A liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) panel is provided that includes an electrical contact layer deposited in a pattern on a portion of a transparent conductive layer. An alignment layer protects the conductive layer and electrical contact layer during LCOS panel assembly. The alignment layer is etched away to expose the electrical contact, which protects the underlying conductive layer from the etching process. The resulting LCOS panel has more reliably formed electrical contacts for improved stability of electrical connections to the conductive layer. A method for forming an electrical contact layer on a conductive layer of a LCOS panel includes steps for depositing a patterned layer on a portion of the conductive layer. The method is compatible with microfabrication techniques for scalable manufacturing. The resulting LCOS panel includes a pattern of one or more electrical contacts exposed on a portion of the conductive layer.