Backend metallization method and device obtained therefrom
A semiconductor device and a method of making it are described. During the formation of the semiconductor device, a hard mask is formed of an etch-resistant material. The mask prevents etchant from etching an area within a dielectric material near a conductive plug. The mask may be formed of a nitride. Conductive material is then deposited withinan etched via and is contacted with the conductive plug.
The present invention relates to the fabrication of semiconductor devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to the backend metatlization process used in the formation of semiconductor devices.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThere are a variety of semiconductor device types, one particular semiconductor device being a semiconductor memory device, such as random access memory (RAM) device. Known types of RAM devices include static random access memory (SRAM) devices and dynamic random access memory (DRAM) devices. A DRAM device contains an array of individual memory cells. Each cell includes an integrated circuit on a substrate and conductive material for electrically connecting the cell to other structures of a memory circuit.
With reference to
Vias 21 may be formed with a positive overlap (the conductive plug M1 is of to a greater diameter than the via 21), a zero overlap (the conductive plug M1 and the via 21 are the same diameter), or a negative overlap (the conductive plug M1 has a smaller diameter than the via 21). In
The conductive layers 12, 16 may be formed of any suitable conductive material, such as aluminum, copper or a highly doped polysilicon. The material 20 is preferably formed of a non-conductive material which is relatively easily removed in a chemical-mechanical polishing or etching process. Most preferably, and as noted, the material 20 is a doped silicate glass, such as, for example, BPSG.
In addition to the single Damascene method described above, a double Damascene method may be used to form a conductive connection. A double Damascene method for forming trench capacitors is described in “Dual-Damascene Challenges Dielectric Etch,” Semiconductor International, p. 68-72, August 1999.
One disadvantage associated with the above-described fabrication method is that sometimes the etched via 21 in the material 20 is offset slightly relative to the plug M1, as shown in
One approach at alleviating this disadvantage is to utilize a different conductive material for the conductive layer 12. Whereas aluminum or copper generally have been used for the conductive layer 12 (
There thus exists a need for a fabricated semiconductor device which does not tend to form the offset gap shown in
The present invention avoids the offset gap shown in
According to another aspect of the present invention, a memory device including at least one memory cell may be provided with the just described conductive connector.
The present invention also relates to a method of making a semiconductor conductive connector. The method includes providing a first layer of dielectric material on an integrated circuit substrate, forming a conductive plug within the first dielectric material, providing an etch-stop layer over the first dielectric layer and around the conductive plug, providing a second layer of dielectric material over the conductive plug and etch-stop layer, etching the second layer of dielectric material to the conductive plug and etch-stop layer to form a via, and forming a conductive connector in the via in contact with the conductive plug.
These and other advantages and features of the invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description which is provided in connection with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Referring now to the drawings, where like numerals designate like elements, there is shown in
If the hard mask 228 is formed of, for example, silicon nitride, a plasma etch using CF4 or C2F6 as the etching gas may be utilized to form the via 21. When either of these etching gases reacts with the BPSG material 20, the oxygen contained within the material 20 is released and will react with the carbon in the etching gas to form carbon dioxide and desorb. However, when the etching gas reacts with the silicon nitride, there is no oxygen in the film, so a polymer containing carbon is formed. The polymer slows down or stops the etch of the silicon nitride, particularly, when the carbon to flourine ratio is high.
The result of this etching process is that etching of the insulating layer 20 to form the via 21 will stop at the hard mask 228 and the formation of an offset opening like the offset openings 25, 125 shown in
Next, a method of forming the conductive connection 214 (
An insulating layer 20, e.g. BPSG, is then deposited on the insulator 230 (step 415) and the via 21 is subsequently etched into the insulating layer 20 (step 420). The etching of via 21 is preferably accomplished by laying a photoresist over the material 20, exposing and developing the phtotoresist to mask a portion of the material 20 that is not to be etched, and then etching the via 21 in the unmasked region. As noted, the hard mask 228 is formed of a material which is relatively resistant to the etching chemistry, and hence acts as an etch stop so there is little or no etching below the top level of the conductive plug M1. The first conductive layer 12 is then deposited at step 425 and the second conductive layer 16 is deposited on the first conductive layer 12 at step 430, thereby creating the conductive connection 214.
Referring now to
Referring now to
The present invention provides a semiconductor device which does not suffer from the aforementioned disadvantages caused by an etched area to the side of the conductive plug M1. The present invention further provides a method for making semiconductor devices without forming air gaps in trenches offset from a conductive plug.
While the invention has been described in detail in connection with 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.
What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent of the United States is:
Claims
1-38. (canceled)
39. A semiconductor device comprising:
- an insulator layer;
- a conductive plug positioned within said insulator layer and formed of a single conductive material;
- a doped region connected to said conductive plug;
- a non-conductive layer having an etched via formed at least partially over said conductive plug, wherein a first portion of said etched via is wider in diameter than said conductive plug; and
- a conductive connector formed in said via in electrical contact with said plug and including a first conductive layer deposited in and in contact with said etched via and a second conductive layer deposited over and in contact with said first conductive layer, said first conductive layer including a portion in contact with said conductive plug.
40. The semiconductor structure of claim 39, further comprising an etch-stop layer located on said insulator layer and surrounding said plug.
41. The semiconductor structure of claim 40, further comprising an wherein said etch-stop layer comprises silicon nitride.
42. The semiconductor structure of claim 40, wherein said etch-stop layer comprises silicon carbide.
43. The semiconductor structure of claim 40, wherein said etch-stop layer comprises silicon dioxide.
44. The semiconductor structure of claim 40, wherein said etch-stop layer comprises silicon nitride and silicon carbide.
45. The semiconductor structure of claim 40, wherein said non-conductive layer comprises doped silicate glass.
46. The semiconductor structure of claim 45, wherein said doped silicate glass comprises borophosphosilicate glass.
47. The semiconductor structure of claim 40, wherein said first conductive layer comprises one or more materials selected from the group consisting of aluminum, copper, doped polysilicate, tantalum, tantalum nitride, titanium, titanium nitride and tungsten.
48. The semiconductor structure of claim 40, further comprising a substrate with a connection region, wherein said conductive plug is provided over said connection region.
49. A semiconductor device comprising:
- at least one memory cell comprising:
- an active region in a substrate;
- a conductive plug formed of a single conductive material positioned within an insulator layer and provided over said active region, said conductive plug
- being electrically connected with said active region;
- an intermediate non-conductive layer provided over said insulator layer having an etched via over said plug, said etched via having a first via portion wider in diameter than said conductive plug, and a second via portion above said first via portion having a greater diameter than said first via portion; and
- a first conductive layer deposited in and in contact with said first and second via portions, said first conductive layer including a portion in contact with said conductive plug, and a second conductive layer deposited over and in contact with said first conductive layer.
50. The semiconductor memory device of claim 49, wherein said intermediate layer comprises doped silicate glass.
51. The semiconductor memory device of claim 50, wherein said doped silicate glass comprises borophosphosilicate glass.
52. The semiconductor memory device of claim 49, wherein said first conductive layer comprises one or more materials selected from the group consisting of aluminum, copper, doped polysilicate, tantalum, tantalum nitride, titanium, titanium nitride and tungsten.
53. The semiconductor memory device of claim 49, wherein said second conductive layer comprises one or more materials selected from the group consisting of aluminum, copper, doped polysilicate, tantalum, tantalum nitride, titanium, titanium nitride and tungsten.
54. The semiconductor memory device of claim 49, further comprising a plurality of said memory cells.
55. The semiconductor memory device of claim 54, wherein said plurality of said memory cells are in an array.
56. A processor-based system comprising:
- a processing unit;
- a semiconductor circuit coupled to said processing unit, said semiconductor circuit comprising:
- a conductive plug formed of a single conductive material positioned within an insulator and provided on a connection region;
- an intermediate non-conductive layer provided over said insulator having at least an etched via over said conductive plug, said etched via having a first via portion being wider in diameter than said conductive plug, and a second via portion above said first via portion having a greater diameter than said first via portion; and
- a conductive connector electrically coupled to said connection region, said conductive connector comprising a first conductive layer deposited in and in contact with said first and second via portions, said first conductive layer including a portion in contact with said conductive plug, and a second conductive layer deposited over and in contact with said first conductive layer.
57. The processor-based system of claim 56, wherein said connection region comprises a doped region within said substrate.
58. The processor-based system of claim 56, wherein said intermediate layer comprises doped silicate glass.
59. The processor-based system of claim 58, wherein said doped silicate glass comprises borophosphosilicate glass.
60. The processor-based system of claim 56, wherein said first conductive layer comprises at least one layer of one or more materials selected from the group consisting of aluminum, copper, doped polysilicate, tantalum, tantalum nitride, titanium, titanium nitride and tungsten.
61. The processor-based system of claim 56, wherein said second conductive layer comprises at least one layer of one or more materials selected from the group consisting of aluminum, copper, doped polysilicate, tantalum, tantalum nitride, titanium, titanium nitride and tungsten.
62. The processor-based system of claim 56, further comprising a substrate, and wherein said connection region is located in said substrate, and wherein said conductive plug is located over said connection region.
63. A method of making a semiconductor device, said method comprising:
- forming a layer of insulating material over a substrate;
- forming a conductive plug within said first layer of insulating material, wherein said conductive plug consists essentially of a single conductive material;
- forming a second layer of insulating material over said conductive plug; and
- etching said second layer of insulating material to said conductive plug and etch-stop layer to form a via having first and second via portions, wherein said first via portion is wider than the conductive plug's width, and said second via portion is wider than said first via portion.
64. The method of claim 63, further comprising depositing at least a first conductive layer in said first and second via portions.
65. The method of claim 64, comprising depositing a second conductive layer over said first conductive layer in said first and second via portions.
66. The method of claim 63, wherein said plug is formed by:
- forming an opening in said first layer of insulating material;
- depositing a conductive material on said first layer of insulating material, filling said opening; and
- abrading said conductive material from the top surface of said first layer of insulating such that only conductive material within said opening remains.
67. The method of claim 66, wherein said abrading comprises chemical-mechanical polishing of said conductive material.
68. The method of claim 66, wherein said conductive plug is connected to a doped region in said substrate.
69. A method of making a semiconductor device, said method comprising:
- forming a first non-conductive layer over a substrate;
- forming a conductive plug within said first non-conductive layer, wherein said conductive plug consists essentially of a single conductive material;
- forming a second non-conductive layer over said conductive plug;
- forming a via having first and second via portions by etching said second non-conductive layer to said conductive plug and etch-stop layer, wherein said first via portion is wider in diameter than said conductive plug; and
- depositing a conductive material within said first and second via portions.
70. A method of making a semiconductor device, said method comprising:
- forming an active region in a semiconductor substrate;
- forming a first insulator layer over said active region;
- forming a single conductive material within said first insulator layer, wherein said conductive material is electrically connected with said active region;
- forming a second insulator layer over said conductive material;
- forming a via having first and second via portions within said second insulator layer, wherein said first via portion is wider in diameter than said conductive material, and wherein said second via portion is wider in diameter than said first via portion; and
- forming a conductive connector in said first and second via portions that are in electrical contact with said conductive material.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 14, 2006
Publication Date: Sep 7, 2006
Inventor: Chih-Chen Cho (Boise, ID)
Application Number: 11/403,923
International Classification: H01L 23/48 (20060101); H01L 21/4763 (20060101);