Generation of metal holes by via mutation

US7188321B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignees

• International Business Machines Corporation · US
• Infineon Technologies North America Corp. · US
• UNITED MICROELECTRONICS CORP. · TW

Inventors

• Robert C. Wong · Poughkeepsie, US
• Ernst Demm · Putnam Valley, US
• Pak Leung · Cedar Park, US
• Alexander Hirsch · Munich, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Nov 6, 2003
• Grant date: Mar 6, 2007
• Expiry date: Jun 30, 2024

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H01L2924/0002
• WIPO field: Computer technology
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

A reduction in the intersection of vias on the last layer (“VL”) and holes in the last thin metal layer (“MLHOLE”) can be achieved without degrading product yield or robustness or increasing copper dishing. The mutation of some dense redundant VLs to MLHOLEs decreases the number of intersections between VLs and MLHOLEs.