Semiconductor device manufacturing: process – Coating with electrically or thermally conductive material – To form ohmic contact to semiconductive material
Reexamination Certificate
2008-07-22
2008-07-22
Coleman, W. David (Department: 2823)
Semiconductor device manufacturing: process
Coating with electrically or thermally conductive material
To form ohmic contact to semiconductive material
C257SE21584
Reexamination Certificate
active
11457099
ABSTRACT:
Integrated circuits, the key components in thousands of electronic and computer products, include interconnected networks of electrical components. The components are typically wired, or interconnected, together with aluminum wires. In recent years, researchers have begun using copper instead of aluminum to form integrated-circuit wiring, because copper offers lower electrical resistance and better reliability at smaller dimensions. However, copper typically requires use of a diffusion barrier to prevent it from contaminating other parts of an integrated circuit. Unfortunately, typical diffusion barrier materials add appreciable resistance to the copper wiring, and thus negate some advantages of using copper. Moreover, conventional methods of forming the copper wiring are costly and time consuming. Accordingly, the inventors devised one or more exemplary methods for making integrated-circuit wiring from materials, such as copper-, silver-, and gold-based metals. One exemplary method removes two or more masks in a single removal procedure, forms a low-resistance diffusion barrier on two or more wiring levels in a single formation procedure, and fills insulative material around and between two or more wiring levels in a single fill procedure. This and other embodiments hold the promise of simplifying fabrication of integrated-circuit wiring dramatically.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1254987 (1918-01-01), Cooper
patent: 1976375 (1934-10-01), Smith
patent: 2244608 (1941-06-01), Cooper
patent: 2842438 (1958-07-01), Saarivirta et al.
patent: 3147110 (1964-09-01), Foerster
patent: 3337334 (1967-08-01), Fenn et al.
patent: 3506438 (1970-04-01), Krock et al.
patent: 3548915 (1970-12-01), Richmond et al.
patent: 3548948 (1970-12-01), Richmond et al.
patent: 3687737 (1972-08-01), Krock et al.
patent: 3832456 (1974-08-01), Kobetz et al.
patent: 3923500 (1975-12-01), Kitazawa et al.
patent: 3932226 (1976-01-01), Klatskin et al.
patent: 3954570 (1976-05-01), Shirk et al.
patent: 4022931 (1977-05-01), Black et al.
patent: 4029377 (1977-06-01), Guglielmi
patent: 4065330 (1977-12-01), Masumoto et al.
patent: 4101855 (1978-07-01), Drapeau
patent: 4158719 (1979-06-01), Frantz
patent: 4213818 (1980-07-01), Lemons et al.
patent: 4233066 (1980-11-01), Sundin et al.
patent: 4314594 (1982-02-01), Pfeifer et al.
patent: 4386116 (1983-05-01), Nair et al.
patent: 4389429 (1983-06-01), Soclof
patent: 4394223 (1983-07-01), Hall
patent: 4423547 (1984-01-01), Farrar et al.
patent: 4561173 (1985-12-01), Te Velde
patent: 4565157 (1986-01-01), Brors et al.
patent: 4574095 (1986-03-01), Baum et al.
patent: 4670297 (1987-06-01), Lee et al.
patent: 4709359 (1987-11-01), Loftin
patent: 4762728 (1988-08-01), Keyser et al.
patent: 4788082 (1988-11-01), Schmitt
patent: 4824544 (1989-04-01), Mikalesen et al.
patent: 4847111 (1989-07-01), Chow et al.
patent: 4857481 (1989-08-01), Tam et al.
patent: 4931410 (1990-06-01), Tokunaga et al.
patent: 4933743 (1990-06-01), Thomas et al.
patent: 4948459 (1990-08-01), Van Laarhoven et al.
patent: 4962058 (1990-10-01), Cronin et al.
patent: 4996584 (1991-02-01), Young et al.
patent: 5000818 (1991-03-01), Thomas et al.
patent: 5019531 (1991-05-01), Awaya et al.
patent: 5034799 (1991-07-01), Tomita et al.
patent: 5045635 (1991-09-01), Kaplo et al.
patent: 5071518 (1991-12-01), Pan
patent: 5084412 (1992-01-01), Nakasaki
patent: 5100499 (1992-03-01), Douglas
patent: 5130274 (1992-07-01), Harper et al.
patent: 5148260 (1992-09-01), Inoue et al.
patent: 5149615 (1992-09-01), Chakravorty et al.
patent: 5158986 (1992-10-01), Cha et al.
patent: 5171712 (1992-12-01), Wang et al.
patent: 5171713 (1992-12-01), Matthews
patent: 5173442 (1992-12-01), Carey
patent: 5227658 (1993-07-01), Beyer et al.
patent: 5231036 (1993-07-01), Miyauchi et al.
patent: 5231056 (1993-07-01), Sandhu
patent: 5232866 (1993-08-01), Beyer et al.
patent: 5240878 (1993-08-01), Fitzsimmons et al.
patent: 5243222 (1993-09-01), Harper et al.
patent: 5256205 (1993-10-01), Schmitt, III et al.
patent: 5268315 (1993-12-01), Prasad et al.
patent: 5308440 (1994-05-01), Chino et al.
patent: 5324683 (1994-06-01), Fitch et al.
patent: 5324684 (1994-06-01), Kermani et al.
patent: 5334356 (1994-08-01), Baldwin et al.
patent: 5336914 (1994-08-01), Andoh
patent: 5348811 (1994-09-01), Nagao et al.
patent: 5354712 (1994-10-01), Ho et al.
patent: 5356672 (1994-10-01), Schmitt, III et al.
patent: 5371042 (1994-12-01), Ong
patent: 5374849 (1994-12-01), Tada
patent: 5384284 (1995-01-01), Doan et al.
patent: 5399897 (1995-03-01), Cunningham et al.
patent: 5401680 (1995-03-01), Abt et al.
patent: 5408742 (1995-04-01), Zaidel et al.
patent: 5413687 (1995-05-01), Barton et al.
patent: 5413962 (1995-05-01), Lur et al.
patent: 5424030 (1995-06-01), Takahashi
patent: 5426330 (1995-06-01), Joshi et al.
patent: 5442237 (1995-08-01), Hughes et al.
patent: 5444015 (1995-08-01), Aitken et al.
patent: 5447887 (1995-09-01), Filipiak et al.
patent: 5451804 (1995-09-01), Lur et al.
patent: 5457344 (1995-10-01), Bartelink
patent: 5461243 (1995-10-01), Ek et al.
patent: 5470789 (1995-11-01), Misawa
patent: 5470801 (1995-11-01), Kapoor et al.
patent: 5476817 (1995-12-01), Numata
patent: 5485037 (1996-01-01), Marrs
patent: 5495667 (1996-03-01), Farnworth et al.
patent: 5506449 (1996-04-01), Nakano et al.
patent: 5510645 (1996-04-01), Fitch et al.
patent: 5529956 (1996-06-01), Morishita
patent: 5534731 (1996-07-01), Cheung
patent: 5538922 (1996-07-01), Cooper et al.
patent: 5539060 (1996-07-01), Tsunogae et al.
patent: 5539227 (1996-07-01), Nakano
patent: 5578146 (1996-11-01), Grant et al.
patent: 5595937 (1997-01-01), Mikagi
patent: 5609721 (1997-03-01), Tsukune et al.
patent: 5625232 (1997-04-01), Numata et al.
patent: 5625233 (1997-04-01), Cabral, Jr. et al.
patent: 5633200 (1997-05-01), Hu
patent: 5635253 (1997-06-01), Canaperi et al.
patent: 5635423 (1997-06-01), Huang et al.
patent: 5654245 (1997-08-01), Allen
patent: 5662788 (1997-09-01), Sandhu et al.
patent: 5667600 (1997-09-01), Grensing et al.
patent: 5668398 (1997-09-01), Havemann et al.
patent: 5670420 (1997-09-01), Choi
patent: 5674787 (1997-10-01), Zhao et al.
patent: 5675187 (1997-10-01), Numata et al.
patent: 5679608 (1997-10-01), Cheung et al.
patent: 5681441 (1997-10-01), Svendsen et al.
patent: 5693563 (1997-12-01), Teong
patent: 5695810 (1997-12-01), Dubin et al.
patent: 5705425 (1998-01-01), Miura et al.
patent: 5719089 (1998-02-01), Cherng et al.
patent: 5719410 (1998-02-01), Suehiro et al.
patent: 5719447 (1998-02-01), Gardner
patent: 5725689 (1998-03-01), Nishida et al.
patent: 5739579 (1998-04-01), Chiang et al.
patent: 5763953 (1998-06-01), IIjima et al.
patent: 5780358 (1998-07-01), Zhou
patent: 5785570 (1998-07-01), Bruni
patent: 5789264 (1998-08-01), Chung
patent: 5792522 (1998-08-01), Jin et al.
patent: 5792706 (1998-08-01), Michael et al.
patent: 5801098 (1998-09-01), Fiordalice et al.
patent: 5814557 (1998-09-01), Venkatraman et al.
patent: 5821168 (1998-10-01), Jain
patent: 5824599 (1998-10-01), Schacham-Diamond et al.
patent: 5840625 (1998-11-01), Feldner
patent: 5852871 (1998-12-01), Khandros
patent: 5858877 (1999-01-01), Dennison et al.
patent: 5880018 (1999-03-01), Boeck et al.
patent: 5889295 (1999-03-01), Rennie et al.
patent: 5891797 (1999-04-01), Farrar
patent: 5891804 (1999-04-01), Havemann et al.
patent: 5893752 (1999-04-01), Zhang et al.
patent: 5895740 (1999-04-01), Chien et al.
patent: 5897370 (1999-04-01), Joshi et al.
patent: 5899740 (1999-05-01), Kwon
patent: 5900668 (1999-05-01), Wollesen
patent: 5907772 (1999-05-01), Iwasaki
patent: 5911113 (1999-06-01), Yao et al.
patent: 5913147 (1999-06-01), Dubin et al.
patent: 5925930 (1999-07-01), Farnworth et al.
patent: 5930596 (1999-07-01), Klose et al.
patent: 5930669 (1999-07-01), Uzoh
patent: 5932928 (1999-08-01), Clampitt
patent: 5933758 (1999-08-01), Jain
patent: 5939771 (1999-08-01), Usami
patent: 5940733 (1999-08-01), Beinglass et al.
patent: 5948467 (1999-09-01), Nguyen et al.
patent: 5953626 (1999-09-01), Hause et al.
patent: 5962923 (1999-10-01), Xu et al.
patent: 5968327 (1999-10-01), Kobayashi et al.
patent: 59683
Ahn Kie Y.
Forbes Leonard
Coleman W. David
Micro)n Technology, Inc.
Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner, P.A.
LandOfFree
Method for making integrated circuits does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Method for making integrated circuits, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Method for making integrated circuits will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3923747