Patent ID: 7736938

Claim:
A method for fabricating a CMOS image sensor comprising: sequentially forming a dielectric film, a metal pad having an exposed upper surface, and a first passivation film on a semiconductor substrate having a scribe lane and a pixel region defined therein, wherein the first passivation film includes an opening which exposes the metal pad; and then forming and hardening a thermosetting resin on the entire surface of the semiconductor substrate including the metal pad and the first passivation film to form a second passivation film; and then forming a color filter layer on the first passivation film at the pixel region; and then reducing the step difference between the scribe lane and the pixel region by forming an overcoat layer on the entire surface of the semiconductor substrate including the metal pad, wherein the overcoat layer fills the opening; and then forming a micro lens on the overcoat layer at the pixel region; and then forming a photo resist to expose the overcoat layer at the scribe lane; and then performing an etching process on the entire surface of the semiconductor substrate to etch the overcoat layer at the scribe lane; and then removing the photo resist.