Intel Corporation

Tahoe Research, Ltd.

Kevin Lai Lin

Manish Chandhok

Robert L Bristol

James M Blackwell

Christopher J Jezewski

Richard E Schenker

Rami Hourani

Hui Jae Yoo

Florian Gstrein

Abhishek A Sharma

Carl H Naylor

Marie Krysak

Tristan A Tronic

Feras Eid

Qing Ma

Mauro J Kobrinsky

Urusa Alaan

Weng Hong Teh

Eungnak Han

Miriam Ruth Reshotko

Nafees Kabir

Jeffery D Bielefeld

Noriyuki Sato

Charles Henry Wallace

Ashish Agrawal

Johanna M Swan

Ian A Young

Han Wui Then

Sansaptak W Dasgupta

Sudipto Naskar

Paul B Fischer

Swaminathan Sivakumar

Paul Anton Nyhus

Ehren Mannebach

Elliot Tan

Curtis W Ward

Chytra Pawashe

Richard F Vreeland

Jack T Kavalieros

Tahir Ghani

Gilbert W Dewey

Marko Radosavljevic

Matthew V Metz

Van H Le

Patrick R Morrow

Valluri Ramana Rao

Kevin O'Brien

Elijah V Karpov

Kelin J Kuhn

Seiyon Kim

Sanaz Kabehie Gardner

Alan M Myers

Shriram Shivaraman

Ramanan Chebiam

Justin R Weber

Gurpreet Singh

Raseong Kim

Li Huey Tan

Kent Millard

Michael Christenson

Nathan R Andrysco

Jiun-Ruey Chen

Nicholas James Harold McKubre

Sasikanth Manipatruni

Robert L Sankman

Rafael Rios

Dmitri E Nikonov

Aaron D Lilak

Scott Bruce Clendenning

Yan A Borodovsky

Kanwal Jit Singh

David N Shykind

Jasmeet S Chawla

Stephanie A Bojarski

Anurag Chaudhry

Jessica M Torres

Sarah Atanasov

Sukru Yemenicioglu

Rahim Kasim

Shane M Harlson

Ram K Krishnamurthy

Tanay Gosavi

Rishabh Mehandru

Kaan Oguz

Kimin Jun

Chia-Ching Lin

Himanshu Kaul

Ibrahim Ban

Satyarth Suri

John J Plombon

Benjamin Buford

Colin T Carver

Edris M Mohammed

Tayseer Mahdi

Todd R Younkin

Patrick Theofanis

Ryan Pearce

Emily Walker

Jorge A Munoz

Ashish Agarwal

An integrated circuit interconnect level including a lower metallization line vertically spaced from upper metallization lines. Lower metallization lines may be self-aligned to upper metallization lines enabling increased metallization line width without sacrificing line density for a given interconnect level. Combinations of upper and lower metallization lines within an interconnect metallization level may be designed to control intra-layer resistance/capacitance of integrated circuit interconnect. Dielectric material between two adjacent co-planar metallization lines may be recessed or deposited selectively to the metallization lines. Supplemental metallization may then be deposited and planarized. A top surface of the supplemental metallization may either be recessed to form lower metallization lines between upper metallization lines, or planarized with dielectric material to form upper metallization lines between lower metallization lines. Vias to upper and lower metallization line may extend another metallization level.

Vertically spaced intra-level interconnect line metallization for integrated circuit devices

IC interconnect structures including subtractively patterned features. Feature ends may be defined through multiple patterning of multiple cap materials for reduced misregistration. Subtractively patterned features may be lines integrated with damascene vias or with subtractively patterned vias, or may be vias integrated with damascene lines or with subtractively patterned lines. Subtractively patterned vias may be deposited as part of a planar metal layer and defined currently with interconnect lines. Subtractively patterned features may be integrated with air gap isolation structures. Subtractively patterned features may be include a barrier material on the bottom, top, or sidewall. A bottom barrier of a subtractively patterned features may be deposited with an area selective technique to be absent from an underlying interconnect feature. A barrier of a subtractively patterned feature may comprise graphene or a chalcogenide of a metal in the feature or in a seed layer.

Subtractively patterned interconnect structures for integrated circuits

Disclosed herein are IC structures, packages, and devices that include recesses processed via selective growth. An example integrated circuit (IC) structure, includes a first dielectric material, a second dielectric material on the first dielectric material, and a recess in the second dielectric material, wherein the recess includes a bottom, a top, and sidewalls. The IC further includes a first material within the recess and at a bottom of the recess, wherein the first material includes a metal and oxygen, a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) material, or an organic material, and a second material within the recess and between the first material and the top of the recess, wherein the second material is in contact with the sidewalls of the recess.

Integrated circuit structure with filled recesses

Embodiments disclosed herein include interconnect layers that include non-uniform interconnect heights and methods of forming such devices. In an embodiment, an interconnect layer comprises an interlayer dielectric (ILD), a first interconnect disposed in the ILD, wherein the first interconnect has a first height, and a second interconnect disposed in the ILD, wherein the second interconnect has a second height that is different than the first height.

Multi-height interconnect trenches for resistance and capacitance optimization

Embodiments of the invention include methods of forming a textile patterned hardmask. In an embodiment, a first hardmask and a second hardmask are formed over a top surface of an interconnect layer in an alternating pattern. A sacrificial cross-grating may then be formed over the first and second hardmasks. In an embodiment, portions of the first hardmask that are not covered by the sacrificial cross-grating are removed to form first openings and a third hardmask is disposed into the first openings. Embodiments may then include etching through portions of the second hardmask that are not covered by the sacrificial cross-grating to form second openings. The second openings may be filled with a fourth hardmask. According to an embodiment, the first, second, third, and fourth hardmasks are etch selective to each other. In an embodiment the sacrificial cross-grating may then be removed.

Textile patterning for subtractively-patterned self-aligned interconnects, plugs, and vias

Advanced lithography techniques including sub-10 nm pitch patterning and structures resulting therefrom are described. Self-assembled devices and their methods of fabrication are described.

Advanced lithography and self-assembled devices

An aspect of the disclosure relates to an integrated circuit. The integrated circuit includes a first electrically conductive structure, a thin film crystal layer located on the first electrically conductive structure, and a second electrically conductive structure including metal e.g. copper. The second electrically conductive structure is located on the thin film crystal layer. The first electrically conductive structure is electrically connected to the second electrically conductive structure through the thin film crystal layer. The thin film crystal layer may be provided as a copper diffusion barrier.

Integrated circuits and methods for forming thin film crystal layers

Techniques for selectively removing a metal or conductive material during processing of a semiconductor die for high-voltage applications are provided. In some embodiments, the techniques treat a metallized semiconductor die to transfer a feature from a patterned photoresist layer deposited on the metallized semiconductor die. In addition, the patterned metallized semiconductor die can be subjected to an etch process to remove an amount of metal according to the feature in the pattern, resulting in a treated metallized semiconductor die that defines an opening adjacent to at least a pair of neighboring metal interconnects in the die. The treated metallized semiconductor die can be further treated to backfill the opening with a dielectric material, resulting in a metallized semiconductor die having a backfilled dielectric member. Such a metallized semiconductor die can be further processed according to a process of record until metallization, after which additional selective removal of another amount of metal can be implemented. Semiconductor dies having neighboring metal interconnects separated by backfilled dielectric regions also are provided.

Selective metal removal for conductive interconnects in integrated circuitry

Disclosed herein are inductor/core assemblies for integrated circuits (ICs), as well as related structures, methods, and devices. In some embodiments, an IC structure may include an inductor and a magnetic core in an interior of the inductor. The magnetic core may be movable perpendicular to a plane of the inductor.

Inductor/core assemblies for integrated circuits

An integrated circuit includes: a gate dielectric; a first layer adjacent to the gate dielectric; a second layer adjacent to the first layer, the second layer comprising an amorphous material; a third layer adjacent to the second layer, the third layer comprising a crystalline material; and a source or drain at least partially adjacent to the third layer. In some cases, the crystalline material of the third layer is a first crystalline material, and the first layer comprises a second crystalline material, which may be the same as or different from the first crystalline material. In some cases, the gate dielectric includes a high-K dielectric material. In some cases, the gate dielectric, the first layer, the second layer, the third layer, and the source or drain are part of a back-gate transistor structure (e.g., back-gate TFT), which may be part of a memory structure (e.g., located within an interconnect structure).

Multi-layer crystalline back gated thin film transistor

Embodiments include a substrate and a method of forming the substrate. A substrate includes an interlayer dielectric and conductive traces in the interlayer dielectric (ILD). The conductive traces may include a first conductive trace surrounded by a second and third conductive traces. The substrate also includes a photoresist block in a region of the ILD. The region may be directly surrounded by the ILD and first conductive trace, and the photoresist block may be between the first conductive trace. The photoresist block may have a top surface that is substantially coplanar to top surfaces of the ILD and conductive traces. The photoresist block may have a width substantially equal to a width of the conductive traces. The photoresist block may be in the first conductive trace and between the second and third conductive traces. The photoresist block may include a metal oxide core embedded with organic ligands.

Metal oxycarbide resists as leave behind plugs

Integrated circuit metallization lines having a planar top surface but different vertical heights, for example to control intra-layer resistance/capacitance of integrated circuit interconnect. A hardmask material layer may be inserted between two thicknesses of dielectric material that are over a via metallization. Following deposition of the hardmask material layer, trench openings may be patterned through the hardmask layer to define where line metallization will have a greater height. Following the deposition of a thickness of dielectric material over the hardmask material layer, a trench pattern may be etched through the uppermost thickness of dielectric material, exposing the hardmask material layer wherever the trench does not coincide with an opening in the hardmask material layer. The trench etch may be retarded where the hardmask material layer is exposed, resulting to trenches of differing depth. Trenches of differing depth may be filled with metallization and then planarized.

Multi-height and multi-width interconnect line metallization for integrated circuit structures

Dielectric helmet-based approaches for back end of line (BEOL) interconnect fabrication, and the resulting structures, are described. In an example, a semiconductor structure includes a substrate. A plurality of alternating first and second conductive line types is disposed along a same direction of a back end of line (BEOL) metallization layer disposed in an inter-layer dielectric (ILD) layer disposed above the substrate. A dielectric layer is disposed on an uppermost surface of the first conductive line types but not along sidewalls of the first conductive line types, and is disposed along sidewalls of the second conductive line types but not on an uppermost surface of the second conductive line types.

Dielectric helmet-based approaches for back end of line (BEOL) interconnect fabrication and structures resulting therefrom

Approaches based on differential hardmasks for modulation of electrobucket sensitivity for semiconductor structure fabrication, and the resulting structures, are described. In an example, a method of fabricating an interconnect structure for an integrated circuit includes forming a hardmask layer above an inter-layer dielectric (ILD) layer formed above a substrate. A plurality of dielectric spacers is formed on the hardmask layer. The hardmask layer is patterned to form a plurality of first hardmask portions. A plurality of second hardmask portions is formed alternating with the first hardmask portions. A plurality of electrobuckets is formed on the alternating first and second hardmask portions and in openings between the plurality of dielectric spacers. Select ones of the plurality of electrobuckets are exposed to a lithographic exposure and removed to define a set of via locations.

Differential hardmasks for modulation of electrobucket sensitivity

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Beaverton, OR, United States of America

Kevin Lai Lin