Patent ID: 7135395

Claim:
A method of forming a bonding pad, comprising: providing a partially processed semiconductor wafer having all metal levels completed; forming a blanket dielectric layer over an uppermost metal level; patterning and etching said dielectric layer to form horizontal and vertical arrays of trenches passing through said dielectric layer; filling said trenches with a conducting material; planarizing said conducting material to obtain a top surface; forming bonding metal patterns over said top surface; and forming a passivation layer over said top surface and said bonding metal patterns; wherein said vertical array of trenches comprises a first plurality of trenches each having a first length and a first width, the first being greater than the first width; said horizontal arrays of trenches comprises a second plurality of trenches each having a second length and a second width, the second length being greater than the second width; and wherein none of said first plurality of trenches intersects with any of said second plurality of trenches.