Hemi-spherical grain silicon enhancement
Hemi-spherical grain silicon enhancement with epitaxial silicon for semiconductor assemblies is described. Epitaxial silicon is used to enhance hemi-spherical grain silicon on semiconductor structures, such as storage node capacitor plates for a semiconductor assembly. Methods described include forming an optional amorphous silicon layer as a base to form hemi-spherical grain silicon thereon. The rough texture of the hemi-spherical grain silicon enhances the overall textured surface of the capacitor plate by the addition of epitaxial silicon.
This application is a continuation to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/643,520, filed Aug. 18, 2003.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates to semiconductor fabrication processing and, more particularly, to a method for forming epitaxial silicon enhanced hemi-spherical grain silicon for semiconductor devices, such as dynamic random access memories (DRAMs).
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe continuing trend of scaling down integrated circuits has motivated the semiconductor industry to consider new techniques for fabricating precise components at sub-micron levels. Along with the need for smaller components, there has been a growing demand for devices consuming less power. In the manufacture of memory devices, these trends have led the industry to refine approaches to achieve thinner capacitor cell dielectric and surface enhanced storage capacitor electrodes.
In dynamic random access memory (DRAM) devices it is essential that storage node capacitor cell plates be large enough to exhibit sufficient capacitance in order to retain an adequate charge in spite of parasitic capacitance and noise that may be present during circuit operation. As is the case for most semiconductor integrated circuitry, circuit density is continuing to increase at a fairly constant rate.
The issue of maintaining storage node capacitance is particularly important as the density of DRAM arrays continues to increase for future generations of memory devices. The ability to densely pack storage cells while maintaining required capacitance levels is a crucial requirement of semiconductor manufacturing technologies if future generations of expanded memory array devices are to be successfully manufactured.
One area of manufacturing technology that has emerged has been in the development of Hemi-Spherical Grain (HSG) silicon. HSG silicon enhances storage capacitance when used to form the storage node electrode without increasing the area required for the cell or the storage electrode height. The available methods known to those skilled in the art include use of Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition (LPCVD) to deposit thin silicon films (conductively doped and non-doped silicon films) to form a rough surface. One method adds the silicon seeding and anneal steps in-situ and another method performs the silicon seeding and anneal in separate LPCVD systems. Methods to form HSG silicon, known to those skilled in the art, are utilized in conjunction with the several embodiments of the present invention that enhance the roughness of HSG silicon.
Embodiments of the present invention describe structures and the formation thereof which utilize hemi-spherical grain silicon material, the size and shape of which is enhanced by the use of epitaxial silicon, to be used in semiconductor structures for semiconductor assemblies, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following disclosure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONExemplary implementations of the present invention include hemi-spherical grain enhancement with epitaxial silicon for semiconductor assemblies, such as storage node capacitor plates for a semiconductor assembly and methods of forming thereof, comprising an optional amorphous silicon layer directly connecting to an underlying conductive material, such as a conductive polysilicon plug, a hemi-spherical grain silicon laying directly on the amorphous silicon layer and an epitaxial silicon laying directly on the hemi-spherical grain silicon.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
Exemplary implementations of the present invention are directed to processes for forming epitaxial enhanced HSG silicon and structures utilizing the epitaxial enhanced HSG silicon in a semiconductor device as depicted in the embodiment of
In the following description, the terms “wafer” and “substrate” are to be understood as a semiconductor-based material including silicon, silicon-on-insulator (SOI) or silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) technology, doped and undoped semiconductors, epitaxial layers of silicon supported by a base semiconductor foundation, and other semiconductor structures. Furthermore, when reference is made to a “wafer” or “substrate” in the following description, previous process steps may have been utilized to form regions or junctions in or over the base semiconductor structure or foundation. In addition, the semiconductor need not be silicon-based, but could be based on silicon-germanium, silicon-on-insulator, silicon-on-saphire, germanium, or gallium arsenide, among others.
Referring to
Referring now to
Referring now to
Amorphous silicon 40 may be a conductively doped material, a non-conductively doped material, or a combination of doped and non-conductively doped amorphous silicon layers. Amorphous silicon 40 will serve as a silicon-seeding site for subsequent formation of Hemi-Spherical Grain (HSG) silicon. Amorphous silicon layer 40 is stripped from the upper surface of isolation material 30, by a method such as planarization. Then the amorphous silicon is etched back so that it is recessed below the top surface of opening 31 in isolation material 30 to ensure the subsequently formed storage node cell plate is physically isolated from any neighboring storage node cell plate in a memory array. The remaining amorphous silicon 40, defines a future storage node cell plate region that will reside in opening 31.
Referring now to
Next, to further enhance the roughness of HSG silicon 51, epitaxial silicon 52 is grown on the HSG silicon to extend the size and shape of the silicon grain. For example, to enhance the roughness of the HSG silicon material, the epitaxial silicon is grown on the HSG silicon by decomposing DCS (Si2H2Cl2) in an H2/HCl environment at about 550 to 1000° C. A preferred epitaxial silicon thickness is approximately 100 Angstroms.
During epitaxial silicon deposition, the epitaxial silicon growth is promoted on the HSG silicon, but is inhibited from growing on isolation material 30. However, a small amount of epitaxial silicon 53 does in fact form on the exposed portions of isolation material 30, creating an unwanted epi-defect that could possibly provide an electrical path to a neighboring capacitor storage node plate. To ensure this defect is eliminated, first a hydrofluoric acid wet clean is used to remove any oxide that may have formed on the epitaxial silicon. Following the hydrofluoric acid wet clean (if needed), a chlorine etch is used to remove the epi-defect, but in doing so the epitaxial growth on the HSG silicon is somewhat reduced. However, the reduction of HSG silicon is minimal due to the small amount of epi-defect requiring removal. Thus, the chlorine etch has the added advantage of being able to control the epitaxial enhanced, HSG silicon grain size to obtain a desired overall rough surface for the storage node plate.
For example, the preferred epitaxial silicon deposition process (incorporating a chlorine etch) is conducted in a deposition chamber for a total of 5 cycles, with each cycle performed at a temperature of approximately 750-900° C. as follows. First, flow approximately 5-50 sccm of Si2H6 (flow for approximately 5-20 seconds), and then evacuate the chamber. Second, flow approximately 1-20 sccm of Cl2 (flow for approximately 5-20 seconds), and then evacuate the chamber. Third, flow approximately 10-100 sccm of H2 (flow for approximately 5-20 seconds), and then evacuate the chamber. The chamber may be evacuated by such methods as vacuum.
Referring now to
However, the growth pattern of epitaxial silicon 52 varies according to the size and shape of the underlying hemi-spherical silicon due to the effects of a bonding energy that changes according to grain size. As seen in enlarged view of region 54, on the smaller hemi-spherical silicon grain, such as HSG silicon 51a, the epitaxial silicon 52a grows in a more vertical direction and grows less in a horizontal direction to form a somewhat oblong silicon shape from the center point silicon seed 50a. This result may be due to the bond energy being greater along the upper surface of the smaller HSG silicon grain, thus causing a greater growth of epitaxial silicon 52a in vertical direction away from the silicon seed 50a that graduates down to less growth of epitaxial silicon 52a in the horizontal direction.
In varying contrast, on a larger hemi-spherical silicon grain, such as HSG silicon 51b, the epitaxial silicon 52b growth is more uniform along the entire surface of HSG silicon 51b to form a rounded, more uniform silicon shape from the center point silicon seed 50b. This result may be due to the bond energy being substantially equal along the surface of the larger HSG silicon grain, thus causing an even growth of epitaxial silicon 52b on the surface of HSG silicon 51b and the growth being somewhat equidistant away from the silicon seed 50b.
The enlarged view of region 54 demonstrates in a visual respect how the overall surface area of the original HSG silicon 51 has been significantly increased by the addition of epitaxial silicon 52, which is a desired feature of the present invention when this process is utilized in semiconductor fabrication processes, such as formation of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) storage capacitors or other semiconductor devices that may benefit from enhanced electric charge storage capabilities.
Referring now to
A second exemplary embodiment of the present invention is depicted in
Referring now to
Next, to further enhance the roughness of HSG silicon 81, epitaxial silicon 82 is grown on the HSG silicon to extend the size and shape of the silicon grain. For example, to enhance the roughness of the HSG silicon material, the epitaxial silicon is grown on the HSG silicon by decomposing DCS (Si2H2Cl2) in an H2 and HCl environment at about 550 to 1000° C. A preferred epitaxial silicon thickness is approximately 100 Angstroms.
Referring now to
The enlarged view of region 83 demonstrates, in a visual respect, how the overall surface area of the original HSG silicon 81 has been significantly increased by the addition of epitaxial silicon 82, which is a desired feature of the present invention when this process is utilized in semiconductor fabrication processes, such as formation of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) storage capacitors or other semiconductor devices that may benefit from enhanced electric charge storage capabilities.
Referring now to
The present invention may be applied to a semiconductor system, such as the one depicted in
It is to be understood that although the present invention has been described with reference to several preferred embodiments, various modifications, known to those skilled in the art, such as utilizing the disclosed methods to form DRAM storage capacitors or other semiconductor devices, may be made to the process steps presented herein without departing from the invention as recited in the several claims appended hereto.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,407,534, U.S. Pat. No. 5,418,180, U.S. Pat. No. 5,658,381, U.S. Pat. No. 5,721,171 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,448,129 contain disclosure concerning HSG silicon formation and are hereby incorporated by reference as if set forth in their entirety.
Claims
1. A method of forming a semiconductor assembly having a textured surfaced structure comprising:
- forming hemi-spherical grain silicon over a supporting substrate; and forming epitaxial silicon directly on the hemi-spherical grain silicon, wherein the epitaxial silicon has a non-uniform thickness across the outer surface of the hemi-spherical grain silicon; wherein the non-uniform thickness across the outer surface of the hemi-spherical grain silicon forms an oblong outer surface of the epitaxial silicon.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the epitaxial silicon thickness varies in thickness up to approximately 100 Angstroms.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the textured surfaced structure is a capacitor structure.
4. A method of forming a semiconductor assembly having textured surfaced structure comprising:
- forming hemi-spherical grain silicon directly connecting to an underlying conductive material;
- forming epitaxial silicon directly on an outer surface of the hemi-spherical grain silicon, wherein a thickness of the epitaxial silicon varies across the surface of the hemi-spherical grain silicon such that the epitaxial silicon has a greatest thickness at an apex of the hemi-spherical grain silicon;
- wherein the non-uniform thickness across the outer surface of the hemi-spherical grain silicon forms an oblong outer surface of the epitaxial silicon.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the textured surfaced structure is a capacitor structure.
6. The method of claim 4, wherein the epitaxial silicon thickness varies in thickness up to approximately 10 Angstroms.
7. A semiconductor assembly having a textured surfaced structure comprising:
- a hemi-spherical grain silicon over a supporting substrate; and
- an epitaxial silicon directly on the hemi-spherical grain silicon, wherein the epitaxial silicon has a non-uniform thickness across the outer surface of the hemi-spherical grain silicon;
- wherein an outer surface of the epitaxial silicon is oblong shaped.
8. The semiconductor assembly of claim 7, wherein the epitaxial silicon thickness varies in thickness up to approximately 100 Angstroms.
9. The semiconductor assembly of claim 7, wherein the textured surfaced structure is a capacitor structure.
10. A semiconductor assembly having textured surfaced structure comprising:
- a hemi-spherical grain silicon directly connecting to an underlying conductive material; and
- an epitaxial silicon directly on an outer surface of the hemi-spherical grain silicon, wherein a thickness of the epitaxial silicon varies across the surface of the hemi-spherical grain silicon such that the epitaxial silicon has a greatest thickness at an apex of the hemi-spherical grain silicon;
- wherein an outer surface of the epitaxial silicon is oblong shaped.
11. The semiconductor assembly of claim 10, wherein the textured surfaced structure is a capacitor structure.
12. The semiconductor assembly of claim 10, wherein the epitaxial silicon thickness varies in thickness up to approximately 100 Angstroms.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 31, 2005
Publication Date: Aug 11, 2005
Inventors: Shenlin Chen (Boise, ID), Jianping Zhang (Centreville, VA)
Application Number: 11/097,857