Patent ID: 8859418

Claim:
A method, comprising: forming a first layer of insulating material; forming a first patterned metal hard mask layer on said first layer of insulating material, said first patterned metal hard mask layer comprising a plurality of first openings that define a first pattern; after forming said first patterned metal hard mask layer, forming a second layer of insulating material on said first patterned metal hard mask layer; after forming said second layer of insulating material, forming a second patterned metal hard mask layer on said second layer of insulating material above said first patterned metal hard mask layer, said second patterned metal hard mask layer comprising a plurality of second openings that define a second pattern that is substantially the same as and substantially aligned with said first pattern, each of said second openings having lateral sides that are substantially in line with lateral sides of a respective first opening and a lateral width that is substantially the same as a lateral width of said respective first opening; performing at least one etching process through said second pattern defined by said second patterned metal hard mask layer, said second layer of insulating material, and said first pattern defined by said first patterned metal hard mask layer, so as to define a trench in said first layer of insulating material; and forming a conductive structure in said trench.