Patent ID: 6998335

Claim:
A method of fabrication of a bond pad structure, comprising the steps of: a) providing a top wiring layer and a top dielectric layer over a semiconductor structure; b) forming a buffer dielectric layer over said top wiring layer and said top dielectric layer; c) forming a buffer opening in said buffer dielectric layer exposing at least of portion of said top wiring layer; d) forming a barrier layer over said buffer dielectric layer, and said top wiring layer in said buffer opening; a) forming a conductive buffer layer over said barrier layer; f) planarizing said conductive buffer layer to form a buffer pad in said buffer opening; g) forming a passivation layer over said buffer pad and said buffer dielectric layer; h) forming a bond pad opening in said passivation layer over at least a portion of said buffer pad; i) forming a bond pad support layer over said buffer pad and passivation layer; j) forming a bond pad layer over said bond pad support layer; k) patterning said bond pad layer and said bond pad support layer to form a bond pad and bond pad support.