# US 7,071,074 B2 · Structure and method for placement, sizing and shaping of dummy structures

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- Number: US 7,071,074 B2
- Document ID: US7071074B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 10/671,123
- Filed: 2003-09-24
- Published: 2005-03-24
- Granted: 2006-07-04
- Earliest claimed: 2003-09-24
- Assignees: Infineon Technologies AG
- Inventors: Sebastian Schmidt; Thomas Schafbauer; Hang Yip Liu; Yayi Wei
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US7071074B2

## CPC

- H10P 74/20: characterised by the properties tested or measured, e.g. structural or electrical properties
- B81C 1/00539: {Wet etching}
- G06F 30/39: Circuit design at the physical level (physical level design for reconfigurable circuits G06F30/347)
- H10D 84/01: Manufacture or treatment
- H10P 52/403: {of conductive or resistive materials}
- H10P 76/00: Manufacture or treatment of masks on semiconductor bodies, e.g. by lithography or photolithography
- H10P 95/062: {involving a dielectric removal step}
- H10W 10/0143: {comprising concurrently refilling multiple trenches having different shapes or dimensions}
- H10W 10/17: formed using trench refilling with dielectric materials, e.g. shallow trench isolations
- H10P: GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10
- B81C: PROCESSES OR APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF MICROSTRUCTURAL DEVICES OR SYSTEMS (making microcapsules or microballoons B01J13/02; processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment of piezoelectric, electrostrictive or magnetostrictive elements per se H10N30/01)
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)
- H10D: INORGANIC ELECTRIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
- H10W: GENERIC PACKAGES, INTERCONNECTIONS, CONNECTORS OR OTHER CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10

## Abstract

A material layer on a substrate being processed, e.g. to form chips, includes one or more functional structures. In order to control pattern density during fabrication of the chip, dummy fill structures of different sizes and shapes are added to the chip at different distances from the functional structures of the material layer. In particular, the placement, size and shape of the dummy structures are determined as a function of a distance to, and density of, the functional structures of the material layer.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method for use in fabricating a chip, the method comprising the steps of:
determining a density and location of at least one functional area of a layer; and
adding dummy structures to said layer as a function of the determined density and determined location, wherein the adding comprises the substeps of
determining a placement of one dummy structure as a function of the width and density of functional areas within a predetermined distance of a location; and
determining a size of said one dummy structure as a function of the determined placement.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 further comprising determining a shape of said one dummy structure as a function of the determined size.

### Claim 3

A method for use in fabricating a chip, the method comprising the steps of:
determining a density and location of functional areas of a layer in relation to a location being processed; and
adding dummy structures to said layer as a function of the determined density and determined location, said dummy structures each having placement determined as a function of the width and density of the functional areas, size determined as a function of the determined placement, and shape determined as a function of the determined size.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3, wherein the size of the dummy structures are heterogenous across the chip.

### Claim 5 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3, wherein the density of the dummy structures are heterogenous across the chip.

### Claim 6 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3, wherein the density and location is determined relative to a first distance from the location.

### Claim 7 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3, wherein a first distance is based upon the distance between functional areas.

### Claim 8 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3, wherein functional areas are raised areas of a layer.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the placement of the dummy structures are determined at least in part in accordance with the equation:
C
x
=
α
⁢
∑
i
=
1
l
=
n
⁢
⁢
1
(
a
i
⁢
d
i
)
+
β
⁡
(
n
d
n
)
,
wherein
n is a count of nearest neighbor functional areas in a vertical direction to the location being processed;
dn is a distance over which the n nearest neighbor functional areas are distributed;
ai is a size of each functional area in the vertical direction;
di is a distance between the ith functional area and the location being processed; and α and β are constants.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9, wherein dn is based upon the distance between functional areas.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, wherein dn is a relatively large value when the distance between functional areas is relatively large and is a relatively small value when the distance between functional areas is relatively small.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the density and location is determined relative to a first distance from the location.

### Claim 13 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein functional areas are raised areas of a layer.

### Claim 14

A method for placing dummy structures on a chip, the method comprising the steps of:
determining a numerical density of functional areas within a first distance;
determining a weighted sum of a pattern density within the first distance;
determining a placement of a dummy structure based at least in part on the weighted sum and the numerical density; and
determining a size of the dummy structure based at least in part on the placement.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14, wherein the numerical density is determined at least in part in accordance with the equation:
(
n
d
n
⁢
)
,
wherein
n is a count of nearest neighbor functional areas in a vertical direction to the location being processed; and
dn is a distance over which the n nearest neighbor functional areas are distributed.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15, wherein dn is based upon the distance between functional areas.

### Claim 17 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15, wherein dn is a relatively large value when the distance between functional areas is relatively large and is a relatively small value when the distance between functional areas is relatively small.

### Claim 18 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15, wherein the weighted sum is determined at least in part in accordance with the equation:
∑
i
=
1
l
=
n
⁢
⁢
1
(
a
i
⁢
d
i
)
,
wherein
n is a count of nearest neighbor functional areas in a vertical direction to the location being processed;
ai is a size of each functional area in the vertical direction; and
di is a distance between the ith functional area and the location being processed.

### Claim 19 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14, wherein functional areas are raised areas of a layer.

### Claim 20 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14, further comprising determining a shape of the dummy structure as a function of the size.