Patent · US Expired

Airgap for semiconductor devices

US6780753B2 · kind B2 · utility

76Cited by
44References
18Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMay 31, 2002
Grant dateAug 24, 2004
Priority date
Expiry dateMay 31, 2022

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH01L2221/1036
  • WIPO fieldSemiconductors
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention generally provide a method of forming an air gap between conductive elements of a semiconductor device, wherein the air gap has a dielectric constant of approximately 1. The air gap may generally be formed by depositing a dielectric material between the respective conductive elements, depositing a porous layer over the conductive elements and the dielectric material, and then stripping the dielectric material out of the space between the respective conductive elements through the porous layer, which leaves an air gap between the respective conductive elements. The dielectric material may be, for example, an amorphous carbon layer, the porous layer may be, for example, a porous oxide layer, and the stripping process may utilize a downstream hydrogen-based strip process, for example.

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