Patent ID: 7807582
Filing Date: 2010-10-05
Classification: H01L

Abstract:
1. A method of forming contact openings for a dual bit memory cell, comprising: forming a layer of insulating material above an active area of said memory cell; forming a hard mask layer above said layer of insulating material, said hard mask layer including a single layer having a single composition and an original thickness; performing at least two partial etching processes on said hard mask layer to thereby define a patterned hard mask layer above said layer of insulating material, wherein each of the at least two partial etching processes etches through less than said original thickness of said single layer and forms a trench, each of the at least two trenches only partially intersecting, said patterned hard mask layer having openings formed completely therethrough at intersections of the trenches, and the openings corresponding to a digitline contact and a plurality of storage node contacts for said dual bit memory cell; and performing at least one etching process to form openings in said layer of insulating material for said digitline contact and said plurality of storage node contacts using said patterned hard mask layer as an etch mask.