Inductor for a system-on-a-chip and method for manufacturing the same

Abstract

An inductor for a system-on-a-chip and a method for manufacturing the inductor are disclosed. The inductor comprises a conductive line formed by connecting a plurality of conductive patterns grown from a seed layer formed on a lower wiring. The method comprises using an electrolytic plating process or an electroless plating process to grow the plurality of adjacent conductive patterns from the seed layer until they become connected. The method also enables adjusting the height and width of the conductive line to desired levels.

1 . An inductor comprising: 
 a seed layer formed on a substrate; and    a conductive line formed on the seed layer, wherein the conductive line is formed by a plurality of connected conductive patterns grown from the seed layer.    
   
   
       2 . The inductor of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 a diffusion prevention layer formed between the substrate and the seed layer.    
   
   
       3 . The inductor of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 a protection layer formed on the conductive line.    
   
   
       4 . The inductor of  claim 3 , wherein the protection layer comprises silicon carbide or silicon nitride.  
   
   
       5 . The inductor of  claim 3 , wherein the protection layer has a thickness of about 100 to 1,000 Å.  
   
   
       6 . The inductor of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 a mold layer comprising hole arrays respectively filled with one of the plurality of conductive patterns.    
   
   
       7 . The inductor of  claim 6 , wherein the plurality of conductive patterns filling the hole arrays are connected to one another on the mold layer to form the conductive line.  
   
   
       8 . The inductor of  claim 6 , wherein the mold layer comprises oxide or photoresist.  
   
   
       9 . The inductor of  claim 6 , wherein the mold layer has a thickness of about 500 to 30,000 Å.  
   
   
       10 . The inductor of  claim 6 , wherein each of the hole arrays has a depth of about 500 to 30,000 Å.  
   
   
       11 . The inductor of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 a mold layer comprising trenches respectively filled with one of the plurality of conductive patterns.    
   
   
       12 . The inductor of  claim 11 , wherein the plurality of conductive patterns filling the trenches are connected to one another on the mold layer to form the conductive line.  
   
   
       13 . The inductor of  claim 11 , wherein the mold layer comprises oxide or photoresist.  
   
   
       14 . The inductor of  claim 11 , wherein the mold layer has a thickness of about 500 to 30,000 Å.  
   
   
       15 . The inductor of  claim 11 , wherein each of the trenches has a depth of about 500 to 30,000 Å.  
   
   
       16 . The inductor of  claim 1 , wherein the conductive line has a rounded upper portion.  
   
   
       17 . An inductor comprising: 
 a substrate comprising a conductive structure;    a seed layer formed on the substrate;    a mold layer formed on the seed layer, wherein the mold layer includes hole arrays exposing the seed layer; and    a conductive line formed on the seed layer, wherein the conductive line is electrically connected to the conductive structure and is formed by a plurality of connected conductive patterns grown from the seed layer.    
   
   
       18 . The inductor of  claim 17 , further comprising: 
 a diffusion prevention layer formed between the substrate and the seed layer.    
   
   
       19 . The inductor of  claim 17 , further comprising: 
 a protection layer formed on the conductive line.    
   
   
       20 . The inductor of  claim 17 , wherein the conductive line has an upper portion having a mushroom shaped structure.  
   
   
       21 . An inductor comprising: 
 a substrate including a conductive structure;    a mold layer formed on the substrate, wherein the mold layer comprises hole arrays having inner surfaces;    a seed layer formed on the inner surfaces of the hole arrays; and    a conductive line formed on the seed layer, wherein the conductive line is electrically connected to the conductive structure and is formed by a plurality of connected conductive patterns grown from the seed layer.    
   
   
       22 . The inductor of  claim 21 , further comprising: 
 a diffusion prevention layer formed between the seed layer and the substrate including the conductive structure.    
   
   
       23 . The inductor of  claim 21 , further comprising: 
 a protection layer formed on the conductive line.    
   
   
       24 . The inductor of  claim 21 , wherein the conductive line has a rounded upper portion.  
   
   
       25 . An inductor comprising: 
 a substrate including a conductive structure;    a mold layer formed on the substrate, wherein the mold layer comprises trenches having inner surfaces;    a seed layer formed on the inner surfaces of the hole arrays; and    a conductive line formed on the seed layer, wherein the conductive line is electrically connected to the conductive structure and is formed by a plurality of connected conductive patterns grown from the seed layer.    
   
   
       26 . The inductor of  claim 25 , further comprising: 
 a diffusion prevention layer formed between the seed layer and the substrate including the conductive structure.    
   
   
       27 . The inductor of  claim 25 , further comprising: 
 a protection layer formed on the conductive line.    
   
   
       28 . The inductor of  claim 25 , wherein the conductive line has a rounded upper portion.  
   
   
       29 . An inductor comprising: 
 a substrate including a conductive structure;    a mold layer formed on the substrate, wherein the mold layer comprises hole arrays having inner surfaces;    a first seed layer formed on the inner surfaces of the hole arrays and on the mold layer;    a capping layer formed on the first seed layer;    a second seed layer formed on portions of the capping layer positioned in the hole arrays; and,    a conductive line formed on the second seed layer, wherein the conductive line is electrically connected to the conductive structure and is formed by a plurality of connected conductive patterns grown from the second seed layer.    
   
   
       30 . The inductor of  claim 29 , further comprising: 
 a diffusion prevention layer formed between the first seed layer and the substrate including the conductive structure, and between the first seed layer and the mold layer.    
   
   
       31 . The inductor of  claim 29 , wherein the first seed layer comprises an element selected from the group consisting of copper (Cu), platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd), nickel (Ni), silver (Ag), gold (Au) and any alloy thereof.  
   
   
       32 . The inductor of  claim 29 , wherein the capping layer comprises aluminum (Al).  
   
   
       33 . The inductor of  claim 32 , wherein the capping layer has a thickness of about 100 to 500 Å.  
   
   
       34 . The inductor of  claim 29 , wherein the second seed layer comprises an element selected from the group consisting of copper, platinum, palladium, nickel, silver, gold and any alloy thereof.  
   
   
       35 . The inductor of  claim 29 , further comprising a protection layer formed on the conductive line.  
   
   
       36 . The inductor of  claim 29 , wherein the conductive line has a rounded upper portion.  
   
   
       37 . A method for manufacturing an inductor, comprising: 
 forming a mold layer on a seed layer, wherein the mold layer comprises hole arrays exposing the seed layer;    forming conductive patterns on the mold layer from the seed layer to fill the hole arrays; and    forming a conductive line on the mold layer by growing the conductive patterns on the mold layer and connecting the conductive patterns.    
   
   
       38 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein forming the mold layer comprises: 
 forming a photoresist film on the seed layer; and    forming a photoresist pattern on the seed layer by patterning the photoresist film, wherein the photoresist pattern includes the hole arrays that expose the seed layer.    
   
   
       39 . The method of  claim 38 , wherein forming the photoresist pattern comprises: 
 placing a mask over the photoresist film, the mask comprising a pattern having hole arrays arranged substantially in parallel; and,    exposing the photoresist film using the mask.    
   
   
       40 . The method of  claim 38 , further comprising: 
 forming an anti-reflective layer on the photoresist film.    
   
   
       41 . The method of  claim 40 , further comprising: 
 removing the photoresist pattern and the anti-reflective layer after forming the conductive line.    
   
   
       42 . The method of  claim 41 , wherein the photoresist pattern and the anti-reflective layer are removed using an organic stripper, a solution including ozone at a relatively high concentration, or a standard cleaning solution including carbon dioxide.  
   
   
       43 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein forming the mold layer comprises: 
 forming an oxide layer on the seed layer;    forming a photoresist film on the oxide layer;    forming a photoresist pattern on the oxide layer by patterning the photoresist film; and,    forming the hole arrays through the mold layer by etching the mold layer using the photoresist pattern as an etching mask.    
   
   
       44 . The method of  claim 37 , further comprising: 
 forming a diffusion prevention layer between the seed layer and an underlying structure.    
   
   
       45 . The method of  claim 44 , further comprising: 
 partially removing the seed layer and the diffusion prevention layer except for portions of the seed layer and the diffusion prevention layer positioned beneath the conductive line after forming the conductive line.    
   
   
       46 . The method of  claim 45 , wherein the seed layer and the diffusion prevention layer are partially removed using a solution including hydrogen fluoride and hydrogen peroxide or hydrogen fluoride and nitric acid.  
   
   
       47 . The method of  claim 37 , further comprising: 
 forming a protection layer on the conductive line.    
   
   
       48 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein the conductive line is formed by an electrolytic plating process or an electroless plating process.  
   
   
       49 . The method of  claim 48 , wherein the electrolytic plating process is performed with a current density of about 20 to 40 mA/cm 2  using a plating solution including a copper sulfate solution, a sulfuric acid solution and a solution including chlorine ions.  
   
   
       50 . A method for manufacturing an inductor, comprising: 
 forming a mold layer on a seed layer, wherein the mold layer comprises trenches exposing the seed layer;    forming conductive patterns on the mold layer from the seed layer to fill the trenches; and    forming a conductive line on the mold layer by growing the conductive patterns on the mold layer and connecting the conductive patterns.    
   
   
       51 . The method of  claim 50 , wherein forming the mold layer comprises: 
 forming a photoresist film on the seed layer; and    forming a photoresist pattern on the seed layer by patterning the photoresist film, wherein the photoresist pattern includes the trenches that expose the seed layer.    
   
   
       52 . The method of  claim 51 , wherein forming the photoresist pattern comprises: 
 placing a mask over the photoresist film, the mask comprising a pattern having trenches substantially in parallel; and    exposing the photoresist film using the mask.    
   
   
       53 . A method of manufacturing an inductor comprising: 
 forming a mold layer on a substrate comprising a conductive structure, wherein the mold layer comprises hole arrays having inner surfaces;    forming a diffusion prevention layer on the inner surfaces of the hole arrays and on the mold layer;    forming seed layer patterns on portions of the diffusion prevention layer positioned in the hole arrays;    forming conductive patterns from the seed layer patterns to fill the hole arrays;    forming a conductive line on the mold layer by growing the conductive patterns on the mold layer and by connecting the conductive patterns; and    forming a protection layer on the conductive line.    
   
   
       54 . The method of  claim 53 , wherein forming the seed layer patterns comprises: 
 forming a seed layer on the diffusion prevention layer; and    removing portions of the seed layer positioned on the mold layer.    
   
   
       55 . The method of  claim 54 , wherein removing the portions of the seed layer is performed by a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process, an etch back process, or a combination of a CMP process and an etch back process.  
   
   
       56 . The method of  claim 53 , wherein forming the conductive line is performed by an electrolytic plating process or an electroless plating process.  
   
   
       57 . A method of manufacturing an inductor comprising: 
 forming a mold layer on a substrate comprising a conductive structure, wherein the mold layer comprises hole arrays having inner surfaces;    forming a diffusion prevention layer on the inner surfaces of the hole arrays and on the mold layer;    forming a first seed layer on the diffusion prevention layer;    forming a capping layer on the first seed layer;    forming second seed layer patterns on portions of the capping layer positioned in the hole arrays;    forming conductive patterns from the second seed layer patterns to fill the hole arrays;    forming a conductive line on the mold layer by growing the conductive patterns on the mold layer and by connecting the conductive patterns; and    forming a protection layer on the conductive line.    
   
   
       58 . The method of  claim 57 , wherein forming the second seed layer patterns comprises: 
 forming a second seed layer on the capping layer; and    removing portions of the second seed layer positioned on the mold layer.