Moisture Blocking Structure with Winding Active Fins
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing moisture blocking structures and guard rings in semiconductor devices face challenges during the wafer dicing process, as chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) can lead to dishing and height differences between the chip and sealing regions, compromising the effectiveness of moisture protection and crack prevention.
Innovation Solution
A moisture blocking structure and guard ring design featuring active fins with a winding line shape surrounding the chip region, covered by a gate structure and equipped with conductive elements, including contact plugs and vias, to effectively disperse polishing stress and prevent moisture infiltration and crack generation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a moisture blocking structure and guard ring are formed in the sealing region, then moisture protection and grounding are improved, but dishing occurs during CMP process causing height differences between chip and sealing regions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by forming a filler material specifically in the sealing region to create a height difference that compensates for CMP-induced dishing. The filler material has different properties than the surrounding structures, allowing localized adjustment of the surface profile to maintain planarity despite the CMP process affecting different regions differently.
2Reliability
If a moisture blocking structure is provided in the sealing region, then protection from moisture and cracks is improved, but the structure complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the moisture blocking function with the guard ring structure by integrating them into a unified sealing region structure. The conductive structure serves dual purposes as both a guard ring for grounding and as part of the moisture blocking mechanism, thereby reducing overall structural complexity while maintaining both protection functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The conductive structure in the sealing region is designed to perform multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as a guard ring for electrical grounding, provides moisture blocking through its material properties, and helps prevent crack propagation. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate dedicated structures for each protective function.
Data Source
AI summary
A moisture blocking structure includes an active fin disposed on a sealing region of a substrate, the substrate including a chip region and the sealing region surrounding a periphery of the chip region, the active fin continuously surrounding the chip region and having a winding line shape in a plan view. A gate structure covers the active fin and surrounds the periphery of the chip region. A conductive structure is disposed on the gate structure, the conductive structure surrounding the periphery of the chip region.