ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- United States Patent no. 12,308,250, issued on May 20, was assigned to Tokyo Electron Ltd. (Tokyo).

"Pre-etch treatment for metal etch" was invented by Scott Lefevre (Albany, N.Y.) and Angelique Raley (Albany, N.Y.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A method of processing a substrate that includes: exposing a substrate to a first plasma including carbon, the substrate including a first layer including a dielectric material and a second layer including a metal, the first plasma forming a first carbonaceous deposit over the first layer and a second carbonaceous deposit over the second layer; exposing the first carbonaceous deposit and the second carbonaceous deposit to a...