Patent ID: 7645646

Claim:
A method of manufacturing an electronic device comprising thin-film circuit elements that include a diode integrated with a crystalline thin-film transistor, the transistor having a channel area in an active semiconductor film that is more crystalline than an active semiconductor film of the diode, comprising: forming on a circuit substrate the crystalline active semiconductor film of the transistor with a first process involving a first processing temperature; forming doped source and drain regions of the transistor at ends of the channel area with a second process involving a second processing temperature; providing an interconnection film between an electrode area of the transistor and a diode area over which the diode is to be formed, and providing an etch-stop film on which the active semiconductor film for the diode is to be deposited; depositing the active semiconductor film for the diode over the interconnection film and the etch-stop film with a third process that involves a third processing temperature, the first and second processing temperatures being higher than the third processing temperature; and etching away the active semiconductor film for the diode from over the etch-stop film to leave the active semiconductor film for the diode over the interconnection film in the diode area; wherein the diode has its active semiconductor film forming an intrinsic region between P and N electrode regions of a vertical PIN diode structure, and wherein the interconnection film comprises a doped region in a semiconductor film together with the doped source and drain regions of the transistor and a bottom one of the P and N electrode regions of the PIN diode.