International Business Machines Corporation

Jeffrey A Robinson

Michael L Kerbaugh

Arup Bhattacharyya

Donald M Kenney

William J Cote

Michael A Leach

Robert M Quinn

Robert W Sweetser

Gary R Wilson

Electronic note pad for data entry

A conformal organic layer is used to define spacers on the sidewalls of an organic mandrel. The organic layer (e.g., parylene) can be deposited at low temperatures, and as such is compatible with temperature-sensitive mandrel materials that reflow at high deposition temperatures. The conformal organic material can be dry etched as the same rate as the organic mandrels, while being resistant to wet strip solvents that remove the organic mandrels. This series of etch characteristics make the organic mandrel-organic spacer combination compatible with a host of masking applications.

Process for defining organic sidewall structures

Spacers are formed having widths that vary as a function of the spacing between the mandrels upon which the conformal material that defines the spacers is deposited and etched. As the spacing between adjacent mandrels decreases, the width of the resulting spacers decreases. The correlation between mandrel spacing and sidewall structure width is independent of the thickness of the conformal material as-deposited. As the spacing between the mandrels decreases, the decrease in width becomes more pronounced, particularly at mandrel spacings of five microns or less. Thus, by making adjacent mandrels closer together or further apart and adjusting mandrel height, active/passive components having differing widths/lengths may be formed from the same conformal layer.

Formation of variable-width sidewall structures

Growing community of inventors

Essex Junction, VT, United States of America

Jeffrey A Robinson