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AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsAnn Rhea-Helene Fornof, Stephen McConnell Gates, Jeffrey Curtis Hedrick, Satyanarayana V. Nitta, Sampath Purushothaman, Christy Sensenich Tyberg
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A cost effective and simple method of patterning interconnect structures is provided in which spun-on materials are used as the hard mask. The use of spun-on materials for the hard mask ensures that the process is carried out in a single tool and it permits the use of a single curing step which is not typically employed in prior art patterning processes wherein CVD hard masks are employed. The effective dielectric constant of the resultant structure is not significantly increased since the use of spin coating allows for selection of a polish stop layer (formed on a surface of a low-k dielectric) that has substantially the same dielectric constant as the underlying dielectric. In the present invention, the hard mask employed includes at least two spun-on dielectric materials that have different etch rates.
A method of forming a patterned interconnect structure comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.