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US 9,425,089 B2Granted
Conductive element structure and method
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsTai-I Yang, Hsiang-Wei Liu, Chia-Tien Wu, Hsiang-Huan Lee, Tien-Lu Lin
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Abstract
Conductive element structures and methods of manufacture thereof are disclosed. In some embodiments, a method of forming a conductive element in an insulating layer includes: forming a recess in a metal layer disposed over the insulating layer; selectively forming a metal liner on a sidewall of the recess; and etching a via in the insulating layer using the metal layer and the metal liner as a mask.
Claims20
A method, comprising:
- forming a recess in a metal layer disposed over an insulating layer;
- selectively forming a metal liner on a sidewall of the recess;
- and
- etching a via in the insulating layer using the metal layer and the metal liner as a mask.
1 more element
A method, comprising:
- providing a metal layer disposed over an insulating layer, the metal layer comprising a conductive material and having a first recess formed therein;
- narrowing the first recess to form a narrowed first recess by forming a metal liner on the conductive material but not on a bottom of the first recess;
- and
- extending the narrowed first recess into the insulating layer.
1 more element
A method, comprising:
- forming a first recess in a metal layer disposed over an insulating layer;
- selectively forming a metal liner on a sidewall of the first recess;
- etching a via in the insulating layer using the metal layer and the metal liner as a mask;
- widening the first recess to form a widened first recess and simultaneously etching a second recess in the metal layer laterally separated from the widened first recess;
- selectively forming a first metal spacer over a sidewall of the widened first recess and simultaneously forming a second metal spacer over a sidewall of the second recess;
- and
- etching a portion of the insulating layer disposed below the widened first recess and the second recess using the first metal spacer, the second metal spacer, and the metal layer as a mask.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.