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:
Mar. 08, 2011
Filed:
May. 15, 2007
Sriram Viswanathan, Chanhassen, MN (US);
Vinay Krishna, Apple Valley, MN (US);
Peter Keswick, Bloomington, MN (US);
Daniel Amzen, Eden Prairie, MN (US);
Sriram Viswanathan, Chanhassen, MN (US);
Vinay Krishna, Apple Valley, MN (US);
Peter Keswick, Bloomington, MN (US);
Daniel Amzen, Eden Prairie, MN (US);
Cypress Semiconductor Corporation, San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
A method is provided for forming a borderless contact to a local interconnect (LI) line on a substrate. Generally, the method includes steps of (i) depositing a nitride layer over a number of LI lines on the substrate, to substantially cover the LI lines; (ii) etching the nitride layer to form spacers adjacent to sidewalls of at least one of the number of LI lines and to expose at least a portion of a top surface of the LI line; (iii) depositing an inter-layer dielectric, such as an oxide, over the number of LI lines on the substrate and the spacers formed adjacent thereto; and (iv) performing a contact etch to etch contact openings through the inter-layer dielectric to expose the portion of the top surface of the underlying LI line. Other embodiments are also disclosed.