Abstract: One illustrative method disclosed herein includes forming a plurality of initial fins in a substrate, wherein at least one of the initial fins is a to-be-removed fin, forming a material adjacent the initial fins, forming a fin removal masking layer above the plurality of initial fins, removing a desired portion of the at least one to-be-removed fin by: (a) performing a recess etching process on the material to remove a portion, but not all, of the material positioned adjacent the sidewalls of the at least one to-be-removed fin, (b) after performing the recess etching process, performing a fin recess etching process to remove a portion, but not all, of the at least one to be removed fin and (c) repeating steps (a) and (b) until the desired amount of the at least one to-be-removed fin is removed.

Abstract: One illustrative method disclosed herein includes, among other things, oxidizing a lower portion of an initial fin structure to thereby define an isolation region that vertically separates an upper portion of the initial fin structure from a semiconducting substrate, performing a recess etching process to remove a portion of the upper portion of the initial fin structure so as to define a recessed fin portion, forming a replacement fin on the recessed fin portion so as to define a final fin structure comprised of the replacement fin and the recessed fin portion, and forming a gate structure around at least a portion of the replacement fin.

Abstract: One method disclosed includes, among other things, forming a fin structure comprised of a semiconductor material, a first epi semiconductor material and a second epi semiconductor material, forming a sacrificial gate structure above the fin structure, forming a sidewall spacer adjacent the sacrificial gate structure, performing at least one etching process to remove the portions of the fin structure positioned laterally outside of the sidewall spacer so as to thereby define a fin cavity in the source/drain regions of the device and to expose edges of the fin structure positioned under the sidewall spacer, and performing an epitaxial deposition process to form an epi etch stop layer on the exposed edges of the fin structure positioned under the sidewall spacer and within the fin cavity.

Abstract: One illustrative method disclosed herein involves, among other things, forming a first epi semiconductor material on the exposed opposite sidewalls of a fin to thereby define a semiconductor body, performing at least one etching process to remove at least a portion of the substrate portion of the fin positioned between the first epi semiconductor materials positioned on the opposite sidewalls of the fin and to thereby define a back-gate cavity, forming a back-gate insulating material within the back-gate cavity and on the first epi semiconductor materials, forming a back-gate electrode on the back-gate insulation material within the back-gate cavity and forming a gate structure comprised of a gate insulation layer and a gate electrode around the semiconductor bodies.

Abstract: One illustrative method disclosed herein involves, among other things, forming trenches to form an initial fin structure having an initial exposed height and sidewalls, forming a protection layer on at least the sidewalls of the initial fin structure, extending the depth of the trenches to thereby define an increased-height fin structure, with a layer of insulating material over-filling the final trenches and with the protection layer in position, performing a fin oxidation thermal anneal process to convert at least a portion of the increased-height fin structure into an isolation material, removing the protection layer, and performing an epitaxial deposition process to form a layer of semiconductor material on at least portions of the initial fin structure.

Abstract: Embodiments herein provide approaches for forming a set of replacement fins in a semiconductor device. Specifically, a device is formed having a set of replacement fins over a substrate, each of the set of replacement fins comprising a first section separated from a second section by a liner layer, the first section having a lower dopant centration than a dopant concentration of the second section. In one embodiment, sequential epitaxial deposition with insitu doping is used to form the second section, the liner layer, and then the first section of each of the set of replacement fins. In another embodiment, the second section is formed over the substrate, and the liner layer is formed through a carbon implant. The first section is then epitaxially formed over the liner layer, and serves as the fin channel. As provided, upward dopant diffusion is suppressed, resulting in the first section of each fin being maintained with low doping so that the fin channel is fully depleted channel during device operation.

Abstract: One illustrative method disclosed herein includes forming a plurality of initial fins in a substrate, wherein at least one of the initial fins is a to-be-removed fin, forming a material adjacent the initial fins, forming a fin removal masking layer above the plurality of initial fins, removing a desired portion of the at least one to-be-removed fin by: (a) performing a recess etching process on the material to remove a portion, but not all, of the material positioned adjacent the sidewalls of the at least one to-be-removed fin, (b) after performing the recess etching process, performing a fin recess etching process to remove a portion, but not all, of the at least one to be removed fin and (c) repeating steps (a) and (b) until the desired amount of the at least one to-be-removed fin is removed.

Abstract: One method disclosed includes, among other things, removing a sacrificial gate structure to thereby define a replacement gate cavity, performing an etching process through the replacement gate cavity to define a fin structure in a layer of semiconductor material using a patterned hard mask exposed within the replacement gate cavity as an etch mask and forming a replacement gate structure in the replacement gate cavity around at least a portion of the fin structure.

Abstract: One method disclosed herein includes removing at least a portion of a fin to thereby define a fin trench in a layer of insulating material, forming first and second layers of semiconductor material in the fin trench, after forming the second layer of semiconductor material, performing an anneal process to induce defect formation in at least the first layer of semiconductor material, wherein, after the anneal process is performed, the upper surface of the second layer of semiconductor material is substantially defect-free, forming a layer of channel semiconductor material on the upper surface of the second layer of semiconductor material and forming a gate structure around at least a portion of the channel semiconductor material.

Abstract: Forming a plurality of initial trenches that extend through a layer of silicon-germanium and into a substrate to define an initial fin structure comprised of a portion of the layer of germanium-containing material and a first portion of the substrate, forming sidewall spacers adjacent the initial fin structure, performing an etching process to extend the initial depth of the initial trenches, thereby forming a plurality of final trenches having a final depth that is greater than the initial depth and defining a second portion of the substrate positioned under the first portion of the substrate, forming a layer of insulating material over-filling the final trenches and performing a thermal anneal process to convert at least a portion of the first or second portions of the substrate into a silicon dioxide isolation material that extends laterally under an entire width of the portion of the germanium-containing material.

Abstract: One device disclosed includes a gate structure positioned around a perimeter surface of the fin, a layer of channel semiconductor material having an axial length in the channel length direction of the device that corresponds approximately to the overall width of the gate structure being positioned between the gate structure and around the outer perimeter surface of the fin, wherein an inner surface of the layer of channel semiconductor material is spaced apart from and does not contact the outer perimeter surface of the fin. One method disclosed involves, among other things, forming first and second layers of semiconductor material around the fin, forming a gate structure around the second semiconductor material, removing the portions of the first and second layers of semiconductor material positioned laterally outside of sidewall spacers and removing the first layer of semiconductor material positioned below the second layer of semiconductor material.

Abstract: An improved structure and methods of fabrication for finFET devices utilizing a cladding channel are disclosed. A staircase fin is formed where the fin comprises an upper portion of a first width and a lower portion of a second width, wherein the lower portion is wider than the upper portion. The narrower upper portion allows the cladding channel to be deposited and still have sufficient space for proper gate deposition, while the lower portion is wide to provide improved mechanical stability, which protects the fins during the subsequent processing steps.

Abstract: One illustrative device disclosed herein includes a fin defined in a semiconductor substrate having a crystalline structure, wherein at least a sidewall of the fin is positioned substantially in a <100> crystallographic direction of the substrate, a gate structure positioned around the fin, an outermost sidewall spacer positioned adjacent opposite sides of the gate structure, and an epi semiconductor material formed around portions of the fin positioned laterally outside of the outermost sidewall spacers in the source/drain regions of the device, wherein the epi semiconductor material has a substantially uniform thickness along the sidewalls of the fin.

Abstract: Forming a plurality of initial trenches that extend through a layer of silicon-germanium and into a substrate to define an initial fin structure comprised of a portion of the layer of germanium-containing material and a first portion of the substrate, forming sidewall spacers adjacent the initial fin structure, performing an etching process to extend the initial depth of the initial trenches, thereby forming a plurality of final trenches having a final depth that is greater than the initial depth and defining a second portion of the substrate positioned under the first portion of the substrate, forming a layer of insulating material over-filling the final trenches and performing a thermal anneal process to convert at least a portion of the first or second portions of the substrate into a silicon dioxide isolation material that extends laterally under an entire width of the portion of the germanium-containing material.

Abstract: A first semiconductor structure includes a bulk silicon substrate and one or more original silicon fins coupled to the bulk silicon substrate. A dielectric material is conformally blanketed over the first semiconductor structure and recessed to create a dielectric layer. A first cladding material is deposited adjacent to the original silicon fin, after which the original silicon fin is removed to form a second semiconductor structure having two fins that are electrically isolated from the bulk silicon substrate. A second cladding material is patterned adjacent to the first cladding material to form a third semiconductor structure having four fins that are electrically isolated from the bulk silicon substrate.

Abstract: One method disclosed herein includes, among other things, forming sidewall spacers adjacent opposite sides of a sacrificial gate electrode of a sacrificial gate structure, forming a tensile-stressed layer of insulating material adjacent the sidewall spacers, removing the sacrificial gate structure to define a replacement gate cavity positioned between the sidewall spacers, forming a replacement gate structure in the replacement gate cavity, forming a tensile-stressed gate cap layer above the replacement gate structure and within the replacement gate cavity and, after forming the tensile-stressed gate cap layer, removing the tensile-stressed layer of insulating material.

Abstract: Fin field effect transistor integrated circuits and methods for producing the same are provided. A fin field effect transistor integrated circuit includes a plurality of fins extending from a semiconductor substrate. Each of the plurality of fins includes a fin sidewall, and each of the plurality of fins extends to a fin height such that a trough with a trough base is defined between adjacent fins. A second dielectric is positioned within the trough, where the second dielectric directly contacts the semiconductor substrate at the trough base. The second dielectric extends to a second dielectric height less than the fin height such that protruding fin portions extend above the second dielectric. A first dielectric is positioned between the fin sidewall and the second dielectric.

Abstract: One method disclosed includes, among other things, removing a sacrificial gate structure to thereby define a replacement gate cavity, performing an etching process through the replacement gate cavity to define a fin structure in a layer of semiconductor material using a patterned hard mask exposed within the replacement gate cavity as an etch mask and forming a replacement gate structure in the replacement gate cavity around at least a portion of the fin structure.

Abstract: Embodiments herein provide approaches for device isolation in a complimentary metal-oxide fin field effect transistor. Specifically, a semiconductor device is formed with a retrograde doped layer over a substrate to minimize a source to drain punch-through leakage. A set of replacement fins is formed over the retrograde doped layer, each of the set of replacement fins comprising a high mobility channel material (e.g., silicon, or silicon-germanium). The retrograde doped layer may be formed using an in situ doping process or a counter dopant retrograde implant. The device may further include a carbon liner positioned between the retrograde doped layer and the set of replacement fins to prevent carrier spill-out to the replacement fins.

Abstract: A method of forming a semiconductor structure includes forming a first isolation region between fins of a first group of fins and between fins of a second group of fins. The first a second group of fins are formed in a bulk semiconductor substrate. A second isolation region is formed between the first group of fins and the second group of fins, the second isolation region extends through a portion of the first isolation region such that the first and second isolation regions are in direct contact and a height above the bulk semiconductor substrate of the second isolation region is greater than a height above the bulk semiconductor substrate of the first isolation region.