Liquid crystal display having a protective alignment film and fabricating method thereof

1. A liquid crystal display device having liquid crystal cells arranged in a matrix type, comprising:

a gate line for receiving a scanning signal;

a data line for receiving a data signal;

a pixel electrode provided at an intersection of the gate line and the data line to drive a liquid crystal cell;

a thin film transistor for responding to the scanning signal to switch the data signal into the pixel electrode;

a common line laterally adjacent to the pixel electrode along a direction of one of the gate and data lines; and

an alignment film formed on at least a portion of the gate line, the data line and the pixel electrode to determine a primary alignment direction of a liquid crystal,

wherein the pixel electrode and the common electrode are disposed directly on an insulating layer that serves as the gate insulating layer of the thin film transistor, and wherein the alignment film directly contacts upper and side surfaces of the common line, upper and side surfaces of the pixel electrode, and upper surfaces of the source and drain electrodes of the thin film transistor.

2. The liquid crystal display device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the alignment film is formed of a polyimide resin.

3. The liquid crystal display device as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the polyimide resin has a dielectric constant of about 3 and a thickness of about 500 to 700 Å.

4. The liquid crystal display device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the pixel electrode is formed of a first material, and wherein the source and drain electrodes are formed of a second material different from the first material.

5. A liquid crystal display device having liquid crystal cells arranged in a matrix type, comprising:

a gate line for receiving a scanning signal;

a data line for receiving a data signal;

a pixel electrode and a common electrode provided at a pixel area near an intersection of the gate line and the data line to drive a liquid crystal cell;

a thin film transistor for responding to the scanning signal to switch the data signal into the pixel electrode;

a common line laterally adjacent to the pixel electrode along a direction of one of the gate and data lines; and

an alignment film entirely coated on a substrate to protect signal wires including the gate line, the data line, the pixel electrode and the common electrode and to determine a primary alignment direction of a liquid crystal,

wherein the pixel electrode and the common electrode are disposed directly on an insulating layer that serves as the gate insulating layer of the thin film transistor, and wherein the alignment film directly contacts upper and side surfaces of the common line, upper and side surfaces of the pixel electrode, and upper surfaces of the source and drain electrodes of the thin film transistor.

6. The liquid crystal display device as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the common electrode is formed of a transparent conductive material at the same layer as the pixel electrode in such a manner as not to overlap the pixel electrode.

7. The liquid crystal display device as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the alignment film is formed of a polyimide resin.

8. The liquid crystal display device as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the polyimide resin has a dielectric constant of about 3 and a thickness of about 500 to 700 Å.

9. The liquid crystal display device as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the pixel electrode is formed of a first material, and wherein the source and drain electrodes are formed of a second material different from the first material.