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:
Apr. 03, 2012
Filed:
Aug. 11, 2010
Meng-wei Chen, Taichung, TW;
Chi-chuang Lee, Chubei, TW;
Chung-hsien Lin, Hsinchu, TW;
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd., Hsin-Chu, TW;
Abstract
Methods and apparatuses for alignment are disclosed. An exemplary method includes providing a substrate having a device region and an alignment region; forming a first material layer over the substrate; forming a device feature and a dummy feature in the first material layer, wherein the device feature is formed in the device region and the dummy feature is formed in the alignment region; forming a second material layer over the first material layer; and forming an alignment feature in the second material layer, the alignment feature being disposed over the dummy feature in the alignment region. The device feature has a first dimension and the dummy feature has a second dimension, the second dimension being less than a resolution of an alignment mark detector.