DESIGN STRUCTURES INCLUDING MEANS FOR LATERAL CURRENT CARRYING CAPABILITY IMPROVEMENT IN SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES

摘要

A design structure including a semiconductor structure. The semiconductor structure includes (a) a substrate; (b) a first semiconductor device on the substrate; (c) N ILD (Inter-Level Dielectric) layers on the first semiconductor device, wherein N is an integer greater than one; and (d) an electrically conductive line electrically coupled to the first semiconductor device. The electrically conductive line is adapted to carry a lateral electric current in a lateral direction parallel to an interfacing surface between two consecutive ILD layers of the N ILD layers. The electrically conductive line is present in at least two ILD layers of the N ILD layers. The electrically conductive line does not comprise an electrically conductive via that is adapted to carry a vertical electric current in a vertical direction perpendicular to the interfacing surface.