Patent ID: 6884715

Claim:
A method of forming a device including a conductor and a contact over a semiconductor substrate comprising the steps as follows: depositing a first dielectric layer on a semiconductor substrate with a top surface; depositing a first hard mask layer over the top surface of the first dielectric layer; forming a conductor line slot in the device extending through the first hard mask layer and at least down into the first dielectric layer; forming a conductor in the conductor line slot below the top surface of the first hard mask layer; widening the conductor line slot in the first hard mask-layer to form a widened conductor line slot; forming a capping layer in the widened conductor line slot covering the conductor; depositing a second dielectric layer over the first hard mask layer; etching an initial contact hole through the second dielectric layer down to the top surface of the first hard mask layer; etching a deep contact hole through the first hard mask layer and the first dielectric layer down to the substrate with an etchant selective to the capping layer; and filling the deep contact hole and the initial contact hole with contact metallization.