Patent · US Expired

Dual damascene processing for semiconductor chip interconnects

US6140226A · kind A · utility

218Cited by
2References
48Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJul 30, 1998
Grant dateOct 31, 2000
Priority date
Expiry dateJul 30, 2018

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10S438/945
  • WIPO fieldSemiconductors
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

The present invention relates to lithographic methods for forming a dual relief pattern in a substrate, and the application of such methods to fabricating multilevel interconnect structures in semiconductor chips by a Dual Damascene process in which dual relief cavities formed in a dielectric are filled with conductive material to form the wiring and via levels. The invention comprises a twice patterned single mask layer Dual Damascene process modified by the addition of an easy-to-integrate sidewall liner to protect organic interlevel and intralevel dielectrics from potential damage induced by photoresist stripping steps during lithographic rework. The invention further comprises a method for forming a dual pattern hard mask which may be used to form dual relief cavities for use in Dual Damascene processing, said dual pattern hard mask comprising a first set of one or more layers with a first pattern, and a second set of one or more layers with a second pattern.

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