METAL COMPOUND DOTS DIELECTRIC PIECE
A dielectric piece includes an energy barrier layer and a plurality of crystalline metal compound dots distributed in the energy barrier layer. The material of the crystalline metal compound dots is different from that of the energy barrier layer. Due to its capability of retaining charges, the dielectric piece of the present invention meets the requirements of semiconductor devices in this and the next generation so as to be applied to complementary metal oxide semiconductors (CMOS), non-volatile memory devices, or capacitors as inter-gate dielectric layers, charge storage layers, or dielectric layers of capacitors.
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This application is a divisional of and claims priority benefit of an application Ser. No. 11/466,773, filed on Aug. 24, 2006, which claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 95125405, filed on Jul. 12, 2006. The entirety of each of the above-mentioned patent applications is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a dielectric material layer, and more particularly to a dielectric piece including metal compound dots.
2. Description of Related Art
Derived from semiconductor technologies, a variety of memory devices such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), and non-volatile memory (NVRAM) nowadays play a significant role in the semiconductor industry. With the development and advancement of the semiconductor technology, these memory devices have been extensively applied to personal computers, mobile phones, internet, and so forth. These electronic products have become, little by little, indispensable to human life.
Owing to size reduction of semiconductor devices, the industry is facing a number of challenges, such as power consumption arisen from current leakage through DRAM, excessive area accounted by SRAM, high voltage requirement for performing reading/writing function in flash memory, and so on. Accordingly, it is urgent to develop new memory devices possessing advantages such as high density, non-volatilization, high-speed reading/writing capacity, unlimited numbers of reading/writing, low operational voltage, low power consumption, compatibility with current CMOS processes, and so forth.
Among the newly developed memory devices, nano-dots non-volatile memory devices at present draw a great attention. Nano-dots non-volatile memory device includes a charge storage layers having a great number of nano-dots form therein, each of which serves as an independent charge storage center. Hence, even if a tunneling oxide layer includes pathways for leakage currents, nano-dots non-volatile memory still has superior charge retention capability. Despite the shrink in size, the nano-dots non-volatile memory is well characterized in storing charges into nano-dots layers so as to perform a charge storage function of the memory. Nowadays, silicon nanocrystal dots, germanium nanocrystal dots, or metal nano-dots dielectric layer serving as a charge storage layer to instead of the traditional silicon nitride charge storage layer are studied.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention is to provide a dielectric piece including metal compound dots to store charges.
One embodiment of the present invention is to provide a method of fabricating a dielectric piece including metal compound dots. A stack layer including a metal nitride layer and an energy barrier layer is formed over a substrate. Afterward, a treatment process is performed to transform the metal nitride layer into a plurality of crystalline metal compound dots distributed in the energy barrier layer.
One embodiment of the present invention is to provide a method of fabricating a dielectric piece including metal compound dots. A stack layer including a metal nitride layer and an energy barrier layer is formed over a substrate. Afterward, an annealing process is performed to transform the metal compound layer in the stack layer into a plurality of crystalline metal compound dots distributed in the energy barrier layer.
One embodiment of the invention is to provide a dielectric piece. The dielectric piece includes an energy barrier layer and a plurality of crystalline metal compound dots distributed in the energy barrier layer. The material of the energy barrier layer is different from that of the crystalline metal compound dots.
The method of fabricating the dielectric piece including metal compound dots in accordance with the present invention is simple, and can be used for mass production of semiconductors devices.
Due to its capability of retaining charges, the dielectric piece of the present invention meets the requirements of semiconductor devices in this and the next generation so as to be applied to complementary metal oxide semiconductors (CMOS), non-volatile memory devices, or capacitors as inter-gate dielectric layers, charge storage layers, or dielectric layers of capacitors. Various specific embodiments of the present invention are disclosed below, illustrating examples of various possible implementations of the concepts of the present invention. The following description is made for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention and should not be taken in a limiting sense. The scope of the invention is best determined by reference to the appended claims.
A method of fabricating a dielectric piece includes metal compound dots is illustrated in the following embodiments. A stack layer including an energy barrier layer and a metal nitride layer or a metal oxide layer is formed over a substrate. Afterward, a process is performed to transform the metal nitride layer or the metal oxide layer in the stack layer into a plurality of crystalline metal compound dots distributed in the energy barrier layer.
The following takes several embodiments to describe the present invention, but not limited to.
First EmbodimentReferring to
Afterward, referring to
Referring to
Afterward, referring to
Referring to
The dielectric piece of the present invention can also be applied to fabricate semiconductor devices. For example, as shown in
The above description provides a full and complete description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention. Various modifications, alternate construction, and equivalent may be made by those skilled in the art without changing the scope or spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the above description and illustrations should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention which is defined by the following claims.
Claims
1. A dielectric piece, comprising:
- an energy barrier layer; and
- a plurality of crystalline metal compound dots distributed in the energy barrier layer, with the material of the crystalline metal compound dots being different from that of the energy barrier layer.
2. The dielectric piece of claim 1, wherein the crystalline metal compound dots comprises crystalline titanium oxide dots, crystalline zirconium oxide dots, or crystalline hafnium oxide dots.
3. The dielectric piece of claim 1, wherein the crystalline metal compound dots are nano-dots.
4. The dielectric piece of claim 1, wherein the material of the energy barrier layer is selected from a group consisting of Al2O3, Ta2O5, BaO, ZrO2, LaAlO3, La2O3, SrO, Y2O3, Si3N4, SixNy, HfSiOx, ZrSiOx, MgO, SiOx and SiO2, and the combinations thereof.
5. The dielectric piece of claim 1, wherein the dielectric piece serves as a inter-gate dielectric layer, a charge storage layer or a dielectric material in a capacitor.
Type: Application
Filed: Jan 19, 2009
Publication Date: May 14, 2009
Applicant: INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE (Hsinchu)
Inventors: Cha-Hsin Lin (Tainan City), Pei-Jer Tzeng (Taipei County), Maikap Siddheswar (Hsinchu County)
Application Number: 12/356,064
International Classification: C04B 35/462 (20060101); C04B 35/03 (20060101); C04B 35/48 (20060101);