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:
Aug. 07, 2007
Filed:
Aug. 27, 2004
Shyng-tsong T. Chen, Patterson, NY (US);
Kaushik Arun Kumar, Beacon, NY (US);
Stephen Edward Greco, LaGrangeville, NY (US);
Shom Ponoth, Fishkill, NY (US);
Terry Allen Spooner, New Fairfield, CT (US);
David L. Rath, Stormville, NY (US);
Wei-tsu Tseng, Hopewell Junction, NY (US);
Shyng-Tsong T. Chen, Patterson, NY (US);
Kaushik Arun Kumar, Beacon, NY (US);
Stephen Edward Greco, LaGrangeville, NY (US);
Shom Ponoth, Fishkill, NY (US);
Terry Allen Spooner, New Fairfield, CT (US);
David L. Rath, Stormville, NY (US);
Wei-Tsu Tseng, Hopewell Junction, NY (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) step is used to remove excess conductive material (e.g., Cu) overlying a low-k or ultralow-k interlevel dielectric layer (ILD) layer having trenches filled with conductive material, for a damascene interconnect structure. A reactive ion etch (RIE) or a Gas Cluster Ion Beam (GCIB) process is used to remove a portion of a liner which is atop a hard mask. A wet etch step is used to remove an oxide portion of the hard mask overlying the ILD, followed by a final touch-up Cu CMP (CMP) step which chops the protruding Cu patterns off and lands on the SiCOH hard mask. In this manner, processes used to remove excess conductive material substantially do not affect the portion of the hard mask overlying the interlevel dielectric layer.