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:
Nov. 02, 2004
Filed:
Jul. 01, 2003
Michael C. Gaidis, Wappingers Falls, NY (US);
Joachim Nuetzel, Fishkill, NY (US);
Walter Glashauser, Ringstrasse, DE;
Eugene O'Sullivan, Nyack, NY (US);
Gregory Costrini, Hopewell Junction, NY (US);
Stephen L. Brown, Carmel, NY (US);
Frank Findeis, Hopewell Junction, NY (US);
Chanro Park, Fishkill, NY (US);
Other;
Abstract
Encapsulating areas of metallization in a liner material, such as Tantalum, Tantalum Nitride, Silicon Carbide allows aggressive or harsh processing steps to be used. These aggresive processing steps offer the possibility of fabricating new device architectures. In addition, by encapsulating the areas of metallization, metal ion migration and electromigration can be prevented. Further, the encapsulated areas of metallization can serve as a self-aligning etch mask. Thus, vias etched between adjacent areas of metallization allow the area of the substrate allocated to the via to be significantly reduced without increasing the possibility of electrical shorts to the adjacent areas of metallization.