{"schema_version":"1.0","canonical_url":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-8476160","patent":{"patent_number":"US-8476160","title":"Sublithographic patterning employing image transfer of a controllably damaged dielectric sidewall","assignee":null,"inventors":[],"filing_date":"2010-10-27T00:00:00.000Z","publication_date":"2013-07-02T00:00:00.000Z","cpc_codes":["H01L","H01L","H01L","H01L","H01L","H01L","H01L","H01L"],"num_claims":16,"abstract":"A first low dielectric constant (low-k) dielectric material layer is lithographically patterned to form a recessed region having expose substantially vertical sidewalls, which are subsequently damaged to de-carbonize a surface portion at the sidewalls having a sublithographic width. A second low-k dielectric material layer is deposited to fill the recessed region and planarized to exposed top surfaces of the damaged low-k dielectric material portion. The damaged low-k dielectric material portion is removed selective to the first and second low-k dielectric material layers to form a trench with a sublithographic width. A portion of the pattern of the sublithographic-width trench is transferred into a metallic layer and optionally to an underlying dielectric masking material layer to define a trench with a sublithographic width, which can be employed as a template to confine the widths of via holes and line trenches to be subsequently formed in an interconnect-level dielectric material layer."},"analysis":{"summary":null,"layman_explanation":null,"technical_analysis":null,"business_analysis":null,"faqs":null,"topics":[],"tech_cluster":null},"seo":{"title":"Sublithographic patterning employing image transfer of a controllably damaged dielectric sidewall","description":"A first low dielectric constant (low-k) dielectric material layer is lithographically patterned to form a recessed region having expose substantially vertical sidewalls, which are subsequently damaged","keywords":[]},"attribution":{"source":"Patentable","source_url":"https://patentable.app","canonical_url":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-8476160","license":"CC-BY-4.0-like","license_terms":"AI-generated analysis on this page (summary, layman_explanation, technical_analysis, business_analysis, faqs) may be reused with attribution and a visible link back to the canonical URL above. Patent abstracts, claims, and bibliographic data are USPTO public domain.","required_link":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-8476160","citation_suggestion":"Patentable. \"Sublithographic patterning employing image transfer of a controllably damaged dielectric sidewall\" (US-8476160). https://patentable.app/patents/US-8476160","copyright_holder":"Nomic Interactive Technology LLC"},"links":{"html":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-8476160","json":"https://patentable.app/api/llm-context/US-8476160","site":"https://patentable.app","llms_txt":"https://patentable.app/llms.txt"},"generated_at":"2026-05-30T16:44:43.119Z"}