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. 05, 2000
Filed:
Jun. 23, 1998
Ivan Sanchez, San Antonio, TX (US);
Miguel A Delgado, San Antonio, TX (US);
VLSI Technology, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
The invention relates generally to integrated circuits and, in particular, to methods of forming anti-fuse structures during integrated circuit manufacture. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a conductive base layer is formed over a semiconductor substrate. An insulating layer is formed on the conductive base layer and is patterned to expose a portion of the conductive base layer. An anti-fuse layer is formed on the insulating layer and the exposed portion of the conductive base layer. A conductive protection layer is formed on the anti-fuse layer. An anti-fuse island is formed by sequentially removing a portion of the conductive protection layer, and underlying portions of the anti-fuse layer and the insulating layer. The conductive base layer is patterned after forming the anti-fuse island. The invention provides a simplified method for the formation of anti-fuse structures which is compatible with submicron device geometries.