Conductive Pipe Interconnects for Tight-Spaced Integrated Assemblies
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing difficulty in fabricating patterned features with tight spacings in integrated assemblies due to the challenges in forming conductive interconnects between neighboring features in integrated circuits.
Innovation Solution
The method involves forming conductive pipes between features using a conductive material within an intervening space, where dielectric materials are used to create a void that is then filled with the conductive material, allowing for the creation of conductive interconnects in tight spaces, and the use of dielectric materials with varying densities to facilitate the formation of these pipes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional methods are used to form conductive interconnects between neighboring features, then the fabrication process becomes increasingly difficult due to tight spacings, but the integration density cannot be improved
Solution Approach 1:
The conductive interconnect formation is divided into multiple sequential steps: forming mandrels in intervening spaces, depositing first dielectric material, creating voids, and filling with conductive material. This segmentation transforms a single complex high-precision operation into multiple manageable steps, each with relaxed precision requirements, thereby resolving the contradiction between manufacturing precision and integration density.
Solution Approach 2:
Dielectric materials serve as intermediary structures that enable conductive pipe formation in tight spaces. The first dielectric material is deposited conformally around mandrels, then selectively removed to create voids that are subsequently filled with conductive material. These intermediary dielectric layers facilitate the formation of conductive interconnects without requiring direct high-precision patterning in the tightest spaces, thus improving integration density while managing fabrication difficulty.
2Area of stationary object
If tight spacings are used for patterned features to increase integration density, then the area occupied by features increases, but the fabrication difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention transitions from planar 2D patterning to 3D vertical structuring. Conductive pipes are formed vertically within intervening spaces between horizontally arranged features. This dimensional transition allows tight horizontal spacings to be maintained while providing vertical pathways for conductive interconnects, effectively increasing integration density without proportionally increasing fabrication difficulty.
Solution Approach 2:
The conductive pipes are nested within the three-dimensional structure formed by features and intervening spaces. The mandrels are embedded in dielectric material, which is then surrounded by additional dielectric layers, creating a nested configuration where the conductive pipe is ultimately enclosed within the vertical structure. This nesting approach maximizes space utilization in tight geometries while maintaining manufacturability through sequential processing steps.
Data Source
AI summary
Some embodiments include an integrated assembly having a pair of substantially parallel features spaced from one another by an intervening space. A conductive pipe is between the features and substantially parallel to the features. The conductive pipe may be formed within a tube. The tube may be generated by depositing insulative material between the features in a manner which pinches off a top region of the insulative material to leave the tube as a void region under the pinched-off top region.