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:
Aug. 04, 2020
Filed:
Jun. 10, 2019
Tokyo Electron Limited, Tokyo, JP;
Hirokazu Aizawa, Albany, NY (US);
Karthikeyan Pillai, Albany, NY (US);
Nicholas Joy, Albany, NY (US);
Kandabara Tapily, Albany, NY (US);
TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A process is provided in which low-k layers are protected from etch damage by the use of a selectively formed protection layer which forms on the low-k layer. In one embodiment, the low-k layers may be low-k dielectric layers utilized in BEOL process steps. In one embodiment, the selectively formed protection layer may be formed by a selective deposition process which selectively forms layers on the low-k dielectric but not over the conductor layer. The selectively formed protection layer may then be utilized to protect the low-k layer from a plasma etch that is utilized to recess the conductor. In this manner, a conductor (for example metal) may be recessed in a low-k dielectric layer via a plasma etch process.