Interlevel airgap dielectric
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorEffendi Leobandung
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of forming a semiconductor device includes: forming a lower trace in a lower dielectric layer; reducing a height of the lower trace a distance equal to gap height (g) to form an initial void region; filling the initial void region with an amorphous carbon layer; forming an upper dielectric layer above the amorphous carbon layer; covering the amorphous carbon layer with at least an oxide layer and a nitride layer; forming a hole in the oxide and nitride layers to expose a portion of the amorphous carbon layer; exposing the amorphous carbon layer to oxygen plasma to remove the amorphous carbon layer; sputtering a metal layer over the oxide layer and into a void created removal of the amorphous carbon layer to divide the void such that it includes an airgap; and forming an upper trace over the airgap.
Claims12
A method of forming a semiconductor device, the method comprising:
- forming a lower trace in a lower dielectric layer;
- reducing a height of the lower trace for forming a distance equal to a gap height (g) to form an initial void region;
- filling the initial void region with an amorphous carbon layer;
- forming an upper dielectric layer above the amorphous carbon layer;
- covering the amorphous carbon layer with at least an oxide layer and a nitride layer;
- forming a hole in the oxide and nitride layers to expose a portion of the amorphous carbon layer;
- exposing the amorphous carbon layer to oxygen plasma to remove the amorphous carbon layer;
- sputtering a metal layer over the oxide layer and into a void created from removal of the amorphous carbon layer to divide the void such that the void includes an airgap;
- and
- forming an upper trace over the airgap.
A semiconductor device that includes an air gap between upper and lower traces formed in upper and lower dielectric layers, the device formed by a process of:
- forming the lower trace in the lower dielectric layer;
- reducing a height of the lower trace a distance equal to a gap height (g) to form an initial void region;
- filling the initial void region with an amorphous carbon layer;
- forming the upper dielectric layer above the amorphous carbon layer;
- covering the amorphous carbon layer with at least an oxide layer and a nitride layer;
- forming a hole in the oxide and nitride layers to expose a portion of the amorphous carbon layer;
- exposing the amorphous carbon layer to oxygen plasma to remove the amorphous carbon layer;
- sputtering a metal layer over the oxide layer and into a void created from removal of the amorphous carbon layer to divide the void such that the void includes an airgap;
- and
- forming the upper trace over the airgap.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.