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. 24, 2001
Filed:
Sep. 24, 1998
Thomas G. Ference, Essex Junction, VT (US);
William F. Landers, Wappingers Falls, NY (US);
Michael J. MacDonald, Yorktown Heights, NY (US);
Walter E. Mlynko, Essex Junction, VT (US);
Mark P. Murray, Essex Junction, VT (US);
Kirk D. Peterson, Essex Junction, VT (US);
International Business Machines Corp., Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A process of planarizing the surface of a semiconductor substrate. The process begins by forming patterned raised and recessed regions on the surface of the semiconductor substrate. A layer of material then is formed over the patterned raised and recessed regions. The layer is subjected to a chemical mechanical planarizing (CMP) process step until all of the raised regions are at least partially removed from the layer. Finally, the surface of the polished substrate is etched with a reactive ion etching (RIE) process.