Patent · US Active

Bond pad support structure for semiconductor device

US8183698B2 · kind B2 · utility

11Cited by
46References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateOct 31, 2007
Grant dateMay 22, 2012
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 9, 2028

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH01L2924/3025
  • WIPO fieldSemiconductors
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

According to certain embodiments, integrated circuits are fabricated using brittle low-k dielectric material to reduce undesired capacitances between conductive structures. To avoid permanent damage to such dielectric material, bond pads are fabricated with support structures that shield the dielectric material from destructive forces during wire bonding. In one implementation, the support structure includes a passivation structure between the bond pad and the topmost metallization layer. In another implementation, the support structure includes metal features between the topmost metallization layer and the next-topmost metallization layer. In both cases, the region of the next-topmost metallization layer under the bond pad can have multiple metal lines corresponding to different signal routing paths. As such, restrictions on the use of the next-topmost metallization layer for routing purposes are reduced compared to prior-art bond-pad support structures that require the region of the next-topmost metallization layer under the bond pad to be a single metal structure.

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