Crack stop between neighboring fuses for protection from fuse blow damage
AssigneesInternational Business Machines Corporation, Infineon Technologies AG
InventorsChandrasekhar Narayan, Edward W. Kiewra, Carl J. Radens, Axel C. Brintzinger
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A fuse structure in an integrated circuit chip is described that includes an insulated semiconductor substrate; a fuse bank integral to the insulated semiconductor substrate consisting of a plurality of parallel co-planar fuse links; and voids interspersed between each pair of the fuse links, the voids extending beyond a plane defined by the co-planar fuse links. The voids surrounding the spot to be hit by a laser beam during fuse blow operation act as a crack stop to prevent damage to adjacent circuit elements or other fuse links present. By suitably shaping and positioning the voids, a tighter pitch between fuses may be obtained.
Claims7
A fuse structure comprising:
- two rows of opposed co-planar parallel fuses, wherein one or more of said co-planar parallel fuses in a first row is respectively opposed by a corresponding one of said co-planar parallel fuses in a second row, said first row and said second row being separated from each other by a crack stop wall transversal to the direction of said parallel fuses.
A fuse structure comprising:
- two tows of opposed co-planar parallel fuses, and
- a crack stop wall positioned in a direction orthogonal to the length of said opposed parallel fuses, said crack stop wall separating the first row of said co-planar parallel fuses from the second row of said co-planar parallel fuses, said crack stop wall absorbing energy emitted by a laser beam during a fuse blow operation.
A fuse structure formed by a plurality of stacked insulated wiring layers comprising:
- integral to a first one of said stacked insulated wiring layers two rows of opposed co-planar parallel fuses;
- integral to a second one of said stacked insulated wiring layers, a crack stop wall positioned in a direction transversal to said opposed co-planar parallel fuses, said crack stop wall separating the first row of said co-planar parallel fuses from the second row of said co-planar parallel fuses, said crack stop wall absorbing energy emitted by a laser beam during a fuse blow operation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.