Patent ID: 8859352

Claim:
A method, comprising: disposing a protective oxide material on at least one peripheral transistor disposed in or on a silicon substrate, wherein the peripheral transistor includes a first gate electrode and a first dielectric layer that is disposed between the first gate electrode and the silicon substrate, and wherein the first dielectric layer is disposed on a first portion of the silicon substrate that is of a first conductivitiy type; and then epitaxially growing silicon of a second conductivity type for a lightly-doped drain (LDD) area of at least one pixel transistor disposed in or on the silicon substrate, such that the LDD is disposed adjoining a second dielectric layer of the pixel transistor, wherein the second dielectric layer is disposed: between a second gate electrode of the pixel transistor and the silicon substrate, and on a second portion of the silicon substrate that is of the first conductivity type; wherein the protective oxide material prevents the growth of silicon in the peripheral transistor during the epitaxially growing of silicon.