Patent ID: 7381636

Claim:
A method for manufacturing a bond pad structure, the method comprising: providing a surface defined by a metal layer region and a passivation region; polishing the surface to produce a planar surface with a maximum surface nonuniformity of less than about 0.2 microns; depositing a PVD first thin film over the planar surface; depositing a PVD second thin film over the PVD first thin film; depositing a photoresist layer over the PVD second thin film; patterning with a first mask a trench in the photoresist layer aligned directly over the metal layer region; plating a bump termination electrode in the trench, a top surface of the bump termination electrode having a maximum surface nonuniformity of less than about 1 micron; etching the photoresist layer; and etching the PVD second and first thin films using the bump termination electrode as a self-aligned mask.