Microsoft patents chip-making step that cleans up material edges
Microsoft describes a method for building semiconductor chips that uses a temporary filler to protect newly deposited materials. By removing excess material from the top while leaving the filler in place, the process ensures a clean boundary between different parts of the chip.
In the filing’s own words
A method of fabricating a semiconductor device comprises providing a workpiece comprising a substrate, a semiconductor component arranged on the substrate, a capping layer arranged on the semiconductor component, and a dielectric layer arranged on the capping layer; forming a mask by patterning the dielectric layer and the capping layer to form an opening, the opening exposing a portion of the semiconductor component; depositing a material onto the mask, and onto the exposed portion of the semiconductor component via the opening in the mask; subsequently filling the opening with a sacrificial filler; and subsequently removing the material deposited onto the mask, wherein the sacrificial filler prevents removal of the material deposited onto the semiconductor component. The method is useful for fabricating semiconductor devices having a clean interface between the semiconductor component and the deposited material.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1 - 15. (canceled)
Facts
- Company
- Microsoft (Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC)
- Official title
- METHOD OF FABRICATING A SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE USING MASKED DEPOSITION
- Publication number
- US20260262481A1
- Application number
- 18995698
- Filed
- Aug 16, 2022
- Published
- Sep 3, 2026
- Inventors
- 6
- Claims
- 21
Classified under
H10P 76/405 Electricity & electronicsH10P 14/412 Electricity & electronicsH10P 50/283 Electricity & electronicsMore from Microsoft in Chips & hardware
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.