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:
Sep. 21, 2004
Filed:
Mar. 25, 2003
Jose A. Maiz, Portland, OR (US);
Xiaorong Morrow, Portland, OR (US);
Thomas Marieb, Portland, OR (US);
Carolyn Block, Portland, OR (US);
Jihperng Leu, Portland, OR (US);
Paul McGregor, Hillsboro, OR (US);
Markus Kuhn, Hillsboro, OR (US);
Mitchell C. Taylor, Lake Oswego, OR (US);
Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
Described is a method and apparatus for altering the top surface of a metal interconnect. In one embodiment of the invention, a metal interconnect and a barrier layer are formed into an interlayer dielectric (ILD) and the metal interconnect and the barrier layer are planarized to the top of the ILD. The top surfaces of the metal interconnect, the barrier layer, and the ILD are altered with a second metal to form an electromigration barrier. In one embodiment of the invention, the second metal is prevented from contaminating the electrical resistivity of the metal interconnect.