PURPOSE: To lessen the step of the title transistor and to improve the yield of a functional device by a method wherein a gate insulating film and a semiconductor film are provided on a gate electrode, with which a recess provided in the surface part of an insulative substrate is filled, and source and drain electrodes are provided holding a part, which is situated directly over the gate electrode, of the semiconductor film between them.

CONSTITUTION: A recess in a tantalum oxide film 202 formed integrally with a glass substrate 101 is filled with a gate electrode (a two-layer film of a tantalum film 201 and a tantalum silicide film 301). A gate insulating film 401 is formed on the upper part of the film 202 and a non-doped polycrystalline silicon film 501 which is an active layer is formed. The uppermost wiring electrode layer (a source electrode 701 and a doped polysilicon film 601) is formed. Thereby, as a backward stagger thin film transistor having little recesses and projections (a step) can be formed in a single process with good reproducibility, a high-performance functional device can be manufactured at a high yield.