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:
Apr. 17, 2001
Filed:
Aug. 25, 1999
Applicant:
Inventor:
Leonard J. Olmer, Orlando, FL (US);
Assignee:
Lucent Technologies Inc., Murray Hill, NJ (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H01L 2/144 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
H01L 2/144 ;
Abstract
The present invention provides a method of determining an endpoint of a reduction reaction of a metal deposited on a semiconductor wafer. The method comprises reducing an oxidized portion of the metal by subjecting the oxidized portion to a reducing agent that forms a reduction by-product and detecting the endpoint of the reduction reaction by monitoring a physical characteristic of either the reducing agent or the reduction by-product. This method is, therefore, particularly applicable in the fabrication of an integrated circuit device, such as a CMOS transistor, an NMOS transistor, a PMOS transistor, or a bi-polar transistor.