Liquid crystal display device capable of reducing leakage current, and fabrication method thereof

A liquid crystal display device, comprising:

• a substrate;
• a plurality of gate lines and data lines aligned substantially perpendicularly to each other on the substrate to define a plurality of pixel regions;
• a thin film transistor disposed at each pixel region, each thin film transistor including:
• a gate electrode on the substrate;
• a gate insulating film over the substrate;
• a semiconductor layer disposed on the gate insulating film under which the gate electrode is disposed and in an area along all of the data lines;
• and
• a source electrode and a drain electrode on the semiconductor layer, the source electrode being separated from a data line of the plurality of data lines by a predetermined gap;
• a pixel electrode on the gate insulating film in each pixel region, the pixel electrode being electrically contacted to side surface of the drain electrode;
• a connecting pattern on the gate insulating film in each pixel region, the connecting pattern being contacted with the source electrode and the bottom surface of the data line to connect electrically the source electrode to a portion of the data line facing the source electrode;
• and
• a passivation layer on the semiconductor layer at an area between the source electrode and the drain electrode over the gate electrode,
• wherein the pixel electrode and the connecting pattern are directly contacted with an upper surface of the gate insulating layer.