STRUCTURE AND METHOD FOR LATCHUP SUPPRESSION
A method and structure for an integrated circuit comprising a substrate of a first polarity, a merged triple well region of a second polarity and a doped region of the second polarity abutting the well region. The doped region is adapted to suppress latch-up in the integrated circuit. The doped region is placed under semiconductor devices of the first polarity and under the well region contact region. Additionally, the structure may further include a deep trench (DT) structure and trench isolation (TI) structure to further improve latchup robustness.
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This application is a continuation application of copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/905,878 filed on Jan. 25, 2005, the contents of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe invention generally relates to integrated circuits, and more particularly to a structure and device for providing latchup suppression in integrated circuits.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONNoise isolation and the elimination of complementary metal-oxide semiconductors (CMOS) latchup are significant issues in advanced CMOS technology, radio frequency (RF) CMOS, and bipolar CMOS (BiCMOS) Silicon Germanium (SiGe) technology. Latchup conditions typically occur within peripheral circuits or internal circuits, within one circuit (intra-circuit) or between multiple circuits (inter-circuit). In one such example, latchup occurs when a PNPN structure transitions from a low current high voltage state to a high current low voltage state through a negative resistance region (i.e., forming an S-Type I-V (current/voltage) characteristic).
In particular, latchup is known to be initiated by an equivalent circuit of a cross-coupled PNP and NPN transistor. With the base and collector regions being cross-coupled, current flows from one device leading to the initiation of the second device (“regenerative feedback”). These PNP and NPN elements can be any diffusions or implanted regions of other circuit elements (e.g., p-channel MOSFETs, n-channel MOSFETs, resistors, etc.) or actual pnp and npn bipolar transistors. In CMOS structures, the pnpn structure can be formed with a p-diffusion in a n-well, and a n-diffusion in a p-substrate (“parasitic PNPN”). In this case, the well and substrate regions are inherently involved in the latchup current exchange between regions in the device.
The condition for triggering a latchup is a function of the current gain of the PNP and NPN transistors, and the resistance between the emitter and the base regions. This inherently involves the well and substrate regions. The likelihood or sensitivity of a particular pnpn structure to latchup is a function of a same combination of spacing (e.g., base width of the NPN and base width of the PNP), current gain of the transistors, substrate resistance and spacings, the well resistance and spacings, and isolation regions.
Latchup can also occur as a result of the interaction of an electrostatic discharge (ESD) device, the input/output (I/O) off-chip driver and adjacent circuitry initiated in the substrate from the overshoot and undershoot phenomena. These factors can be generated by CMOS off-chip driver circuitry, receiver networks, and ESD devices. In CMOS I/O circuitry, undershoot and overshoot can lead to injection in the substrate, and simultaneous switching of circuitry where overshoot or undershoot injection occurs may lead to both noise injection and latchup conditions. Also, supporting elements in these circuits, such as pass transistors, resistor elements, test functions, over voltage dielectric limiting circuitry, bleed resistors, keeper networks and other elements can be present, contributing to noise injection into the substrate and latchup.
With the scaling of standard CMOS technology, the spacing of the p+/n+ space decreases, leading to a lower trigger condition and the onset of CMOS latchup. With the scaling of the shallow trench isolation (STI) for aspect ratio, the vulnerability of CMOS technology to latchup has increased. Vertical scaling of the wells, and lower n-well and p-well implant doses also has increased the lateral parasitic bipolar current gains, leading to lower latchup robustness.
With the transition from p+ substrates to low doped p-substrates, the latchup robustness has continued to decrease. Also, the effectiveness of n-wells as guard ring structures may reduce internal and external latchup problems. But, with mixed signal applications and radio frequency (RF) chips, a higher concern for noise reduction has lead to the continued lowering of the substrate doping concentration. This continues to lead to lower latchup immunity in mixed signal applications and RF technologies.
Latchup also can occur from voltage or current pulses that occur on the power supply lines. Transient pulses on power rails (e.g., substrate or wells) can trigger latchup processes. Latchup can also occur from a stimulus to the well or substrate external to the region of a thyristor structure from minority carriers.
Latchup can be initiated from internal or external stimulus, and is known to occur from single event upsets (SEU), which can include terrestrial emissions from nuclear processes, and cosmic ray events, as well as events in space environments. Cosmic ray particles can include proton, neutron, and gamma events, as well as a number of particles that enter the earth atmosphere. Terrestrial emissions from radioactive events, such as alpha particles, and other radioactive decay emissions can also lead to latchup in semiconductors.
For military, surveillance, satellite, and other outer space applications, it is desirable to have a high tolerance to latchup. Latchup can lead to failure of space applications triggered by cosmic rays, heavy ions, proton and neutron events. The higher the latchup margin in military and outer space applications, the higher the vulnerability to single even upset (SEU) initiated latchup.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn a first aspect of the invention, an integrated circuit includes a substrate of a first polarity, a well region of a second polarity in said substrate, a semiconductor device comprising at least one implant of the first polarity contained within said well region, an ohmic contact for said well region, and a dopant layer of the second polarity contained in the substrate, the dopant layer abutting the well region and placed under said semiconductor device, wherein said dopant layer is adapted to suppress latch-up.
A further exemplary embodiment of the invention provides a structure comprising a substrate of a first polarity, a well region of a second polarity in said substrate, a semiconductor device comprising at least one implant of the first polarity contained within said well region, an ohmic contact for said well region, a dopant layer of the second polarity contained in the substrate, the dopant layer abutting the well region and placed under said semiconductor device under the ohmic contact region, wherein said dopant layer is adapted to suppress latch-up and wherein the dopant layer and the well region of the second polarity provide an isolated region of the first polarity.
A further exemplary embodiment of the invention provides a method of forming a structure including forming a substrate of a first polarity, forming a well region of a second polarity containing a contact, forming a semiconductor device in said well region, forming a doped region of the second polarity abutting the well region and placed under the semiconductor device, and forming a second well region of the first polarity using a second separate mask from the doped region, wherein said structure suppresses latchup.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSThe above and other features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings.
The embodiments of the invention and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting embodiments that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the following description. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments of the invention may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments of the invention. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments of the invention.
The invention places a doped region placed under a semiconductor device. This placement suppresses latch-up in the integrated circuit. This may also be used in connection with deep trench structures and trench isolation structures.
Still referring to
The N+ regions 111, 113, and 115 may represent any N diffusion region. For example, the N+ region could be a varied resistor, an N diffusion resistor, a floating-gate tie down N+ diffusion or other component. Further, the N region may be the cathode structure corresponding to the anode structure—structure examples listed for the P+ regions 112 and 114. The N+ region forms a metallurgical junction between the input diffusion and the isolated doping region 140. The P+ region adjacent to the N+ region is the isolated region P+ contact to the isolated region 150.
For example, the P+ diffusion 114 in the N-well 130 has to be a certain distance from the edge of the isolated doping region 140 or it impacts the threshold voltage. In addition, the edge of the isolated doping region 140 also may influence the isolated well.
As shown in
As further shown in
Placing the isolated doping region 140 underneath the N+ diffusion 113 introduces a vertical NPN. This increases the bipolar gain between the N+ diffusion 113 and the isolated doping region 140 because of the enhanced size of the collector structure. The N-well 130 and the isolated doping region 140 together forms a vertical and a lateral NPN. This increase in the gain of this bi-polar device may be on the order of three times, which may be detrimental. Further, the presence of the triple-walled structure leads to a degradation in the performance.
Still referring to
The N-well junction 230 sheet resistance has a certain sheet resistance by adding a second implant of the same polarity underneath the N+ diffusion 215, thereby decreasing the shunt resistance which is straddled across the P+ region 214 to the N-well junction 230. This prevents the forward biasing. As the isolated doping region 240 is placed under the N-well 230, the shunt resistance is reduced between the N-well 230 and the P+ diffusion device 214. This reduction in resistance changes the latchup conditions and provides significant enhancement.
Placing the edge of the isolated doping region 240 under the N-well structure 230 reduces or eliminates the scattering phenomenon from impacting the spacing of the P+ diffusion 214 to the N-well 230 and the N+ diffusion 215 to the N-well 230. Also, placing the edge of the isolated doping region 240 under this physical structure pushes the scattering out to another point in space and reduces the influence of the spacing requirements. In addition, the vertical bipolar gain is reduced or eliminated as a result of the increased base width and decreased bipolar current gain. Further, the shunt resistance is decreased or eliminated between the N− well 230 relative to the distance underneath the vertical PNP element.
According to an embodiment of the invention, there may be up to a three-fold gain in the device. For example, in the case of a PNP structure, or bipolar junction transistor (BJT) where the isolated doping region is placed completely under the physical structure, the shunt resistance is reduced and there is a reduction in the PNP bipolar transistor characteristics. According to an embodiment of the invention, the physical P+ diffusion may drop by as much as five times.
Latchup can be quantified based on a “trigger” and “holding” condition. A “turn-on” state occurs prior to the trigger condition. This “turn-on” state is related to a sidewall trench mechanism leading to a modulation of the latchup condition. Generally, the exemplary embodiments of the invention may utilize a CMOS structure comprising a p+ diffusion in an n-well region. This n-well is formed in a substrate region. The PNPN structure also includes an N+ region, which forms the PNPN structure.
This is formed using the trench structure in the substrate, as illustrated in
Trench isolation (TI) is a structure which often has less cost and is implemented later in the semiconductor process. As a result, the TI structure may be formed using a contact etch process after the MOSFET and bipolar transistors are formed in a BiCMOS process. In this case, the TI structure may be filled with oxide insulator due to low thermal cycles after this process step. The oxide trench isolation structure is significantly deeper than the surface shallow trench isolation (STI) structure. The STI defines the openings for MOSFETs, bipolar and other semiconductor components. Deep trench isolation may range from about 4 to about 12 μm deep. The silicon-dioxide TI is between about 2 to about 4 μm deep and formed at the back-end-of-line (BEOL) contact etch. Shallow trench isolation varies from about 0.1 to about 0.5 μm deep, and may be formed prior completion of the MOSFET and bipolar transistors.
This results in a separate bias voltage situation. In this situation, the deep trench 750 is within an isolated doping region 740 with the butted structure 760, with the deep trench between the P+ diffusion 714 and the N+ diffusion 713. There is no coupled PNPN in this structure.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the function of the structures on the left hand side, as shown in
Additionally, by combining the deep trench (DT) structure with the buried layer, the isolated p-well region is separated from the n-well and the p− substrate. This allows separate biasing and electrical isolation of the structure. According to an embodiment of the invention, allowing the deep trench to abut the buried layer allows for elimination of a spacing between the buried layer and the deep trench structure.
One embodiment of the invention allows an n-buried layer to be placed under the n-well region that contains p-type devices. In this fashion, no minimum overlap space is required between the n-well and the buried layer. An advantage of allowing the buried layer to be placed under the n-well is that there is no minimum overlap requirement. This allows for a minimum p+/n+ spacing for dense designs.
According to a further embodiment of the invention, the n-buried layer is placed under the n-well region that contains the p-type devices, and extends beyond the p-type devices into the n-well contact region. In this fashion, no minimum separation space is required between the p-devices and the buried layer. By allowing the buried layer to be placed under the n-well, and under the p-devices, there is no separation spacing requirement. Allowing the buried layer to extend to the n-well contact may decrease the shunt resistance from the n-well contact to the p-channel device and thereby lead to an increase in the latchup robustness. This may increase the latchup margin of the technology.
While the invention has been described in terms of exemplary embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modifications and in the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
Claims
1. A structure comprising:
- a substrate of a first polarity;
- a well region of a second polarity below said substrate;
- a semiconductor device comprising at least one implant of the first polarity above said well region;
- an ohmic contact for said well region; and
- a dopant layer of the second polarity below the substrate, the dopant layer abutting the well region and placed under said semiconductor device, wherein a dopant layer edge is overlapped with said well region to avoid ion scattering impact, wherein said dopant layer is adapted to suppress latch-up, and
- wherein the dopant layer and the well region of the second polarity provide an isolated region of the first polarity.
2. The structure of claim 1, wherein the dopant layer extends under an ohmic contact region.
3. The structure of claim 1, further comprising a trench structure.
4. The structure of claim 3, wherein the trench structure is a deep trench (DT) structure.
5. The structure of claim 3, wherein the trench structure is trench isolation (TI) structure.
6. The structure of claim 1, further comprising sub-collector of the second polarity contained within the well region.
7. The structure of claim 3, further comprising sub-collector abutting said trench structure.
8. The structure of claim 3, wherein the trench structure contacts the well region.
9. The structure of claim 8, wherein the trench structure contacts the dopant layer.
10. The structure of claim 1, wherein the isolated region is surrounded by elements of the structure.
11. The structure of claim 1, wherein the isolated region is provided within the structure.
12. A structure comprising:
- a substrate of a first polarity;
- a well region of a second polarity below said substrate;
- a semiconductor device comprising at least one implant of the first polarity above said well region;
- an ohmic contact for said well region; and
- a dopant layer of the second polarity below the substrate, the dopant layer abutting the well region and placed under said semiconductor device under an ohmic contact region, said dopant layer suppresses latch-up and the dopant layer and the well region of the second polarity provide an isolated region of the first polarity.
13. The structure of claim 12, further comprising a trench structure that is a deep trench (DT) structure.
14. The structure of claim 12, further comprising a trench structure that is a trench isolation (TI) structure.
15. The structure of claim 12, further comprising a sub-collector of the second polarity contained within the well region.
16. The structure of claim 15, further comprising the sub-collector abutting said trench structure.
17. The structure of claim 13, wherein the deep trench structure contacts the well region.
18. The structure of claim 17, wherein the deep trench structure contacts the dopant layer.
19. The structure of claim 12, wherein the isolated region is surrounded by elements of the structure.
20. The structure of claim 12, wherein the isolated region is provided within the structure.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 8, 2007
Publication Date: Oct 4, 2007
Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION (Armonk, NY)
Inventor: Steven VOLDMAN (South Burlington, VT)
Application Number: 11/760,253
International Classification: H01L 29/76 (20060101);