Method of forming integrated circuit with conductive line having line-ends

1. A method for fabricating a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC), the method comprising:

forming a dielectric layer over a substrate;

forming a hard mask (HM) layer over the dielectric layer;

forming, via a first removal process, a line-like opening in the HM layer, the line-like opening having ends and a first width;

forming, via a second removal process subsequent to the first removal process, two line-end openings in the HM layer that each connect with the previously-formed line-like opening at the respective ends of the line-like opening, each of the two line-end openings having a second width greater than the first width;

etching the dielectric layer through the line-like opening and the line-end openings to form a dielectric trench and expose a set of conductive features, each of the two line-end openings being aligned with a respective conductive feature in the set of conductive features; and

forming a conductive line in the dielectric trench.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the forming of the line-like opening includes: forming a first photoresist pattern over the HM layer; etching the HM layer through the first photoresist pattern to form the line-like opening with line ends; and stripping the first photoresist pattern.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the forming of the line-end openings includes: forming a second photoresist pattern over the HM layer and the line-like opening, aligning to the line ends of the line-like opening; etching the HM layer through the second photoresist pattern; and stripping the second photoresist pattern.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the forming the dielectric trench includes: selectively etching the dielectric layer through the HM layer having the line-like opening and the line-end openings, wherein the selective etch has selectivity with respect to the HM layer.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the dielectric trench is formed to carry a combination of profiles of the line-like opening and the line-end openings.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the forming the conductive line includes: filling in the dielectric trench with a conductive material; and removing excessive conductive material.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the conductive line carries a profile of the dielectric trench.

8. A method for fabricating a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC), the method comprising:

providing conductive features, separated by a first dielectric layer, in a substrate;

forming a second dielectric layer over the first dielectric layer, including over the conductive features;

forming a hard mask (HM) layer over the second dielectric layer;

forming a line-like opening in the HM layer, aligned to a first subset of the conductive features, wherein forming the line-like opening is performed using a first photoresist pattern disposed over the HM layer, wherein the line-like opening has a first width;

forming a line-end opening in the HM layer to connect with the line-like opening at an end of the line-like opening, wherein forming the line-end opening is performed using a second photoresist pattern disposed over the HM layer, the second photoresist pattern being different than the first photoresist pattern, wherein the line-end opening has a second width, greater than the first width, the line-end opening being aligned to a second subset of the conductive features;

etching the second dielectric layer through the line-like opening and the line-end opening to form a dielectric trench and expose the first and second subsets of the conductive features; and

forming a conductive line in the dielectric trench to connect to the subset of conductive features, wherein the conductive line carries a profile of the dielectric trench.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the HM layer includes a stack of layers, which has: a bottom titanium nitride layer over the second dielectric layer; anti-reflection coating (ARC) layer over the bottom titanium nitride layer; and a top titanium nitride layer over the ARC layer.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the forming the line-like opening includes: forming the first photoresist pattern over the top titanium nitride layer; etching the top titanium nitride layer through the first photoresist pattern to form the line-like opening with line end; and stripping the first photoresist pattern.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the forming the line-end opening includes: forming the second photoresist pattern over the top titanium nitride layer and the line-like opening, aligning to the line ends of the line-like openings; etching the top titanium nitride layer through the second photoresist pattern; and stripping the second photoresist pattern.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the forming the dielectric trench includes: etching the ARC layer, the bottom titanium nitride layer and the second dielectric layer through the top titanium nitride layer having the line-like opening and the line-end opening, wherein the dielectric trench carries a combination of profiles of the line-like opening and the line-end opening.

13. A method for fabricating a semiconductor device, the method comprising:

forming a plurality of conductive features over a substrate;

depositing a first dielectric layer between the conductive features;

depositing a second dielectric layer over the first dielectric layer;

depositing a hard mask (HM) layer over the second dielectric layer;

forming a conductive line in the second dielectric layer and connecting a subset of the conductive features, the conductive line including a line-like portion having a first length and a first width and two line-end portions connecting to respective ends of the line-like portion, wherein forming the conductive line includes:

forming a line-like opening in the HM layer, aligned to the subset of the conductive features, wherein forming the line-like opening is performed using a first photoresist pattern disposed over the HM layer;

forming two line-end openings in the HM layer that each connect with the line-like opening at respective ends of the line-like opening, wherein forming the line-end opening is performed using a second photoresist pattern disposed over the HM layer, the second photoresist pattern being different than the first photoresist pattern;

etching the second dielectric layer through the line-like opening and the line-end openings to form a dielectric trench and expose the subset of the conductive features aligned with the line end openings; and

filling the dielectric trench with conductive material to form the line-like portion and the line-end portions of the conductive line;

wherein the line-end portions have a second width, equal to or larger than the first width, and

wherein the line-end portions have a second length, smaller than the first length.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the line-end portions of the conductive line, having a larger width than the width of the line-like portion, are symmetric with the line-like portion.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the line-end portions have a rectangular shape.