Texas Instruments Corporation

Mona M Eissa

Mark L Jenson

Sudtida Lavangkul

Sopa Chevacharoenkul

Troy A Yocum

Mark R Kimmich

Dok Won Lee

Brian Goodlin

Patricia Beauregard Smith

Pushpa Mahalingam

Yousong Zhang

Bhaskar Srinivasan

Vincent C Korthuis

Umamaheswari Aghoram

Byron J R Shulver

Lee Alan Stringer

Erich Wesley Kinder

Thomas Dyer Bonifield

Yaojian Leng

Deepak Arabagatte Ramappa

Antonio L P Rotondaro

Kelly Jay Taylor

Guoqiang Xing

Ting Yiu Tsui

Kenneth D Brennan

Justin F Gaynor

Neal T Murphy

Basab Chatterjee

Hyesook Hong

Brian E Zinn

Christopher Scott Whitesell

Barry Lanier

Jeffrey Allen Hanson

Christopher Lyle Borst

Satyavolu Papa Rao

Corinne Ann Gagnet

Chad J Kaneshige

Nilesh Shantaram Doke

Byron Shulver

Syed Hamid

A method of forming an integrated circuit, including first, positioning a semiconductor wafer in a processing chamber; second, exposing portions of the semiconductor wafer, including introducing a first amount of hydrogen into the processing chamber and introducing a first amount of oxygen into the processing chamber; and, third, introducing at least one of a second amount of hydrogen or a second amount of oxygen into the processing chamber, the second amount of hydrogen greater than zero and less than the first amount of hydrogen and the second amount of oxygen greater than zero and less than the first amount of oxygen.

Gate oxide fabrication and system

An integrated circuit (IC) includes a semiconductor surface layer of a substrate including circuitry formed in the semiconductor surface layer configured together with a Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM) capacitor. A multi-layer metal stack on the semiconductor surface layer includes a bottom plate contact metal layer including a bottom capacitor plate contact. A first interlevel dielectric (ILD) layer is over the bottom plate contact metal layer. The MIM capacitor includes a trench in the first ILD layer over the bottom capacitor plate contact, wherein the trench is lined by a bottom capacitor plate with a capacitor dielectric layer thereon, and a top capacitor plate on the capacitor dielectric layer. A fill material fills the trench to form a filled trench. A second ILD layer is over the filled trench. A filled via through the second ILD layer provides a connection to the top capacitor plate.

IC having trench-based metal-insulator-metal capacitor

An integrated circuit has a substrate, a circuit, a core structure, a first encapsulation layer, a second encapsulation layer, and an oxide layer. The circuit includes transistors with active regions developed on the substrate and a metal layer formed above the active regions to provide interconnections for the transistors. The core structure is formed above the metal layer. The first encapsulation layer covers the core structure, and it has a first thermal expansion coefficient. The second encapsulation layer covers the first encapsulation layer over the core structure, and it has a second thermal expansion coefficient that is different from the first thermal expansion coefficient. As a part of the stress relief structure, the oxide layer is formed above the second encapsulation layer. The oxide layer includes an oxide thickness sufficient to mitigate a thermal stress between the first and second encapsulation layers.

Integrated fluxgate device

An integrated circuit (IC) includes a semiconductor surface layer of a substrate including circuitry formed in the semiconductor surface layer configured together with a Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM) capacitor. A multi-layer metal stack on the semiconductor surface layer includes a bottom plate contact metal layer including a bottom capacitor plate contact. A first interlevel dielectric (ILD) layer is over the bottom plate contact metal layer. The MIM capacitor includes a trench in the first ILD layer over the bottom capacitor plate contact, wherein the trench is lined by a bottom capacitor plate with a capacitor dielectric layer thereon, and a top capacitor plate on the capacitor dielectric layer. A fill material fills the trench to form a filled trench. A second ILD layer is over including the filled trench. A filled via through the second ILD layer provides a contact to a top plate contact on the top capacitor plate.

An integrated circuit includes a fluxgate magnetometer. The magnetic core of the fluxgate magnetometer is encapsulated with a layer of encapsulant of a nonmagnetic metal or a nonmagnetic alloy. The layer of encapsulate provides stress relaxation between the magnetic core material and the surrounding dielectric. A method for forming an integrated circuit has the magnetic core of a fluxgate magnetometer encapsulated with a layer of a nonmagnetic metal or nonmagnetic alloy to eliminate delamination and to substantially reduce cracking of the dielectric that surrounds the magnetic core.

High performance fluxgate device

An etchant for simultaneously etching NiFe and AlN with approximately equal etch rates that comprises phosphoric acid, acetic acid, nitric acid and deionized water. Alternating layers of NiFe and AlN may be used to form a magnetic core of a fluxgate magnetometer in an integrated circuit. The wet etch provides a good etch rate of the alternating layers with good dimensional control and with a good resulting magnetic core profile. The alternating layers of NiFe and AlN may be encapsulated with a stress relief layer. A resist pattern may be used to define the magnetic core geometry. The overetch time of the wet etch may be controlled so that the magnetic core pattern extends at least 1.5 um beyond the base of the magnetic core post etch. The photo mask used to form the resist pattern may also be used to form a stress relief etch pattern.

Process for NiFe fluxgate device

A method of fabricating a semiconductor device includes aligning an alignment structure of a wafer to a direction of a magnetic field created by an external electromagnet and depositing a magnetic layer (e.g., NiFe) over the wafer in the presence of the magnetic field and while applying the magnetic field and maintaining a temperature of the wafer below 150&#xb0; C. An insulation layer (e.g., AlN) is deposited on the first magnetic layer. The alignment structure of the wafer is again aligned to the direction of the magnetic field and a second magnetic layer is deposited on the insulation layer, in the presence of the magnetic field and while maintaining the temperature of the wafer below 150&#xb0; C.

Magnetic core

A method of magnetic forming an integrated fluxgate sensor includes providing a patterned magnetic core on a first nonmagnetic metal or metal alloy layer on a dielectric layer over a first metal layer that is on or in an interlevel dielectric layer (ILD) which is on a substrate. A second nonmagnetic metal or metal alloy layer is deposited including over and on sidewalls of the magnetic core. The second nonmagnetic metal or metal alloy layer is patterned, where after patterning the second nonmagnetic metal or metal alloy layer together with the first nonmagnetic metal or metal alloy layer encapsulates the magnetic core to form an encapsulated magnetic core. After patterning, the encapsulated magnetic core is magnetic field annealed using an applied magnetic field having a magnetic field strength of at least 0.1 T at a temperature of at least 150&#xb0; C.

Magnetic field annealing for integrated fluxgate sensors

A method comprises forming an etch stop layer, a first titanium layer, a magnetic core, a second titanium layer, and patterning the first and second titanium layers. The etch stop layer is formed above a substrate. The first titanium layer is formed on the etch stop layer. The magnetic core is formed on the first titanium layer. The second titanium layer has a first portion encapsulating the magnetic core with the first titanium layer, and a second portion interfacing with the first titanium layer beyond the magnetic core. The patterning of the first and second titanium layers includes forming a mask over a magnetic core region and etching the first and second titanium layers exposed by the mask using a titanium etchant and a titanium oxide etchant.

Selective patterning of titanium encapsulation layers

Selective patterning of an integrated fluxgate device

A process of forming an integrated circuit using a palladium CMP operation in which 25 to 125 ppm aluminum is added to the CMP slurry, allowing a palladium removal rate of at least 80 nanometers per minute at a polish pad pressure less than 9 psi and a surface speed between 1.9 and 2.2 meters per second. The palladium CMP operation may be applied to form a palladium bond pad cap after which an external bond element is formed on the palladium bond pad cap. Alternatively, the palladium CMP operation may be applied to form a palladium interconnect conductor in a first dielectric layer.

Aluminum enhanced palladium CMP process

A method for fabricating ICs including via-first through substrate vias (TSVs) and ICs and electronic assemblies therefrom. A substrate having a substrate thickness including a top semiconductor surface and a bottom surface is provided including at least one embedded TSV including a dielectric liner and an electrically conductive filler material formed on the dielectric liner. A portion of the bottom surface of the substrate is mechanically removed to approach but not reach the embedded TSV tip. A protective substrate layer having a protective layer thickness remains over the tip of the embedded TSV after the mechanical removing. Chemical etching exclusive of mechanical etching for removing the protective substrate layer is used form an integral TSV tip that has an exposed tip portion that generally protrudes from the bottom surface of the substrate. The chemical etching is generally a three step chemical etch.

TSVS having chemically exposed TSV tips for integrated circuit devices

The invention describes a method for the selective dry etching of tantalum and tantalum nitride films. Tantalum nitride layers () are often used in semiconductor manufacturing. The semiconductor substrate is exposed to a reducing plasma chemistry which passivates any exposed copper (). The tantalum or tantalum nitride films are selectively removed using an oxidizing plasma chemistry.

Selective dry etching of tantalum and tantalum nitride

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Allen, TX, United States of America

Mona M Eissa