Appeal No. 2001-1662
Application No. 09/048,208
providing semiconductor device structures in and on a
semiconductor substrate;
covering said semiconductor device structures with an
insulating layer;
depositing a barrier metal layer overlaying said insulating
layer;
depositing a metal layer overlaying said barrier metal
layer;
covering said metal layer with a layer of photoresist;
exposing said photoresist layer to actinic light and
developing and patterning said photoresist layer to form the
desired photoresist mask wherein there are both wide spaces and
narrow spaces between portions of said photoresist mask;
etching away said metal layer not covered by said
photoresist mask wherein said barrier metal layer is reached
within said wide spaces while some of said metal layer remains
within said narrow spaces;
selectively etching away all of said metal layer remaining
within said narrow spaces;
thereafter etching away said barrier metal layer not covered
by said photoresist mask wherein said insulating layer is reached
within said wide spaces while some of said barrier metal layer
remains within said narrow spaces;
selectively etching away all of said barrier metal layer
remaining within said narrow spaces; and
thereafter overetching said insulating layer not covered by
said photoresist mask to complete said metal lines without
microloading in said fabrication of said integrated circuit.
The reference relied upon by the examiner is:
Abraham et al. 5,883,007 Mar. 16, 1999
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