Claims
- 1. A thin film coated substrate having at least one surface protrusion removed that projects from a layer of a first conductive material directly deposited on a surface of a substrate, the thin film coated substrate formed by the method comprising the steps of:applying a layer of a second material on the layer of first conductive material; removing a sufficient quantity of the second material to expose the at least one protrusion projecting from the layer of first conductive material; and removing the surface protrusion through the exposed portion to form a void extending through the first conductive layer and exposing a portion of the substrate.
- 2. The thin film coated substrate of claim 1, wherein applying a layer of a second material on the layer of first conductive material comprises applying a layer of the second material having a thickness that is less than the height of any surface protrusions.
- 3. The thin film coated substrate of claim 1, wherein applying a layer of a second material on the layer of first conductive material comprises conformally coating the first conductive material with the second material.
- 4. The thin film coated substrate of claim 1 wherein removing a sufficient quantity of the second material to expose the at least one protrusion projecting from the layer of first conductive material comprises chemical mechanical planarization of the second material.
- 5. The thin film coated substrate of claim 1 wherein removing a sufficient quantity of the second material to expose the at least one protrusion projecting from the layer of first material comprises:removing the second material above a predetermined distance from the surface of the substrate so that the thickness of the second material above the first conductive material is greater adjacent the protrusion than above the protrusion; and isotropically removing the second material to expose any surface protrusion.
- 6. The thin film coated substrate of claim 1 wherein removing the first conductive material through the exposed portion comprises etching the first conductive material through any such exposed portions.
- 7. The thin film coated substrate of claim 1 wherein removing the first conductive material through the exposed portion comprises etching the first conductive material through the exposed portion.
- 8. The thin film coated substrate of claim 7 wherein etching the first conductive material through the exposed portion comprises applying an etchant to the exposed portion that selectively removes the first conductive material to a greater degree than the second material.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application No. 09/267,187, filed Mar. 12, 1999, now U.S. Pat. Ser. No. 6,407,499 which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/726,955, filed Oct. 7, 1996, now U.S. Pat. Ser. No. 5,902,491.
STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT INTEREST
This invention was made with Government support under Contract No. DABT63-93-C-0025 ordered by Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). The Government has certain rights in this invention.
US Referenced Citations (13)
Non-Patent Literature Citations (1)
Entry |
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