US 6,444,544 B1Granted

Method of forming an aluminum protection guard structure for a copper metal structure

AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.

InventorsChu-Wei Hu, Chung-Te Lin, Kuo-Hua Pan, Hsien-Chin Lin

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Abstract

A method of forming aluminum guard structures in copper interconnect structures, used to protect the copper interconnect structures from a laser write procedure, performed to an adjacent copper fuse element, has been developed. The method features forming guard structure openings in an upper level of the copper interconnect structures, in a region adjacent to a copper fuse element. Deposition and patterning of an aluminum layer result in the formation of aluminum guard structures, located in the guard structure openings. The aluminum guard structures protect the copper interconnect structures from the oxidizing and corrosive effects of oxygen, fluorine and water ions, which are generated during a laser write procedure, performed to the adjacent copper fuse element.

Claims23

Dependent claims

A method of incorporating a metal guard structure in a multi-level metal interconnect structure, on a semiconductor substrate, with said metal guard structure formed adjacent to a metal fuse element, comprising the steps of:

forming a first multi-level metal interconnect structure in a first insulator layer, contacting a first group of array devices, located in said semiconductor substrate, and simultaneously forming a second multi-level metal interconnect structure in said first insulator layer, contacting a second group of array devices, located in said semiconductor substrate,
forming said metal fuse element in said first insulator layer, connecting said first multi-level metal interconnect structure, to said second multi-level metal interconnect structure;
depositing a second insulator layer;
forming a first opening in said second insulator layer, and in a top portion of said first insulator layer, exposing a bottom portion of said first insulator layer in a region in which said bottom portion of said first insulator layer is located overlying a top surface of said metal fuse element;
forming a second opening in said second insulator layer, in said top portion of said first insulator layer, and in said first multi-level metal interconnect structure, and simultaneously forming a third opening in said second insulator layer, in said top portion of said first insulator layer, and in said second multi-level metal interconnect structure;
and
forming a first metal guard structure in said second opening, and simultaneously forming a second metal guard structure in said third opening.

4 more elements

A method of forming aluminum metal guard structures in a multi-level copper interconnect structures, on a semiconductor substrate, with said aluminum guard structures formed adjacent to a copper fuse element, comprising the steps of:

forming a first multi-level copper interconnect structure in a first insulator layer, contacting a first group of array devices located in said semiconductor substrate, and simultaneously forming a second multi-level copper interconnect structure in said first insulator layer, contacting a second group of array devices located in said semiconductor substrate, wherein said first multi-level copper interconnect structure, and said second multi-level copper interconnect structure are comprised with copper interconnect shapes, and copper via plug shapes;
forming said copper fuse element in said first insulator layer, connecting said first multi-level copper interconnect structure to said second multi-level copper interconnect structure;
depositing a second insulator layer;
forming a laser write opening in said second insulator layer, and in a top portion of said first insulator layer, exposing a bottom portion of said first insulator layer in a region in which said bottom portion of said first insulator layer is located overlying a top surface of said copper fuse element;
forming a first opening in said second insulator layer, in said top portion of said first insulator layer, and in said first multi-level copper interconnect structure, and simultaneously forming a second opening in said second insulator layer, in said top portion of said first insulator layer, and in said second multi-level copper interconnect structure;
depositing an aluminum layer;
and
patterning of said aluminum layer to form a first aluminum guard structure in said first opening, and simultaneously forming a second aluminum guard structure in said second opening.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.