Patent ID: 7459332

Claim:
A method of fabricating a CMOS image sensor, comprising: forming an insulating layer on a first conductive type semiconductor substrate; defining a gate area by selectively removing the insulating layer such that a predetermined portion of a surface of the semiconductor substrate is exposed; forming a gate insulating layer on the surface of the exposed semiconductor substrate; forming a conductive layer on an entire surface of the semiconductor substrate and planarizing the conductive layer by adopting a top surface of the insulating layer as an end point, thereby forming a gate electrode on the gate insulating layer; reducing a thickness of the insulating layer at both sides of the gate electrode; forming an insulating layer sidewall on the insulating layer at both sides of the gate electrode; forming a low-density second conductive type diffusion area on a photodiode area at a first side of the gate electrode; and forming a high-density second conductive type diffusion area on a transistor area at a second side of the gate electrode.