Abstract: An insulated-gate field-effect transistor (100, 100V, 140, 150, 150V, 160, 170, 170V, 180, 180V, 190, 210, 210W, 220, 220U, 220V, 220W, 380, or 480) is fabricated so as to have a hypoabrupt vertical dopant profile below one (104 or 264) of its source/drain zones for reducing the parasitic capacitance along the pn junction between that source/drain zone, normally serving as the drain, and adjoining body material (108 or 268). In particular, the concentration of semiconductor dopant which defines the conductivity type of the body material increases by at least a factor of 10 in moving from that source/drain zone down to an underlying body-material location no more than 10 times deeper below the upper semiconductor surface than that source/drain zone. The body material is preferably provided with a more heavily doped pocket portion (120 or 280) situated along the other source/drain zone (102 or 262) normally serving as the source.

Abstract: A bipolar transistor (101) has a base (243) formed with an intrinsic base portion (2431), a base contact portion (245C), and a base link portion (243L) that extends between the intrinsic base portion and the base contact portion. An isolating dielectric layer (267-1 or 267-2) is provided above the base link portion. The length of the base link portion is determined, and thereby controlled, with a lateral spacing portion (269-1 or 269-2) of largely non-monocrystalline semiconductor material, preferably polycrystalline semiconductor material, provided on the dielectric layer above the base link portion. The lateral spacing portion is typically provided as part of a layer of non-monocrystalline semiconductor material used in the gate electrode of an insulated-gate field-effect transistor.

Abstract: An insulated-gate field-effect transistor (100, 100V, 140, 150, 150V, 160, 170, 170V, 180, 180V, 190, 210, 210W, 220, 220U, 220V, 220W, 380, or 480) has a hypoabrupt vertical dopant profile below one (104 or 264) of its source/drain zones for reducing the parasitic capacitance along the pn junction between that source/drain zone and adjoining body material (108 or 268). In particular, the concentration of semiconductor dopant which defines the conductivity type of the body material increases by at least a factor of 10 in moving from that source/drain zone down to an underlying body-material location no more than 10 times deeper below the upper semiconductor surface than that source/drain zone. The body material preferably includes a more heavily doped pocket portion (120 or 280) situated along the other source/drain zone (102 or 262).

Abstract: A semiconductor structure is provided with (i) an empty well having relatively little well dopant near the top of the well and (ii) a filled well having considerably more well dopant near the top of the well. Each well is defined by a corresponding body-material region (108 or 308) of a selected conductivity type. The regions respectively meet overlying zones (104 and 304) of the opposite conductivity type. The concentration of well dopant of the selected conductivity type locally reaches a maximum in each body-material region at a location no more than 10 times deeper below the upper semiconductor surface than the overlying zone's depth, decreases by at least a factor of 10 in moving from the empty-well maximum-concentration location through the overlying zone to the upper surface, and reaches at least one other maximum in moving from the filled-well maximum-concentration location through the other zone to the upper surface.

Abstract: An insulated-gate field-effect transistor (100) provided along an upper surface of a semiconductor body contains a pair of source/drain zones (240 and 242) laterally separated by a channel zone (244). A gate electrode (262) overlies a gate dielectric layer (260) above the channel zone. Each source/drain zone includes a main portion (240M or 242M) and a more lightly doped lateral extension (240E or 242E) laterally continuous with the main portion and extending laterally under the gate electrode. The lateral extensions, which terminate the channel zone along the upper semiconductor surface, are respectively largely defined by a pair of semiconductor dopants of different atomic weights. With the transistor being an asymmetric device, the source/drain zones constitute a source and a drain. The lateral extension of the source is defined with dopant of higher atomic weight than the lateral extension of the drain.

Abstract: An asymmetric insulated-gate field-effect transistor (100) has a source (240) and a drain (242) laterally separated by a channel zone (244) of body material (180) of a semiconductor body. A gate electrode (262) overlies a gate dielectric layer (260) above the channel zone. A more heavily doped pocket portion (250) of the body material extends largely along only the source. Each of the source and drain has a main portion (240M or 242M) and a more lightly doped lateral extension (240E or 242E). The drain extension is more lightly doped than the source extension. The maximum concentration of the semiconductor dopant defining the two extensions occurs deeper in the drain extension than in the source extension. Additionally or alternatively, the drain extension extends further laterally below the gate electrode than the source extension. These features enable the threshold voltage to be highly stable with operational time.

Abstract: At least one source/drain zone (140, 142, 160, or 162) of an enhancement-mode insulated-gate field-effect transistor (120 or 122) is provided with graded junction characteristics to reduce junction capacitance, thereby increasing switching speed. Each graded junction source/drain zone contains a main portion (140M, 142M, 160M, or 162M) and a more lightly doped lower portion (140L, 142L, 160L, or 162L) underlying, and vertically continuous with, the main portion. The magnitudes of the threshold voltages of a group of such transistors fabricated under the same post-layout fabrication process conditions so as to be of different channel lengths reach a maximum absolute value VTAM when the channel length is at a value LC, are at least 0.03 volt less than VTAM when the channel length is approximately 0.3 ?m greater than LC, and materially decrease with increasing channel length when the channel length is approximately 1.0 ?m greater than LC.

Abstract: An insulated-gate field-effect transistor (100, 100V, 140, 150, 150V, 160, 170, 170V, 180, 180V, 190, 210, 210W, 220, 220U, 220V, 220W, 380, or 480) has a hypoabrupt vertical dopant profile below one (104 or 264) of its source/drain zones for reducing the parasitic capacitance along the pn junction between that source/drain zone and adjoining body material (108 or 268). In particular, the concentration of semiconductor dopant which defines the conductivity type of the body material increases by at least a factor of 10 in moving from that source/drain zone down to an underlying body-material location no more than 10 times deeper below the upper semiconductor surface than that source/drain zone. The body material preferably includes a more heavily doped pocket portion (120 or 280) situated along the other source/drain zone (102 or 262).

Abstract: An insulated-gate field-effect transistor (500, 510, 530, or 540) has a hypoabrupt step-change vertical dopant profile below one (104 or 564) of its source/drain zones for reducing the parasitic capacitance along the pn junction between that source/drain zone and adjoining body material (108 or 568). In particular, the concentration of semiconductor dopant which defines the conductivity type of the body material largely undergoes a step increase by at least a factor of 10 in moving from that source/drain zone down to an underlying body-material location no more than 10 times deeper below the upper semiconductor surface than that source/drain zone.

Abstract: An insulated-gate field-effect transistor (100, 100V, 140, 150, 150V, 160, 170, 170V, 180, 180V, 190, 210, 210W, 220, 220U, 220V, 220W, 380, or 480) is fabricated so as to have a hypoabrupt vertical dopant profile below one (104 or 264) of its source/drain zones for reducing the parasitic capacitance along the pn junction between that source/drain zone and adjoining body material (108 or 268). In particular, the concentration of semiconductor dopant which defines the conductivity type of the body material increases by at least a factor of 10 in moving from that source/drain zone down to an underlying body-material location no more than 10 times deeper below the upper semiconductor surface than that source/drain zone. The body material is preferably provided with a more heavily doped pocket portion (120 or 280) situated along the other source/drain zone (102 or 262).

Abstract: Insulated-gate field-effect transistors (“IGFETs”), both symmetric and asymmetric, suitable for a semiconductor fabrication platform that provides IGFETs for analog and digital applications, including mixed-signal applications, utilize empty-well regions in achieving high performance. A relatively small amount of semiconductor well dopant is near the top of each empty well. Each IGFET (100, 102, 112, 114, 124, or 126) has a pair of source/drain zones laterally separated by a channel zone of body material of the empty well (180, 182, 192, 194, 204, or 206). A gate electrode overlies a gate dielectric layer above the channel zone. Each source/drain zone (240, 242, 280, 282, 520, 522, 550, 552, 720, 722, 752, or 752) has a main portion (240M, 242M, 280M, 282M, 520M, 522M, 550M, 552M, 720M, 722M, 752M, or 752M) and a more lightly doped lateral extension (240E, 242E, 280E, 282E, 520E, 522E, 550E, 552E, 720E, 722E, 752E, or 752E).

Abstract: A semiconductor structure, which serves as the core of a semiconductor fabrication platform, has a combination of empty-well regions and filled-well regions variously used by electronic elements, particularly insulated-gate field-effect transistors (“IGFETs”), to achieve desired electronic characteristics. A relatively small amount of semiconductor well dopant is near the top of an empty well. A considerable amount of semiconductor well dopant is near the top of a filled well. Some IGFETs (100, 102, 112, 114, 124, and 126) utilize empty wells (180, 182, 192, 194, 204, and 206) in achieving desired transistor characteristics. Other IGFETs (108, 110, 116, 118, 120, and 122) utilize filled wells (188, 190, 196, 198, 200, and 202) in achieving desired transistor characteristics.

Abstract: An insulated-gate field-effect transistor (100) provided along an upper surface of a semiconductor body contains a pair of source/drain zones (240 and 242) laterally separated by a channel zone (244). A gate electrode (262) overlies a gate dielectric layer (260) above the channel zone. Each source/drain zone includes a main portion (240M or 242M) and a more lightly doped lateral extension (240E or 242E) laterally continuous with the main portion and extending laterally under the gate electrode. The lateral extensions, which terminate the channel zone along the upper semiconductor surface, are respectively largely defined by a pair of semiconductor dopants of different atomic weights. With the transistor being an asymmetric device, the source/drain zones constitute a source and a drain. The lateral extension of the source is then more lightly doped than, and defined with dopant of higher atomic weight, than the lateral extension of the drain.

Abstract: An asymmetric insulated-gate field-effect transistor (100 or 102) has a source (240 or 280) and a drain (242 or 282) laterally separated by a channel zone (244 or 284) of body material (180 or 182) of a semiconductor body. A gate electrode (262 or 302) overlies a gate dielectric layer (260 or 300) above the channel zone. A more heavily doped pocket portion (250 or 290) of the body material extends largely along only the source. The source has a main source portion (240M or 280M) and a more lightly doped lateral source extension (240E or 280E). The drain has a main portion (242M or 282M) and a more lightly doped lateral drain extension (242E or 282E). The drain extension is more lightly doped than the source extension. The maximum concentration of the semiconductor dopant defining the two extensions occurs deeper in the drain extension than in the source extension. Additionally or alternatively, the drain extension extends further laterally below the gate electrode than the source extension.

Abstract: An extended-drain insulated-gate field-effect transistor (104 or 106) contains first and second source/drain zones 324 and 184B or 364 and 186B) laterally separated by a channel (322 or 362) zone constituted by part of a first well region (184A or 186A). A gate dielectric layer (344 or 384) overlies the channel zone. A gate electrode (346 or 386) overlies the gate dielectric layer above the channel zone. The first source/drain zone is normally the source. The second S/D zone, normally the drain, is constituted with a second well region (184B or 186B). A well-separating portion 186A or 186B/212U) of the semiconductor body extends between the well regions and is more lightly doped than each well region. The configuration of the well regions cause the maximum electric field in the IGFET's portion of the semiconductor body to occur well below the upper semiconductor surface, typically at or close to where the well regions are closest to each other.

Abstract: An asymmetric insulated-gate field effect transistor (100U or 102U) provided along an upper surface of a semiconductor body contains first and second source/drain zones (240 and 242 or 280 and 282) laterally separated by a channel zone (244 or 284) of the transistor's body material. A gate electrode (262 or 302) overlies a gate dielectric layer (260 or 300) above the channel zone. A pocket portion (250 or 290) of the body material more heavily doped than laterally adjacent material of the body material extends along largely only the first of the S/D zones and into the channel zone. The vertical dopant profile of the pocket portion is tailored to reach a plurality of local maxima (316-1-316-3) at respective locations (PH-1-PH-3) spaced apart from one another. The tailoring is typically implemented so that the vertical dopant profile of the pocket portion is relatively flat near the upper semiconductor surface. As a result, the transistor has reduced leakage current.

Abstract: A group of high-performance like-polarity insulated-gate field-effect transistors (100, 108, 112, 116, 120, and 124 or 102, 110, 114, 118, 122, and 126) have selectably different configurations of lateral source/drain extensions, halo pockets, and gate dielectric thicknesses suitable for a semiconductor fabrication platform that provides a wide variety of transistors for analog and/or digital applications. Each transistor has a pair of source/drain zones, a gate dielectric layer, and a gate electrode. Each source/drain zone includes a main portion and a more lightly doped lateral extension. The lateral extension of one of the source/drain zones of one of the transistors is more heavily doped or/and extends less deeply below the upper semiconductor surface than the lateral extension of one of the source/drain zones of another of the transistors.

Abstract: An insulated-gate field-effect transistor (100W) has a source (980) and a drain (242) laterally separated by a channel zone (244) of body material (180) of a semiconductor body. A gate electrode (262) overlies a gate dielectric layer (260) above the channel zone. A more heavily doped pocket portion (250) of the body material normally extends largely along only the source so that the IGFET is an asymmetric device. The source has a main source portion (980M) and a more lightly doped lateral source extension (980E). The semiconductor dopant which defines the source reaches multiple local concentration maxima in defining the source extension. The procedure involved in defining the source extension with semiconductor dopant that reaches two such local concentration maxima enables source/drain extensions of mutually different characteristics for three insulated-gate field-effect transistors to be defined in only two source/drain-extension doping operations.

Abstract: Fabrication of an asymmetric field-effect transistor (100) entails defining a gate electrode (262) above, and vertically separated by a gate dielectric layer (260) from, a channel-zone portion (244) of body material of a semiconductor body. Semiconductor dopant is introduced into the body material to define a more heavily doped pocket portion (250) using the gate electrode as a dopant-blocking shield. A spacer (264T) is provided along the gate electrode. The spacer includes (i) a dielectric portion situated along the gate electrode, (ii) a dielectric portion situated along the semiconductor body, and (iii) a filler portion (SC) largely occupying the space between the other two spacer portions. Semiconductor dopant is introduced into the semiconductor body to define a pair of main source/drain portions (240M and 240E) using the gate electrode and the spacer as a dopant-blocking shield. The filler spacer portion is removed to convert the spacer to an L shape (264).

Abstract: A semiconductor structure contains a bipolar transistor (101) and a spacing structure (265-1 or 265-2). The transistor has an emitter (241), a base (243), and a collector (245). The base is formed with an intrinsic base portion (243I), a base link portion (243L), and a base contact portion (245C). The intrinsic base portion is situated below the emitter and above material of the collector. The base link portion extends between the intrinsic base portion and the base contact portions. The spacing structure includes an isolating dielectric layer (267-1 or 267-2) and a spacing component. The dielectric layer extends along the upper semiconductor surface. The spacing component includes a lateral spacing portion (269-1 or 269-2) of largely non-monocrystalline semiconductor material, preferably polycrystalline semiconductor material, situated on the dielectric layer above the base link portion.