Method of fabricating an IPS mode LCD using both a rubbing process and a light irradiation process

A method of fabricating an IPS mode LCD, comprising:

• forming a gate line and a common line on a first substrate, the gate line and the common line being spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance in a horizontal direction;
• forming a data line substantially perpendicular to the gate line;
• forming a plurality of common electrodes substantially parallel to the data line, and forming a plurality of pixel electrodes crossing the common electrodes;
• forming a first alignment layer on the first substrate including the pixel electrodes;
• performing a primary alignment process on the first alignment layer using a rubbing process;
• covering the first alignment layer with a mask, the mask including transmission portions corresponding to at least stepped portions of the pixel electrodes that have a non-uniform alignment in the rubbing process;
• performing a secondary alignment process by partially irradiating a beam on the rubbed alignment layer corresponding to at least the stepped portions of the pixel electrodes via the transmission portions of the mask;
• forming a color filter layer and a black matrix on a second substrate facing the first substrate;
• and
• forming a liquid crystal layer between the first substrate and the second substrate,
• wherein a width (a) of the transmission portion of the mask is a=L+2M, where M represents a mask margin and is about 0<M≦10 μm, where d represents a step height of the h pixel electrodes, where L represents a width of the stepped portion of the pixel electrodes and L=d/tan θ, where θ represents a taper angle of the pixel electrodes.