Patent ID: 8134672

Claim:
A liquid crystal device comprising: a substrate for holding a liquid crystal, the substrate including: (a) switching elements, (b) a first insulating layer which overlies the switching elements and which has contact holes located at positions corresponding to the switching elements, (c) first transparent electrodes which overlie the first insulating layer and which are electrically connected to the switching elements through the contact holes, (d) a second insulating layer overlying and in contact with the first transparent electrodes both in and outside the contact holes, and (e) second transparent electrodes which overlie the second insulating layer and which each has a plurality of slits for generating electric fields between the first and second transparent electrodes, the second transparent electrodes not overlapping the contact holes in plan view, the second transparent electrodes having notches with an area greater than that of the contact holes, the notches each being (1) located at a position corresponding to a respective one of the contact holes and (2) connected to a slit in the second transparent electrode that is located near the contact hole, wherein (i) a film thickness of a portion of the second insulating layer which is inside the contact holes and is also in contact with the first transparent electrodes is thinner than the film thickness of another portion of the second insulating layer which is outside the contact holes and is also in contact with the first transparent electrodes, and (ii) a direction of the film thickness is normal to the substrate.