Patent ID: 6694611
Filing Date: 2004-02-24
Classification: G11B,H01L,H05K,Y10T

Abstract:
A thin-film structure comprising:forming a bump on a first electrically conductive layer, said bump having a protective layer comprising one of a nickel layer and a nickel-containing layer, said protective layer being overlaid on a second electrically conducting layer, the second electrically conducting layer being one of a copper layer and a copper-containing layer; forming an insulating layer on the first electrically conductive layer and the bump; polishing the insulating layer and the bump to form a flat face such that a surface of the bump is level with a surface of the insulating layer; and dry etching the flat face when the protective layer is present on the flat face during polishing, and wherein, during the dry-etching, a portion of the flat face, including the protective layer, having a thickness in the range of about 4 nm to about 8 nm, is removed.