Abstract:
A semiconductor device includes a first under-bump metallization (UBM) layer disposed over a bond pad, a dielectric layer above an interconnect layer having a via exposing at least a portion of the first UBM layer. A second UBM layer is disposed above the first UBM layer and forms a UBM bucket over the via. The first UBM layer and UBM bucket are configured to support a solder ball and can advantageously block all alpha particles emitted by the solder ball having a relevant angle of incidence from reaching the active semiconductor regions of the IC. Thus, soft errors, such as single event upsets in memory cells, are reduced or eliminated.