Patent · US Expired

Process for forming a ledge-free aluminum-copper-silicon conductor structure

US4062720A · kind A · utility

13Cited by
7References
16Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateAug 23, 1976
Grant dateDec 13, 1977
Priority date
Expiry dateAug 23, 1996

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10S438/927
  • WIPO fieldSemiconductors
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A process is disclosed for forming a ledge-free aluminum-copper silicon conductor structure that is free of the silicon bridging problem which has produced electrical shorting conditions in the prior art. The process comprises the steps of depositing the aluminum-copper metallurgy, depositing a photoresist layer to delineate the shape of the resulting conductors, etching the aluminum copper metallurgy with phosphoric/nitric acid, for example, removing the photoresist, evaporating a layer of silicon on the surface of the etched conductor layer, sintering the composite to drive the necessary amount of silicon into the aluminum-copper, and removing the residual silicon layer by a reactive plasma etching technique. The resulting conductor structure is free of silicon bridging.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.