Patent ID: 7026247

Claim:
A method of fabricating a microstructure comprising the steps of: providing a structure comprising a multi-layered stack located atop an etchable material, said multi-layered stack comprising a core material including at least one diffusing element located between top and bottom diffusion barrier layers; patterning the multi-layered stack to provide a plurality of patterned multi-layered stacks on the etchable material, each patterned multi-layered stack having etched facets; heating the patterned multi-layered stacks to cause lateral diffusion of the at least one diffusing element to the etched facets; removing the at least one diffusing element from the etched facets; and performing a self-correcting dopant-sensitive etching process on a plurality of exposed patterned multi-layered stack to provide patterned lines that have a substantially reduced line width and substantially reduced line width variation.