Patents Examined by Theresa T. Doan
  • Patent number: 11469229
    Abstract: In an embodiment, a method includes: forming a first fin and a second fin extending from a semiconductor substrate; depositing a liner layer along a first sidewall of the first fin, a second sidewall of the second fin, and a top surface of the semiconductor substrate, the liner layer formed of silicon oxynitride having a nitrogen concentration in a range of 5% to 30%; depositing a fill material on the liner layer, the fill material formed of silicon; annealing the liner layer and the fill material, the annealing converting the fill material to silicon oxide, the annealing decreasing the nitrogen concentration of the liner layer to a range of 1% to 5%; and recessing the liner layer and the fill material to form an isolation region between the first fin and the second fin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2022
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Wan-Yi Kao, Szu-Ping Lee, Che-Hao Chang, Chun-Heng Chen, Yung-Cheng Lu, Chi On Chui
  • Patent number: 11469247
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a stack structure, a channel layer passing through the stack structure, a memory layer enclosing the channel layer and including first and second openings which expose the channel layer, a well plate coupled to the channel layer through the first opening, and a source plate coupled to the channel layer through the second opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2022
    Assignee: SK hynix Inc.
    Inventor: In Su Park
  • Patent number: 11462536
    Abstract: Integrated circuit structures having asymmetric source and drain structures, and methods of fabricating integrated circuit structures having asymmetric source and drain structures, are described. For example, an integrated circuit structure includes a fin, and a gate stack over the fin. A first epitaxial source or drain structure is in a first trench in the fin at a first side of the gate stack. A second epitaxial source or drain structure is in a second trench in the fin at a second side of the gate stack, the second epitaxial source or drain structure deeper into the fin than the first epitaxial source or drain structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2022
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Anupama Bowonder, Rishabh Mehandru, Mark Bohr, Tahir Ghani
  • Patent number: 11462621
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate, a gate structure, a source region, a drain region, and a plurality of field plates. The gate structure is disposed on the semiconductor substrate. The source region and the drain region are disposed in the semiconductor substrate and located at two opposite sides of the gate structure in a first direction respectively. The field plates are disposed on the semiconductor substrate. Each of the field plates is partly located above the gate structure and partly located between the gate structure and the drain region. The gate structure is electrically connected with at least one of the field plates, and the source region is electrically connected with at least one of the field plates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2022
    Assignee: UNITED MICROELECTRONICS CORP.
    Inventors: Yi-Chieh Wang, Po-Chun Lai, Ke-Feng Lin, Chen-An Kuo, Ze-Wei Jhou
  • Patent number: 11462628
    Abstract: A semiconductor device, and a manufacturing method thereof. The method includes: providing a semiconductor substrate provided with a body region, a gate dielectric layer, and a field oxide layer, formed on the semiconductor substrate; forming a gate polycrystalline, the gate polycrystalline covering the gate dielectric layer and the field oxide layer and exposing at least one portion of the field oxide layer; forming a drift region in the semiconductor substrate by ion implantation using a drift region masking layer as a mask, removing the exposed portion of the field oxide layer by further using the drift region masking layer as the mask to form a first field oxide self-aligned with the gate polycrystalline; forming a source region in the body region, and forming a drain region in the drift region; forming a second field oxide on the semiconductor substrate; and forming a second field plate on the second field oxide.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2022
    Assignee: CSMC TECHNOLOGIES FAB2 CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Huajun Jin, Guipeng Sun
  • Patent number: 11462612
    Abstract: Semiconductor structures and the manufacturing method thereof are disclosed. An exemplary semiconductor structure according to the present disclosure includes a substrate having a p-type well or an n-type well, a first base portion over the p-type well, a second base portion over the n-type well, a first plurality of channel members over the first base portion, a second plurality of channel members over the second base portion, an isolation feature disposed between the first base portion and the second base portion, and a deep isolation structure in the substrate disposed below the isolation feature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2022
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Jung-Chien Cheng, Shi Ning Ju, Guan-Lin Chen, Kuo-Cheng Chiang, Chih-Hao Wang, Kuan-Lun Cheng
  • Patent number: 11456355
    Abstract: Provided is a semiconductor device including a substrate having a first conductivity type; an isolation structure disposed in the substrate to form an active region in the substrate; a well region having the first conductivity type, extending from an inner sidewall of the isolation structure into the active region, wherein a portion of the substrate is surrounded by the well region to form a native region in the active region; a gate structure disposed over the active region; and doped regions having a second conductivity type, disposed respectively in the active region at two sides of the gate structure, wherein a portion of the native region is sandwiched between the doped regions to form a channel region below the gate structure, and a doping concentration of the channel region is substantially equal to a doping concentration of the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2022
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Chia-Chung Chen, Chi-Feng Huang, Victor Chiang Liang, Chung-Hao Chu
  • Patent number: 11450660
    Abstract: Provided is a semiconductor device including a substrate, an isolation structure, a gate dielectric layer, a high-k dielectric layer, and a protection cap. The substrate includes a first region, a second region, and a transition region located between the first region and the second region. The isolation structure, located in the transition region. The gate dielectric layer is located on the isolation structure. The high-k dielectric layer is located on the isolation structure and extended to cover a sidewall and a surface of the gate dielectric layer. The protection cap is located on a surface and sidewalls of the high-k dielectric layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2022
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Meng-Han Lin, Te-An Chen
  • Patent number: 11443995
    Abstract: A device package includes a first die directly bonded to a second die at an interface, wherein the interface comprises a conductor-to-conductor bond. The device package further includes an encapsulant surrounding the first die and the second die and a plurality of through vias extending through the encapsulant. The plurality of through vias are disposed adjacent the first die and the second die. The device package further includes a plurality of thermal vias extending through the encapsulant and a redistribution structure electrically connected to the first die, the second die, and the plurality of through vias. The plurality of thermal vias is disposed on a surface of the second die and adjacent the first die.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2022
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Chen-Hua Yu, Sung-Feng Yeh, Ming-Fa Chen, Hsien-Wei Chen, Tzuan-Horng Liu
  • Patent number: 11437468
    Abstract: The structure of a semiconductor device with isolation structures between FET devices and a method of fabricating the semiconductor device are disclosed. A method of fabricating the semiconductor device includes forming a fin structure on a substrate and forming polysilicon gate structures with a first threshold voltage on first fin portions of the fin structure. The method further includes forming doped fin regions with dopants of a first type conductivity on second fin portions of the fin structure, doping at least one of the polysilicon gate structures with dopants of a second type conductivity to adjust the first threshold voltage to a greater second threshold voltage, and replacing at least two of the polysilicon gate structures adjacent to the at least one of the polysilicon gate structures with metal gate structures having a third threshold voltage less than the first and second threshold voltages.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2022
    Inventors: Hung-Li Chiang, Chao-Ching Cheng, Tzu-Chiang Chen, I-Sheng Chen
  • Patent number: 11437472
    Abstract: Embodiments of the disclosure are in the field of advanced integrated circuit structure fabrication and, in particular, integrated circuit structures having germanium-based channels are described. In an example, an integrated circuit structure includes a fin having a lower silicon portion, an intermediate germanium portion on the lower silicon portion, and a silicon germanium portion on the intermediate germanium portion. An isolation structure is along sidewalls of the lower silicon portion of the fin. A gate stack is over a top of and along sidewalls of an upper portion of the fin and on a top surface of the isolation structure. A first source or drain structure is at a first side of the gate stack. A second source or drain structure is at a second side of the gate stack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2022
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Siddharth Chouksey, Glenn Glass, Anand Murthy, Harold Kennel, Jack T. Kavalieros, Tahir Ghani, Ashish Agrawal, Seung Hoon Sung
  • Patent number: 11437378
    Abstract: A semiconductor structure and a method for forming the semiconductor structure are provided. The method includes providing a substrate including a first region and a second region, and forming a plurality of fins over the first region. The method also includes forming an isolation layer over a front surface of the substrate, and forming a power rail opening by etching the isolation layer and a first portion of the second region. In addition, the method includes forming a through-hole by etching a second portion of the substrate, and forming a first metal layer in the power rail opening and the through-hole. Further, the method includes thinning a back surface of the substrate until the first metal layer is exposed, and back-etching the back surface of the substrate to enable a back surface of the first metal layer to be above the back surface of the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2022
    Assignees: Semiconductor Manufacturing International (Shanghai) Corporation, Semiconductor Manufacturing International (Beijing) Corporation
    Inventor: Jisong Jin
  • Patent number: 11424245
    Abstract: Self-aligned gate endcap (SAGE) architectures having gate contacts, and methods of fabricating SAGE architectures having gate contacts, are described. In an example, an integrated circuit structure includes a gate structure over a semiconductor fin. A gate endcap isolation structure is laterally adjacent to and in contact with the gate structure. A trench contact structure is over the semiconductor fin, where the gate endcap isolation structure is laterally adjacent to and in contact with the trench contact structure. A local gate-to-contact interconnect is electrically connecting the gate structure to the trench contact structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Sairam Subramanian, Walid M. Hafez
  • Patent number: 11417727
    Abstract: A semiconductor device with an air gap includes a plurality of gate stacks disposed on a substrate; a liner layer conformally covering the gate stacks and the substrate; and a dielectric stack disposed on the liner layer on the gate stacks. The air gap is formed between the liner layer and the dielectric stack on two adjacent gate stacks. A height of the air gap is greater than heights of the two adjacent gate stacks, and the air gap includes: a lower portion between the two adjacent gate stacks, sidewalls and a bottom of the lower portion exposing the liner layer; a middle portion above the lower portion; and an upper portion above the middle portion. Sidewalls of the upper portion expose the dielectric stack, a top surface of the upper portion is covered by the dielectric stack, and the upper portion has a smaller width than the lower portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2022
    Assignee: Winbond Electronics Corp.
    Inventors: Ping-Lung Yu, Po-Chun Shao
  • Patent number: 11417667
    Abstract: The present application discloses a method for preparing a semiconductor device with an air gap structure between conductive structures. The method includes: forming a first bit line, a second bit line, a first capacitor contact and a second capacitor contact over a semiconductor substrate, wherein the first capacitor contact and the second capacitor contact are disposed between the first bit line and the second bit line; forming a first dielectric layer over a sidewall of the first bit line, a sidewall of the second bit line, a sidewall of the first capacitor contact and a sidewall of the second capacitor contact such that an opening is formed and surrounded by the first dielectric layer; filling the opening with a dielectric structure; and removing the first dielectric layer to form an opening structure surrounding the dielectric structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2022
    Assignee: NANYA TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventor: Kuo-Hui Su
  • Patent number: 11410873
    Abstract: Exemplary methods of forming a semiconductor device may include etching a trench from a first surface of a semiconductor substrate to a first depth within the semiconductor substrate. The trench may be characterized by a first width through the first depth. The methods may include forming a liner along sidewalls of the trench. The methods may include etching the trench to a second depth at least ten times greater than the first depth. The trench may be characterized by a second width through the second depth. The methods may include filling the trench with a dielectric material. A seam formed in the dielectric material may be maintained below the first depth.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2022
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Lan Yu, Tyler Sherwood, Michael Chudzik, Siddarth Krishnan
  • Patent number: 11404537
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a substrate, a gate oxide layer formed on the substrate, a gate formed on the gate oxide layer, and a spacer formed adjacent the gate and over the substrate. The spacer includes a void filled with air to prevent leakage of charge to and from the gate, thereby reducing data loss and providing better memory retention. The reduction in charge leakage results from reduced parasitic capacitances, fringing capacitances, and overlap capacitances due to the low dielectric constant of air relative to other spacer materials. The spacer can include multiple layers such as oxide and nitride layers. In some embodiments, the semiconductor device is a multiple-time programmable (MTP) memory device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2022
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited
    Inventors: Gulbagh Singh, Kun-Tsang Chuang, Hsin-Chi Chen
  • Patent number: 11404321
    Abstract: A semiconductor structure and method of manufacturing a semiconductor structure are provided. The method includes receiving a substrate with fin features; forming sacrificial gate stacks over the substrate; forming a sacrificial fill layer over the sacrificial gate stacks; removing the sacrificial fill layer; forming sidewall spacers besides the sacrificial gate stacks; removing the sacrificial gate stacks; and forming metal gate stacks; wherein the sacrificial fill layers is made of fill materials with a high etch rate selectivity to materials of the sidewall spacers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2022
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY LTD.
    Inventors: Yuan-Sheng Huang, Ryan Chia-Jen Chen
  • Patent number: 11404412
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a substrate with an active region being provided with a channel pattern, a device isolation layer including a first part defining the active region and a second part surrounding a first portion of the channel pattern, an upper epitaxial pattern disposed on an upper surface of the channel pattern, a gate electrode surrounding a second portion of the channel pattern and extending in a first direction, a gate spacer on the gate electrode, an interlayer dielectric layer on the gate spacer, and an air gap between a bottom surface of the gate electrode and the second part of the device isolation layer. At least a portion of the air gap vertically overlaps the gate electrode. The second portion of the channel pattern is higher than the first portion of the channel pattern.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2022
    Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Munhyeon Kim, Youngchai Jung, Mingyu Kim, Seon-Bae Kim, Yeonho Park
  • Patent number: 11398484
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a semiconductor device with an air gap for reducing parasitic capacitance between a bit line and a capacitor contact and a method for forming the semiconductor device. The method includes forming a first source/drain region and a second source/drain region in a semiconductor substrate, and forming a bit line over and electrically connected to the first source/drain region. The method also includes forming a first spacer structure on a sidewall of the bit line, and forming a capacitor contact over and electrically connected to the second source/drain region. The capacitor contact is adjacent to the first spacer structure, and the first spacer structure is etched during the forming the capacitor contact. The method further includes forming a second spacer structure over the etched first spacer structure, and performing a heat treatment process to transform a portion of the first spacer structure into an air gap after the second spacer structure is formed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2022
    Assignee: NANYA TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventor: Cheng-Hsiang Fan