Guard Ring for Through Vias
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsChih-Hung Lu, Song-Bor Lee, Ching-Chen Hao
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A guard ring for a through via, and a method of manufacture thereof, is provided. The guard ring comprises one or more rings around a through via, wherein the rings may be, for example, circular, rectangular, octagon, elliptical, square, or the like. The guard ring may be formed from a contact through an inter-layer dielectric layer and interconnect structures (e.g., vias and lines) extending through the inter-metal dielectric layers. The guard ring may contact a well formed in the substrate.
Claims20
A method comprising:
- providing a substrate;
- forming a plurality of dielectric layers over the substrate;
- forming a guard well in the substrate;
- forming a first guard ring extending through one or more of the plurality of dielectric layers and contacting the guard well;
- and
- forming a through via in an inner region of the first guard ring.
(canceled)
A method comprising:
- providing a substrate;
- forming a guard well in the substrate;
- forming an inter-layer dielectric (ILD) layer over the substrate;
- forming a guard ring over the guard well in the ILD layer, the guard ring enclosing an inner region separated from electrical circuitry formed on the substrate;
- and
- forming a through via in the inner region, the through via extending through the ILD layer to the substrate.
An electrical device comprising:
- a substrate;
- one or more dielectric layers formed over the substrate;
- a guard ring in at least one of the one or more dielectric layers, the guard ring having an interior region and an exterior region, wherein the guard ring comprises a contact extending through an inter-layer dielectric (ILD) layer to the substrate, and wherein the guard ring further comprises a doped well in the substrate below the contact of the guard ring, the contact being in electrical contact with doped well;
- and
- a through via extending through at least one of the one or more dielectric layers, the through via extending through the interior region of the guard ring.
(canceled)
(canceled)
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.