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:
Dec. 30, 2025
Filed:
Mar. 22, 2024
Western Digital Technologies, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Bing Zhou, San Jose, CA (US);
Kartik Sondhi, Milpitas, CA (US);
Senaka Kanakamedala, San Jose, CA (US);
Sandisk Technologies, Inc., Milpitas, CA (US);
Abstract
A method of patterning a structure includes forming an alternating stack of first material layers and second material layers over a substrate, forming an etch mask material layer over the alternating stack, forming openings in an upper portion of the alternating stack by performing a first anisotropic etch process that transfers a pattern in the etch mask material layer through a first subset of layers within the alternating stack, anisotropically depositing a cladding material on the etch mask material layer to form a cladding material layer, ion implanting dopant atoms into the cladding material layer, and vertically extending the openings downward in the alternating stack by performing a second anisotropic etch process. The dopant atoms decrease an etch rate of the cladding material layer during the second anisotropic etch process.