotes crystallization such as nickel is doped therein. The area not crystallized by annealing is also crystallized by radiation of intense rays and a condensed silicon film is formed.After a metal element which promotes crystallization is doped, annealing by light for a short time is performed by radiating intense rays onto the silicon film crystallized by annealing in an atmosphere containing halide. After the surface of the silicon film is oxidized by heating or by radiating intense rays in a halogenated atmosphere and an oxide film is formed on the silicon film, the oxide film is then etched. As a result, nickel in the silicon film is removed.

Abstract: A thin film transistor including a semiconductor film including silicon formed on an insulating surface; a channel region formed within the semiconductor film; and source and drain regions formed within the semiconductor film with the channel region interposed between the source and drain regions, each of the source and drain regions having one conductivity type, wherein the source and drain regions contain a catalyst element for promoting a crystallization of silicon at a concentration not higher that 1.times.10.sup.20 atoms/cm.sup.3, and wherein a concentration of the catalyst element in the channel region is lower than 1.times.10.sup.17 atoms/cm.sup.3 and the concentration in the channel region is lower than that in the source and drain regions.

Abstract: Dispersion of energy density in the longitudinal direction of excimer laser shaped into a linear beam is corrected. A gas introducing system which extends in the longitudinal direction of an oscillator and which is provided with a large number of gas injecting holes is provided within the oscillator. It allows to suppress dispersion of laser oscillating positions and to suppress the dispersion of irradiation energy density within the linear laser beam.

Abstract: A laminated spacer portion formed by laminating various thin films that constitute thin-film transistors is disposed in peripheral driver circuits. As a result, even in a structure in which part of a sealing member is disposed above the peripheral driver circuits, pressure exerted from spacers in the sealing member is concentrated on the laminated spacer portion, whereby destruction of a thin-film transistor of the peripheral driver circuits can be prevented caused by the pressure from the sealing portion.

Abstract: A TFT formed on an insulating substrate source, drain and channel regions, a gate insulating film formed on at least the channel region and a gate electrode formed on the gate insulating film. Between the channel region and the drain region, a region having a higher resistivity is provided in order to reduce an loff current. A method for forming this structure comprises the steps of anodizing the gate electrode to form a porous anodic oxide film on the side of the gate electrode; removing a portion of the gate insulating using the porous anodic oxide film as a mask so that the gate insulating film extends beyond the gate electrode but does not completely cover the source and drain regions. Thereafter, an ion doping of one conductivity element is performed. The high resistivity region is defined under the gate insulating film.

Abstract: There is disclosed an active matrix liquid crystal display comprising pixels having an improved aperture ratio. A metallization layer makes contact with an active layer through openings. Inside the openings, the active layer is patterned into the same geometry as the metallization layer. That is, the active layer is patterned in a self-aligned manner according to the pattern of the metallization layer. This can enlarge the contact area. Also, the metallization layer does not required to be specially patterned for making contacts. A high aperture ratio can be obtained.

Abstract: A semiconductor device having high carrier mobility, which comprises a substrate provided thereon a base film and further thereon a crystalline non-single crystal silicon film by crystal growth, wherein, the crystals are grown along the crystallographic [110] axis, and source/drain regions are provided approximately along the direction of carrier movement which coincides to the direction of crystal growth. Moreover, the electric conductivity along this direction of crystal growth is higher than any in other directions.

Abstract: A polysilicon pattern constituting an active portion of a TFT is formed on a substrate so as to be curved to generally assume a U shape, and a gate pattern is formed as a straight conductor pattern. The gate pattern is so disposed as to cross the U-shaped polysilicon pattern plural times. The silicon pattern comprise a plurality of channel regions and impurity regions of which alignment is symmetrical.

Abstract: A liquid crystal display device including (a) a plurality of source lines over a substrate; (b) a plurality of gate lines over the substrate in an orthogonal relation to the plurality of the source lines; and (c) a plurality of pixels in a matrix array at intersections of the source lines and gate lines, wherein, (i) each of the pixels is formed over the substrate and includes, at least a thin film transistor having a channel region, source and drain regions, a gate insulator adjacent to the channel region, and a gate electrode adjacent to the gate insulating film; (ii) a pixel electrode connected to the thin film transistor, (iii) a storage capacitor operationally connected to the thin film transistor, the storage capacitor including an insulating film and at least first and second electrodes with the insulating film interposed therebetween, and (iv) wherein the first electrode may comprise the same semiconductor material as the channel region, and/or at least the channel region of the in film transistor may

Abstract: An insulated-gate field-effect transistor adapted to be used in an active-matrix liquid-crystal display. The channel length, or the distance between the source region and the drain region, is made larger than the length of the gate electrode taken in the longitudinal direction of the channel. Offset regions are formed in the channel region on the sides of the source and drain regions. No or very weak electric field is applied to these offset regions from the gate electrode.

Abstract: A semiconductor device is manufactured by the use of a glass substrate which has previously been heated. An amorphous semiconductor layer is formed on the previously heated glass substrate and then crystallized by heat. By virtue of the previous heating, shrink of the glass substrate after the crystallization process is reduced. Accordingly, internal stress is not generated in the crystallized semiconductor layer. The semiconductor device thus manufactured is superior in electrical property.

Abstract: In an active matrix liquid-crystal display device, a metal common electrode 22 that also serves as a black matrix is disposed to cover the peripheral portion of a pixel electrode 24 which is formed of a transparent electrically conductive film. The common electrode 22 functions as the black matrix that covers the peripheral portion of a pixel and is held to a given potential, so that a region where the pixel electrode 24 and the common electrode 22 are overlapped with each other functions as an auxiliary capacitor 25. The auxiliary capacitor is structured through an insulation layer 23. The common electrode 22 is formed on the insulation layer 21 having a flatten surface to make the auxiliary capacitor 25 larger. With this structure, even though the insulation layer 23 is thinned to about 1 .mu.m, a pin hole, leakage, etc., between the common electrode and the pixel electrode can be prevented, to thereby obtain a larger auxiliary capacitor.

Abstract: A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device by emitting a laser beam from an excimer laser, modifying an energy distribution by passing the beam through a lateral flyeye lens followed by a vertical flyeye lens, condensing the laser beam in two perpendicular sections by two cylindrical lenses to give the beam a rectangular shape, where the longer side can be in excess of 10 cm, then scanning the beam with a single direction over a semiconductor device.

Abstract: The present invention related to unifying steps of sealing material so that the yield and the reliability of a liquid-crystal display device become high. A starting film of scanning lines is patterned so that prismatic dummy wirings 301 for the first layer which are not electrically connected are formed in regions R1 and R2, and wirings 302 extending from the pixel section are formed in a region R3, and wirings 303 having connection end portions 303a are formed in a region R4. After an interlayer insulation film is formed on those surface, the starting film of the signal lines is patterned so that the dummy wirings 304 for the second layer are formed to embed the gaps between the wirings 301 to 303, and also the wirings 305 and the wirings 303 which extend from the pixel portion are connected to each other. As a result, the cross-sectional structure along the line A-A' of the sealing material formation region 107 can be unified.