Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080261128 | Methods and structures for protecting one area while processing another area on a chip - Increased protection of areas of a chip are provided by both a mask structure of increased robustness in regard to semiconductor manufacturing processes or which can be removed with increased selectivity and controllability in regard to underlying materials, or both. Mask structures are provided which exhibit an interface of a chemical reaction, grain or material type which can be exploited to enhance either or both types of protection. Structures of such masks include TERA material which can be converted or hydrated and selectively etched using a mixture of hydrogen fluoride and a hygroscopic acid or organic solvent, and two layer structures of similar or dissimilar materials. | 10-23-2008 |
20080286909 | SIDEWALL SEMICONDUCTOR TRANSISTORS - A novel transistor structure and method for fabricating the same. First, a substrate, a semiconductor region, a gate dielectric region, and a gate block are provided. The semiconductor region, the gate dielectric region, and the gate block are on the substrate. The gate dielectric region is sandwiched between the semiconductor region and the gate block. The semiconductor region is electrically insulated from the gate block by the gate dielectric region. The semiconductor region and the gate dielectric region share an interface surface which is essentially perpendicular to a top surface of the substrate. The semiconductor region and the gate dielectric region do not share any interface surface that is essentially parallel to a top surface of the substrate. Next, a gate region is formed from the gate block. Then, first and second source/drain regions are formed in the semiconductor region. | 11-20-2008 |
20090041989 | CORRUGATED INTERFACES FOR MULTILAYERED INTERCONNECTS - Dielectric composite structures comprising interfaces possessing nanometer scale corrugated interfaces in interconnect stack provide enhances adhesion strength and interfacial fracture toughness. Composite structures further comprising corrugated adhesion promoter layers to further increase intrinsic interfacial adhesion are also described. Methods to form the nanometer scale corrugated interfaces for enabling these structures using self assembling polymer systems and pattern transfer process are also described. | 02-12-2009 |
20090047756 | DUAL PORT GAIN CELL WITH SIDE AND TOP GATED READ TRANSISTOR - A DRAM memory cell and process sequence for fabricating a dense (20 or 18 square) layout is fabricated with silicon-on-insulator (SOI) CMOS technology. Specifically, the present invention provides a dense, high-performance SRAM cell replacement that is compatible with existing SOI CMOS technologies. Various gain cell layouts are known in the art. The present invention improves on the state of the art by providing a dense layout that is fabricated with SOI CMOS. In general terms, the memory cell includes a first transistor provided with a gate, a source, and a drain respectively; a second transistor having a first gate, a second gate, a source, and a drain respectively; and a capacitor having a first terminal, wherein the first terminal of said capacitor and the second gate of said second transistor comprise a single entity. | 02-19-2009 |
20090073758 | SRAM CELLS WITH ASYMMETRIC FLOATING-BODY PASS-GATE TRANSISTORS - The embodiments of the invention provide SRAM cells with asymmetric floating-body pass-gate transistors. More specifically, a semiconductor device includes an SRAM cell, a first pass-gate transistor, and a second pass-gate transistor. The first pass-gate transistor is connected to a first side of the SRAM cell, wherein the first pass-gate transistor comprises a first drain region and a first source region. The second pass-gate transistor is connected to a second side of the SRAM cell, wherein the second side is opposite the first side. The second pass-gate transistor comprises a second source region and a second drain region. Furthermore, the first source region and/or the second source region comprise a xenon implant. The first drain region and the second drain region each lack a xenon implant. | 03-19-2009 |
20090090939 | SELF-ASSEMBLED SIDEWALL SPACER - A semiconductor structure is provided that includes a spacer directly abutting a topographic edge of at least one patterned material layer. The spacer is a non-removable polymeric block component of a self-assembled block copolymer. A method of forming such a semiconductor structure including the inventive spacer is also provided that utilizes self-assembled block copolymer technology. | 04-09-2009 |
20090093133 | SELF-ASSEMBLED SIDEWALL SPACER - A semiconductor structure is provided that includes a spacer directly abutting a topographic edge of at least one patterned material layer. The spacer is a non-removable polymeric block component of a self-assembled block copolymer. A method of forming such a semiconductor structure including the inventive spacer is also provided that utilizes self-assembled block copolymer technology. | 04-09-2009 |
20090121261 | STRUCTURE AND METHOD FOR COMPACT LONG-CHANNEL FETs - A compact semiconductor structure including at least one FET located upon and within a surface of a semiconductor substrate in which the at least one FET includes a long channel length and/or a wide channel width and a method of fabricating the same are provided. In some embodiments, the ordered, nanosized pattern is oriented in a direction that is perpendicular to the current flow. In such an embodiment, the FET has a long channel length. In other embodiments, the ordered, nanosized pattern is oriented in a direction that is parallel to that of the current flow. In such an embodiment, the FET has a wide channel width. In yet another embodiment, one ordered, nanosized pattern is oriented in a direction perpendicular to the current flow, while another ordered, nanosized pattern is oriented in a direction parallel to the current flow. In such an embodiment, a FET having a long channel length and wide channel width is provided. | 05-14-2009 |
20090142894 | METHOD FOR FABRICATING A SEMICONDUCTOR STRUCTURE - A method for fabricating a semiconductor structure. The novel transistor structure comprises first and second source/drain (S/D) regions whose top surfaces are lower than a top surface of the channel region of the transistor structure. A semiconductor layer and a gate stack on the semiconductor layer are provided. The semiconductor layer includes (i) a channel region directly beneath the gate stack, and (ii) first and second semiconductor regions essentially not covered by the gate stack, and wherein the channel region is disposed between the first and second semiconductor regions. The first and second semiconductor regions are removed. Regions directly beneath the removed first and second semiconductor regions are removed so as to form first and second source/drain regions, respectively, such that top surfaces of the first and second source/drain regions are below a top surface of the channel region. | 06-04-2009 |
20090159947 | SIMPLIFIED VERTICAL ARRAY DEVICE DRAM/eDRAM INTEGRATION - The present invention provides a semiconductor structure that includes an active wordline located above a semiconductor memory device and a passive wordline located adjacent to said active wordline and above an active area of a substrate. In accordance with the present invention, the passive wordline is separated from the active area by a pad nitride. The present invention also provides a design structure of the semiconductor structure, wherein the design structure is embodied in a machine readable medium. | 06-25-2009 |
20090176339 | Method of multi-port memory fabrication with parallel connected trench capacitors in a cell - A method is provided for fabricating a multi-port memory in which a plurality of parallel connected capacitors are in a cell. A plurality of trench capacitors are formed which have capacitor dielectric layers extending along walls of the plurality of trenches, the plurality of trench capacitors having first capacitor plates and second capacitor plates opposite the capacitor dielectric layers from the first capacitor plates. The first capacitor plates are conductively tied together and the second capacitor plates are conductively tied together. In this way, the first capacitor plates are adapted to receive a same variable voltage and the second capacitor plates are adapted to receive a same fixed voltage. | 07-09-2009 |
20090184374 | ANISOTROPIC STRESS GENERATION BY STRESS-GENERATING LINERS HAVING A SUBLITHOGRAPHIC WIDTH - A protruding structure having a linear edge is formed on a substrate. The protruding structure may be a gate line of a field effect transistor. A stress-generating liner is deposited on the substrate. A non-photosensitive self-assembling block copolymer layer containing at least two immiscible polymeric block components is deposited on the stress-generating liner, and is annealed to allow phase separation of immiscible components. The polymeric resist is developed to remove at least one of the at least two polymeric block components, which formed a pattern of nested lines due to the linear edge of the protruding structure. Linear nanoscale stripes are formed in the polymeric resist which is self-aligning and self-assembled. The stress-generating layer is patterned into linear stress-generating stripes having a sublithographic width. The linear stress-generating stripes provide a predominantly uniaxial stress along their lengthwise direction, providing an anisotropic stress to an underlying semiconductor device. | 07-23-2009 |
20090246921 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES HAVING TENSILE AND/OR COMPRESSIVE STRAIN AND METHODS OF MANUFACTURING AND DESIGN STRUCTURE - A semiconductor device having a tensile and/or compressive strain applied thereto and methods of manufacturing the semiconductor devices and design structure to enhance channel strain. The method includes forming a gate structure for an NFET and a PFET and forming sidewalls on the gate structure for the NFET and the PFET using a same deposition and etching process. The method also includes providing stress materials in the source and drain regions of the NFET and the PFET. | 10-01-2009 |
20100151638 | ANISOTROPIC STRESS GENERATION BY STRESS-GENERATING LINERS HAVING A SUBLITHOGRAPHIC WIDTH - A protruding structure having a linear edge is formed on a substrate. The protruding structure may be a gate line of a field effect transistor. A stress-generating liner is deposited on the substrate. A non-photosensitive self-assembling block copolymer layer containing at least two immiscible polymeric block components is deposited on the stress-generating liner, and is annealed to allow phase separation of immiscible components. The polymeric resist is developed to remove at least one of the at least two polymeric block components, which formed a pattern of nested lines due to the linear edge of the protruding structure. Linear nanoscale stripes are formed in the polymeric resist which is self-aligning and self-assembled. The stress-generating layer is patterned into linear stress-generating stripes having a sublithographic width. The linear stress-generating stripes provide a predominantly uniaxial stress along their lengthwise direction, providing an anisotropic stress to an underlying semiconductor device. | 06-17-2010 |
20110101378 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES HAVING TENSILE AND/OR COMPRESSIVE STRAIN AND METHODS OF MANUFACTURING AND DESIGN STRUCTURE - A semiconductor device having a tensile and/or compressive strain applied thereto and methods of manufacturing the semiconductor devices and design structure to enhance channel strain. The method includes forming a gate structure for an NFET and a PFET and forming sidewalls on the gate structure for the NFET and the PFET using a same deposition and etching process. The method also includes providing stress materials in the source and drain regions of the NFET and the PFET. | 05-05-2011 |
20110298017 | REPLACEMENT GATE MOSFET WITH SELF-ALIGNED DIFFUSION CONTACT - A replacement gate field effect transistor includes at least one self-aligned contact that overlies a portion of a dielectric gate cap. A replacement gate stack is formed in a cavity formed by removal of a disposable gate stack. The replacement gate stack is subsequently recessed, and a dielectric gate cap having sidewalls that are vertically coincident with outer sidewalls of the gate spacer is formed by filling the recess over the replacement gate stack. An anisotropic etch removes the dielectric material of the planarization layer selective to the material of the dielectric gate cap, thereby forming at least one via cavity having sidewalls that coincide with a portion of the sidewalls of the gate spacer. A portion of each diffusion contact formed by filling the at least one via cavity overlies a portion of the gate spacer and protrudes into the dielectric gate cap. | 12-08-2011 |
20110298061 | STRUCTURE AND METHOD FOR REPLACEMENT GATE MOSFET WITH SELF-ALIGNED CONTACT USING SACRIFICIAL MANDREL DIELECTRIC - The present disclosure provides a method for forming a semiconductor device that includes forming a replacement gate structure overlying a channel region of a substrate. A mandrel dielectric layer is formed overlying source and drain regions of the substrate. The replacement gate structure is removed to provide an opening exposing the channel region of the substrate. A functional gate structure is formed over the channel region including a work function metal layer. A protective cap structure is formed over the functional gate structure. At least one via is etched through the mandrel dielectric layer selective to the protective cap structure to expose a portion of at least one of the source region and the drain region. A conductive fill is then formed in the vias to provide a contact to the at least one of the source region and the drain region. | 12-08-2011 |
20110312136 | STRUCTURE AND METHOD FOR COMPACT LONG-CHANNEL FETs - A compact semiconductor structure including at least one FET located upon and within a surface of a semiconductor substrate in which the at least one FET includes a long channel length and/or a wide channel width and a method of fabricating the same are provided. In some embodiments, the ordered, nanosized pattern is oriented in a direction that is perpendicular to the current flow. In such an embodiment, the FET has a long channel length. In other embodiments, the ordered, nanosized pattern is oriented in a direction that is parallel to that of the current flow. In such an embodiment, the FET has a wide channel width. In yet another embodiment, one ordered, nanosized pattern is oriented in a direction perpendicular to the current flow, while another ordered, nanosized pattern is oriented in a direction parallel to the current flow. In such an embodiment, a FET having a long channel length and wide channel width is provided. | 12-22-2011 |
20110317324 | Solar Module with Overheat Protection - A photovoltaic module ( | 12-29-2011 |
20120046929 | Statistical Design with Importance Sampling Reuse - A mechanism is provided for reusing importance sampling for efficient cell failure rate estimation of process variations and other design considerations. First, the mechanism performs a search across circuit parameters to determine failures with respect to a set of performance variables. For a single failure region, the initial search may be a uniform sampling of the parameter space. Mixture importance sampling (MIS) efficiently may estimate the single failure region. The mechanism then finds a center of gravity for each metric and finds importance samples. Then, for each new origin corresponding to a process variation or other design consideration, the mechanism finds a suitable projection and recomputes new importance sampling (IS) ratios. | 02-23-2012 |
20120083092 | STRUCTURE AND METHOD OF FORMING ENHANCED ARRAY DEVICE ISOLATION FOR IMPLANTED PLATE EDRAM - A method for forming a memory device in a semiconductor on insulator substrate is provided, in which a protective oxide that is present on the sidewalls of the trench protects the first semiconductor layer, i.e., SOI layer, of the semiconductor on insulator substrate during bottle etching of the trench. In one embodiment, the protective oxide reduces back channel effects of the transistors to the memory devices in the trench that are formed in the semiconductor on insulator substrate. In another embodiment, a thermal oxidation process increases the thickness of the buried dielectric layer of a bonded semiconductor on insulator substrate by oxidizing the bonded interface between the buried dielectric layer and at least one semiconductor layers of the semiconductor on insulator substrate. The increased thickness of the buried dielectric layer may reduce back channel effects in devices formed on the substrate having trench memory structures. | 04-05-2012 |
20120126937 | ASSET MANAGEMENT INFRASTRUCTURE - Asset management for control of electric appliances comprises a keycode unit and an equipment unit embedded in an appliance. The keycode unit is located in a protected environment and relates to an asset management area. The equipment unit may store an appliance identification code. The keycode unit and the equipment unit may be in communication contact, whereby the equipment unit sends positioning coordinates to the keycode unit, and wherein the equipment unit is adapted to lock the appliance via the lock unit, in response to a lock signal that the equipment unit receives from the keycode unit, if the appliance moves outside the asset management area. | 05-24-2012 |
20120132966 | SEMICONDUCTOR STRUCTURES HAVING IMPROVED CONTACT RESISTANCE - Self-assembled polymer technology is used to form at least one ordered nanosized pattern within material that is present in a conductive contact region of a semiconductor structure. The material having the ordered, nanosized pattern is a conductive material of an interconnect structure or semiconductor source and drain diffusion regions of a field effect transistor. The presence of the ordered, nanosized pattern material within the contact region increases the overall area (i.e., interface area) for subsequent contact formation which, in turn, reduces the contact resistance of the structure. The reduction in contact resistance in turn improves the flow of current through the structure. In addition to the above, the inventive methods and structures do not affect the junction capacitance of the structure since the junction area remains unchanged. | 05-31-2012 |
20120175694 | STRUCTURE AND METHOD OF FORMING ENHANCED ARRAY DEVICE ISOLATION FOR IMPLANTED PLATE EDRAM - A memory device is provided including a semiconductor on insulator (SOI) substrate including a first semiconductor layer atop a buried dielectric layer, wherein the buried dielectric layer is overlying a second semiconductor layer. A capacitor is present in a trench, wherein the trench extends from an upper surface of the first semiconductor layer through the buried dielectric layer and extends into the second semiconductor layer. A protective oxide is present in a void that lies adjacent the first semiconductor layer, and a pass transistor is present atop the semiconductor on insulator substrate in electrical communication with the capacitor. | 07-12-2012 |
20120181616 | STRUCTURE AND METHOD OF Tinv SCALING FOR HIGH k METAL GATE TECHNOLOGY - A complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) structure including a scaled n-channel field effect transistor (nFET) and a scaled p-channel field transistor (pFET) which do not exhibit an increased threshold voltage and reduced mobility during operation is provided Such a structure is provided by forming a plasma nitrided, nFET threshold voltage adjusted high k gate dielectric layer portion within an nFET gate stack, and forming at least a pFET threshold voltage adjusted high k gate dielectric layer portion within a pFET gate stack. In some embodiments, the pFET threshold voltage adjusted high k gate dielectric layer portion in the pFET gate stack is also plasma nitrided. The plasma nitrided, nFET threshold voltage adjusted high k gate dielectric layer portion includes up to 15 atomic % N | 07-19-2012 |
20120183742 | PATTERN FORMATION EMPLOYING SELF-ASSEMBLED MATERIAL - In one embodiment, Hexagonal tiles encompassing a large are divided into three groups, each containing ⅓ of all hexagonal tiles that are disjoined among one another. Openings for the hexagonal tiles in each group are formed in a template layer, and a set of self-assembling block copolymers is applied and patterned within each opening. This process is repeated three times to encompass all three groups, resulting in a self-aligned pattern extending over a wide area. In another embodiment, the large area is divided into rectangular tiles of two non-overlapping and complementary groups. Each rectangular area has a width less than the range of order of self-assembling block copolymers. Self-assembled self-aligned line and space structures are formed in each group in a sequential manner so that a line and space pattern is formed over a large area extending beyond the range of order. | 07-19-2012 |
20120189767 | SELF-ALIGNED NANO-SCALE DEVICE WITH PARALLEL PLATE ELECTRODES - A contiguous deep trench includes a first trench portion having a constant width between a pair of first parallel sidewalls, second and third trench portions each having a greater width than the first trench portion and laterally connected to the first trench portion. A non-conformal deposition process is employed to form a conductive layer that has a tapered geometry within the contiguous deep trench portion such that the conductive layer is not present on bottom surfaces of the contiguous deep trench. A gap fill layer is formed to plug the space in the first trench portion. The conductive layer is patterned into two conductive plates each having a tapered vertical portion within the first trench portion. After removing remaining portions of the gap fill layer, a device is formed that has a small separation distance between the tapered vertical portions of the conductive plates. | 07-26-2012 |
20120190205 | METHODS FOR SELF-ALIGNED SELF-ASSEMBLED PATTERNING ENHANCEMENT - Methods for producing self-aligned, self-assembled sub-ground-rule features without the need to use additional lithographic patterning. Specifically, the present disclosure allows for the creation of assist features that are localized and self-aligned to a given structure. These assist features can either have the same tone or different tone to the given feature. | 07-26-2012 |
20120208332 | SEMICONDUCTOR STRUCTURES HAVING IMPROVED CONTACT RESISTANCE - Self-assembled polymer technology is used to form at least one ordered nanosized pattern within material that is present in a conductive contact region of a semiconductor structure. The material having the ordered, nanosized pattern is a conductive material of an interconnect structure or semiconductor source and drain diffusion regions of a field effect transistor. The presence of the ordered, nanosized pattern material within the contact region increases the overall area (i.e., interface area) for subsequent contact formation which, in turn, reduces the contact resistance of the structure. The reduction in contact resistance in turn improves the flow of current through the structure. In addition to the above, the inventive methods and structures do not affect the junction capacitance of the structure since the junction area remains unchanged. | 08-16-2012 |
20120241765 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES HAVING TENSILE AND/OR COMPRESSIVE STRAIN AND METHODS OF MANUFACTURING AND DESIGN STRUCTURE - A semiconductor device having a tensile and/or compressive strain applied thereto and methods of manufacturing the semiconductor devices and design structure to enhance channel strain. The gate structures for an NFET and a PFET have identically formed sidewalls, and stress materials are provided in recesses in source and drain regions of the NFET and the PFET. | 09-27-2012 |
20120261756 | INTEGRATION OF FIN-BASED DEVICES AND ETSOI DEVICES - Thin semiconductor regions and thick semiconductor regions are formed oven an insulator layer. Thick semiconductor regions include at least one semiconductor fin. A gate conductor layer is patterned to form disposable planar gate electrodes over ETSOI regions and disposable side gate electrodes on sidewalls of semiconductor fins. End portions of the semiconductor fins are vertically recessed to provide thinned fin portions adjacent to an unthinned fin center portion. After appropriate masking by dielectric layers, selective epitaxy is performed on planar source and drain regions of ETSOI field effect transistors (FETs) to form raised source and drain regions. Further, fin source and drain regions are grown on the thinned fin portions. Source and drain regions, fins, and the disposable gate electrodes are planarized. The disposable gate electrodes are replaced with metal gate electrodes. FinFETs and ETSOI FETs are provided on the same semiconductor substrate. | 10-18-2012 |
20120313153 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF PLATING CONDUCTIVE GATE CONTACTS ON METAL GATES FOR SELF-ALIGNED CONTACT INTERCONNECTIONS - According to one embodiment of the invention, the gate contact is formed by a selective deposition on the gate electrode. One acceptable technique for the selective deposition is by plating. Plating is one process by which a metal structure, such as a gate contact, may be formed directly on the gate electrode. The plating is carried out by immersing the semiconductor die in a plating solution with the gate electrode exposed. The gate contact is plated onto the gate electrode and thus is ensured of being fully aligned exactly to the gate electrode. After this, the appropriate dielectric layers are formed adjacent the gate contact and over the source and drain to ensure that the gate electrode is electrically isolated from other components of the transistor. | 12-13-2012 |
20130077415 | CIRCUIT FOR MEMORY CELL RECOVERY - An apparatus and method for combating the effects of bias temperature instability (BTI) in a memory cell. Bit lines connecting to a memory cell contain two alternate paths criss-crossing to connect a lower portion of a first bit line to an upper portion of a second bit line, and to connect a lower portion of the second bit line to an upper portion of the first bit line. Alternative to activating transistors on the bit lines to read and write to the memory cell, transistors on the alternative paths may be activated to read and write to the memory cell from the opposite bit lines. The memory cell may be read through the bit lines to a sense amplifier, the transistors on the bit lines are subsequently deactivated and the transistors on the alternate paths are activated to write transposed bit values to the memory cell, thereby reversing the biases. | 03-28-2013 |
20130082337 | OXYGEN SCAVENGING SPACER FOR A GATE ELECTRODE - At least one layer including a scavenging material and a dielectric material is deposited over a gate stack, and is subsequently anisotropically etched to form a oxygen-scavenging-material-including gate spacer. The oxygen-scavenging-material-including gate spacer can be a scavenging-nanoparticle-including gate spacer or a scavenging-island-including gate spacer. The scavenging material is distributed within the oxygen-scavenging-material-including gate spacer in a manner that prevents an electrical short between a gate electrode and a semiconductor material underlying a gate dielectric. The scavenging material actively scavenges oxygen that diffuses toward the gate dielectric from above, or from the outside of, a dielectric gate spacer that can be formed around the oxygen-scavenging-material-including gate spacer. | 04-04-2013 |
20130143377 | STRUCTURE AND METHOD FOR REPLACEMENT GATE MOSFET WITH SELF-ALIGNED CONTACT USING SACRIFICIAL MANDREL DIELECTRIC - The present disclosure provides a method for forming a semiconductor device that includes forming a replacement gate structure overlying a channel region of a substrate. A mandrel dielectric layer is formed overlying source and drain regions of the substrate. The replacement gate structure is removed to provide an opening exposing the channel region of the substrate. A functional gate structure is formed over the channel region including a work function metal layer. A protective cap structure is formed over the functional gate structure. At least one via is etched through the mandrel dielectric layer selective to the protective cap structure to expose a portion of at least one of the source region and the drain region. A conductive fill is then formed in the vias to provide a contact to the at least one of the source region and the drain region. | 06-06-2013 |
20130168395 | SELF-LOCKING CONTAINER - Method and apparatus to provide a self-locking container to prevent unwanted access to materials stored in the container as a result of exposure to conditions that compromise the effectiveness or safety of the materials. A container may be threaded to receive a threaded lid, and the container may comprise a bolt movable within a channel from a retracted position, which allows the lid to be threadably connected or removed, to a locked position, which prevents removal of the lid. The bolt is movable to the locked position by a drive member, such as a bimetallic strip or a shape-memory element that drive the bolt in response to exposure to the condition that compromises the material. | 07-04-2013 |
20130187239 | STRUCTURE AND METHOD OF Tinv SCALING FOR HIGH k METAL GATE TECHNOLOGY - A complementary metal oxide semiconductor structure including a scaled nFET and a scaled pFET which do not exhibit an increased threshold voltage and reduced mobility during operation is provided. The method includes forming a plasma nitrided, nFET threshold voltage adjusted high k gate dielectric layer portion within an nFET gate stack, and forming at least a pFET threshold voltage adjusted high k gate dielectric layer portion within a pFET gate stack. The pFET threshold voltage adjusted high k gate dielectric layer portion in the pFET gate stack can also be plasma nitrided. The plasma nitrided, nFET threshold voltage adjusted high k gate dielectric layer portion contains up to 15 atomic % N | 07-25-2013 |
20130270224 | CORRUGATED INTERFACES FOR MULTILAYERED INTERCONNECTS - Dielectric composite structures comprising interfaces possessing nanometer scale corrugated interfaces in interconnect stack provide enhances adhesion strength and interfacial fracture toughness. Composite structures further comprising corrugated adhesion promoter layers to further increase intrinsic interfacial adhesion are also described. Methods to form the nanometer scale corrugated interfaces for enabling these structures using self assembling polymer systems and pattern transfer process are also described. | 10-17-2013 |
20130272077 | CIRCUIT FOR MEMORY CELL RECOVERY - An apparatus and method for combating the effects of bias temperature instability (BTI) and other variability in a memory cell. Bit lines connecting to a memory cell contain two alternate paths that criss-cross to connect a lower portion of a first bit line to an upper portion of a second bit line, and to connect a lower portion of the second bit line to an upper portion of the first bit line. Alternative to activating transistors on the bit lines to read and write to the memory cell, transistors on the alternative paths may be activated to read and write to the memory cell from the opposite bit line. In this fashion, the memory cell may be read through the bit lines to a sense amplifier where the bit values are latched. While the bit values remain latched in the sense amplifier, the transistors on the bit lines are deactivated and the transistors on the alternate paths are activated. When the word line is accessed, the bit values will be written into the opposite sides of the memory cell, reversing the biases. | 10-17-2013 |
20130273325 | CORRUGATED INTERFACES FOR MULTILAYERED INTERCONNECTS - Dielectric composite structures comprising interfaces possessing nanometer scale corrugated interfaces in interconnect stack provide enhances adhesion strength and interfacial fracture toughness. Composite structures further comprising corrugated adhesion promoter layers to further increase intrinsic interfacial adhesion are also described. Methods to form the nanometer scale corrugated interfaces for enabling these structures using self assembling polymer systems and pattern transfer process are also described. | 10-17-2013 |
20130334618 | METAL OXIDE SEMICONDUCTOR FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTOR (MOSFET) GATE TERMINATION - A method of forming a semiconductor device is provided that includes forming an oxide containing isolation region in a semiconductor substrate to define an active semiconductor region. A blanket gate stack including a high-k gate dielectric layer may then be formed on the active semiconductor region. At least a portion of the blanket gate stack extends from the active semiconductor device region to the isolation region. The blanket gate stack may then be etched to provide an opening over the isolation region. The surface of the isolation region that is exposed by the opening may then be isotropically etched to form an undercut region in the isolation region that extend under the high-k gate dielectric layer. An encapsulating dielectric material may then be formed in the opening filling the undercut region. The blanket gate stack may then be patterned to form a gate structure. | 12-19-2013 |
20130337624 | METAL OXIDE SEMICONDUCTOR FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTOR (MOSFET) GATE TERMINATION - A method of forming a semiconductor device is provided that includes forming an oxide containing isolation region in a semiconductor substrate to define an active semiconductor region. A blanket gate stack including a high-k gate dielectric layer may then be formed on the active semiconductor region. At least a portion of the blanket gate stack extends from the active semiconductor device region to the isolation region. The blanket gate stack may then be etched to provide an opening over the isolation region. The surface of the isolation region that is exposed by the opening may then be isotropically etched to form an undercut region in the isolation region that extend under the high-k gate dielectric layer. An encapsulating dielectric material may then be formed in the opening filling the undercut region. The blanket gate stack may then be patterned to form a gate structure. | 12-19-2013 |
20140065783 | OXYGEN SCAVENGING SPACER FOR A GATE ELECTRODE - At least one layer including a scavenging material and a dielectric material is deposited over a gate stack, and is subsequently anisotropically etched to form a oxygen-scavenging-material-including gate spacer. The oxygen-scavenging-material-including gate spacer can be a scavenging-nanoparticle-including gate spacer or a scavenging-island-including gate spacer. The scavenging material is distributed within the oxygen-scavenging-material-including gate spacer in a manner that prevents an electrical short between a gate electrode and a semiconductor material underlying a gate dielectric. The scavenging material actively scavenges oxygen that diffuses toward the gate dielectric from above, or from the outside of, a dielectric gate spacer that can be formed around the oxygen-scavenging-material-including gate spacer. | 03-06-2014 |
20140170844 | STRUCTURE AND METHOD OF Tinv SCALING FOR HIGH k METAL GATE TECHNOLOGY - A complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) structure including a scaled n-channel field effect transistor (nFET) and a scaled p-channel field transistor (pFET) is provided. Such a structure is provided by forming a plasma nitrided, nFET threshold voltage adjusted high k gate dielectric layer portion within an nFET gate stack, and forming at least a pFET threshold voltage adjusted high k gate dielectric layer portion within a pFET gate stack. The pFET threshold voltage adjusted high k gate dielectric layer portion in the pFET gate stack may also plasma nitrided. The plasma nitrided, nFET threshold voltage adjusted high k gate dielectric layer portion includes up to 15 atomic % N | 06-19-2014 |
20140173535 | ANALYSIS OF CHIP-MEAN VARIATION AND INDEPENDENT INTRA-DIE VARIATION FOR CHIP YIELD DETERMINATION - Systems and methods for determining a chip yield are disclosed. One method includes obtaining a first probability distribution function modeling variations within a chip and a second probability distribution function modeling variations between dies. Further, a discontinuous first level integration is performed with the first probability distribution function and a continuous second level integration is performed by a hardware processor based on the second probability function to determine the chip yield. | 06-19-2014 |
20140173547 | ANALYSIS OF CHIP-MEAN VARIATION AND INDEPENDENT INTRA-DIE VARIATION FOR CHIP YIELD DETERMINATION - Systems and methods for determining a chip yield are disclosed. One system includes a first level integration solver and a second level integration solver. The first level integration solver is configured to obtain a first probability distribution function modeling variations within a chip and to perform a discontinuous first level integration with the first probability distribution function. In addition, the second level integration solver is implemented by a hardware processor and is configured to perform a continuous second level integration based on a second probability distribution function modeling variations between dies to determine the chip yield. | 06-19-2014 |
20140215274 | Statistical Design with Importance Sampling Reuse - A mechanism is provided for reusing importance sampling for efficient cell failure rate estimation of process variations and other design considerations. First, the mechanism performs a search across circuit parameters to determine failures with respect to a set of performance variables. For a single failure region, the initial search may be a uniform sampling of the parameter space. Mixture importance sampling (MIS) efficiently may estimate the single failure region. The mechanism then finds a center of gravity for each metric and finds importance samples. Then, for each new origin corresponding to a process variation or other design consideration, the mechanism finds a suitable projection and recomputes new importance sampling (IS) ratios. | 07-31-2014 |
20140232519 | RFID TAG WITH ENVIRONMENTAL SENSOR - In a method for controlling pricing of a product, a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag having at least one processor is attached to a monitored product. A value indicative of a degree of exposure to an environmental condition is obtained. The obtained value is compared with a predetermined value range. A price of the monitored product is adjusted when the result of the comparison falls outside the predetermined value range. | 08-21-2014 |
20150076695 | SELECTIVE PASSIVATION OF VIAS - A method of forming an integrated circuit structure includes forming a cap layer above a first ILD layer of a first metal level, the first ILD layer includes a recess filled with a first conductive material to form a first interconnect structure. Next, a second ILD layer is formed above the cap layer and a via is formed within the second ILD layer as a second interconnect structure of a second metal level. The via is aligned with the first interconnect structure. Subsequently, a portion of the cap layer is removed to extend the via to expose a top portion of the first conductive material then a passivation cap is selectively formed at a bottom portion of the via in the second ILD layer and the passivation cap contacting the top portion of the first conductive material. The passivation cap includes a metal alloy to form an interface between the bottom portion of the via and the first conductive material. | 03-19-2015 |