Semiconductor devices are used in a variety of electronic applications, such as personal computers, cell phones, digital cameras, and other electronic equipment, as examples. The semiconductor industry continues to improve the integration density of various electronic components of integrated circuits, i.e., transistors, diodes, resistors, capacitors, etc., by continual reductions in minimum feature size, which allow more components to be integrated into a given area. Although dramatic improvements in lithography have resulted in considerable improvement in device formation, there are physical limits to the density that can be achieved. One of these limits is the minimum size needed to make these components. Also, when more devices are put into one chip, more complex designs are desired.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds