Patent ID: 8330159
Filing Date: 2012-12-11
Classification: H01L

Abstract:
1. An integrated circuit, comprising: a substrate having at least one device layer and a plurality of metal layers formed thereon, the metal layers comprising a patterned upper metal layer and multiple patterned lower metal layers; a multi-level metal interconnect structure formed using the metal layers, wherein a first portion of the interconnect structure is in electrical contact with a first portion of the device layer, and wherein a second portion of the interconnect structure is in electrical contact with a second portion of the device layer; and at least one multi-level circuit editing structure comprising a first column and a second column formed using the metal layers, wherein the first column is in electrical contact with the first portion of the device layer and the second column is in electrical contact with the second portion of the device layer; wherein the first and second portions of the device layer are electrically coupled to one another if the first and second columns are electrically coupled to one another wherein the first and second portions of the device layer are electrically decoupled from one another if the first and second columns are electrically decoupled from one another, and wherein the circuit editing structure and the interconnect structure are dimensioned and configured in one of the following ways; at increasingly higher levels of the circuit editing structure and the interconnect structure, increasingly larger spacing exists between the circuit editing structure and the interconnect structure for preventing exposure of the interconnect structure in milling of the circuit editing structure through a level of the upper metal layer; and, at decreasingly lower levels of the circuit editing structure and the interconnect structure, increasingly larger spacing exists between the circuit editing structure and the interconnect structure for preventing exposure of the interconnect structure in milling of the circuit editing structure through the substrate.