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US 8,299,568 B2Granted
Damage propagation barrier
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsTimothy H. Daubenspeck, Jeffrey P. Gambino, Christopher D. Muzzy, Wolfgang Sauter
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A conductor-filled damage propagation barrier is formed extending into a low-k dielectric layer between a fuse and an adjacent circuit element for preventing propagation of damage during a fuse blow operation. Conductor material filling the damage propagation barrier is formed from the same conductor layer as that used to form an interconnect structure.
Claims11
A semiconductor structure comprising:
- a substrate including a first dielectric layer and a fuse formed in said first dielectric layer;
- at least a second dielectric layer formed upon said first dielectric layer;
- an interconnect structure formed on said at least second dielectric layer, said interconnect structure comprising a portion of a conductor layer having a thickness T;
- and
- at least one trench having a width W less than about twice said thickness T, said at least one trench formed in said at least second dielectric layer in the vicinity of said fuse and substantially filled with another portion of said conductor layer having said thickness T that is noncontiguous with said portion of said conductor layer having said thickness T associated with said interconnect structure.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.