METHOD OF PREVENTING BRIDGING BETWEEN POLYCRYSTALLINE MICRO-SCALE FEATURES

摘要

A method of preventing or at least reducing the likelihood of bridging (20) between adjacent micro-scale polycrystalline structures, and particularly to reducing electrical shorting between adjacent metallization lines of a microcircuit. The method generally entails forming a multilayer structure that comprises a polycrystalline layer (12) and at least one constraining layer (14), and then patterning the multilayer structure to yield a first line (16) and a second line (18) that is narrower in width than the first line. The first line has a patterned edge (24) that is spaced apart from a patterned edge (26) of the second line, so that the first and second lines are electrically insulated from each other. One or more features associated with the first line are then formed that prevent bridging between the first and second lines if excessive lateral grain growth subsequently occurs along the patterned edge of the first line.