Patents Examined by Joseph C Nicely
  • Patent number: 11532626
    Abstract: A semiconductor device according to the present disclosure includes a bottom dielectric feature on a substrate, a plurality of channel members directly over the bottom dielectric feature, a gate structure wrapping around each of the plurality of channel members, two first epitaxial features sandwiching the bottom dielectric feature along a first direction, and two second epitaxial features sandwiching the plurality of channel members along the first direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2022
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Jung-Hung Chang, Lo-Heng Chang, Zhi-Chang Lin, Shih-Cheng Chen, Kuo-Cheng Chiang, Chih-Hao Wang
  • Patent number: 11532512
    Abstract: A semiconductor device structure and method for forming the same are provided. The semiconductor device structure includes a first metal layer formed over a substrate and a dielectric layer formed over the first metal layer. The semiconductor device structure further includes an adhesion layer formed in the dielectric layer and over the first metal layer and a second metal layer formed in the dielectric layer. The second metal layer is electrically connected to the first metal layer, and a portion of the adhesion layer is formed between the second metal layer and the dielectric layer. The adhesion layer includes a first portion lining with a top portion of the second metal layer, and the first portion has an extending portion along a vertical direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2022
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Che-Cheng Chang, Chih-Han Lin
  • Patent number: 11532485
    Abstract: In a gate last metal gate process for forming a transistor, a dielectric layer is formed over an intermediate transistor structure, the intermediate structure including a dummy gate electrode, typically formed of polysilicon. Various processes, such as patterning the polysilicon, planarizing top layers of the structure, and the like can remove top portions of the dielectric layer, which can result in decreased control of gate height when a metal gate is formed in place of the dummy gate electrode, decreased control of fin height for finFETs, and the like. Increasing the resistance of the dielectric layer to attack from these processes, such as by implanting silicon or the like into the dielectric layer before such other processes are performed, results in less removal of the top surface, and hence improved control of the resulting structure dimensions and performance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2022
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Su-Hao Liu, Tsan-Chun Wang, Liang-Yin Chen, Jing-Huei Huang, Lun-Kuang Tan, Huicheng Chang
  • Patent number: 11532723
    Abstract: A method includes simultaneously forming a first dummy gate stack and a second dummy gate stack on a first portion and a second portion of a protruding fin, simultaneously removing a first gate electrode of the first dummy gate stack and a second gate electrode of the second dummy gate stack to form a first trench and a second trench, respectively, forming an etching mask, wherein the etching mask fills the first trench and the second trench, patterning the etching mask to remove the etching mask from the first trench, removing a first dummy gate dielectric of the first dummy gate stack, with the etching mask protecting a second dummy gate dielectric of the second dummy gate stack from being removed, and forming a first replacement gate stack and a second replacement gate stack in the first trench and the second trench, respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2022
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Shih-Yao Lin, Kuei-Yu Kao, Chen-Ping Chen, Chih-Han Lin
  • Patent number: 11532479
    Abstract: A gate stack can be etched to form a trench extending through the gate stack, the trench removing a portion of the gate stack to separate the gate stack into a first gate stack portion and a second gate stack portion. A dielectric material is deposited in the trench to form a dielectric region, the dielectric region having an air gap in the dielectric material. The air gap may extend upward from beneath the gate stack to an area interposed between the end of the first gate stack portion and the end of the second gate stack portion. Contacts to the first gate stack portion and contacts to the second gate stack portion may be formed which are electrically isolated from each other by the dielectric material and air gap formed therein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2022
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Ting-Gang Chen, Wan-Hsien Lin, Chieh-Ping Wang, Tai-Chun Huang, Chi On Chui
  • Patent number: 11532738
    Abstract: Provided is a semiconductor device that includes a semiconductor substrate that is provided with a first conductivity type drift region, a transistor portion that includes a second conductivity type collector region in contact with a lower surface of the semiconductor substrate, and a diode portion that includes a first conductivity type cathode region in contact with the lower surface of the semiconductor substrate, and is alternately disposed with the transistor portion along an arrangement direction in an upper surface of the semiconductor substrate. In the transistor portions, a width in the arrangement direction of two or more transistor portions sequentially selected from the transistor portions nearer to the center in the arrangement direction of the semiconductor substrate is larger than a width in the arrangement direction of one of the other transistor portions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2022
    Assignee: FUJI ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kouta Yokoyama, Toru Ajiki, Kaname Mitsuzuka, Tohru Shirakawa
  • Patent number: 11527621
    Abstract: A method includes depositing a first work function tuning layer over a gate dielectric layer using an atomic layer deposition process. The atomic layer deposition process comprises depositing one or more first nitride monolayers; and depositing one or more carbide monolayers over the one or more first nitride monolayers. The method further includes depositing an adhesion layer of the first work function tuning layer; and depositing a conductive material over the adhesion layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2022
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hsin-Yi Lee, Cheng-Lung Hung, Chi On Chui
  • Patent number: 11527445
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a first transistor, a second transistor, a third transistor, and a fourth transistor. The first and second transistors operate under a lower gate voltage than the third and fourth transistors. The first transistor has a first active gate structure and the second transistor has a second active gate structure. The first and second active gate structures are separated by a first gate isolation structure along a first direction. The third transistor has a third active gate structure and the fourth transistor has a fourth active gate structure. The third and fourth active gate structures are separated by a second gate isolation structure along the first direction. The variation of a first distance between respective sidewalls of the first gate isolation structure is equal to the variation of a second distance between respective sidewalls of the second gate isolation structure along the first direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2022
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY LIMITED
    Inventors: Shu-Uei Jang, Shu-Yuan Ku, Shih-Yao Lin
  • Patent number: 11522012
    Abstract: A DIMA semiconductor structure is disclosed. The DIMA semiconductor structure includes a frontend including a semiconductor substrate, a transistor switch of a memory cell coupled to the semiconductor substrate and a computation circuit on the periphery of the frontend coupled to the semiconductor substrate. Additionally, the DIMA includes a backend that includes an RRAM component of the memory cell that is coupled to the transistor switch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2022
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Jack T. Kavalieros, Ian A. Young, Ram Krishnamurthy, Ravi Pillarisetty, Sasikanth Manipatruni, Gregory Chen, Hui Jae Yoo, Van H. Le, Abhishek Sharma, Raghavan Kumar, Huichu Liu, Phil Knag, Huseyin Sumbul
  • Patent number: 11522072
    Abstract: Vertical integration schemes and circuit elements architectures for area scaling of semiconductor devices are described. In an example, an inverter structure includes a semiconductor fin separated vertically into an upper region and a lower region. A first plurality of gate structures is included for controlling the upper region of the semiconductor fin. A second plurality of gate structures is included for controlling the lower region of the semiconductor fin. The second plurality of gate structures has a conductivity type opposite the conductivity type of the first plurality of gate structures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2022
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Rishabh Mehandru, Patrick Morrow, Ranjith Kumar, Cory E. Weber, Seiyon Kim, Stephen M. Cea, Tahir Ghani
  • Patent number: 11521892
    Abstract: The present application discloses a method for fabricating a semiconductor device with liners. The method includes providing a substrate having a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface, inwardly forming a trench on the first surface of the substrate, forming a plurality of liners positioned on side surfaces of the trench, forming a first insulating segment filling the trench, and removing part of the substrate from the second surface to expose the first insulating segment and the plurality of liners.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2022
    Assignee: NANYA TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventor: Ping Hsu
  • Patent number: 11515211
    Abstract: A method includes etching two source/drain regions over a substrate to form two source/drain trenches; epitaxially growing two source/drain features in the two source/drain trenches respectively; performing a cut process to the two source/drain features; and after the cut process, depositing a contact etch stop layer (CESL) over the two source/drain features.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2022
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Feng-Ching Chu, Wei-Yang Lee, Chia-Pin Lin
  • Patent number: 11515401
    Abstract: A method of forming a vertical fin field effect device is provided. The method includes, forming a vertical fin on a substrate, forming a masking block on the vertical fin, wherein the masking block extends a distance outward from the vertical fin sidewalls and endwalls, and a portion of the substrate surrounding the masking block is exposed. The method further includes removing at least a portion of the exposed portion of the substrate to form a recess and a fin mesa below the vertical fin, removing a portion of the fin mesa to form an undercut recess below an overhanging portion of the masking block, forming a spacer layer on the masking block and in the undercut recess, and removing a portion of the spacer layer to form an undercut spacer in the undercut recess.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2022
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Chen Zhang, Kangguo Cheng, Xin Miao, Wenyu Xu
  • Patent number: 11515397
    Abstract: Semiconductor structures including electrical isolation and methods of forming a semiconductor structure including electrical isolation. A layer stack is formed on a semiconductor substrate comprised of a single-crystal semiconductor material. The layer stack includes a semiconductor layer comprised of a III-V compound semiconductor material. A polycrystalline layer is formed in the semiconductor substrate. The polycrystalline layer extends laterally beneath the layer stack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2022
    Assignee: GlobalFoundries U.S. Inc.
    Inventors: Anthony K. Stamper, Siva P. Adusumilli, Vibhor Jain, Steven Bentley
  • Patent number: 11508904
    Abstract: A method for fabricating semiconductor device includes the steps of: forming a first magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ) on a substrate; forming a first liner on the MTJ; forming a second liner on the first liner; forming an inter-metal dielectric (IMD) layer on the MTJ, and forming a metal interconnection in the IMD layer, the second liner, and the first liner to electrically connect the MTJ. Preferably, the first liner and the second liner are made of different materials.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 5, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2022
    Assignee: UNITED MICROELECTRONICS CORP.
    Inventors: Hui-Lin Wang, Chen-Yi Weng, Yi-Wei Tseng, Chin-Yang Hsieh, Jing-Yin Jhang, Yi-Hui Lee, Ying-Cheng Liu, Yi-An Shih, I-Ming Tseng, Yu-Ping Wang
  • Patent number: 11502192
    Abstract: An integrated circuit includes a MOSFET device and a monolithic diode device, wherein the monolithic diode device is electrically connected in parallel with a body diode of the MOSFET device. The monolithic diode device is configured so that a forward voltage drop VfD2 of the monolithic diode device is less than a forward voltage drop VfD1 of the body diode of the MOSFET device. The forward voltage drop VfD2 is process tunable by controlling a gate oxide thickness, a channel length and body doping concentration level. The tunability of the forward voltage drop VfD2 advantageously permits design of the integrated circuit to suit a wide range of applications according to requirements of switching speed and efficiency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics Pte Ltd
    Inventors: Shin Phay Lee, Voon Cheng Ngwan, Maurizio Gabriele Castorina
  • Patent number: 11502178
    Abstract: A transistor device includes a semiconductor layer, a surface dielectric layer on the semiconductor layer, and at least a portion of a gate on the surface dielectric layer. The surface dielectric layer includes an aperture therein that is laterally spaced apart from the gate. The transistor device includes an interlayer dielectric layer on the surface dielectric layer, and a field plate on the interlayer dielectric layer. The field plate is laterally spaced apart from the gate, and at least a portion of the field plate includes a recessed portion above the aperture in the surface dielectric layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignee: Wolfspeed, Inc.
    Inventors: Kyle Bothe, Jia Guo, Terry Alcorn, Fabian Radulescu, Scott Sheppard
  • Patent number: 11502182
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a substrate. A gate structure is disposed over the substrate in a vertical direction. The gate structure extends in a first horizontal direction. An air spacer is disposed adjacent to a first portion of the gate structure in a second horizontal direction that is different from the first horizontal direction. The air spacer has a vertical boundary in a cross-sectional side view defined by the vertical direction and the first horizontal direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Chih-Hsin Yang, Yen-Ming Chen, Feng-Cheng Yang, Tsung-Lin Lee, Wei-Yang Lee, Dian-Hau Chen
  • Patent number: 11495672
    Abstract: Integrated circuit structures including increased transistor source/drain (S/D) contact area using a sacrificial S/D layer are provided herein. The sacrificial layer, which includes different material from the S/D material, is deposited into the S/D trenches prior to the epitaxial growth of that S/D material, such that the sacrificial layer acts as a space-holder below the S/D material. During S/D contact processing, the sacrificial layer can be selectively etched relative to the S/D material to at least partially remove it, leaving space below the S/D material for the contact metal to fill. In some cases, the contact metal is also between portions of the S/D material. In some cases, the contact metal wraps around the epi S/D, such as when dielectric wall structures on either side of the S/D region are employed. By increasing the S/D contact area, the contact resistance is reduced, thereby improving the performance of the transistor device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Dax M. Crum, Biswajeet Guha, William Hsu, Stephen M. Cea, Tahir Ghani
  • Patent number: 11495512
    Abstract: Flexible transistors and electronic circuits incorporating the transistors are provided. The flexible transistors promote heat dissipation from the active regions of the transistors while preserving their mechanical flexibility and high-frequency performance. The transistor designs utilize thru-substrate vias (TSVs) beneath the active regions of thin-film type transistors on thin flexible substrates. To promote rapid heat dissipation, the TSVs are coated with a material having a high thermal conductivity that transfers heat from the active region of the transistor to a large-area ground.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
    Inventors: Zhenqiang Ma, Huilong Zhang, Shaoqin Gong