Connecting structure for connecting conductors in an electronic apparatus

Abstract: A connecting structure for connecting conductors used for wiring in a semiconductor device (100) comprises a first conductor (10) provided on a part of the semiconductor device for passing the flow of electrons, an insulator (12) provided on the first conductor and formed with a contact hole (13), and a second conductor (11) provided on the insulator for passing the flow of electrons, in which the second conductor is provided so as to sandwich the insulator together with a part of the first conductor. The first and second conductors are contacted to each other across the insulator at the contact hole so that the electrons flow through the contact hole. The contact hole extends in a general direction of a flow of electrons passing therethrough and has a stepped shape in which a width measured perpendicularly to the general direction of the flow of electrons increases stepwise towards the general direction of the flow of electrons.

Description: The present invention generally relates to wiring of electronic apparatus and more particularly to a connecting structure of conductors used for connecting conductors in an electronic apparatus such as a semiconductor device. In a semiconductor device such as an integrated circuit, there are cases that a conductor used for wiring at one side of an insulator layer is connected to another conductor at the other side of the insulator layer. Thereby, a connecting part is formed where the both conductors make a contact across the insulator layer. When the semiconductor device is used, such a connecting part tends to invite a concentration of electron flow which causes electromigration in the conductor. Electromigration is a phenomenon in which an atom of the conductor is displaced from its original position by the impact of electrons flowing in one direction. The electromigration of aluminium is well known. When the electromigration proceeds excessively, a large number of atoms of the conductor at the connecting part are displaced by the impact of electrons and the contact between the two conductors is degraded or lost. In other words, the connecting part is destroyed by an electron current or flow, and the two conductors are disconnected. Such a disconnection of the wiring in the semiconductor device limits the lifetime of the semiconductor device. As the rest of the semiconductor device is still capable of continuing its operation, the lifetime of the semiconductor device can be extended when the lifetime of the connecting part is extended. For this purpose it is necessary to solve the problem of degradation of the contact by the electromigration. In order to reduce the effect of electromigration, it is desired to reduce or minimize the concentration of electron flow passing through the connecting part at a particular location of the connecting part. Conventionally, there is a connecting structure comprising numerous contacting parts disposed in a row and column formation with a substantial mutual separation such that the contacting parts are aligned alternately. Such a structure, though capable of reducing the electromigration effect, has a limitation in that the conductor to be connected should have a relatively large width. For example, a width of about 100 µm or more is required for the conductor when a pair of conductors are connected by three or four rows of connecting parts each including two or three connecting parts with a size of about 10 µm X 10 µm. Thus, such a conventional connecting structure cannot be used for wiring patterns having a conductor with a substantially small width such as 50 µm or less. Further, there is a known connecting structure in which a pair of conductors at both sides of an insulating layer make a contact at a plurality of contacts which are aligned in a plurality of rows extending in a direction of flow of electrons. In one construction shown in FIG.1, two rows of contacts 1 and 2 each including three or more contacts 1a - 1c, 2a - 2c therein are provided in which the size of the contacts is made identical except for the first contact 1a, 2a at a most upstream side of a flow of electrons e which is made to have a smaller width than the rest of the contacts in the row. In such a construction, there is a problem that the electron flow e is mainly concentrated to the first contact 1a, 2a having the small size although some of the electrons are received by a part of the second contact 1b, 2b extending into a path of the flow of electrons beyond the small-sized first contact 1a, 2a, and the first contact becomes defective after a short period of time. This is because the third contact 1c, 2c having the size identical to the second contact 1b, 2b is in the shadow of the electron flow formed behind the second contact and does not contribute to the conduction of electrons. Once the first contact is gone, the second contact behind the first contact is subjected to a heavy concentration of electrons and becomes defective after a short period of time. After the second contact, the third contact becomes defective similarly. Thus, such a conventional connecting structure can provide only a limited lifetime. DE-A-3 431 632 discloses a connecting structure which corresponds to a simpler version of the above prior art depicted in Fig. 1. One relatively small-sized first contact (similar to 1a in Fig. 1) is provided along with one relatively large-sized second contact (similar to 1b in Fig. 1). According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connecting structure for connecting conductors used for wiring in an electronic apparatus so as to pass a flow of electrons from one conductor to the other, comprising a first conductor for mounting on a part of the electronic apparatus for passing the flow of electrons, an insulator provided on said first conductor and formed with a contact hole, and a second conductor provided on said insulator for passing the flow of electrons, said second conductor being provided so as to sandwich the insulator together with a part of the first conductor, said first and second conductors being contacted to each other across the insulator at said contact hole, characterised in that said contact hole has a shape whose length extends generally along a flow direction in which electrons can flow when the connecting structure is in use, and whose width perpendicular to the flow direction increases stepwise along the flow direction at least in a first portion of the contact hole. According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connecting structure for connecting conductors used for wiring in an electronic apparatus so as to pass a flow of electrons from one conductor to the other, comprising a first conductor for mounting on a part of the electronic apparatus for passing the flow of electrons, an insulator provided on said first conductor and formed with a plurality of contact holes, and a second conductor provided on said insulator for passing the flow of electrons, said second conductor being provided so as to sandwich the insulator together with a part of the first conductor, said first and second conductors being contacted to each other across the insulator at said plurality of contact holes to form a connecting area for passing a flow of electrons, characterized in that: the contact holes are arranged in columns which are disposed along a flow direction in which electrons can flow when the connecting structure is in use; the contact holes in each column are arranged generally perpendicular to the flow direction; columns successively disposed along the flow direction have successively greater numbers of contact holes; and contact holes in adjacent columns being mutually offset. An embodiment of the present invention may provide a connecting structure for connecting conductors in an electronic apparatus, wherein the effect of electromigration is minimized. By means of the present invention, the electron flow is spread over the entire connecting structure and the concentration of the electron flow at a particular location of the connecting structure is avoided. As a result, the electromigration due to the concentration of the electron flow is minimized and the degradation of contact at the connecting part is suppressed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.1 is a plan view showing a prior art connecting structure for connecting conductors across an insulator; FIG.2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a connecting structure of the present invention in which an electrical current is passed in one direction; FIG.3 is an exploded view showing the connecting structure of FIG.2; FIG.4 is a graph showing an experimental result for evaluating the lifetime of the structure of FIG.2 in comparison with a conventional connecting structure; FIG.5 is a plan view showing the connecting structure of FIG.2; FIG.6 is a cross sectional view showing the structure of FIG.2 along a VI-VI line of FIG.5; FIG.7 is a plan view showing a modification of the connecting structure of FIG.2; FIG.8 is a plan view showing another modification of the connecting structure of FIG.2 for a case in which the electrical current flows in both directions; FIG.9 is a plan view showing a modification of the connecting structure of FIG.2 in which the electrical current is merged together at the connecting structure; FIG.10 is an exploded view showing the connecting structure of FIG.9; FIG.11 is a plan view showing a modification of the connecting structure of FIG.2 in which the electrical current is bent perpendicularly at the connecting structure; FIG.12 is an exploded view showing the connecting structure of FIG.11; FIG.13 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the connecting structure of the present invention; FIG.14 is a perspective view showing the connecting structure of FIG.13 in an exploded state; FIG.15 is a cross sectional view of the connecting structure of FIG.11 along a XV-XV line in FIG.13; FIG.16 is a perspective view showing still other embodiment of the connecting structure of the present invention; FIG.17 is a cross sectional view of the connecting structure of FIG.16 along a XVII-XVII line of FIG.16; and FIG.18 is a plan view showing still other embodiment of the connecting structure of the present invention. FIG.2 shows a first embodiment of the connecting structure of the present invention. Referring to the drawing, the connecting structure comprises a first conductor 10 such as aluminium deposited on a substrate or a semiconductor device 100, an insulator 12 deposited on the first conductor 10, and a second conductor 11 further deposited on the insulator 12. The deposition may be made by sputtering, for example. The first conductor 10 and the second conductor 11 are patterned to have a width W1 and the second conductor 11 is deposited so that at least a part of the conductor 11 overlaps with a part of the conductor 10. As can be seen from an exploded view of FIG.3, the insulator 12 is defined with a penetrating opening or aperture 13, and the conductor 10 makes a contact with the conductor 11 through this aperture 13. As the conductor 11 is deposited on the insulator 12 defined with the aperture 13, the conductor 11 forms a projection 14a on its bottom surface at a part 14 having a shape corresponding to the shape of the aperture 13. This projection 14a projects downwards from the conductor 11 as clearly seen in the cross sectional view of FIG.6 and makes a contact with the conductor 10 underneath the insulator 12. The connecting structure thus comprises a part of the first conductor 10 and a part of the second conductor 11 contacting each other at the part 14. Because of this reason, the part 14 will be referred to hereinafter as the connecting part. FIG.2 shows a depression 14b formed on the top surface of the conductor 11 in correspondence to the projection 14a at the bottom of the conductor 11. This depression 14b is clearly seen in the cross sectional view of FIG.6. Hereinafter, the shape of the connecting part 14 will be represented by the corresponding shape of the depression 14b on the top surface of the conductor 11. In the structure of FIG.2, the part 14 is symmetrical with respect to the direction of the flow of electrons. In other words, the connecting part 14 is symmetrical about an axis of symmetry which extends along the direction of an electron flow indicated by an arrow e o . The structure of FIG.2 is designed such that the electrical current flows from the conductor 10 to the conductor 11 as indicated by an arrow i o . In correspondence thereto, the electrons flow from the conductor 11 to the conductor 10 across the connecting part 14 as indicated by the arrow e o . It should be noted that the connecting part 14 has a width which narrows successively in a stepped manner towards a downstream side of the electrical current. In other words, the connecting part 14 has a width which increases sequentially in a stepped manner towards the downstream side of the electron flow e o . For simplicity of the description, the electrical current flowing through the connecting part 14 will be described hereinafter in terms of the electron flow alone. In other words, the term "upstream side" and "downstream side" mean hereinafter the upstream side and the downstream side of the electron flow. Thus, a part I at the most upstream side of the connecting part 14 has a width m which is about 8 µm and extends along the direction of the electron flow e o for a length h which is about 20 µm. This most upstream part I is succeeded by a second upstream part II having a length g of about 15 µm in the direction of the electron flow e o . This second upstream part II has a width which is given by m + 2k. In other words, the width of the part II is increased stepwise by a step k symmetrically in each direction which is perpendicular to the direction of the electron flow e o . The value of the step k is made to about 3 µm. Further, this part II is succeeded by another part III having a length f of about 15 µm and a width of m + 2k + 2j. In other words, the width of the part III is increased stepwise symmetrically with respect to the direction of the electron flow e o similarly to the case of the part II by a step j . The value of the step j is made to about 3 µm. Thus, the overall width of the part 14 is 20 µm and the overall length of the part 14 is to 50 µm. The life time of the connecting structure of FIG.2 is tested for the conductors 10 and 11 having the width W1 of 25 µm. The test was conducted for 50 samples at a temperature of 250 °C by flowing an electrical current of 20 mA in the direction as indicated by the arrow i o , and the time to the first appearance of the defective conduction was measured. Further, for the purpose of comparison, the same test was conducted for a conventional connecting structure having a rectangular shape in which the width is set to 20 µm in correspondence to the overall width of the part 14 and the length is set to 50 µm in correspondence to the overall length of the part 14. FIG.4 shows the result of the experiment. In FIG.4, the result for the structure of FIG.2 is represented by a symbol I and the result for the conventional structure is represented by a symbol II. As is clearly seen in the drawing, the conventional structure gives the first appearance of the defective conduction after 500 hours from the start of the experiment. Thereafter, the number of defective samples increases sharply with time, particularly when the run duration of the experiment has exceeded 1000 hours. By 5000 hours, most of the samples showed defective conduction which means that most of the connection structure is destroyed by this time. In contrast, the structure of FIG.2 gives the first appearance of defective conduction only after 7000 hours from the start of the experiment. Even after that, the increase in the number of defect is very slow. It should be noted that the total number of the defects appeared in the experiment is only five which is ten percent of the samples tested even after 10000 hours has elapsed from the start of the experiment. Thus, the experiment clearly demonstrated that the connecting structure of the present invention is far superior than the conventional structure. The reason for this extended lifetime of the connecting structure may be explained as a result of an increased length in the edge of the connecting part 14 which is defined by points 1 ○, 2 ○, 3 ○, 4 ○, 5 ○, 6 ○, 7 ○, 8 ○, 9 ○, and of the connecting part 14 as shown in FIG.5. As the electrons flow into the connecting part 14 across the edge thus defined, the increase in the length of this edge reduces the density of the electrons in the electron flow flowing into the connecting part 14. As a result, the concentration of the electrons is avoided and the electromigration is suppressed. In FIG.5, a hypothetical path of electrons is also illustrated for facilitating understanding. As can be seen, all the edges of the connecting part 14 are used for receiving the electron flow. Thus, there is no edge in the shadow of the flow of electrons. Thus, the connecting structure of FIG.2 significantly increases the lifetime of the semiconductor device such as an integrated circuit and is particularly suited for connecting power conductors in the integrated circuit where a large electrical current is passed. FIG.7 shows a modification of the embodiment of FIG.2. In the drawing, these parts constructed identically with those corresponding parts of the preceding drawings are given identical reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. In this modification, the part I ,II and III of the connecting part 14 are separated and the structure comprises a first connecting part 20, a second connecting part 21 and a third connecting part 22. In correspondence thereto, separate apertures 20a, 21a and 22a are formed in the insulator 12 as illustrated by a broken line in FIG.7. It should be noted that the width of the parts 20, 21 and 22 correspond to the width of the parts I, II and III of FIG.2 and increases successively in a stepped manner from the upstream side to the downstream side of the electron flow. This modification is less favorable as the connecting parts 20 and 21 give shadow to the subsequent connecting parts. In order to avoid this effect of shadow of the electron flow, one must choose a sufficient mutual separation between the parts 20, 21 and 22. FIG.8 is a modification of the structure of FIG.2 in which the flow of electrons is bidirectional. In this drawing, too, those parts constructed identically to those corresponding parts of the preceding drawings are given identical reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. In this structure, the connecting part 30 has a structure in which the width of the connecting part increases stepwise with the flow of electrons and then decreases again stepwise. Corresponding to the shape of the connecting part 30, an aperture 31 having a corresponding shape is formed in the insulator 12 as illustrated in FIG.8 by a broken line. In this structure, a part 30a which is the left half of the part 30 receives the flow of electrons e₁ flowing from the left to the right of the drawing, and and a part 30b at the right half of the part 30 receives the flow of electrons e₂ flowing from the right to the left of the drawing. It should be noted that the width of the part 30a increases successively in stepped manner towards the downstream side of the electron flow e₁ and the width of the part 30b increases successively in stepped manner towards the downstream side of the electron flow e₂. FIGS.9 and 10 show a modification of the structure of FIG.2 in which an electron flow e₁₂ flowing from a conductor 41 to another conductor 42 is merged with another electron flow e₁₁ flowing from still other conductor 43 extending perpendicularly to the conductor 41 to the conductor 42. As can be seen from the exploded view, the conductors 41 and 43 are branched and the conductor 42 is separated from the conductors 41 and 43 by an insulator 44 defined with an aperture 45 which defines a shape of the connecting part 40. In this modification, the connecting part 40 corresponding to the aperture 45 is branched into a pair of branched parts 40a and 40b, and the branched part 40a extends towards the conductor 43 and and the branched part 40b extends towards the conductor 41. In each of the branched parts 40a and 40b, the width of the branched part is increased successively in a stepped manner towards downstream side of the electron flow. Referring to FIG.9, the width of the branched part 40a increases successively towards the downstream side of an electron flow e₁₁, and the width of the branched part 40b increases successively towards the downstream side of an electron flow e₁₂. FIGS.11 and 12 show another modification of the connecting structure suitable for connecting a first conductor 51 to a second conductor 52 extending perpendicularly to the first conductor 51. An insulator 53 separates the conductors 51 and 52. The connection of the conductors 51 and 52 is made at a connecting part 50 which is defined in correspondence to an aperture 53a formed in the insulator 53 as can be clearly seen from the exploded view of FIG.12. Referring to the drawing, a flow of electrons e₁₃ in the conductor 51 is curved at a right angle at the connecting part 50 and is then transferred to the conductor 52. In such a bending of the path of the electron flow, the electrons flow along a shortest path. In other words, there appears the heaviest concentration of electron flow at the innermost corner where the conducting path of the electrons is bent as schematically illustrated by a number of arrows in FIG.11. In order to cope with such a concentration of the electron flow, the connecting part 50 is made asymmetrical. In other words, only an upper half of the connecting part 14 of FIG.2 is used for the connecting part 50. Even in such a configuration of the connecting part 50, the width of the connecting part 50 is increased successively in a stepped manner along a general direction A of the flow of electrons e₁₃, and the flow of electrons is spreaded over the numerous steps of the connecting part 50. Thus, the concentration of the electron flow on a particular part of the connecting part 50 is avoided and the effect of electromigration is minimized. FIGS.13 - 15 show another embodiment of the connecting structure of the present invention. In the drawings, those parts constructed identically to those corresponding parts in the preceding drawings are given identical reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. In the drawings, FIG.13 is a perspective view, FIG.14 is an exploded view, and FIG.15 is a cross sectional view taken along a XIV - XIV line of FIG.13. In the present embodiment, an intervening connecting member 61 is used for connecting the conductors 10 and 11 at a connecting part 60. The connecting part 60 corresponds to the aperture 13 of the insulator 12, and has therefore a shape which is similar to the shape of the connecting part 14. Referring to FIG.14, the connecting structure comprises the conductor 10 at the bottom, the insulator 12 having the aperture 13, the intervening member 60 fitted in the aperture 13, and the top conductor 11 deposited on the insulator 12. Thus, the intervening member 60 connects the conductor 11 and the conductor 12 electrically as clearly seen in FIG.15, and a connecting part 61 is formed in correspondence to the intervening member 60. As the connecting part 61 thus formed has a width which increases successively in stepped manner towards the downstream side of the electron flow e o , the concentration of the electron flow in the connecting part is avoided and the degradations of contact at the contacting part 61 due to the electromigration is minimized. FIGS.16 and 17 show another embodiment of the connecting structure of the present invention. In the drawings, those parts constructed identically to those corresponding parts of the preceding drawings are given identical reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. In this embodiment, the connecting structure uses the insulator 12 formed with a number of penetrating holes 80 - 89 aligned in a plurality of rows to form a generally triangular formation in which the apex part of the triangle faces the upstream direction of the electron flow e o and the base part of the triangle faces the downstream direction of the electron flow e o . Each of the holes 80 - 89 may be a square hole having a size of 10 µm X 10 µm, for example and each row of the holes is separated from other row by a distance of at least larger than the size of one hole. Corresponding to the plurality of penetrating holes 80 - 89 in the connecting part 90, the conductor 11 deposited on the insulator 12 contacts with the conductor 10 under the insulator 12 similarly to the embodiment of FIG.2. FIG.17 shows the cross section of the structure of FIG.16. As can be clearly seen from this cross sectional view, the conductor 11 contacts with the conductor 12 at the holes 80 - 89. It should be noted that the holes 80 - 89 are aligned alternately in the triangular connecting part 90. More specifically, the hole 80 is formed at the apex part of the connecting part 90 as a first row of the holes and the holes 81 and 82 form a second row behind the hole 80, in which the holes 81 and 82 are disposed at both sides of the hole 80. Similarly, the holes 83, 84 and 85 are aligned behind the second row holes as the third row such that the holes 83 and 84 are located at both sides of the hole 81 and that the holes 84 and 85 are located at both sides of the hole 82. Further, the holes 86 - 89 are aligned behind the third row to form the fourth row of the holes in which each of the holes 86 - 89 are located alternately to the holes 83 - 85 of the third row. As the rows of holes are separated from each other by the distance of at least one hole as already described, a hole which is aligned with another hole in the direction of the flow of electrons is separated by a distance of at least three holes. Such a distance is sufficient to avoid one hole being in the shadow of the flow of electrons caused by another hole, and each of the holes in the contacting area 90 thus receives the electron flow uniformly. Corresponding to the arrangement of the holes 80 - 89, a plurality of contacts 80a - 89a which define the contacting part 90 are formed and the conductors 10 and 11 make contact to each other at the contacts 80a - 89a thus formed. By configuring the connecting part 90 as such, the electron flow e o is spread over the entire area of the connecting part 90 and the concentration of the electron flow in a particular location of the connecting part is avoided. Further, the contacts 80a - 89a are disposed alternately with a suitable mutual separation such that none of the contacts is located in the shadow of the flow of electrons formed by another contact. In combination of these two effects, the connecting structure of FIG.16 successfully minimizes the electromigration and the lifetime of the connecting structure is extended. FIG.18 shows a modification of the embodiment of FIG.16. In the drawing, these parts constructed identically to those corresponding parts in FIG.16 are given identical reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. Referring to FIG.18, a plurality of contacts 100 - 114 having a size of 10 µm X 10 µm are disposed generally in a triangular formation similarly to the case of FIG.16 except that the contacts are arranged in five columns each including a single contact 100, two contacts 101 and 102, three contacts 103 - 105, four contacts 106 - 109, and five contacts 110 - 114. Holes are separated by a distance of A which may be chosen as 15 µm. Furthermore, a row of contacts comprising a plurality of contacts aligned in a row such as the contacts 100, 104 and 112 are separated from a neighboring row of contacts such as 102 and 108 by a distance B which may be chosen as 5 µm. According to such a construction, the flow of electrons can penetrate into the connecting structure deeply as indicated by arrows e1 - e4 in FIG.18 and the diversification of the electron flow is facilitated. Although the present invention is described heretofore for the wiring structure of a semiconductor device, the present invention is not limited to the semiconductor device but may be applicable to any electronic apparatus wherein the conductors are connected across an insulator layer.

Claims: A connecting structure for connecting conductors used for wiring in an electronic apparatus (100) so as to pass a flow of electrons from one conductor to the other, comprising a first conductor (10, 41, 43, 52) for mounting on a part of the electronic apparatus for passing the flow of electrons, an insulator (12) provided on said first conductor and formed with a contact hole (13, 31, 45, 53a), and a second conductor (11, 42, 51) provided on said insulator for passing the flow of electrons, said second conductor being provided so as to sandwich the insulator together with a part of the first conductor, said first and second conductors being contacted to each other across the insulator at said contact hole, characterised in that said contact hole has a shape whose length extends generally along a flow direction in which electrons can flow when the connecting structure is in use, and whose width perpendicular to the flow direction increases stepwise along the flow direction at least in a first portion of the contact hole. A connecting structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein said contact hole (13) comprises at least three stepped parts (I, II, III) constituting at least said first portion. A connecting structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein said stepwise increase in the width of the contact hole (13) is larger than 3 µm. A connecting structure as claimed in claim 3 wherein each of said stepped parts (I, II, III) of the contact hole (13) has a length of 15 to 20 µm. A connecting structure as claimed in claim 3 wherein said contact hole (13) has an overall width of about 20 µm. A connecting structure as claimed in claim 5 wherein said contact hole (13) has an overall length of about 50 µm. A connecting structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein a conductive connecting member (61) is fitted into said contact hole (13) in the insulator (12) so as to connect the first and second conductors (10, 11) electrically. A connecting structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein said contact hole also has a second portion shaped like said first portion but extending along another flow direction, different or opposite to said flow direction, the first and second portions being joined at their widest points. A connecting structure as claimed in claim 8, wherein said first conductor includes first and second conductive stripes (41, 43), said first and second conductive stripes (41, 43) extending in different directions, said first and second portions (40a, 40b) of said contact hole (45) extending generally parallel to said first and second conductive stripes respectively. A connecting structure as claimed in claim 8, wherein said first conductor and second conductor (51, 52) cross each other at an angle and said first and second portions extend generally parallel to the first and second conductors respectively. A connecting structure as claimed in claim 1 in which said first and second conductors are power conductors for conducting an electrical power current for operating the electronic apparatus. A connecting structure for connecting conductors used for wiring in an electronic apparatus (100) so as to pass a flow of electrons from one conductor to the other, comprising a first conductor (10) for mounting on a part of the electronic apparatus for passing the flow of electrons, an insulator (12) provided on said first conductor and formed with a plurality of contact holes (80 to 89), and a second conductor (11) provided on said insulator for passing the flow of electrons, said second conductor being provided so as to sandwich the insulator together with a part of the first conductor, said first and second conductors being contacted to each other across the insulator at said plurality of contact holes to form a connecting area (90) for passing a flow of electrons, characterized in that: the contact holes are arranged in columns which are disposed along a flow direction in which electrons can flow when the connecting structure is in use; the contact holes in each column are arranged generally perpendicular to the flow direction; columns successively disposed along the flow direction have successively greater numbers of contact holes; and contact holes in adjacent columns being mutually offset. A connecting structure as claimed in claim 12 wherein the contact holes are in a generally triangular formation whose apex faces the flow direction. A connecting structure as claimed in claim 12 wherein the contact holes (80 to 89) are all the same size and are arranged in at least four columns. A connecting structure as claimed in claim 14 wherein a first of said columns contains a single contact hole and successive columns contain two, three and four contact holes respectively. A connecting structure as claimed in claim 12 wherein adjacent columns are separated by a distance sufficient for allowing passage of the electron flow (e1 to e4) between them.

Inventors: KISO AKIO, NAKAJIMA TETSUYA, SAITOH TAICHI, TAKAGI MINORU, TANAKA NOBUYUKI, TOKUDA HIDEO, KISO, AKIO, NAKAJIMA, TETSUYA, SAITOH, TAICHI, TAKAGI, MINORU, TANAKA, NOBUYUKI, TOKUDA, HIDEO
Applicants: FUJITSU LTD, FUJITSU VLSI LTD, FUJITSU LIMITED, FUJITSU VLSI LIMITED
Application year: 1989
Main classification: H01L23
IPC codes: H01L23