Patent ID: 9741605
Date: 2017-08-22
CPC Classifications: H01L

Claim:
1. A method, comprising: providing a starting metallization structure for one or more semiconductor devices, the metallization structure comprising a bottom layer of one or more contacts surrounded by a dielectric material, an etch-stop layer over the bottom layer, a layer of dielectric material over the etch-stop layer, a first layer of hard mask material over the dielectric layer, a layer of work function hard mask material over the first hard mask layer, a second layer of hard mask material over the work function hard mask layer, one or more first vias exposing the first hard mask layer below the one or more first vias and one or more second vias separate from the one or more first vias extending partially into the etch-stop layer; protecting the one or more second vias while removing entirely the second hard mask layer and the layer of work function hard mask material; and filling the one or more first vias and the one or more second vias with metal; wherein protecting the one or more second vias comprises: