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. 16, 1998
Filed:
Dec. 13, 1996
Applicant:
Inventors:
David C Ahlgren, Wappingers Falls, NY (US);
Gary B Bronner, Stormville, NY (US);
Wesley C Natzle, New Paltz, NY (US);
Erick G Walton, South Burlington, VT (US);
Chienfan Yu, Highland Mills, NY (US);
Assignee:
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H01L / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
437 67 ; 4372 / ; 4372 / ; 216 39 ; 216 58 ; 148D / ;
Abstract
A process for stripping thin layers of oxide such as sacrificial pad oxide employs etching chemistry that widens cracks to remove shallow cracks and limit the widening of deep cracks, thereby producing a final oxide surface on thick layers of oxide that is less rough than prior art methods and enabling the fabrication of oxide-filled trenches that have geometries and/or surface smoothness that were previously impossible.