An ESD protection device including a Si substrate with an ESD protection circuit formed at the surface of the substrate; pads formed on the Si substrate; a rewiring layer opposed to the surface of the Si substrate, which includes terminal electrodes electrically connected to the pads. The rewiring layer includes a SiN protection film formed on the surface of the Si substrate to cover parts of the pads except regions in contact with openings (contact holes) formed in a resin layer, and the resin layer that is lower in dielectric constant than the SiN protection film, and formed between the SiN protection film and the terminal electrodes. Thus, provided is a semiconductor device which can reduce the generation of parasitic capacitance, and eliminates variation in parasitic capacitance generated.

Disclosed are an interconnect structure including a substrate, a metal layer on the substrate, and a passivation layer including a topological compound and in contact with the metal layer.

An ESD protection device including a Si substrate with an ESD protection circuit formed at the surface of the substrate; pads formed on the Si substrate; a rewiring layer opposed to the surface of the Si substrate, which includes terminal electrodes electrically connected to the pads. The rewiring layer includes a SiN protection film formed on the surface of the Si substrate to cover parts of the pads except regions in contact with openings (contact holes) formed in a resin layer, and the resin layer that is lower in dielectric constant than the SiN protection film, and formed between the SiN protection film and the terminal electrodes. Thus, provided is a semiconductor device which can reduce the generation of parasitic capacitance, and eliminates variation in parasitic capacitance generated.

A semiconductor apparatus that comprises a package, an active device, and a passive device is disclosed. The package includes a metal base, a shell, and a lid. The active device is mounted of the metal base. The passive device is soldered on the metal base. The passive device includes an insulating substrate with a rectangular outer shape and a bottom electrode with a plane shape reflecting the rectangular outer shape of the insulating substrate. The insulating substrate is made of material with brittleness greater than that of the metal base. A feature of the invention is that the bottom electrode has cut corners.

Methods and structures of connecting at least two integrated circuits in a 3D arrangement by a zigzag conductive chain are disclosed. The zigzag conductive chain, acting as a spring or self-adaptive contact structure (SACS) in a wafer bonding process, is designed to reduce bonding interface stress, to increase bonding interface reliability, and to have an adjustable height to close undesirable opens or voids between contacts of the two integrated circuits.

Methods of forming conductive elements, such as interconnects and electrodes, for semiconductor structures and memory cells. The methods include forming a first conductive material and a second conductive material comprising silver in a portion of at least one opening and performing a polishing process to fill the at least one opening with at least one of the first and second conductive materials. An annealing process may be performed to form a mixture or an alloy of the silver and the first conductive material. The methods enable formation of silver containing conductive elements having reduced dimensions (e.g., less than about 20 nm). The resulting conductive elements have a desirable resistivity. The methods may be used, for example, to form interconnects for electrically connecting active devices and to form electrodes for memory cells. A semiconductor structure and a memory cell including such a conductive structure are also disclosed.

An ESD protection device including a Si substrate with an ESD protection circuit formed at the surface of the substrate; pads formed on the Si substrate; a rewiring layer opposed to the surface of the Si substrate, which includes terminal electrodes electrically connected to the pads. The rewiring layer includes a SiN protection film formed on the surface of the Si substrate to cover parts of the pads except regions in contact with openings (contact holes) formed in a resin layer, and the resin layer that is lower in dielectric constant than the SiN protection film, and formed between the SiN protection film and the terminal electrodes. Thus, provided is a semiconductor device which can reduce the generation of parasitic capacitance, and eliminates variation in parasitic capacitance generated.

A semiconductor device includes a silicide contact region positioned at least partially in a semiconductor layer, an etch stop layer positioned above the semiconductor layer, and a dielectric layer positioned above the etch stop layer. A contact structure that includes a conductive contact material extends through at least a portion of the dielectric layer and through an entirety of the etch stop layer to the silicide contact region, and a silicide protection layer is positioned between sidewalls of the etch stop layer and sidewalls of the contact structure.

A method for forming at least one Ag or Ag based alloy feature in an integrated circuit, including providing a blanket layer of Ag or Ag based alloy in a multi-layer structure on a substrate. The method further includes providing a hard mask layer over the blanket layer of Ag or Ag based alloy. The method further includes performing an etch of the blanket layer of Ag or Ag based alloy, wherein a portion of the blanket layer of Ag or Ag based alloy that remains after the etch forms one or more conductive lines. The method further includes forming a liner that surrounds the one or more conductive lines. The method further includes depositing a dielectric layer on the multi-layer structure.

Methods and structures of connecting at least two integrated circuits in a 3D arrangement by a zigzag conductive chain are disclosed. The zigzag conductive chain, acting as a spring or self-adaptive contact structure (SACS) in a wafer bonding process, is designed to reduce bonding interface stress, to increase bonding interface reliability, and to have an adjustable height to close undesirable opens or voids between contacts of the two integrated circuits.