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:
Feb. 08, 2000
Filed:
Oct. 15, 1997
Robert Francis Cook, Putnam Valley, NY (US);
Eric Gerhard Liniger, Danbury, CT (US);
Ronald Lee Mendelson, Richmond, VT (US);
Richard Charles Whiteside, Charlotte, VT (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A serpentine pattern has been found to be effective at interrupting propagation of delamination cracks in thin film layers. The ring is provided on a semiconductor chip to suppress crack propagation from the chip edge. The ring is effective even though it is filled with metal, the serpentine pattern providing significantly increased area as compared with a standard linear crack stop that the energy for crack propagation is dissipated. In addition to serpentines, pattern features such as staggered filled ring patterns and connected rings will also be effective at reducing the propagation of delamination cracks from edge to active area by virtue of the increased area of interaction between the crack and the crack stop.