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:
Jul. 15, 2025
Filed:
Mar. 14, 2024
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd., Hsinchu, TW;
Chin-Ta Chen, Hsinchu, TW;
Hua-Tai Lin, Hsinchu, TW;
Han-Wei Wu, Tainan, TW;
Jiann-Yuan Huang, Hsinchu, TW;
TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD., Hsinchu, TW;
Abstract
In a method of forming a pattern, a first pattern is formed over an underlying layer, the first pattern including main patterns and a lateral protrusion having a thickness of less than 25% of a thickness of the main patterns, a hard mask layer is formed over the first pattern, a planarization operation is performed to expose the first pattern without exposing the lateral protrusion, a hard mask pattern is formed by removing the first pattern while the lateral protrusion being covered by the hard mask layer, and the underlying layer is patterned using the hard mask pattern as an etching mask.