Double blanket ion implant method and structure
A double blanket ion implant method for forming diffulsion regions in memory array devices, such as a MOSFET access device is disclosed. The method provides a semiconductor substrate with a gate structure formed on its surface Next, a first pair of diffulsion regions are formed in a region adjacent to the channel region by a first blanket ion implantation process. The first blanket ion implantation process has a first energy level and dose. The device is subjected to oxidizing conditions, which form oxidized sidewalls on the gate structure. A second blanket ion implantation process is conducted at the same location as the first ion implantation process adding additional dopant to the diffusion regions. The second blanket ion implantation process has a second energy level and dose. The resultant diffusion regions provide the device with improved static refresh performance over prior art devices. In addition, the first and second energy levels and doses are substantially lower than an energy level and dose used in a prior art single implantation process.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of semiconductor memory devices and, more particularly to a structure having improved static refresh properties in dynamic random access memory devices and a method of making it.
2. Description of the Related Art
Metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) structures are basic electronic devices used in many integrated circuits. One such structure is the metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET), which is typically formed in a semiconductor substrate by providing a gate structure over the substrate to define a channel region, and by forming source and drain regions on opposing sides of the channel region.
To keep pace with the current trend toward maximizing the number of circuit devices contained in a single chip, integrated circuit designers continue to design integrated circuit devices with smaller and smaller feature sizes. For example, not too long ago it was not uncommon to have MOSFET devices (including CMOS devices) having channel lengths of 2 microns or more. The current state of the art for production MOSFET devices includes channel lengths of less than a ¼ micron.
As the channel lengths of MOSFET devices have been reduced, MOSFETS have become more susceptible to certain problems. One common problem is increased junction leakage, a condition affecting the refresh characteristics of a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) memory cell. DRAM is a specific category of random access memory (RAM) containing an array of individual memory cells, where each cell includes a capacitor for holding a charge and a transistor for accessing the charge held in the capacitor. Due to junction leakage, the stored charge must be re-stored in the capacitor on a periodic basis through a process known as refresh. Increased junction leakage leads to a premature depletion of the capacitor's stored charge, necessitating more frequent refresh cycles. Because resources are expended in refreshing the DRAM cells, the longer the period between refresh cycles, the better. The term “pause” is often used to represent the amount of time that a DRAM cell, or group of cells, can maintain their charge without undergoing a refresh operation. That is, how long can the DRAM control circuitry pause between refresh operations and still maintain the stored state of the DRAM memory cell. It is desirable to extend the pause period of, and improve the static refresh of, the DRAM.
A manufacturer may want to improve static refresh performance of the DRAM to provide customers with the capability to perform more memory operations (e.g., reads and writes) between refresh cycles. This reduces the overhead required to utilize the DRAM. Moreover, a manufacturer may want to improve static refresh performance to improve the operating specifications of the DRAM. For example, DRAMs typically have a low-power or standby specification requiring the DRAM to operate within a maximum current during a low-power mode. Since memory cells must be refreshed during the lower-power mode, reducing the frequency of the refresh operations will improve the DRAM's operational performance for the low-power mode.
Once the gate structure 10 is formed, the device 5 is subjected to oxidizing conditions. This process step is often referred to as a “re-ox” step or a thermal re-ox step. Oxidized sidewalls 22, 24 are formed on the gate structure 10, and oxide regions 26, 28 are formed on the substrate, as a result of the re-ox step. Subsequent to the re-ox step, a blanket phosphorous implant step is performed to form diffusion regions 30, 32. This blanket phosphorous implant is performed at an energy level ranging from 30 Kev to 60 Kev with a dose ranging from 7×102 ions/cm2 to 1.5×1013 ions/cm2 to provide an average dopant concentration for the diffusion regions 30, 32 ranging from 1×1017 ions/cm3 to 1×1019 ions/cm3. For the prior art device 5, this blanket phosphorous implant step is performed after the re-ox step to prevent the phosphorous from diffusing too far underneath the gate structure 10, which could cause transistor leakage problems.
The fabrication process of the device 5 typically includes the formation of oxide or nitride sidewall spacers 40, 42 on the sidewalls of the gate structure 10. Further processing may be performed as described in the '449 patent. Although the MOSFET memory array device 5 is a vast improvement over earlier memory array devices, it can still benefit from improved static refresh performance. Thus, it is still desirable to improve as much as possible the static refresh performance of the memory device.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention provides a memory array device having improved static refresh over prior art memory array devices.
The above and other features and advantages of the invention are achieved by a double blanket ion implant method for forming diffusion regions in memory array devices, such as a MOSFET access device. The method provides a semiconductor substrate with a gate structure formed on its surface. Next, a first pair of diffusion regions are formed in a region adjacent to the channel region by a first blanket ion implantation process. The first blanket ion implantation process has a first energy level and dose. The device is subjected to oxidizing conditions, which form oxidized sidewalls on the gate structure. A second blanket ion implantation process is conducted at the same location as the first ion implantation process adding additional dopant to the diffusion regions. The second blanket ion implantation process has a second energy level and dose. The resultant diffusion regions provide the device with improved static refresh performance over prior art devices. In addition, the first and second energy levels and doses are substantially lower than an energy level and dose used in a prior art single implantation process.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSThe foregoing and other advantages and features of the invention will become more apparent from the detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention given below with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
The present invention will be described as set forth in the preferred embodiments illustrated in
Hereinafter, the terms “wafer” and “substrate” are used interchangeably and are to be understood as including silicon-on-insulator (SOI) or silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) technology, doped and undoped semiconductors, epitaxial layers of silicon supported by a base semiconductor foundation, and other semiconductor structures. Furthermore, when reference is made to a “wafer” or “substrate” in the following description, previous process steps may have been utilized to form regions or junctions in the base semiconductor structure or foundation.
In addition, no particular order is required for the method steps described below, with the exception of those logically requiring the results of prior steps, for example formation of spacers 40, 42 adjacent to the sidewalls of the gate structure 10 logically requires the prior formation of the gate structure 10 and its sidewalls. Otherwise, enumerated steps are provided below in an exemplary order which may be altered, for instance the several ion implant steps may be rearranged using masking and etching steps as is known in the art.
Referring now to
It must be noted that this blanket phosphorous implant step is performed prior to a subsequent re-ox step since the energy level and dose is substantially lower than the dose used in the prior art (i.e., energy level ranging from 30 Kev to 60 Kev with a dose ranging from 7×1012 ions/cm2 to 1.5×103 ions/cm2 to provide an average dopant concentration for the diffusion regions 30, 32 ranging from 1×1017 ions/cm3 to 1×1019 ions/cm3). Thus, the first blanket phosphorous implant step can be performed prior to the re-ox step without having the phosphorous diffuse too far underneath the gate structure 110 and without causing subsequent transistor leakage problems.
Referring now to
The oxidized sidewalls 22, 24 on the gate structure 110 prevent the second implant from diff-using underneath the gate structure 110, which helps in the formation of the individual diffusion regions 130a, 130b, 132a, 132b. The two diffusion regions 130a, 130b combine to form one diffusion region 130. The resultant diffusion region 130 will have two different dopant concentrations, one from region 130a and one from region 130b. There will be a smooth transition between the dopant concentrations of the two regions 130a, 130b. Similarly, the two diffusion regions 132a, 132b combine to form one diffusion region 132. The resultant diffulsion region 132 will have two different dopant concentrations, one from region 132a and one from region 132b. There will be a smooth transition between the dopant concentrations of the two regions 132a, 132b. As will be discussed below, these uniquely formed diffusion regions 130, 132 allow the device 105 to have substantially better static refresh performance in comparison to the prior art device 5 (
Referring to
Referring again to
A standard measure of refresh performance is known as a “time to un-repairable calculation.” The term “repair” is sometimes used to indicate that a memory cell or memory bit has been repaired by electrical replacement with a redundant element. The terms “un repaired” or “un-repairable” are often used to indicate that the number of failing bits exceeds the capability of repair by redundant elements. In the time to un-repairable test, data is written into the bits of memory cells in the DRAM array. Measurements are taken to determine when a predetermined number of bits have lost their charge and within what time. The time it takes for the bits to lose their charge is commonly referred to as the “time to un-repairable” (TTUR).
Referring now to
Referring now to
While the invention has been described in detail in connection with the preferred embodiments known at the time, it should be readily understood that the invention is not limited to such disclosed embodiments. Rather, the invention can be modified to incorporate any number of variations, alterations, substitutions or equivalent arrangements not heretofore described, but which are commensurate with the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be seen as limited by the foregoing description, but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.
Claims
1-39. (canceled)
40. A method for forming a semiconductor device, said method comprising:
- forming a gate structure having sidewalls over a semiconductor substrate;
- performing a first blanket implant with a first dopant on said substrate to form a plurality of first diffusion regions adjacent to the sidewalls of said gate structure;
- performing a re-ox to oxidize at least a portion of sidewalls of said gate structure; and
- performing a second blanket implant with a second dopant on said substrate to form a plurality of second diffusion regions, each of said second diffusion regions being formed within a space previously occupied by a respective one of said plurality of first diffusion regions;
- wherein each of said first diffusion regions is associated with and located beneath a respective second diffusion region; each of said first diffusion regions includes a portion extending beneath said gate structure; and none of said plurality of second diffusion regions include any portion which extends beneath said gate structure.
41. The method of claim 40, wherein said first dopant is a n-type dopant.
42. The method of claim 41, wherein said first dopant is chosen from a group consisting of phosphorous, arsenic, and antimony.
43. The method of claim 40, wherein said first dopant is a p-type dopant.
44. The method of claim 43, wherein said first dopant is chosen from a group consisting of boron, boron bifloride, and borane.
45. The method of claim 40, wherein said first blanket implant is performed using an energy level ranging between 5 KeV to 45 KeV.
46. The method of claim 45, wherein said first blanket implant is performed using an energy level of 15 KeV.
47. The method of claim 40, wherein said first blanket implant is performed using an dosage ranging between 1×1012 ions/cm2 to 7×1012 ions/cm2.
48. The method of claim 47, wherein said first blanket implant is performed using a dosage of 2×1012 ions/cm2.
49. The method of claim 40, wherein said second dopant is the same as said first dopant.
50. The method of claim 40, wherein said second dopant is different from said first.
51. The method of claim 50, wherein said second dopant is of a different conductivity type as said first dopant.
52. The method of claim 40, wherein said second blanket implant is performed using an energy level ranging from 5 KeV to 60 KeV.
53. The method of claim 52, wherein said second blanket implant is performed using an energy level of 20 KeV.
54. The method of claim 40, wherein said second blanket implant is performed using a dosage ranging from 1×1012 ions/cm2 to 10×1012 ions/cm2.
55. The method of claim 54, wherein said second blanket implant is performed using a dosage of 4×1012 ions/cm2.
56. A method of forming a semiconductor device, comprising:
- providing a gate structure disposed over a surface of said semiconductor substrate;
- performing a first blanket implant into the substrate to form a plurality of diffusion regions underneath the surface of the substrate adjacent to the gate structure, with a portion of each diffusion regions extending underneath a portion of said gate structure, thereby forming respective first and second overlap regions;
- performing a re-ox step to form oxidized sidewalls on the gate structure and oxide regions on the substrate; and
- performing a second blanket implant through the oxide regions and into the substrate at locations of the first and second diffusion regions to add additional dopant to the first and second diffusion regions, wherein the oxidized sidewalls on the gate structure prevents the additional dopant from diffusing underneath the gate structure, thereby forming respective diffusion regions on opposite sides of the gate structure each having a graded dopant concentration.
57. The method of claim 56, wherein said first dopant is chosen from a group consisting of: phosphorous, arsenic, and antimony.
58. The method of claim 56, wherein said second dopant is chosen from a group consisting of: phosphorous, arsenic, and antimony.
59. The method of claim 56, wherein said first dopant is chosen from a group consisting of: boron, boron bifloride, and borane.
60. The method of claim 56, wherein said second dopant is chosen from a group consisting of: boron, boron bifloride, and borane.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 31, 2005
Publication Date: Aug 18, 2005
Inventors: Mark Fischer (Boise, ID), Charles Dennison (Boise, ID), Fawad Ahmed (Boise, ID), Richard Lane (Boise, ID), John Zahurak (Boise, ID), Kunal Parekh (Boise, ID)
Application Number: 11/094,377