Repair method for low noise metal lines in thin film imager devices

Abstract

A method of repairing an open circuit defect in a damaged address line in a thin film electronic imager device includes the steps of forming a repair area on the device so as to expose the open-circuit defect in the damaged address line and then depositing a conductive material to form a second conductive component and to coincidentally form a repair shunt in the repair area so as to electrically bridge the defect. The step of forming the repair area includes the steps of ablating dielectric material disposed over the first conductive component in the repair area, and etching the repair area so as to remove dielectric material disposed over the defect in the address line in the repair area such that the surface of the address line conductive material is exposed but is not contaminated by the removal of the overlying dielectric material. A layer of photoresist is deposited over the imager device prior to forming the repair area, such that the photoresist layer is patterned during the ablating step and serves as a mask during the etch step.