Patent ID: 7550815

Claim:
A semiconductor device comprising: a semiconductor substrate; two active device regions formed on a principal surface of the semiconductor substrate; an isolating region formed between the two active device regions; a plurality of first dummy patterns arranged regularly in rows and columns at a first pitch in the isolating region; and a plurality of second dummy patterns arranged regularly in rows and columns at a second pitch in the isolating region, wherein the second pitch is larger than the first pitch, each of the second dummy patterns has a larger area than each of the first dummy patterns, the two active device regions are composed of a first active device region and a second active device region, the first dummy patterns and the second dummy patterns are arranged between the first active device region and the second active device region, and the first dummy patterns and the second dummy patterns are arranged in the following order along the principal surface of the substrate: the first dummy patterns, the second dummy patterns, and the first dummy patterns, respectively.