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:
Feb. 19, 2008
Filed:
Jul. 11, 2005
Rodney Hill, Mansfield, TX (US);
Victor Torres, Irving, TX (US);
William Max Coppock, Arlington, TX (US);
Richard W. Foote, Jr., Kennedale, TX (US);
Terry L. Lines, Mansfield, TX (US);
Tom Bold, Roanoke, TX (US);
Rodney Hill, Mansfield, TX (US);
Victor Torres, Irving, TX (US);
William Max Coppock, Arlington, TX (US);
Richard W. Foote, Jr., Kennedale, TX (US);
Terry L. Lines, Mansfield, TX (US);
Tom Bold, Roanoke, TX (US);
National Semiconductor Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A buried thin film resistor having end caps defined by a dielectric mask is disclosed. A thin film resistor is formed on an integrated circuit substrate. A resistor protect layer is formed over the thin film resistor. A layer of dielectric material is formed over the resistor protect layer. The dielectric material is masked and dry etched to leave a first portion of dielectric material over a first end of the thin film resistor and a second portion of dielectric material over a second end of the thin film resistor. The resistor protect layer is then wet etched using the first and second portions of the dielectric material as a hard mask. Then a second dielectric layer is deposited and vias are etched down to the underlying portions of the resistor protect layer.