International Business Machines Corporation

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd (corporation)

Infineon Technologies Ag

Yi-Hsiung Lin

Wai-Kin Li

Chih-Chao Yang

Gerald Matusiewicz

Tong Qing Chen

Timothy Joseph Dalton

Wu-Song S Huang

Erdem Kaltalioglu

Kaushik Arun Kumar

Kuang-Jung Chen

Douglas C La Tulipe, Jr

Mark Hoinkis

Larry Clevenger

Andy Cowley

Wan-jae Park

Markus Naujok

Jochen Schacht

Jae Hak Kim

Wan Jae Park

Hyung-yoon Choi

A semiconductor structure and method of manufacturing the semiconductor structure, and more particularly to a semiconductor structure having reduced metal line resistance and a method of manufacturing the same in back end of line (BEOL) processes. The method includes forming a first trench extending to a lower metal layer Mx+1 and forming a second trench remote from the first trench. The method further includes filling the first trench and the second trench with conductive material. The conductive material in the second trench forms a vertical wiring line extending orthogonally and in electrical contact with an upper wiring layer and electrically isolated from lower metal layers including the lower metal layer Mx+1. The vertical wiring line decreases a resistance of a structure.

Semiconductor structure and method of manufacturing same

A resist polymer that has nano-scale patterns located therein that are in the form of sub lithographic hollow pores (or openings) that are oriented in a direction that is substantially perpendicular with that of its major surfaces (top and bottom) is provided. Such a resist polymer having the nano-scale patterns is used as an etch mask transferring nano-scale patterns to an underlying substrate such as, for example, dielectric material. After the transferring of the nano-scale patterns into the substrate, nano-scale voids (or openings) having a width of less than 50 nm are created in the substrate. The presence of the nano-scale voids in a dielectric material lowers the dielectric constant, k, of the original dielectric material. In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, the inventive resist polymer comprises a copolymer that includes a first monomer unit (A) that contains a Si-containing component, and a second monomer unit (B) that contains an organic component, wherein said two monomer units (A and B) have different etch rates.

Si-containing polymers for nano-pattern device fabrication

Method of Fabricating Interconnections of a Microelectronic Device Using a Dual Damascene Process. A method of fabricating interconnections of a microelectronic device includes preparing a semiconductor substrate comprising a lower dielectric layer and a lower interconnection, forming an etch stopper layer and an interlayer dielectric layer on the semiconductor substrate, forming a via hole in the interlayer dielectric layer so that the etch stopper layer is exposed through the via hole, performing carbon doping on the etch stopper layer, performing trench etching to form a trench in the interlayer dielectric layer so that the trench overlaps part of the via hole, removing the carbon-doped etch stopper layer, and filling the via hole and the trench with a conductive material to form an upper interconnection.

Method of fabricating interconnections of microelectronic device using dual damascene process

Methods of forming electrical interconnect structures include forming a dielectric layer on a semiconductor substrate and forming a hard mask layer on the dielectric layer. A photoresist layer is patterned on an upper surface of the hard mask layer. This patterned photoresist layer is used as an etching mask during a step to selectively etch the hard mask layer and define an opening therein. This opening exposes the first dielectric layer. The patterned photoresist layer is then stripped from the hard mask layer using an ashing process that exposes the upper surface of the hard mask layer. Following this ashing process, a portion of the first dielectric layer extending opposite the opening is selectively etched using the hard mask layer as an etching mask. During this selective etching step, polymer residues are accumulated directly on the upper surface of the hard mask layer. These polymer residues may operate to increase a degree of selectively and inhibit recession of the hard mask layer during the step of selectively etching the first dielectric layer.

Methods of forming electrical interconnect structures using polymer residues to increase etching selectivity through dielectric layers

A dual damascene structure and method of fabrication thereof. An insulating layer comprises a first dielectric material and a second dielectric material, the second dielectric material being different from the first dielectric material. First conductive regions having a first pattern are formed in the first dielectric material, and second conductive regions having a second pattern are formed in the second dielectric material, the second pattern being different from the first pattern. One of the first dielectric material and the second dielectric material comprises an organic material, and the other dielectric material comprises an inorganic material. One of the first and second dielectric materials is etchable selective to the other dielectric material. A method of cleaning a semiconductor wafer processing chamber while a wafer remains residing within the chamber is also disclosed.

Dual damascene structure and method

Disclosed is a method that deposits an aqueous material having a pH between approximately 10 and 11 in a first opening and on an oxide hard mask, deposits an organic material on the aqueous material, and patterns a photoresist over the organic material. The invention then etches the organic material and the aqueous material through the photoresist to form a second opening above the first opening and forms a polymer along sidewalls of the second opening. The invention can then perform a wet cleaning process using an alkali solution having a pH between approximately 10 and 11 to remove the aqueous material from the first opening. By utilizing an alkali aqueous (water-based) material having a pH of approximately 10-11, the invention can use a fairly low pH wet etch (pH of approximately 10-11) to completely remove the aqueous solution from the via, thereby eliminating the conventional problem of having residual organic material left within the via.

Method of patterning damascene structure in integrated circuit design

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Taipei, Taiwan

Yi-Hsiung Lin