Patent ID: 8378348

Claim:
A semiconductor device, comprising: a substrate; an active layer provided on the substrate, the active layer including a channel region and first and second regions that are respectively located on opposite sides of the channel region; a first contact layer and a second contact layer which are respectively in contact with the first region and the second region of the active layer; a first electrode electrically coupled to the first region via the first contact layer; a second electrode electrically coupled to the second region via the second contact layer; and a gate electrode which is provided such that a gate insulating layer is interposed between the gate electrode and the active layer, the gate electrode being configured to control a conductivity of the channel region, wherein the active layer is constituted of a microcrystalline silicon film which contains a crystal grain and an amorphous phase, the semiconductor device further comprises an oxygen-containing silicon layer between the active layer and the first and second contact layers, and the oxygen-containing silicon layer contains oxygen at a concentration higher than the active layer and the first and second contact layers, and wherein the oxygen-containing silicon layer contains the oxygen at a concentration higher than 1×10 20 atomns/cm 3 .