Abstract: A semiconductor device having a CMOS structure, wherein, in manufacturing a CMOS circuit, an impurity element which imparts p-type conductivity to the active layer of the p-channel type semiconductor device is added before forming the gate insulating film. Then, by applying thermal oxidation treatment to the active layer, the impurity element is subjected to redistribution, and the concentration of the impurity element in the principal surface of the active layer is minimized. The precise control of threshold voltage is enabled by the impurity element that is present in a trace quantity.

Abstract: A semiconductor device including a capacitor element which has a high withstand voltage, a large capacitance, and little parasitic resistance and parasitic capacitance. On interlayer insulating films provided on a semiconductor device, there is formed a lower electrode of a capacitor element coated with an alumina thin film through use of a portion of a first metal layer to be used for forming a first wiring layer. An electrode to constitute a portion of an upper electrode of the capacitor element is formed from a second metal layer so as to come into contact with the alumina thin film provided on the surface of the lower electrode. On the electrode, an upper electrode of the capacitor element is formed through use of a portion of a third metal layer to be used for forming a second wiring layer. Further, an lead electrode connected to the lower electrode is formed through use of a portion of the third metal layer by removal of a portion of the alumina thin film provided on the surface of the lower electrode.

Abstract: An integrated circuit (10) includes a P-epi substrate (12) having therein an n-well isolation layer (13) and a p-well (14) within the n-well. The p-well includes adjacent an upper surface thereof a p+ layer (18) having several elongate parallel openings (21-23) therethrough. Each of the openings has therein a respective n− RESURF layer (26-28). Each n− RESURF layer has therethrough a respective further elongate opening (31-33), and has a uniform horizontal thickness all around that opening. Each of the openings in the RESURF layers has therein an n+ finger (36-38). The p+ layer and the n+ fingers each have a vertical thickness which is greater than the vertical thickness of the n− RESURF layers. The p+ layer serves as the anode of a zener diode, and the n+ fingers are interconnected and serve as the cathode.

Abstract: Methods of forming a graded layer is disclosed. The graded layer transitions from one material to another material. The properties of these materials are chosen to optimize the interfaces on each side of the graded layer. Specifically, an improved transistor gate stack barrier layer may be formed by disposing an appropriate graded layer between a gate layer and an interconnect layer. In fact, the graded layer may obviate the use of the interconnect layer, as the top of the graded layer may include a highly conductive material. An improved integrated circuit interconnect structure may also be formed by grading the material composition of an interconnect layer.

Abstract: A method of forming a capacitor includes, a) providing a node to which electrical connection to a capacitor is to be made; b) providing a first electrically conductive capacitor plate over the node, the capacitor plate comprising conductively doped polysilicon; c) providing a predominately amorphous electrically conductive layer over the first capacitor plate; d) providing a capacitor dielectric layer over the amorphous electrically conductive layer; and e) providing a second electrically conductive capacitor plate over the capacitor dielectric layer. A capacitor construction is also disclosed. The invention has greatest utility where the polysilicon layer covered with the amorphous conductive layer is a roughened outer layer, such as provided with hemispherical grain polysilicon. The preferred amorphous electrically conductive layer is metal organic chemical vapor deposited TiCXNyOZ, where “x”is in the range of from 0.01 to 0.5, and “y” is in the range of from 0.99 to 0.

Abstract: A trench capacitor cell, in accordance with the present invention, includes a trench having an outer electrode formed in a substrate adjacent to the trench. A storage node is formed in the trench and capacitively coupled to the outer electrode. A center node is capacitively coupled to the storage node, and the storage node surrounds the center node within the trench. The center node includes a portion extending from the trench for connecting to a potential to provide charge retention in the storage node during operation.

Abstract: A field effect transistor with an enhanced dielectric constant gate insulator including spaced apart source and drain terminals positioned on a substrate structure so as to define a gate area therebetween. A layer of laterally strained, enhanced dielectric constant dielectric material is epitaxially grown on the substrate structure in the gate area, and a gate metal is positioned on the layer of dielectric material to form a gate terminal in the gate area.

Abstract: In a thin film transistor (TFT), a mask is formed on a gate electrode, and a porous anodic oxide is formed in both sides of the gate electrode using a relatively low voltage. A barrier anodic oxide is formed between the gate electrode and the porous anodic oxide and on the gate electrode using a relatively high voltage. A gate insulating film is etched using the barrier anodic oxide as a mask. The porous anodic oxide is selectively etched after etching barrier anodic oxide, to obtain a region of an active layer on which the gate insulating film is formed and the other region of the active layer on which the gate insulating film is not formed. An element including at least one of oxygen, nitrogen and carbon is introduced into the region of the active layer at high concentration in comparison with a concentration of the other region of the active layer. Further, N- or P-type impurity is introduced into the active layer.

Abstract: Provided are a self-aligned semiconductor fuse structure, a method of making such a fuse structure, and apparatuses incorporating such a fuse structure. The fuse break point, that point at which the electrical link of which the fuse is part is severed by a laser beam, is self-aligned by the use of photolithographically patterned dielectric and a heat sink material. The self-alignment allows the size and location of the break point to be more forgiving of the laser beam size and alignment. This has several advantages, including allowing photolithographic control and effective size reduction of the laser spot irradiating the fuse material and surrounding structure. This permits reduced fuse pitch, increasing density and the efficiency of use of chip area, and results in reduced thermal exposure, which causes less damage to chip. In addition, laser alignment is less critical and therefore less time-consuming, which increases throughput in fabrication.

Abstract: A trench-gate power device, for example a MOSFET, has a semiconductor body (10), for example of monocrystalline silicon, comprising a plurality of side-by-side body regions (3) which accommodate parallel conduction channels (12) adjacent the trench-gate structure (33,23,20) of the device. The channels (12) are connected in parallel between a first main electrode (21) which is common to side-by-side source regions (1) and a second region (2) which is common to the side-by-side body regions (3). The side-by-side source regions (1) comprise a layer (11) of narrow-bandgap semiconductor material (SixGe(1−x)) which is deposited on a major surface (10a) of the body (10) to form a source p-n heterojunction (31) with the side-by-side body regions (3) of the body (10). This narrow-bandgap semiconductor material (SixGe(1−x)) serves to suppress second breakdown of the power device, so improving its ruggedness.

Abstract: The present invention provides for use with an integrated circuit, an embedded memory having a transistor in contact with an interconnect formed within a dielectric layer overlaying the transistor. In one embodiment, the embedded memory comprises a capacitor located on the dielectric layer that contacts the interconnect. In this particular embodiment, the capacitor includes a first electrode located on the interconnect wherein the first electrode is a layer of aluminum, aluminum alloy or titanium nitride and substantially free of a titanium layer. In one advantageous embodiment, the first electrode layer is an aluminum alloy. Moreover, the thickness of the first electrode may, of course, varying depending on the design. However, in one is particular embodiment, the first electrode may have a thickness ranging from about 10 nm to about 50 nm.

Abstract: A semiconductor memory device including memory cells with the stacked-capacitor structure that makes it possible to prevent a contact pad from being damaged. This device includes a memory cell area and a peripheral circuit area formed on a semiconductor substrate. An interlayer insulating layer having first and second penetrating holes is formed to cover the entire substrate. A capacitor has lower and upper electrode and a dielectric located between these electrodes. The lower electrode is electrically connected to the first element through the first penetrating hole. Each of the peripheral circuits has a second element, a contact pad electrically connected to the second element, a pad insulating layer formed to cover the contact pad, a pad protection layer formed on the pad insulating layer, and an interconnection conductor electrically connected to the contact pad through a contact hole penetrating the pad protection and pad insulating layers.

Abstract: A nonvolatile memory includes five transistors. The memory has an MOS transistor in series with two pairs of transistors, where each pair includes a floating gate transistor and a metal-oxide-semiconductor transistor electrically connected in parallel. The memory structure may be formed with three levels of silicon-containing or metal-containing layers. The memory structure is less susceptible to read disturb errors compared to a prior art dual-bit nonvolatile memory structure.

Abstract: A method of forming an SRAM cell includes, a) providing a pair of pull-down gates having associated transistor diffusion regions operatively adjacent thereto, one of the diffusion regions of each pull-down gate being electrically connected to the other pull-down gate; b) providing a pair of pull-up resistor nodes for electrical connection with a pair of respective pull-up resistors, the pull-up nodes being in respective electrical connection with one of the pull-down gate diffusion regions and the other pull-down gate; c) providing a first electrical insulating layer outwardly of the resistor nodes; d) providing a pair of contact openings, with respective widths, through the first insulating layer to the pair of resistor nodes; e) providing a second electrical insulating layer over the first layer and to within the pair of contact openings to a thickness which is less than one-half the open widths; f) anisotropically etching the second electrical insulating layer to define respective electrical insulating ann

Abstract: A pair of substrates forming the active matrix liquid crystal display are fabricated from resinous substrates having transparency and flexibility. A thin-film transistor has a semiconductor film formed on a resinous layer formed on one resinous substrate. The resinous layer is formed to prevent generation of oligomers on the surface of the resinous substrate during formation of the film and to planarize the surface of the resinous substrate.

Abstract: A process for fabricating a bipolar transistor on a silicon-on-insulator substrate which includes etching a bipolar transistor area into the substrate, wherein the bipolar transistor area has substantially vertical sidewalls and a bottom, and forming a buried collector in bottom of the bipolar transistor area. Polysilicon sidewalls are formed adjacent to the vertical sidewalls in the bipolar transistor area, wherein the polysilicon sidewalls are connected to the buried collector. The polysilicon sidewalls are oxidized to form a layer of oxidized polysilicon. Oxide sidewalls are formed on the oxidized polysilicon sidewalls, and epitaxial silicon is formed to fill the bipolar transistor area. A base and an emitter are formed for the bipolar transistor, within the epitaxial barrier.

Abstract: A nonvolatile semiconductor memory has memory cells (1) each having an insulated-gate FET that has an information storage part. A semiconductor region (27) is formed at the surface of a channel region of each memory cell. The semiconductor region has the same conductivity type as a channel conductivity type and functions to decrease the strength of an electric field at the surface of the channel region. If the insulated-gate FET is of an n-channel type, the semiconductor region is of an n-type. The semiconductor region suppresses threshold voltage variations among the insulated-gate FETs of the memory cells and prevents soft-writing in the memory cells.

Abstract: A remanent, electrically programmable and erasable, memory device comprises of a MOS type transistor whose gate insulator contains charged mobile species is disclosed. The gate insulator is comprised transversely of a sandwich comprising at least five areas. Two intermediate areas have first band-gap values, and two endmost and a central areas have band gap values greater than the first values.

Abstract: A borderless contact to diffusion with respect to gate conductor is provided by employing a double insulating film stack as a mask for defining the gate conductor shapes for the entire chip and providing a relatively thin damage preventing layer on exposed conductive layer following defining the gate conductor shapes. In one embodiment, a borderless contact is provided by forming an insulating layer on a substrate, providing a conductive layer on the insulating layer, providing a second insulating layer on the conductive layer, providing a third insulating layer on the second insulating layer, removing preselected portions of the second and third insulating layers, providing a damage preventing layer in those areas where the second and third insulating layers have been removed, removing preselected portions of the third insulating layer, removing the damage preventing layer, removing exposed portions of the conductive layer, and removing now exposed portions of the second insulating layer.

Abstract: An improved gate electrode provides greater tolerances to higher temperature annealing treatments, and is useful in connection with the formation of self-aligned contacts as are needed for high density embedded DRAM applications. Consistent with one embodiment, a process for manufacturing a polycide transistor gate electrode involves forming a cap dielectric and dielectric spacer, with the electrode exhibiting a reduced diffusion transport of dopants between an underlying doped polysilicon layer and an overlying silicide layer. The reduced transport results from the presence of a thin barrier layer between the doped polysilicon layer and silicide layer, and the gate electrode process forms a thermally-oxidized thin polysilicon side-wall film against the polysilicon layer, the barrier layer, the silicide layer, and the cap dielectric layer. The polysilicon side-wall film is used for blocking substantial oxidation of the barrier film.