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Samsung patents chip design with uneven dummy pads to protect wiring

Samsung has filed a patent for a semiconductor device that includes both active connection pads and inactive dummy pads. The design specifies that the bottom of the dummy pad sits higher than the active pad and has a stepped surface with multiple levels.

Why it mattersThis is a specific structural improvement for chip manufacturing that may help manage stress or alignment during production, though it does not describe a new consumer feature.

In the filing’s own words

Provided is a semiconductor device including a semiconductor structure including a semiconductor substrate and a semiconductor element layer, a wiring structure on the semiconductor structure, a bonding dielectric layer on the wiring structure, a connection pad penetrating the bonding dielectric layer from a top surface of the bonding dielectric layer in a downward direction and having sidewalls surrounded by the bonding dielectric layer, and a dummy pad penetrating at least a portion of the bonding dielectric layer from the top surface of the bonding dielectric layer in the downward direction and having sidewalls surrounded by the bonding dielectric layer, wherein a bottom surface of the dummy pad is at a higher vertical level than a bottom surface of the connection pad, and the bottom surface of the dummy pad includes a plurality of surfaces at different vertical levels.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A semiconductor device comprising: a semiconductor structure comprising a semiconductor substrate and a semiconductor element layer; a wiring structure on the semiconductor structure; a bonding dielectric layer on the wiring structure; a connection pad penetrating the bonding dielectric layer from a top surface of the bonding dielectric layer in a downward direction and having sidewalls surrounded by the bonding dielectric layer; and a dummy pad penetrating at least a portion of the bonding dielectric layer from the top surface of the bonding dielectric layer in the downward direction and having sidewalls surrounded by the bonding dielectric layer, wherein a bottom surface of the dummy pad is at a higher vertical level than a bottom surface of the connection pad, and wherein the bottom surface of the dummy pad comprises a plurality of surfaces at different vertical levels.

Facts

Company
Samsung (SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.)
Official title
SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME
Publication number
US20260282998A1
Application number
19421627
Filed
Dec 16, 2025
Published
Sep 17, 2026
Inventors
2
Claims
20

Classified under

H10W 72/963 Electricity & electronicsH10B 80/00 Electricity & electronicsH10W 72/01935 Electricity & electronicsH10W 90/20 Electricity & electronicsH10W 90/792 Electricity & electronics
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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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.