A New Process for On-Chip Inductors with High Q-Factor Performance

Table 1

Process flow comparison of standard flow and additional steps for realizing oxide-free inductors.

Standard process flow	New process steps
FEOL process	Equally
BEOL process up to M2	Equally
Structuring of metal 3	Equally
—	Lithography (3 𝜇m resist)
—	1st oxide etch (anisotropic)
—	2nd oxide etch (isotropic)
—	Resist strip
—	Wet clean
Final chip passivation	Equally