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:
Jun. 22, 2004
Filed:
Jun. 12, 2002
Richard S. Hill, Atherton, CA (US);
Willibrordus Gerardus Maria van den Hoek, Saratoga, CA (US);
Robert H. Havemann, Pleasanton, CA (US);
Novellus Systems, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
Porous dielectric layers are produced by introducing small vertical or columnar gaps in pre-formed layers of dense dielectric. The pores may be formed by a special process that is different from the processes employed to form metal lines and other features on a VLSI device. Further, the columnar gaps may be produced after the planarization process for a particular layer has been completed. Then, after the pores are formed, they are capped by depositing another layer of material. In this manner, the newly porous layer is protected from direct exposure to the pressure of subsequent planarization processes. In alternative embodiments, the processes described herein are applied to introduce pores into a preformed layer of semiconductor to produce a porous semiconductor layer.