Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080206994 | METHOD OF REDUCING NON-UNIFORMITIES DURING CHEMICAL MECHANICAL POLISHING OF EXCESS METAL IN A METALLIZATION LEVEL OF MICROSTRUCTURE DEVICES
- Prior to performing a CMP process for planarizing a metallization level of an advanced semiconductor device, an appropriate cap layer may be formed in order to delay the exposure of metal areas of reduced height level to the highly chemically reactive slurry material. Consequently, metal of increased height level may be polished with a high removal rate due to the mechanical and the chemical action of the slurry material, while the chemical interaction with the slurry material may be substantially avoided in areas of reduced height level. Therefore, a high process uniformity may be achieved even for pronounced initial surface topographies and slurry materials having a component of high chemical reactivity. | 08-28-2008 |
20090035936 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE HAVING A GRAIN ORIENTATION LAYER - A manufacturing process of a semiconductor device includes generating a less random grain orientation distribution in metal features of a semiconductor device by employing a grain orientation layer. The less random grain orientation, e.g., a grain orientation distribution which has a higher percentage of grains that have a predetermined grain orientation, may lead to improved reliability of the metal features. The grain orientation layer may be deposited on the metal features wherein the desired grain structure of the metal features may be obtained by a subsequent annealing process, during which the metal feature is in contact with the grain orientation layer. | 02-05-2009 |
20090061645 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE INCLUDING FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTORS LATERALLY ENCLOSED BY INTERLAYER DIELECTRIC MATERIAL HAVING INCREASED INTRINSIC STRESS - By appropriately treating an interlayer dielectric material above P-channel transistors, the compressive stress may be significantly enhanced, which may be accomplished by expanding the interlayer dielectric material, for instance, by providing a certain amount of oxidizable species and performing an oxidation process. | 03-05-2009 |
20090085173 | SIDEWALL PROTECTION LAYER - The present disclosure generally relates to forming a metallization layer in a semiconductor device. In particular, this disclosure concerns the damascene inlay technique in low-k dielectric layers. Etching trenches and vias in low-k dielectric materials leads to uneven and porous sidewalls of the trenches and vias due to the porous nature of the low-k dielectric materials. Thus, smooth and dense sidewalls cannot be achieved, which is a prerequisite for an effective barrier layer, which prevents copper from being diffused into the low-k dielectric material. As a consequence, process tolerances are high and the reliability of the semiconductor device is reduced. The present disclosure overcomes these drawbacks by a surface treatment of the sidewalls of trenches and vias in order to densify the surface such that the following barrier layer may more effectively prevent copper from diffusing into the low-k or ultra high-k dielectric material. | 04-02-2009 |
20090108466 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE AND METHOD FOR PATTERNING VERTICAL CONTACTS AND METAL LINES IN A COMMON ETCH PROCESS - Interlayer connections, i.e., vertical connections, may be formed on the basis of a hard mask material, which may be positioned below, within or above an interlayer dielectric material, wherein one lateral dimension is defined by a trench mask, thereby obtaining a desired interlayer connection in a common patterning process. Furthermore, the thickness of at least certain portions of the metal lines may be adjusted with a high degree of flexibility, thereby providing the possibility of significantly reducing the overall resistivity of metal lines in metal levels, in which device performance may significantly depend on resistivity rather than parasitic capacitance. | 04-30-2009 |
20090246951 | METHOD FOR PATTERNING A METALLIZATION LAYER BY REDUCING RESIST STRIP INDUCED DAMAGE OF THE DIELECTRIC MATERIAL - By forming a hardmask layer in combination with one or more cap layers, undue exposure of a sensitive dielectric material to resist stripping etch ambients may be reduced and integrity of the hardmask may also be maintained so that the trench etch process may be performed with a high degree of etch selectivity during the patterning of openings in a metallization layer of a semiconductor device. | 10-01-2009 |
20090325375 | REDUCING LEAKAGE IN DIELECTRIC MATERIALS INCLUDING METAL REGIONS INCLUDING A METAL CAP LAYER IN SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES - By introducing an additional heat treatment prior to and/or after contacting a sensitive dielectric material with wet chemical agents, such as an electrolyte solution, enhanced performance with respect to leakage currents or dielectric strength may be accomplished during the fabrication of advanced semiconductor devices. For example, metal cap layers for metal lines may be provided on the basis of electroless deposition techniques, wherein the additional heat treatment(s) may provide the required electrical performance. | 12-31-2009 |
20100109161 | REDUCING METAL VOIDS IN A METALLIZATION LAYER STACK OF A SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE BY PROVIDING A DIELECTRIC BARRIER LAYER - Metallization systems on the basis of copper and low-k dielectric materials may be efficiently formed by providing an additional dielectric material of enhanced surface conditions after the patterning of the low-k dielectric material. Consequently, defects such as isolated copper voids and the like may be reduced without significantly affecting overall performance of the metallization system. | 05-06-2010 |
20110049713 | DUAL CONTACT METALLIZATION INCLUDING ELECTROLESS PLATING IN A SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE - Contact elements of sophisticated semiconductor devices may be formed for gate electrode structures and for drain and source regions in separate process sequences in order to apply electroless plating techniques without causing undue overfill of one type of contact opening. Consequently, superior process uniformity in combination with a reduced overall contact resistance may be accomplished. In some illustrative embodiments, cobalt may be used as a contact metal without any additional conductive barrier materials. | 03-03-2011 |
20120220119 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE AND METHOD FOR PATTERNING VERTICAL CONTACTS AND METAL LINES IN A COMMON ETCH PROCESS - Interlayer connections, i.e., vertical connections, may be formed on the basis of a hard mask material, which may be positioned below, within or above an interlayer dielectric material, wherein one lateral dimension is defined by a trench mask, thereby obtaining a desired interlayer connection in a common patterning process. Furthermore, the thickness of at least certain portions of the metal lines may be adjusted with a high degree of flexibility, thereby providing the possibility of significantly reducing the overall resistivity of metal lines in metal levels, in which device performance may significantly depend on resistivity rather than parasitic capacitance. | 08-30-2012 |