Patents by Inventor Stephen Fredrick Clark

Stephen Fredrick Clark has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Capacitor contact formed concurrently with bond pad metallization
    Patent number: 8431463
    Abstract: A method is disclosed for passivating and contacting a capacitor in an IC above a top level of interconnect metallization, without adding process steps. Passivation is accomplished by a dielectric layer, part of the IC protective overcoat, deposited directly on the capacitor, overlapping the electrode edges. Contact is made to the top electrode of the capacitor by etching small capacitor vias during a bond pad via etch process, followed by depositing and patterning bond pad metal in the capacitor vias to connect the top electrode to other circuit elements in the IC. The top electrode thickness is increased to accommodate the bond pad via etch process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2013
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Maxwell Walthour Lippitt, III, Stephen Arlon Meisner, Lee Alan Stringer, Stephen Fredrick Clark, Fred Percy Debnam, II, Byron Lovell Williams
  • CAPACITOR CONTACT FORMED CONCURRENTLY WITH BOND PAD METALLIZATION
    Publication number: 20100032803
    Abstract: A method is disclosed for passivating and contacting a capacitor in an IC above a top level of interconnect metallization, without adding process steps. Passivation is accomplished by a dielectric layer, part of the IC protective overcoat, deposited directly on the capacitor, overlapping the electrode edges. Contact is made to the top electrode of the capacitor by etching small capacitor vias during a bond pad via etch process, followed by depositing and patterning bond pad metal in the capacitor vias to connect the top electrode to other circuit elements in the IC. The top electrode thickness is increased to accommodate the bond pad via etch process.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 10, 2009
    Publication date: February 11, 2010
    Applicant: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Maxwell Walthour Lippitt, III, Stephen Arlon Meisner, Lee Alan Stringer, Stephen Fredrick Clark, Fred Percy Debnam, II, Byron Lovell Williams