Patent ID: 7282131

Claim:
A method of electrochemically treating a semiconductor substrate, comprising: forming a first electrically conductive material over a first region of the semiconductor substrate and forming a second electrically conductive material over a second region of the semiconductor substrate; the first and second electrically conductive materials being compositionally different from one another; flowing an electrical current through the first and second electrically conductive materials while exposing at least the first of the electrically conductive materials to an electrolytic solution; selectively oxidizing the first electrically conductive material relative to the second electrically conductive material during the flowing of the electrical current through the first and second electrically conductive materials to form a stable oxide layer over the first electrically conductive material; and wherein the first electrically conductive material is formed within openings associated with the semiconductor substrate, and wherein the second electrically conductive material does not extend into such openings.