Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080268589 | SHALLOW TRENCH DIVOT CONTROL POST - The disclosure provides a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device. The method comprises forming a shallow trench isolation structure, including performing a wet etch process to remove a patterned pad oxide layer located on a semiconductor substrate. The wet etch thereby produces a divot on upper lateral edges of a insulator-filled trench in the semiconductor substrate. Forming the shallow trench isolation structure also includes forming a nitride post on a vertical wall of the divot. Forming the nitride post includes depositing a nitride layer on the insulator, and dry etching the nitride layer. The dry etch is selective towards the nitride located adjacent the vertical wall such that a portion of the nitride layer remains on the vertical wall subsequent to the dry etching. | 10-30-2008 |
20090096055 | METHOD TO FORM CMOS CIRCUITS WITH SUB 50NM STI STRUCTURES USING SELECTIVE EPITAXIAL SILICON POST STI ETCH - An STI field oxide element in an IC which includes a layer of epitaxial semiconductor on sidewalls of the STI trench to increase the width of the active area adjacent to the STI trench and decrease a width of dielectric material in the STI trench is disclosed. STI etch residue is removed from the STI trench surface prior to growth of the epitaxial layer. The epitaxial semiconductor composition is matched to the composition of the adjacent active area. The epitaxial semiconductor may be undoped or doped to match the active area. The STI trench with the epitaxial layer is compatible with common STI passivation and fill processes. The thickness of the as-grown epitaxial semiconductor layer is selected to provide a desired active area width or a desired STI dielectric width. | 04-16-2009 |
20090098702 | Method to Form CMOS Circuits Using Optimized Sidewalls - A method of forming reduced width STI field oxide elements using sidewall spacers on the isolation hardmask to reduce the STI trench width is disclosed. The isolation sidewall spacers are formed by depositing a conformal layer of spacer material on the isolation hardmask and performing an anisotropic etch. The isolation sidewall spacers reduce the exposed substrate width during the subsequent STI trench etch process, leading to a reduced STI trench width. A method of forming the isolation sidewall spacers of a material that is easily removed from the isolation hardmask to provide an exposed shoulder width on the substrate defined by the sidewall thickness is also disclosed. | 04-16-2009 |
20100164005 | SELECTIVE WET ETCH PROCESS FOR CMOS ICS HAVING EMBEDDED STRAIN INDUCING REGIONS AND INTEGRATED CIRCUITS THEREFROM - A method for fabricating a CMOS integrated circuit (IC) and ICs therefrom includes providing a substrate having a semiconductor surface including PMOS regions for PMOS devices and NMOS regions for NMOS devices. A gate stack including a gate electrode layer is formed on a gate dielectric layer in or on both the PMOS regions and the NMOS regions. An n-type doping is used to create n-type wet etch sensitized regions on opposing sides of the gate stack in both the PMOS and said NMOS regions. Wet etching removes the n-type wet etch sensitized regions in (i) at least a portion of said PMOS regions to form a plurality of PMOS source/drain recesses or (ii) in at least a portion of said NMOS regions to form a plurality of NMOS source/drain recesses, or (i) and (ii). At least one of a compressive strain inducing epitaxial layer is formed in the plurality of PMOS source/drain recesses and a tensile strain inducing epitaxial layer is formed in the plurality of NMOS source/drain recesses. The fabrication of the IC is then completed. | 07-01-2010 |
20100164006 | GATE DIELECTRIC FIRST REPLACEMENT GATE PROCESSES AND INTEGRATED CIRCUITS THEREFROM - A method for fabricating a CMOS integrated circuit (IC) and ICs therefrom includes the steps of providing a substrate having a semiconductor surface, wherein the semiconductor surface has PMOS regions for PMOS devices and NMOS regions for NMOS devices. A gate dielectric layer is formed on the PMOS regions and NMOS regions. An original gate electrode layer is formed on the gate dielectric layer. A gate masking layer is applied on the gate electrode layer. Etching is used to pattern the original gate electrode layer to simultaneously form original gate electrodes for the PMOS devices and NMOS devices. Source and drain regions are formed for the PMOS devices and NMOS devices. The original gate electrodes are removed for at least one of the PMOS devices and NMOS devices to form trenches using an etch process, such as a hydroxide-based solution, wherein at least a portion and generally substantially all of the gate dielectric layer is preserved. A metal comprising replacement gates is formed in the trenches, and fabrication of the IC is completed. | 07-01-2010 |
20100167514 | POST METAL GATE VT ADJUST ETCH CLEAN - A method for fabricating a CMOS integrated circuit (IC) includes providing a substrate having a semiconductor surface, wherein the semiconductor surface has PMOS regions for PMOS devices and NMOS regions for NMOS devices. A gate dielectric layer is formed on the semiconductor surface followed by forming at least a first metal including layer on the gate dielectric layer. A polysilicon or amorphous silicon layer is formed on the first metal including layer to form an intermediate gate electrode stack. A masking pattern is formed on the intermediate gate electrode stack. The polysilicon or amorphous silicon layer is dry etched using the masking pattern to define a patterned intermediate gate electrode stack over the NMOS or PMOS regions, wherein the dry etching stops on a portion of the first metal comprising layer. The masking pattern is removed using a first post etch clean for stripping the masking pattern. A multi-step solution cleaning sequence is used after the removing step and includes a first wet clean including sulfuric acid and a fluoride, and a second wet clean after the first wet clean including a fluoride. Fabrication of the IC is then completed. | 07-01-2010 |
20100167517 | CROSS-CONTAMINATION CONTROL FOR PROCESSING OF CIRCUITS COMPRISING MOS DEVICES THAT INCLUDE METAL COMPRISING HIGH-K DIELECTRICS - A cross method for fabricating a CMOS integrated circuit (IC) includes providing a semiconductor wafer having a topside semiconductor surface, a bevel semiconductor surface, and a backside semiconductor surface, wherein the bevel semiconductor surface and backside semiconductor surface include silicon or germanium. A metal including high-k gate dielectric layer is formed on at least the topside semiconductor surface and on at least a portion of the bevel semiconductor surface and backside semiconductor surface. The high-k dielectric material on the bevel semiconductor surface and the backside semiconductor surface are selectively removed while protecting the high-k dielectric layer on the topside semiconductor surface. The selective removing includes a first oxidizing treatment, and a fluoride including wet etch follows the first oxidizing treatment. The fabrication of the IC is completed including forming at least one metal gate layer on the high-k gate dielectric layer after the selectively removing step. | 07-01-2010 |
20100167518 | CROSS-CONTAMINATION CONTROL FOR SEMICONDUCTOR PROCESS FLOWS HAVING METAL COMPRISING GATE ELECTRODES - A method for fabricating a CMOS integrated circuit (IC) includes providing a semiconductor including wafer having a topside semiconductor surface, a bevel semiconductor surface, and a backside semiconductor surface. A gate dielectric layer is formed on at least the topside semiconductor surface. A metal including gate electrode material including at least a first metal is deposited on the gate dielectric layer on the topside semiconductor surface and on at least a portion of the bevel semiconductor surface and at least a portion of the backside semiconductor surface. The metal including gate electrode material on the bevel semiconductor surface and the backside semiconductor surface are selectively removed to form substantially first metal free bevel and backside surfaces while protecting the metal gate electrode material on the topside semiconductor surface. The selective removing includes a first wet etch that etches the metal gate electrode material highly selectively as compared to the semiconductor, wherein the first wet etch includes a strong oxidizing acid, a weak acid that generally include an organic acid, and a fluoride. The fabrication of the IC including is completed including forming at least one metal interconnect layer after the selectively removing step. | 07-01-2010 |
20100167519 | POST HIGH-K DIELECTRIC/METAL GATE CLEAN - A method for fabricating a CMOS integrated circuit (IC) includes the step of providing a substrate having a semiconductor surface. A gate stack including a metal gate electrode on a metal including high-k dielectric layer is formed on the semiconductor surface. Dry etching is used to pattern the gate stack to define a patterned gate electrode stack having exposed sidewalls of the metal gate electrode. The dry etching forms post etch residuals some of which are deposited on the substrate. The substrate including the patterned gate electrode stack is exposed to a solution cleaning sequence including a first clean step including a first acid and a fluoride for removing at least a portion of the post etch residuals, wherein the first clean step has a high selectivity to avoid etching the exposed sidewalls of the metal gate electrode. A second clean after the first clean consists essentially of a fluoride which removes residual high-k material on the semiconductor surface. | 07-01-2010 |
20100248440 | NITRIDE REMOVAL WHILE PROTECTING SEMICONDUCTOR SURFACES FOR FORMING SHALLOW JUNCTIONS - A method of removing silicon nitride over a semiconductor surface for forming shallow junctions. Sidewall spacers are formed along sidewalls of a gate stack that together define lightly doped drain (LDD) regions or source/drain (S/D) regions. At least one of the sidewall spacers, LDD regions and S/D regions include an exposed silicon nitride layer. The LDD or S/D regions include a protective dielectric layer formed directly on the semiconductor surface. Ion implanting implants the LDD regions or S/D regions using the sidewall spacers as implant masks. The exposed silicon nitride layer is selectively removed, wherein the protective dielectric layer when the sidewall spacers include the exposed silicon nitride layer, or a replacement protective dielectric layer formed directly on the semiconductor surface after ion implanting when the LDD or S/D regions include the exposed silicon nitride layer, protects the LDD or S/D regions from dopant loss due to etching during selectively removing. | 09-30-2010 |
20100261298 | CURVATURE REDUCTION FOR SEMICONDUCTOR WAFERS - A method for reducing curvature of a wafer having a semiconductor surface. One or more process steps are identified at which wafers exhibit the largest curvature, and/or wafer curvature that may reduce die yield. A crystal damaging process converts at least a portion of the semiconductor surface into at least one amorphous surface region After or contemporaneously with the crystal damaging, the amorphous surface region is recrystallized by recrystallization annealing that anneals the wafer for a time ≦5 seconds at a temperature sufficient for recrystallization of the amorphous surface region. A subsequent photolithography step is facilitated due to the reduction in average wafer curvature provided by the recrystallization. | 10-14-2010 |
20100261353 | WAFER PLANARITY CONTROL BETWEEN PATTERN LEVELS - A method for controlling the flatness of a wafer between lithography pattern levels. A first lithography step is performed on a topside semiconductor surface of the wafer. Reference curvature information is obtained for the wafer. The reference curvature is other than planar. At least one process step is performed that results in a changed curvature relative to the reference curvature. The changed curvature information is obtained for the wafer. Stress on a bottomside surface of the wafer is modified that reduces a difference between the changed curvature and the reference curvature. A second lithography step is performed on the topside semiconductor surface while the modified stress distribution is present. | 10-14-2010 |
20110031557 | GATE DIELECTRIC FIRST REPLACEMENT GATE PROCESSES AND INTEGRATED CIRCUITS THEREFROM - A method for fabricating a CMOS integrated circuit (IC) and ICs therefrom includes the steps of providing a substrate having a semiconductor surface, wherein the semiconductor surface has PMOS regions for PMOS devices and NMOS regions for NMOS devices. A gate dielectric layer is formed on the PMOS regions and NMOS regions. An original gate electrode layer is formed on the gate dielectric layer. A gate masking layer is applied on the gate electrode layer. Etching is used to pattern the original gate electrode layer to simultaneously form original gate electrodes for the PMOS devices and NMOS devices. Source and drain regions are formed for the PMOS devices and NMOS devices. The original gate electrodes are removed for at least one of the PMOS devices and NMOS devices to form trenches using an etch process, such as a hydroxide-based solution, wherein at least a portion and generally substantially all of the gate dielectric layer is preserved. A metal comprising replacement gates is formed in the trenches, and fabrication of the IC is completed. | 02-10-2011 |
20120032280 | MOS TRANSISTORS INCLUDING SiON GATE DIELECTRIC WITH ENHANCED NITROGEN CONCENTRATION AT ITS SIDEWALLS - A method of forming an integrated circuit (IC) having at least one MOS device includes forming a SiON gate dielectric layer on a silicon surface. A gate electrode layer is deposited on the SiON gate layer and then patterning forms a gate stack. Exposed gate dielectric sidewalls are revealed by the patterning. A supplemental silicon oxide layer is formed on the exposed SiON sidewalls followed by nitriding. After nitriding, a post nitridation annealing (PNA) forms an annealed N-enhanced SiON gate dielectric layer including N-enhanced SiON sidewalls, wherein along lines of constant thickness a N concentration at the N-enhanced SiON sidewalls is ≧ the N concentration in a bulk of the annealed N-enhanced SiON gate layer −2 atomic %. A source and drain region on opposing sides of the gate stack are formed to define a channel region under the gate stack. | 02-09-2012 |
20130082385 | DIE HAVING COEFFICIENT OF THERMAL EXPANSION GRADED LAYER - A semiconductor die includes a substrate including a topside including circuit elements configured to provide a circuit function. The die includes at least one multi-layer structure including a first material having a first CTE, a second material including a metal having a second CTE, wherein the second CTE is higher than the first CTE. A coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) graded layer includes at least a dielectric portion that is between the first material and the second material having a first side facing the first material and a second side facing the second material. The CTE graded layer includes a non-constant composition profile across its thickness that provides a graded CTE which increases in CTE from the first side to the second side. The multi-layer structure can be a through-substrate-vias (TSV) that extends through the thickness of the substrate. | 04-04-2013 |
20130221451 | MOS TRANSISTORS INCLUDING SiON GATE DIELECTRIC WITH ENHANCED NITROGEN CONCENTRATION AT ITS SIDEWALLS - A method of forming an integrated circuit (IC) having at least one MOS device includes forming a SiON gate dielectric layer on a silicon surface. A gate electrode layer is deposited on the SiON gate layer and then patterning forms a gate stack. Exposed gate dielectric sidewalls are revealed by the patterning. A supplemental silicon oxide layer is formed on the exposed SiON sidewalls followed by nitriding. After nitriding, a post nitridation annealing (PNA) forms an annealed N-enhanced SiON gate dielectric layer including N-enhanced SiON sidewalls, wherein along lines of constant thickness a N concentration at the N-enhanced SiON sidewalls is ≧ the N concentration in a bulk of the annealed N-enhanced SiON gate layer −2 atomic %. A source and drain region on opposing sides of the gate stack are formed to define a channel region under the gate stack. | 08-29-2013 |
20130248949 | INTEGRATED CIRCUIT HAVING CHEMICALLY MODIFIED SPACER SURFACE - A method of fabricating an integrated circuit includes depositing a first dielectric material onto a semiconductor surface of a substrate having a gate stack thereon including a gate electrode on a gate dielectric. The first dielectric material is etched to form sidewall spacers on sidewalls of the gate stack. A top surface of the first dielectric material is chemically converted to a second dielectric material by adding at least one element to provide surface converted sidewall spacers. The second dielectric material is chemically bonded across a transition region to the first dielectric material. | 09-26-2013 |
20140080301 | FABRICATING A SEMICONDUCTOR DIE HAVING COEFFICIENT OF THERMAL EXPANSION GRADED LAYER - A method of fabricating a semiconductor die includes circuit elements configured to provide a circuit function. A substrate including a bottomside and a topside is provided. At least one multi-layer structure is formed. The forming is done by depositing a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) graded layer comprising at least a dielectric portion on a first material having a first CTE to provide a first side facing said first material and a second side opposite the first side. The depositing includes flowing a first reactive component and at least a second reactive component. A gas flow ratio of the first reactive component relative to the second reactive component is automatically changed during a deposition time to provide a non-constant composition profile which has a graded CTE that increases from the first side to the second side. A metal layer comprising a second material having a second CTE is formed on the second side. The second CTE is higher than the first CTE. | 03-20-2014 |
20150044830 | HARD MASK FOR SOURCE/DRAIN EPITAXY CONTROL - An integrated circuit is formed to include a first polarity MOS transistor and a second, opposite, polarity MOS transistor. A hard mask of silicon-doped boron nitride (Si | 02-12-2015 |
20150069516 | INNER L-SPACER FOR REPLACEMENT GATE FLOW - An integrated circuit is formed by removing a sacrificial gate dielectric layer and a sacrificial gate to form a gate cavity. A conformal dielectric first liner is formed in the gate cavity and a conformal second liner is formed on the first liner. A first etch removes the second liner from the bottom of the gate cavity, leaving material of the second liner on sidewalls of the gate cavity. A second etch removes the first liner from the bottom of the gate cavity exposed by the second liner, leaving material of the first liner on the bottom of the gate cavity under the second liner on the sidewalls of the gate cavity. A third etch removes the second liner from the gate cavity, leaving an L-shaped spacers of the first liner in the gate cavity. A permanent gate dielectric layer and replacement gate are formed in the gate cavity. | 03-12-2015 |