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:
Mar. 24, 2026
Filed:
Oct. 26, 2023
International Business Machines Corporation, San Jose, CA (US);
Noel Arellano, Gilroy, CA (US);
Krystelle Lionti, San Jose, CA (US);
Rudy J Wojtecki, San Jose, CA (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A method for vacuum gap formation on a dielectric substrate uses area selective deposition (ASD), such as atomic layer deposition (ALD) or chemical vapor deposition (CVD), of a hardmask material on a substrate patterned with a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) and metal features. Due to the presence of the SAM, the hardmask material reaches, but does not touch the metal features leaving areas that will form gaps on the resultant hardmask when the SAM is removed from the substrate. Etching of the dielectric substrate forms trenches in the areas of the gaps. When a non-conformal coating is deposited on the dielectric substrate, vacuum gaps form in the trenches as the non-conformal coating enters into the trenches, but closes off at the surface of the substrate prior to the complete filling of the trench.