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:
Jan. 23, 2001
Filed:
Jan. 06, 1998
Munir-ud-Din Naeem, Poughkeepsie, NY (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
The occurrence of defects in interconnect metal structure is reduced or eliminated by a method wherein a semiconductor substrate having a dielectric layer, a metal-containing electrically conductive layer and a patterned photoresist layer, the metal-containing electrically conductive layer overlying the dielectric layer and the photoresist layer overlying the conductive layer such that portions of the conductive layer are exposed, is treated using a sequence of at least four reactive ion etching environments, each having a different etchant composition from the previous and/or subsequent environment. The invention is especially applicable for metal interconnect structures having aluminum and/or copper as the primary conductive layer.