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:
Oct. 29, 2002
Filed:
Jan. 27, 2000
Joseph E. Page, Mechanicsville, VA (US);
Jonathan P. Davis, Glen Allen, VA (US);
Scott W. Bailey, Chester, VA (US);
Other;
Abstract
A method for planarizing a dielectric layer on a semiconductor wafer while eliminating a mask and etch step, in accordance with the present invention includes providing a semiconductor wafer having trenches formed in a trench region of a substrate, and forming a dielectric layer on the semiconductor wafer to fill the trenches whereby up features form on flat surfaces of the wafer. An edge portion of the semiconductor wafer is polished to remove a portion of the dielectric layer about the edge portions of the semiconductor wafer. The dielectric layer is polished across the entire semiconductor wafer by employing a single non-stacked polishing pad and a slurry to planarize the trench regions and the up features in a single polish step such that a mask step and etch step for reducing the up features are eliminated from the polishing process.