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. 07, 2003
Filed:
Nov. 21, 2001
Applicant:
Inventors:
Assignee:
General Semiconductor, Inc., Melville, NY (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H01L 2/100 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
H01L 2/100 ;
Abstract
In integrated circuits produced by etching and damascene techniques, it is common for cracking to occur in dielectric material surrounding an interconnect metal layer integrated into the device, presumably as a result of the transfer of stresses from the interconnect metal layer to the surrounding dielectric material. The present invention addresses this problem by providing an interconnect metal layer that comprises rounded comers which are believed to reduce the stresses transferred to a surrounding dielectric layer.