Patents by Inventor Derek R. Witty

Derek R. Witty 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).

  • Nitrogen treatment of polished halogen-doped silicon glass
    Patent number: 6413871
    Abstract: A film of fluorine-doped silicon glass (“FSG”) is exposed to a nitrogen-containing plasma to nitride a portion of the FSG film. In one embodiment, the FSG film is chemically-mechanically polished prior to nitriding. The nitriding process is believed to scavenge moisture and free fluorine from the FSG film. The plasma can heat the FSG film to about 400° C. for about one minute to incorporate about 0.4 atomic percent nitrogen to a depth of nearly a micron. Thus, the nitriding process can passivate the FSG film deeper than a via depth.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 1999
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2002
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Hichem M'Saad, Derek R. Witty, Manoj Vellaikal, Lin Zhang, Yaxin Wang
  • NITROGEN TREATMENT OF POLISHED HALOGEN-DOPED SILICON GLASS
    Publication number: 20010033900
    Abstract: A film of fluorine-doped silicon glass (“FSG”) is exposed to a nitrogen-containing plasma to nitride a portion of the FSG film. In one embodiment, the FSG film is chemically-mechanically polished prior to nitriding. The nitriding process is believed to scavenge moisture and free fluorine from the FSG film. The plasma can heat the FSG film to about 400° C. for about one minute to incorporate about 0.4 atomic percent nitrogen to a depth of nearly a micron. Thus, the nitriding process can passivate the FSG film deeper than a via depth.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 22, 1999
    Publication date: October 25, 2001
    Inventors: HICHEM M'SAAD, DEREK R. WITTY, MANOJ VELLAIKAL, LIN ZHANG, YAXIN WANG