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:
May. 24, 2016
Filed:
Dec. 19, 2015
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Stephen M. Gates, Ossining, NY (US);
Elbert E. Huang, Carmel, NY (US);
Joe Lee, Albany, NY (US);
Son V. Nguyen, Schenectady, NY (US);
Brown C. Peethala, Albany, NY (US);
Christopher J. Penny, Saratoga Springs, NY (US);
Deepika Priyadarshini, Guilderland, NY (US);
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
After forming a manganese (Mn)-containing cap layer over interconnects embedded in an interlevel dielectric (ILD) layer, a lithographic stack is formed over the Mn-containing cap layer. The lithographic stack is subsequently patterned to expose a portion of the Mn-containing cap layer that overlies a subset of the interconnects between which the air gaps are to be formed. A portion of the ILD layer located between the subset of the interconnects is damaged through the exposed portion of the Mn-containing cap layer. The damaged portion of the ILD layer is subsequently removed to form openings between the subset of the interconnects. The Mn-containing cap layer acts as a temporary protection layer preventing erosion of the underlying interconnects during the air gap formation.