Abstract: A process is disclosed for forming a ledge-free aluminum-copper silicon conductor structure that is free of the silicon bridging problem which has produced electrical shorting conditions in the prior art. The process comprises the steps of depositing the aluminum-copper metallurgy, depositing a photoresist layer to delineate the shape of the resulting conductors, etching the aluminum copper metallurgy with phosphoric/nitric acid, for example, removing the photoresist, evaporating a layer of silicon on the surface of the etched conductor layer, sintering the composite to drive the necessary amount of silicon into the aluminum-copper, and removing the residual silicon layer by a reactive plasma etching technique. The resulting conductor structure is free of silicon bridging.

Abstract: A process is disclosed for controlling the inclination of the side wall of a layer of sputtered quartz etched by a reactive plasma etching technique. The process consists of coating a selected fractional area of the backside of a silicon wafer to be etched, with a material resistant to plasma etching. Then coating the front side of the wafer bearing a layer of sputtered quartz, with a coating of organic material having a temperature dependent plasma etching rate, so as to delineate locations in the sputtered quartz layer for the formation of via holes. Next, exposing the wafer in a reactive plasma etching chamber.