The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 11, 2019
Filed:
Sep. 27, 2012
Applicants:
Stmicroelectronics, Inc., Coppell, TX (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Inventors:
John H. Zhang, Fishkill, NY (US);
Lawrence A. Clevenger, LaGrangeville, NY (US);
Carl Radens, LaGrangeville, NY (US);
Yiheng Xu, Hopewell Junction, NY (US);
Assignees:
STMICROELECTRONICS, INC., Coppell, TX (US);
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION, Armonk, NY (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H01L 23/48 (2006.01); H01L 23/52 (2006.01); H01L 21/768 (2006.01); H01L 23/522 (2006.01); H01L 23/532 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
H01L 21/76834 (2013.01); H01L 21/76831 (2013.01); H01L 23/5226 (2013.01); H01L 23/53295 (2013.01); H01L 2924/0002 (2013.01);
Abstract
A plurality of metal tracks are formed in a plurality of intermetal dielectric layers stacked in an integrated circuit die. Thin protective dielectric layers are formed around the metal tracks. The protective dielectric layers act as a hard mask to define contact vias between metal tracks in the intermetal dielectric layers.