DUAL GATE FD-SOI TRANSISTOR
Circuit module designs that incorporate dual gate field effect transistors are implemented with fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (FD-SOI) technology. Lowering the threshold voltages of the transistors can be accomplished through dynamic secondary gate control in which a back-biasing technique is used to operate the dual gate FD-SOI transistors with enhanced switching performance. Consequently, such transistors can operate at very low core voltage supply levels, down to as low as about 0.4 V, which allows the transistors to respond quickly and to switch at higher speeds. Performance improvements are shown in circuit simulations of an inverter, an amplifier, a level shifter, and a voltage detection circuit module.
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The present patent application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/078,236, filed on Nov. 12, 2013, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to dual gate transistors built on substrates having a buried oxide layer and, in particular, to the use of such dual gate transistors in integrated circuits to improve circuit performance.
2. Description of the Related Art
Integrated circuits typically incorporate N-doped and P-doped metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) devices in which current flows through a semiconducting channel between a source and a drain, in response to a bias voltage applied to a gate. When the applied voltage exceeds a characteristic threshold voltage Vt, the device switches on. Ideally, such a switch: a) passes zero current when it is off; b) supplies large current flow when it is on; and c) switches instantly between the on and off states. Unfortunately, a transistor is not ideal as constructed in an integrated circuit and tends to leak current even when it is off. Current that leaks through, or out of, the device tends to drain the battery that supplies power to the device.
For many years, integrated circuit transistor performance was improved by shrinking critical dimensions to increase switching speed. However, as dimensions of silicon-based transistors continue to shrink, maintaining control of various electrical characteristics, including off-state leakage, becomes increasingly more challenging, while performance benefits derived from shrinking the device dimensions have become less significant. It is therefore advantageous, in general, to increase switching speed and to reduce leakage current in the transistor by alternative means, including changes in materials and device geometry.
One technology that has been developed to control current leakage is the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) transistor. Examples of conventional planar (2-D) SOI transistor structures built on substrates having a buried oxide (BOX) layer are shown in
Extending this idea further, 3-D tri-gate transistors have been developed in which the planar semiconducting channel of a traditional FET is replaced by a 3-D semiconducting fin that extends outward, normal to the substrate surface. In such a device, the gate, which controls current flow in the fin, wraps around three sides of the fin so as to influence the current flow from three surfaces instead of one or two. The improved control achieved with such dual gate and tri-gate designs results in lower threshold voltages, faster switching performance, and reduced current leakage.
BRIEF SUMMARYAccording to principles of the various embodiments as discussed herein, an apparatus and method of making are described that incorporate dual gate field effect transistors implemented with fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (FD-SOI) technology. The FD-SOI dual gate devices include a BOX layer adjacent to the secondary gate that acts as a gate oxide for the secondary gate. Lowering the Vt of the transistors can be accomplished through dynamic secondary gate control in which a back-biasing technique is used to operate the dual gate FD-SOI transistors with enhanced switching performance. By coupling both primary and secondary gates of the dual gate FD-SOI devices together, the threshold voltage of the device is lowered during the transition from the off state to the on state, by enhancing the amount of charge required to form an inversion region in the channel of the transistor. Meanwhile, conventional direct current (DC) conditions are maintained during steady state operation. Consequently, such transistors can operate at very low core voltage supply levels, down to as low as 0.4 V, which allows the transistors to respond quickly and to switch at higher speeds. Such high performance devices run on a much wider range of power supplies and can operate at higher frequencies. Because no components are added, integrated circuits that incorporate the dual gate FD-SOI devices are more area efficient.
In the drawings, identical reference numbers identify similar elements. The sizes and relative positions of elements in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.
In the following description, certain specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of various disclosed embodiments. However, one skilled in the relevant art will recognize that embodiments may be practiced without one or more of these specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In other instances, well-known structures associated with NMOS and PMOS transistors and associated circuits have not been shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring descriptions of the embodiments.
Unless the context requires otherwise, throughout the specification and claims which follow, the word “comprise” and variations thereof, such as, “comprises” and “comprising” are to be construed in an open, inclusive sense, that is as “including, but not limited to.”
Reference throughout the specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, the appearance of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same aspect. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more aspects of the present disclosure.
Reference throughout the specification to integrated circuits is generally intended to include integrated circuit components built on semiconducting substrates, whether or not the components are coupled together into a circuit or able to be interconnected. Throughout the specification, the term “layer” is used in its broadest sense to include a thin film, a cap, or the like and one layer may be composed of multiple sub-layers.
Reference throughout the specification to conventional thin film deposition techniques for depositing silicon nitride, silicon dioxide, metals, or similar materials include such processes as chemical vapor deposition (CVD), low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD), metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), plasma vapor deposition (PVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), electroplating, electro-less plating, and the like. Specific embodiments are described herein with reference to examples of such processes. However, the present disclosure and the reference to certain deposition techniques should not be limited to those described. For example, in some circumstances, a description that references CVD may alternatively be done using PVD, or a description that specifies electroplating may alternatively be accomplished using electro-less plating. Furthermore, reference to conventional techniques of thin film formation may include growing a film in-situ. For example, in some embodiments, controlled growth of an oxide to a desired thickness can be achieved by exposing a silicon surface to oxygen gas or to moisture in a heated chamber.
Reference throughout the specification to conventional photolithography techniques, known in the art of semiconductor fabrication for patterning various thin films, includes a spin-expose-develop process sequence typically followed by an etch process. Alternatively or additionally, photoresist can also be used to pattern a hard mask (e.g., a silicon nitride hard mask), which, in turn, can be used to pattern an underlying film.
Reference throughout the specification to conventional etching techniques known in the art of semiconductor fabrication for selective removal of polysilicon, silicon nitride, silicon dioxide, metals, photoresist, polyimide, or similar materials includes such processes as wet chemical etching, reactive ion (plasma) etching (RIE), washing, wet cleaning, pre-cleaning, spray cleaning, chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP) and the like. Specific embodiments are described herein with reference to examples of such processes. However, the present disclosure and the reference to certain deposition techniques should not be limited to those described. In some instances, two such techniques may be interchangeable. For example, stripping photoresist may entail immersing a sample in a wet chemical bath or, alternatively, spraying wet chemicals directly onto the sample.
Specific embodiments are described herein with reference to dual gate FD-SOI transistors that have been produced; however, the present disclosure and the reference to certain materials, dimensions, and the details and ordering of processing steps are exemplary and should not be limited to those shown.
A fully depleted SOI (FD-SOI) transistor 120 is shown in
Unlike the dual gate SOI transistor 130, in the embodiment shown in
It is noted that the PMOS FD-SOI device shown in
In the circuit applications disclosed herein, the secondary gates of each of the dual gate FD-SOI transistors can be thought of as being short-circuited to their respective primary gates. Hence, G1 and G2 are shown as tied together in
The back-biasing technique is not effective when used with dual gate bulk transistors because the performance of bulk devices is subject to limitations that do not affect FD-SOI devices. One such limitation is that the bias voltage is limited to a range of about 200-300 mV in bulk technologies, because the gate oxide is so thin. This limitation does not exist in an FD-SOI device because the source and drain are fully isolated from the substrate by the BOX layer 112. Another limitation that affects bulk transistors is that the effectiveness of a body bias degrades as transistor dimensions shrink in subsequent technology generations. The body bias becomes ineffective at about the 20 nm node.
The dual gate FD-SOI transistors 136 and 138 as described herein are represented schematically in
At 152, a starting material is provided as a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer that includes the BOX layer 112 over a heavily N-doped region, which is the NWELL region 114. In one embodiment, the BOX layer 112 has a thickness within the range of about 15-30 nm so that it can sustain application of up to about ±3.3 V to the NWELL region 114 without experiencing a structural breakdown. The thickness of the BOX layer 112 is large compared with the gate oxide layer 110 separating the primary gate G1 from the channel 137. However, the BOX layer 112 is thin compared with a typical BOX layer, which can be as thick as about 100 nm. An SOI wafer of the ultrathin body and buried oxide (UTBB) type, for example, will provide the desired thickness of the BOX layer. The SOI wafer includes an active region above the BOX layer 112 in which the transistor is formed. The active region thickness can be in the range of about 10-200 nm, but is desirably between 10 and 50 nm for the devices described herein.
At 153, the gate oxide layer 110 is formed on the surface of the active region of silicon by depositing a thin layer of silicon dioxide, or a high-k dielectric material such as halfnium oxide, for example. The gate oxide thickness is typically about 10 nm.
At 154, the primary gate 102 is deposited and both the gate 102 and the gate oxide layer 110 are patterned using standard deposition, lithography, and etching techniques well known in the art. The primary gate 102 can be made of polysilicon or metal, common materials well known in the art.
At 156, the primary gate 102 is used as a mask for doping the source and drain regions 104 and 106, respectively, by implanting either positive ions or negative ions, as is known in the art. The penetration depth of ions implanted into the silicon substrate is limited by the location of the BOX layer 112.
At 158, the front side NWELL contact 140 is formed by etching and filling a trench that extends through the BOX layer 112 to the top of the NWELL region 114.
At 159, the primary gate G1 (102) is coupled to the secondary gate G2 by the electrical connection 142. The electrical connection 142 can be an integral connection made according to a wiring design at an interconnect layer, for example, metal 1, formed after the transistor is complete.
While the techniques used to form layers within the dual gate FD-SOI transistors 136 and 138 are well known, formation of the structures is unique to the disclosed embodiments. In particular, such structures include the contact 140 to the NWELL region 114 for use as a secondary gate, and separation of the secondary gate from the channel 137 by the BOX layer 112.
Such performance enhancements are evident in the plots below, which are derived from circuit simulations. Simulation results were obtained using ELDO circuit simulation software available from Mentor Graphics, Inc. of Wilsonville, Oreg. In the circuit simulations, conventional transistor parameters are replaced by parameters describing the dual gate FD-SOI transistors, which are then driven using the back-biasing technique.
By comparing the bottom panel 169 with the top panel 168, it is clear that the signal Vout1 responds faster than does the signal Vout to changes in the input voltage signal Vin. For example, as soon as Vin rises, Vout1 drops, whereas there is a delay Δt 171 before Vout responds. Taking into account both the rise time and fall time delays associated with Vout, a performance improvement of nearly 30% is evident in the simulation of the dual gate inverter 160. The faster response associated with the dual gate inverter 160 can be attributed to the channels 137 in each of the NMOS and PMOS devices being influenced simultaneously from both sides by the primary and secondary gates G1 and G2, wherein G2 is the N-doped substrate acting through the BOX layer 112. Under the influence of both G1 and G2, formation of the inversion region that provides a conduction path from source to drain via the channel 137 occurs faster.
In contrast, the bottom panel 189, which corresponds to the dual gate level shifter circuit 180 as described herein, shows that the improved output voltage signal Vout0 also boosts the 0.4 V input signal up to about 1.8 V, but the dual gate level shifter circuit 180 is able to respond to the input signal with only about a 0.3 μs delay. At the relatively low frequency of 1 MHz, Vout1 has the desired square wave shape. The faster response associated with the dual gate level shifter 180 can be attributed to the channel 137 in each of the NMOS devices being influenced simultaneously from both sides by primary and secondary gates. Further discussion of level shifter circuit configurations that use dual gate transistors is found in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/078,236.
In contrast, the bottom panel 199, which corresponds to the core supply detection circuit 190 as described herein, shows that the improved output voltage signal VCOFF2 also boosts the 0.3 V input signal up to about 1.8 V, but the core supply detection circuit 190 is able to respond to the input signal with substantially no delay. At the relatively low frequency of 1 MHz, VCOFF2 has the desired inverted square wave shape and greater amplitude. The faster response associated with the dual gate core supply detection circuit 190 can be attributed to the channel 137 in the dual gate NMOS device within the inverter 160 being influenced simultaneously from both sides by primary and secondary gates.
The various embodiments described above can be combined to provide further embodiments. All of the U.S. patents, U.S. patent application publications, U.S. patent applications, foreign patents, foreign patent applications and non-patent publications referred to in this specification and/or listed in the Application Data Sheet are incorporated herein by reference, in their entirety. Aspects of the embodiments can be modified, if necessary to employ concepts of the various patents, applications and publications to provide yet further embodiments.
It will be appreciated that, although specific embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the present disclosure is not limited except as by the appended claims.
These and other changes can be made to the embodiments in light of the above-detailed description. In general, in the following claims, the terms used should not be construed to limit the claims to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should be construed to include all possible embodiments along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. Accordingly, the claims are not limited by the disclosure.
Claims
1. A method of forming a silicon-on-insulator dual gate transistor circuit, the method comprising:
- electrically coupling together primary and secondary gates of a silicon-on-insulator dual gate transistor;
- electrically coupling a source terminal of the silicon-on-insulator dual gate transistor to a first circuit element; and
- electrically coupling a drain terminal of the silicon-on-insulator dual gate transistor to a second circuit element.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the first and second circuit elements include one or more of a power supply, another electronic device, or a connection to ground.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the dual gate transistor includes a buried oxide layer adjacent to the secondary gate.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the dual gate transistor is an NMOS dual gate transistor, the primary and secondary gates are both coupled to a core power supply, the drain terminal is grounded, and the source terminal is coupled to a PMOS transistor.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the dual gate transistor is an NMOS dual gate transistor, the primary and secondary gates are both coupled to an input, the drain terminal is grounded, and the source terminal is coupled to a PMOS transistor.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the dual gate transistor is a PMOS dual gate transistor, the primary and secondary gates are both coupled to an input, the source terminal is coupled to a power supply, and the drain terminal is coupled to an NMOS transistor.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the dual gate transistor is an NMOS dual gate transistor, the primary and secondary gates are both coupled to an input, the drain terminal is grounded, and the source terminal is coupled to an output load.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the dual gate transistor is an NMOS dual gate transistor, the primary and secondary gates are both coupled to an input of an inverter, the drain terminal is grounded, and the source terminal is coupled to a power supply through a PMOS transistor.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein the dual gate transistor is an NMOS dual gate transistor, the primary and secondary gates are both coupled to an output of an inverter, the drain terminal is grounded, and the source terminal is coupled to a power supply through a PMOS transistor.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein the dual gate transistor is a first PMOS dual gate transistor, the primary and secondary gates are both coupled to a second PMOS dual gate transistor, the drain terminal is coupled to an NMOS dual gate transistor, and the source terminal is coupled to a power supply.
11. A circuit module, comprising:
- a silicon-on-insulator dual gate transistor;
- a first circuit element coupled to a source terminal of the silicon-on-insulator dual gate transistor;
- a second circuit element coupled to a drain terminal of the silicon-on-insulator dual gate transistor; and
- an electrical conductor extending from the primary gate to the secondary gate that electrically couples the primary and secondary gates to one another.
12. The circuit module of claim 11 wherein the dual gate transistor includes a buried oxide layer adjacent to the secondary gate.
13. The circuit module of claim 11 wherein the first circuit element is a PMOS transistor, the second circuit element is a ground connection, and the dual gate transistor is an NMOS dual gate transistor configured with the primary and secondary gates coupled to a core supply.
14. The circuit module of claim 11 wherein the first circuit element is a power supply coupled to the source through a resistor, the second circuit element is a ground connection, and the dual gate transistor is an NMOS dual gate transistor configured with primary and secondary gates coupled to an input terminal of the amplifier circuit module.
15. The circuit module of claim 11 wherein the dual gate transistor is part of a level shifter circuit in which the first circuit element is power supply coupled to the source through a PMOS transistor, the second circuit element is a ground connection, and the dual gate transistor is an NMOS dual gate transistor configured with primary and secondary gates coupled to an input terminal of an inverter.
16. The circuit module of claim 11 wherein the dual gate transistor is part of a level shifter circuit in which the first circuit element is power supply coupled to the source through a PMOS transistor, the second circuit element is a ground connection, and the dual gate transistor is an NMOS dual gate transistor configured with primary and secondary gates coupled to an output terminal of an inverter.
17. An inverter circuit module, comprising:
- a PMOS dual gate transistor having primary and secondary gates coupled to an input terminal and a source terminal coupled to a power supply; and
- an NMOS dual gate transistor having primary and secondary gates coupled to the input terminal, and a drain terminal coupled to ground, an output terminal of the inverter coupled to both a drain terminal of the PMOS dual gate transistor and a source terminal of the NMOS dual gate transistor.
18. A pass gate comprising an NMOS dual gate transistor configured with primary and secondary gates coupled together.
19. A pass gate comprising a PMOS dual gate transistor configured with primary and secondary gates coupled together.
20. A method of making a silicon-on-insulator dual gate transistor, the method comprising:
- providing a silicon-on-insulator substrate including a buried oxide layer over an N-doped region;
- forming a primary gate that includes a gate electrode and a gate oxide;
- implanting source and drain regions with dopant ions using the primary gate as a mask;
- forming a front side contact to the N-doped region for use of the N-doped region as a secondary gate; and
- coupling the primary gate to the secondary gate.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 31, 2014
Publication Date: May 14, 2015
Applicant: STMicroelectronics International N.V. (Amsterdam)
Inventors: Anand Kumar (Noida), Ankit Agrawal (Greater Noida)
Application Number: 14/231,459
International Classification: H01L 27/12 (20060101); H01L 29/78 (20060101); H01L 21/265 (20060101); H01L 21/8238 (20060101); H01L 21/762 (20060101); H01L 21/266 (20060101); H01L 27/092 (20060101); H01L 21/84 (20060101);