US Patent No: 7,380,220

Number of patents in Portfolio can not be more than 2000

Dummy fill for integrated circuits

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ALSO PUBLISHED AS: 20050037522
ATTORNEY / AGENT: (SPONSORED)
 

Importance

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Abstract

A method and system are described to reduce process variation as a result of the electrochemical deposition (ECD), also referred to as electrochemical plating (ECP), and chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) processing of films in integrated circuit manufacturing processes. The described methods use process variation and electrical impact to direct the insertion of dummy fill into an integrated circuit.

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First Claim

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Patent Owner(s)

Patent OwnerAddressTotal Patents
CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS, INC.SAN JOSE, CA1319

International Classification(s)

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  • [Patents Count]

Inventor(s)

Inventor Name Address # of filed Patents Total Citations
Mehrotra, Vikas Fremont, CA 14 1006
Smith, Taber H San Jose, CA 27 1675
White, David Cambridge, MA 184 2413

Cited Art

Patent Info (Count) # Cites Year
 
ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES, INC. (5)
6,118,137 Test structure responsive to electrical signals for determining lithographic misalignment of conductors relative to vias 39 1997
6,255,125 Method and apparatus for compensating for critical dimension variations in the production of a semiconductor wafer 27 1999
6,124,197 Adjusting the size of conductive lines based upon contact size 25 1999
6,562,639 Utilizing electrical performance data to predict CD variations across stepper field 32 2001
6,708,129 Method and apparatus for wafer-to-wafer control with partial measurement data 33 2001
 
NXP B.V. (5)
5,597,668 Patterned filled photo mask generation for integrated circuit manufacturing 49 1995
5,861,342 Optimized structures for dummy fill mask design 44 1995
5,763,955 Patterned filled layers for integrated circuit manufacturing 56 1996
5,854,125 Dummy fill patterns to improve interconnect planarity 59 1997
5,923,947 Method for achieving low capacitance diffusion pattern filling 32 1997
 
SYNOPSYS, INC. (4)
6,578,188 Method and apparatus for a network-based mask defect printability analysis system 68 2000
6,625,801 Dissection of printed edges from a fabrication layout for correcting proximity effects 47 2000
6,665,856 Displacing edge segments on a fabrication layout based on proximity effects model amplitudes for correcting proximity effects 48 2000
6,751,785 System and method for limiting increase in capacitance due to dummy metal fills utilized for improving planar profile uniformity 44 2002
 
CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS, INC. (3)
7,124,386 Dummy fill for integrated circuits 142 2002
7,152,215 Dummy fill for integrated circuits 131 2002
2003/0229,875 Use of models in integrated circuit fabrication 152 2002
 
FREESCALE SEMICONDUCTOR, INC. (3)
5,920,487 Two dimensional lithographic proximity correction using DRC shape functions 42 1997
6,396,158 Semiconductor device and a process for designing a mask 42 1999
6,611,045 Method of forming an integrated circuit device using dummy features and structure thereof 38 2001
 
LSI LOGIC CORPORATION (3)
5,663,076 Automating photolithography in the fabrication of integrated circuits 70 1995
5,705,301 Performing optical proximity correction with the aid of design rule checkers 213 1996
5,972,541 Reticle and method of design to correct pattern for depth of focus problems 61 1998
 
MENTOR GRAPHICS CORPORATION (3)
6,230,299 Method and apparatus for extracting and storing connectivity and geometrical data for a deep sub-micron integrated circuit design 140 1998
6,049,789 Software pay per use licensing system 100 1998
6,249,904 Method and apparatus for submicron IC design using edge fragment tagging to correct edge placement distortion 101 1999
 
GLOBALFOUNDRIES INC. (2)
6,259,115 Dummy patterning for semiconductor manufacturing processes 38 1999
6,556,884 Method and apparatus for interfacing a statistical process control system with a manufacturing process control framework 46 2000
 
INTEL CORPORATION (2)
6,081,272 Merging dummy structure representations for improved distribution of artifacts in a semiconductor layer 29 1997
6,309,956 Fabricating low K dielectric interconnect systems by using dummy structures to enhance process 53 1999
 
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION (2)
5,124,927 Latent-image control of lithography tools 134 1990
5,923,563 Variable density fill shape generation 62 1996
 
NOVA MEASURING INSTRUMENTS LTD. (2)
6,556,947 Optical measurements of patterned structures 49 2000
6,704,920 Process control for micro-lithography 55 2001
 
NOVELLUS SYSTEMS, INC. (2)
6,176,992 Method and apparatus for electro-chemical mechanical deposition 299 1998
6,352,623 Vertically configured chamber used for multiple processes 54 1999
 
QIMONDA AG (2)
6,093,631 Dummy patterns for aluminum chemical polishing (CMP) 53 1998
6,344,409 Dummy patterns for aluminum chemical polishing (CMP) 24 2000
 
SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD. (2)
6,484,300 Systems, methods and computer program products for obtaining an effective pattern density of a layer in an integrated circuit, and for simulating a chemical-mechanical polishing process using the same 35 2000
6,567,964 Continuously variable dummy pattern density generating systems, methods and computer program products for patterning integrated circuits 38 2001
 
UNITED MICROELECTRONICS CORP. (2)
5,798,298 Method of automatically generating dummy metals for multilevel interconnection 68 1996
6,344,408 Method for improving non-uniformity of chemical mechanical polishing by over coating 20 1999
 
AGERE SYSTEMS INC. (1)
2002/0162,082 Method for making an interconnect layer and a semiconductor device including the same 28 2002
 
AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC. (1)
6,263,476 Method and apparatus for selecting targeted components in limited access test 26 1998
 
APPLIED MATERIALS, INC. (1)
6,671,570 System and method for automated monitoring and assessment of fabrication facility 41 2001
 
BRIDGE CROSSING, LLC (1)
6,742,165 System, method and computer program product for web-based integrated circuit design 45 2001
 
CHARTERED SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING LTD. (1)
6,380,087 CMP process utilizing dummy plugs in damascene process 43 2000
 
CYPRESS SEMICONDUCTOR CORPORATION (1)
6,866,571 Boltless carrier ring/carrier plate attachment assembly 11 2002
 
EPCI DESIGN TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED (1)
5,903,469 Method of extracting layout parasitics for nets of an integrated circuit using a connectivity-based approach 76 1995
 
HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P. (1)
6,550,041 Method and apparatus for evaluating the design quality of network nodes 24 1999
 
KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA (1)
2002/0037,655 METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE HAVING LOW DIELECTRIC CONSTANT INSULATING FILM, WAFER PROCESSING EQUIPMENT AND WAFER STORING BOX USED IN THIS METHOD 9 2001
 
MAGMA DESIGN AUTOMATION, INC. (1)
6,904,581 System and method for placement of dummy metal fills while preserving device matching and/or limiting capacitance increase 41 2002
 
NUTOOL, INC. (1)
6,328,872 Method and apparatus for plating and polishing a semiconductor substrate 119 1999
 
PHILIPS ELECTRONICS NORTH AMERICA CORPORATION (1)
6,323,113 Intelligent gate-level fill methods for reducing global pattern density effects 50 1999
 
POREX TECHNOLOGIES LTD (1)
6,358,856 Bright field image reversal for contact hole patterning 14 2000
 
PRAESAGUS, INC. (1)
2007/0101,305 Methods and systems for implementing dummy fill for integrated circuits 121 2006
 
RENESAS ELECTRONICS CORPORATION (1)
6,343,370 Apparatus and process for pattern distortion detection for semiconductor process and semiconductor device manufactured by use of the apparatus or process 42 1998
 
ROCHE DIAGNOSTICS GMBH (1)
6,708,318 Wiring resistance correcting method 23 2001
 
SANDISK 3D LLC (1)
6,486,066 Method of generating integrated circuit feature layout for improved chemical mechanical polishing 40 2001
 
SONY CORPORATION (1)
5,948,573 Method of designing mask pattern to be formed in mask and method of manufacturing integrated circuit 42 1998
 
TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED (1)
5,821,621 Low capacitance interconnect structure for integrated circuits 89 1996

Patent Citation Ranking

Forward Cites

Patent Info (Count) # Cites Year
 
CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS, INC. (19)
8,136,056 Method and system for incorporation of patterns and design rule checking 0 2006
7,757,195 Methods and systems for implementing dummy fill for integrated circuits 6 2006
7,698,666 Method and system for model-based design and layout of an integrated circuit 3 2006
7,774,726 Dummy fill for integrated circuits 2 2007
7,725,845 System and method for layout optimization using model-based verification 6 2007
7,707,528 System and method for performing verification based upon both rules and models 4 2007
7,689,948 System and method for model-based scoring and yield prediction 2 2007
8,001,512 Method and system for implementing context simulation 6 2007
7,861,203 Method and system for model-based routing of an integrated circuit 3 2007
7,853,904 Method and system for handling process related variations for integrated circuits based upon reflections 1 2007
7,962,866 Method, system, and computer program product for determining three-dimensional feature characteristics in electronic designs 0 2007
7,937,674 Method, system, and computer program product for predicting thin film integrity, manufacturability, reliability, and performance in electronic designs 2 2007
7,827,519 Method, system, and computer program product for preparing multiple layers of semiconductor substrates for electronic designs 0 2007
7,814,447 Supplant design rules in electronic designs 2 2007
7,721,237 Method, system, and computer program product for timing closure in electronic designs 3 2007
7,962,886 Method and system for generating design constraints 3 2007
7,962,867 Electronic design for integrated circuits based on process related variations 64 2008
8,001,516 Characterization and reduction of variation for integrated circuits 8 2008
8,312,406 Method and system performing RC extraction 0 2009
 
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION (2)
8,129,095 Methods, photomasks and methods of fabricating photomasks for improving damascene wire uniformity without reducing performance 0 2009
8,399,181 Methods of fabricating photomasks for improving damascene wire uniformity without reducing performance 0 2012

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