Inlaid Metal Patterning

Inlaid metal patterning schemes were first used in the formation of tungsten studs to fill contact and via holes. In this application, a blanket tungsten film is deposited by CVD thick 

In addition, several issues arise with the use of either RIE etch back or CMP to remove the metal from on top of ILD. Dual layw inlaid metal schemes have been demonstrated for tungsten, aluminum, copper,and gold metallization systems. 

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Lacquer was probably first used solely as a protective coating decorative elements have evolved with time. Objects may be simply colored in monochromatic red or black, for example, Chinese bowls and carved boxes. Other objects may be highly ornate, with patterns introduced by using metal flakes or foil to produce decorations on the interior subsurface layers. Some pieces may have designs of inlaid mother of pearl still others have a combination of metal-flake patterns and mother-of-pearl inlay. It is common for some objects to have 60-100 individual layers. Hardening and polishing each layer takes from several days to months it might require many years for completion of an article. 

Copper is going to replace aluminum as the material of choice for semiconductor interconnects due to its low electrical resistance and high electromigration resistance (1-4). An inlaid interconnect is used for copper metallization in which the insulating dielectric material is deposited first, trenches and vias are formed by patterning and selective dielectric etching, and then diffusion barrier and copper seed layer are deposited into the trenches and vias (5). 

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