Patent ID: 7351639

Claim:
A method for increasing an electrical resistance of a resistor, comprising the steps of: providing a predetermined target resistance in terms of a value R t and a tolerance ΔR t for the electrical resistance of the resistor; providing a semiconductor structure that includes the resistor; exposing a fraction F of an exterior surface of a surface layer of the resistor to oxygen-containing particles; and oxidizing a portion of the surface layer by reacting said portion with said oxygen-containing particles, such that an electrical resistance of the resistor is increased, wherein an exterior surface of said portion consists essentially of the fraction F of the exterior surface of the surface layer, and testing the resistor during the oxidizing step to determine whether the electrical resistance of the resistor is within R t ±ΔR t , wherein if during the testing step the electrical resistance of the resistor is determined to not be within R t ±ΔR t then the method further comprises: iterating such that each iteration of the iterating includes additionally executing the exposing and oxidizing steps and additionally testing the resistor during the oxidizing step to determine whether R 2 ″ is within R t ±ΔR t , wherein R 2 ″ is a latest value of the electrical resistance of the resistor as determined by said testing; and ending the iterating if R 2 ″ is within R t ±ΔR t or if (R 2 ″−R 1 ) (R t −R 2 ″)<0, wherein R 1 is a latest value of the determined electrical resistance of the resistor immediately prior to said testing.