Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 8
Claim 1
Independent Claim
159 words
A method for fabricating a stagger-type thin-film transistor, comprising the steps of: forming on a substrate insulator a transparent and conductive film which is made of crystal other than single crystal and which partially constitutes a source electrode, a drain electrode, and a picture element electrode; forming an impurity-contained semiconductor film on said substrate insulator and each electrode of said transparent and conductive film; patterning the impurity-contained semiconductor film so as to partially expose each electrode of said transparent and conductive film; etching the surface of the patterned impurity-contained semiconductor film with one of hydrogen and halogen plasma by controlling the temperature of said substrate insulator to be below a solid phase crystal growth temperature of said transparent and conductive film; forming an active semiconductor layer so as to cover the etched impurity-contained semiconductor film and the substrate insulator; forming a gate insulating film on the active semiconductor layer; and forming a gate electrode on said gate insulating film.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
159 words
A method for fabricating a stagger-type thin-film transistor, comprising the steps of: forming on a substrate insulator a transparent and conductive film which is made of crystal other than single crystal and which partially constitutes a source electrode, a drain electrode, and a picture element electrode; forming an impurity-contained semiconductor film on said substrate insulator and each electrode of said transparent and conductive film; patterning the impurity-contained semiconductor film so as to partially expose each electrode of said transparent and conductive film; etching the surface of the patterned impurity-contained semiconductor film with one of hydrogen and halogen plasma by controlling the temperature of said substrate insulator to be below a solid phase crystal growth temperature of said transparent and conductive film; forming an active semiconductor layer so as to cover the etched impurity-contained semiconductor film and the substrate insulator; forming a gate insulating film on the active semiconductor layer; and forming a gate electrode on said gate insulating film.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
36 words
A method for fabricating a thin-film transistor according to claim 1, wherein each electrode of the transparent and conductive film is made of a material selected from the group consisting of metal oxide and metal nitride.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
28 words
A method for fabricating a thin-film transistor according to claim 2, wherein said material is one of indium-tin oxide, tin oxide, zinc oxide, nickel oxide, and titanium nitride.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
44 words
A method for fabricating a thin-film transistor according to claim 1, wherein the step of etching the surface of the patterned impurity-contained semiconductor film and said step of forming the active semiconductor layer are performed in an atmosphere of a pressure below 1 Torr.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
40 words
A method for fabricating a thin-film transistor according to claim 1, wherein the step of etching the surface of the patterned impurity-contained semiconductor film and the step of forming the active semiconductor layer are continuously performed in different reaction chambers.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
39 words
A method for fabricating a thin-film transistor according to claim 1, wherein said step of etching the surface of the patterned impurity-contained semiconductor film is performed while controlling the temperature of said substrate insulator to be at room temperature.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
34 words
A method for fabricating a thin-film transistor according to claim 1, wherein each electrode of said transparent and conductive film is made of indium-tin-oxide, said solid phase crystal growth temperature is approximately 200° C.