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. 25, 2014
Filed:
May. 10, 2011
Fangyu Wu, Atlanta, GA (US);
Dennis W. Hess, Atlanta, GA (US);
Galit Levitin, Atlanta, GA (US);
Georgia Tech Research Corporation, Atlanta, GA (US);
Abstract
The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for etching various metals that may be used in semiconductor or integrated circuit processing through the use of non-halogen gases such as hydrogen, helium, or combinations of hydrogen and helium with other gases such as argon. In one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, in a reaction chamber, a substrate having a metal interconnect layer deposited thereon is exposed to a plasma formed of non-halogen gas. The plasma generated is maintained for a certain period of time to provide for a desired or expected etching of the metal. In some embodiments, the metal interconnect layer may be copper, gold or silver.