Appeal No. 1998-0338
Application No. 08/350,865
and 23 since there is no prior art rejection for these claims.
The invention relates to a bond pad such as that used in
a semiconductor integrated circuit. Stress on parts of a bond
pad makes them susceptible to cracking (see Figure 2 and crack
16). Looking at Figure 3, an elongated strip-shaped volume of
oxide (36) in contact with the foundation layer (22)
underlying the bond pad, along with strip-shaped openings
(note width B of the opening) in the metal plate (24)
overlying the foundation layer (22), relieves this stress.
Representative independent claim 1 is reproduced as
follows:
1. A bond pad structure, comprising:
a first metal plate, an opening existing in said
first metal plate;
a second metal plate disposed over said first metal
plate and extending over said opening;
a layer of oxide disposed between said first metal
plate and said second metal plate, a plurality of vias
formed in said layer of oxide between said first metal
plate and said second metal plate; and
a plurality of conductive plugs, each of said
conductive plugs being disposed in a respective one of
said vias, each of said conductive plugs being
2
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