Method for fabricating semiconductor lsi circuit devices

Claim 1

A method for fabricating a semiconductor LSI circuit device comprising the steps of: a. forming a multiplicity of circuit elements in one surface of a semiconductor substrate; b. providing on said surface of the substrate a first insulating layer with apertures therethrough to expose said circuit elements; c. forming on said first insulating layer a first conductive layer so as to interconnect through said apertures a relatively large number of the circuit elements into a group, respectively, so that the respective groups form unit cells; d. inspecting the characteristics of the respective unit cells to select qualified unit cells; e. at least partially removing said first conductive layer so that a desired number of the qualified unit cells are divided into a plurality of sub-unit cells each composed of one or more circuit elements; f. forming over said first insulating layer and said first conductive layer a second insulating layer with apertures therethrough to expose said sub-unit cells and the remaining non-divided unit cells; and g. forming on said second insulating layer a second conductive layer so as to interconnect through said apertures said subunit cells and said undivided unit cells into an LSI circuit device.

Claim 2

A method for fabricating a semiconductor LSI circuit device comprising the steps of: a. forming a multiplicity of circuit elements in one surface of a semiconductor substrate; b. providing on said surface of the substrate a first insulating layer with apertures therethrough to expose said circuit elements; c. forming on said first insulating layer a first conductive layer so as to interconnect through said apertures a relatively large number of the circuit elements into a group, respectively, so that the respective groups form unit cells; d. inspecting the characteristics of the respective unit cells to select qualified unit cells; e. at least partially removing said first conductive layer so that a desired number of the qualified unit cells are divided into a plurality of sub-unit cells each composed of one or more circuit elements; f. forming over said first insulating layer and said first conductive layer a second insulating layer with apertures therethrough to expose said sub-unit cells and the remaining non-divided unit cells; and g. forming on said second insulating layer a second conductive layer so as to interconnect through said apertures said subunit cells and said undivided unit cells into an LSI circuit device.

Claim 3

A method for fabricating a semiconductor LSI circuit device comprising the steps of : forming a plurality of active and passive circuit elements spaced from one another on a substrate; providing a first layer of insulating material on said substrate with apertures therethrough in a pattern that exposes contact areas of the respective circuit elements; forming interconnection conductors on said first insulating material layer so as to be connected with the exposed contact areas through said apertures and to interconnect some of the circuit elements into groups, each group being isolated from each other and designed to provide a predetermined circuit function, respectively, so that the respective groups form unit cells; inspecting the characteristics of said respective unit cells so as to select only qualified unit cells having the predetermined circuit function; removing at least a part of the interconnection conductors of a selected number of the qualified unit cells, respectively, so as to divide each of said selected number of the qualified unit cells into a plurality of sub-unit cells each having at least one of the circuit elements; providing a second layer of insulating material on said first insulating material layer as well as said interconnection conductors with apertures therethrough in a pattern that exposes some of the interconnection conductors of the qualified unit cells; and interconnecting the exposed interconnection conductors through the apertures of the second insulating material layer so that some of the sub-unit cells and the undivided qualified unit cells form an LSI circuit device.

Claim 4

A method for fabricating a semiconductor LSI circuit device comprising the steps of : forming a plurality of active and passive circuit elements spaced from one another on a substrate; providing a first layer of insulating material on said substrate with apertures therethrough in a pattern that exposes contact areas of the respective circuit elements; forming interconnection conductors on said first insulating material layer so as to be connected with the exposed contact areas through said apertures and to interconnect some of the circuit elements into groups, each group being isolated from each other and designed to provide a predetermined circuit function, respectively, so that the respective groups form unit cells; inspecting the characteristics of said respective unit cells so as to select only qualified unit cells having the predetermined circuit function; removing at least a part of the interconnection conductors of a selected number of the qualified unit cells, respectively, so as to divide each of said selected number of the qualified unit cells into a plurality of sub-unit cells each having at least one of the circuit elements; providing a second layer of insulating material on said first insulating material layer as well as said interconnection conductors with apertures therethrough in a pattern that exposes some of the interconnection conductors of the qualified unit cells; and interconnecting the exposed interconnection conductors through the apertures of the second insulating material layer so that some of the sub-unit cells and the undivided qualified unit cells form an LSI circuit device.

Claim 5

A method of fabricating a semiconductor LSI circuit device comprising the steps of : forming a plurality of circuit elements spaced apart from one another on a substrate, predetermined ones of said circuit elements including active circuit elements and predetermined others of circuit elements including passive circuit elements; providing a first layer of insulating material on said substrate having apertures therethrough in a pattern exposing preselected areas of said circuit elements; forming individual unit cells made up of a plurality of interconnected circuit elements by forming, on said first layer of insulating material, interconnection conductive layers and connecting said conductive layers with exposed contact areas through said apertures to preselected ones of said circuit elements so as to interconnect said circuit elements into groups of circuit elements, each group being isolated from each other and providing a predetermined circuit function for said unit cells; inspecting the characteristics of said respective unit cells and selecting only qualified operative unit cells having the characteristics of predetermined circuit functions; dividing a selected number of said qualified unit cells into a plurality of sub-unit cells, each of which includes at least one circuit element among said plurality of circuit elements by removing at least the portion of the interconnection conductors of a selected number of said qualified unit cells, providing a second layer of insulating material on said first layer of insulating material and on said interconnection conductors with apertures therethrough in a specific pattern for exposing some of the interconnection conductors of said qualified unit cells; and interconnecting the exposed interconnection conductors through the apertures of said second layer of insulating material so as to combine selected sub-unit cells and undivided qualified unit cells to form an LSI Circuit device.

Claim 6

A method of fabricating a semiconductor LSI circuit device comprising the steps of : forming a plurality of circuit elements spaced apart from one another on a substrate, predetermined ones of said circuit elements including active circuit elements and predetermined others of circuit elements including passive circuit elements; providing a first layer of insulating material on said substrate having apertures therethrough in a pattern exposing preselected areas of said circuit elements; forming individual unit cells made up of a plurality of interconnected circuit elements by forming, on said first layer of insulating material, interconnection conductive layers and connecting said conductive layers with exposed contact areas through said apertures to preselected ones of said circuit elements so as to interconnect said circuit elements into groups of circuit elements, each group being isolated from each other and providing a predetermined circuit function for said unit cells; inspecting the characteristics of said respective unit cells and selecting only qualified operative unit cells having the characteristics of predetermined circuit functions; dividing a selected number of said qualified unit cells into a plurality of sub-unit cells, each of which includes at least one circuit element among said plurality of circuit elements by removing at least the portion of the interconnection conductors of a selected number of said qualified unit cells, providing a second layer of insulating material on said first layer of insulating material and on said interconnection conductors with apertures therethrough in a specific pattern for exposing some of the interconnection conductors of said qualified unit cells; and interconnecting the exposed interconnection conductors through the apertures of said second layer of insulating material so as to combine selected sub-unit cells and undivided qualified unit cells to form an LSI Circuit device.