Single damascene with disposable stencil and method therefore

A method of fabricating a semiconductor device, the method comprising:

• depositing a first conductive liner over a conductive region of a wafer;
• depositing a stencil layer over the first conductive liner;
• etching the stencil layer and the first conductive liner to form a stencil pattern for a conductive layer, wherein the first conductive liner under the stencil pattern is not substantially etched, and wherein the first conductive liner around the stencil pattern is removed;
• depositing a second conductive liner over the wafer;
• removing exposed substantially horizontal surfaces of the second conductive liner by sputtering with argon;
• depositing a low-k dielectric layer over the wafer;
• planarizing the wafer down to the stencil pattern by chemical-mechanical polishing;
• removing the stencil pattern with a wet etch to form an aperture in the wafer exposing the first conductive liner and remaining portions of the second conductive liner;
• depositing metal in the aperture;
• and
• replanarizing a surface of the wafer by chemical-mechanical polishing after depositing metal in the aperture.

A method of forming a conductor in an integrated circuit, the method comprising:

• forming a first conductive liner over a conductive region;
• forming a second conductive liner over the conductive region, the second conductive liner disposed perpendicular to the first conductive liner and extending upwardly away from the conductive region;
• after forming the first and second conductive liners, forming an interlevel dielectric layer that surrounds the second conductive liner;
• after forming the interlevel dielectric layer, forming an aperture bounded by the first and second conductive liners;
• and
• forming a conductor over the conductive region, the conductor being surrounded by the interlevel dielectric layer such that the second conductive liner is disposed between the interlevel dielectric layer and the conductor, and the first conductive liner is disposed between the conductor and the conductive region.