Method of planarizing a surface on an integrated circuit
AssigneeAgere Systems Guardian Corp.
InventorsEdward P. Martin, Morgan J. Thoma, Daniel J. Vitkavage
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention provides a method of planarizing an irregular surface of a semiconductor wafer. In one embodiment, the method comprises applying a photoresist material over recessed areas and protruding areas of the irregular surface, etching the photoresist, etching partially into protruding areas of the irregular surface to remove a portion of the irregular surface, and polishing the irregular surface to a substantially planar surface. In some embodiments method may include chemically and mechanically polishing the irregular surface.
Claims12
A method of planarizing an irregular surface of a semiconductor wafer, comprising:
- applying a photoresist material over a recessed area and protruding areas of said irregular surface;
- forming openings in said photoresist to produce exposed portions of said protruding areas;
- removing said photoresist and removing a portion of said exposed portions to produce remnants of said protruding areas;
- and
- polishing said irregular surface and said remnants to a substantially planar surface.
A method of planarizing an irregular surface over a device of an integrated circuit, comprising:
- applying a dielectric material over said device to form an irregular surface having a recessed area and protruding areas;
- applying a photoresist in said recessed area;
- applying an additional photoresist material over said photoresist and said protruding areas of said irregular surface;
- using an etchant to remove said photoresist and said additional photoresist and to remove a portion of said protruding areas, said photoresist and protruding areas having substantially the same etch rate;
- and
- polishing said irregular surface to a substantially planar surface.
A method of planarizing an irregular surface over a device of an integrated circuit, comprising:
- applying a dielectric material over said device to form an irregular surface having a recessed area and protruding areas;
- applying a photoresist over said recessed area and said protruding areas;
- forming openings in said photoresist to produce exposed portions of said protruding areas;
- removing said photoresist and removing a portion of said exposed portions to produce remnants of said protruding areas;
- and
- polishing said irregular surface and said remnants to a substantially planar surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.