With Gate Insulator Containing Specified Permanent Charge Patents (Class 257/405)
  • Patent number: 11626279
    Abstract: Described herein are low temperature processed high quality silicon containing films. Also disclosed are methods of forming silicon containing films at low temperatures. In one aspect, there are provided silicon-containing film having a thickness of about 2 nm to about 200 nm and a density of about 2.2 g/cm3 or greater wherein the silicon-containing thin film is deposited by a deposition process selected from a group consisting of chemical vapor deposition (CVD), plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), cyclic chemical vapor deposition (CCVD), plasma enhanced cyclic chemical vapor deposition (PECCVD, atomic layer deposition (ALD), and plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD), and the vapor deposition is conducted at one or more temperatures ranging from about 25° C. to about 400° C. using an alkylsilane precursor selected from the group consisting of diethylsilane, triethylsilane, and combinations thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2023
    Assignee: Versum Materials US, LLC
    Inventors: Anupama Mallikarjunan, Andrew David Johnson, Meiliang Wang, Raymond Nicholas Vrtis, Bing Han, Xinjian Lei, Mark Leonard O'Neill
  • Patent number: 10062788
    Abstract: A lateral SOI device may include a semiconductor channel region connected to a drain region by a drift region. An insulation region on the drift layer is positioned between the channel region and the drain region. Permanent charges may be embedded in the insulation region sufficient to cause inversion in the insulation region. The semiconductor layer also overlies a global insulation layer, and permanent charges are preferably embedded in at least selected areas of this insulation layer too.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2018
    Assignee: MAXPOWER SEMICONDUCTOR INC.
    Inventors: Amit Paul, Mohamed N. Darwish
  • Patent number: 9786761
    Abstract: An integrated circuit device includes a substrate including an active region, an interfacial layer including a lower insulating layer on the active region, the lower insulating layer doped with a chalcogen element having an atomic weight equal to or greater than 16, a gate insulation layer on the interfacial layer, and a gate electrode on the gate insulation layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2017
    Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Dong-soo Lee, Hu-yong Lee, Won-keun Chung, Hoon-joo Na, Taek-soo Jeon, Sang-jin Hyun
  • Patent number: 9761620
    Abstract: A charge array wafer includes a plurality of electrical charge storage cells disposed in an array configuration. A programmable amount of charge in each of the electrical charge storage cells causes a predetermined electric field to extend from a charge storage layer, through a passivation layer and into the space above the passivation layer, and the predetermined electric field is operable to attract deposition material to the top surface of the passivation layer. The deposition material may be a gas, a liquid or a powder, having a minimum feature size ranging from tens of nanometers to around five microns. The array of electrical charge storage cells includes an uninterrupted two-dimensional array extending over greater than 100×100 electrical charge storage cells without a select gate and without a bit-line contact positioned between any of the electrical charge storage cells.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2017
    Assignee: Peter C. Salmon, LLC
    Inventor: Peter C. Salmon
  • Patent number: 9640668
    Abstract: A film formation is performed using a target in which a material which is volatilized more easily than gallium when heated at 400° C. to 700° C., such as zinc, is added to gallium oxide by a sputtering method with high mass-productivity which can be applied to a large-area substrate, such as a DC sputtering method or a pulsed DC sputtering method. This film is heated at 400° C. to 700° C., whereby the added material is segregated in the vicinity of a surface of the film. Another portion of the film has a decreased concentration of the added material and a sufficiently high insulating property; therefore, it can be used for a gate insulator of a semiconductor device, or the like.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Shunpei Yamazaki
  • Patent number: 9520531
    Abstract: Systems and methods of the present invention may be used to charge a layer (such as a passivation layer and/or antireflective layer) of a solar cell (e.g., wafer) with a positive or negative charge. The layer may retain the charge to improve operation of the solar cell. The charged layer may include any suitable dielectric material capable of retaining either a negative or a positive charge. Systems and methods of the present invention permit in-situ charging of a layer. Charging of a layer may be accomplished during or after deposition of the layer including after completing the whole solar cell process, in other words, on a finished cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2016
    Assignee: Amtech Systems, Inc.
    Inventor: Jeong-Mo Hwang
  • Patent number: 9496410
    Abstract: A film formation is performed using a target in which a material which is volatilized more easily than gallium when heated at 400° C. to 700° C., such as zinc, is added to gallium oxide by a sputtering method with high mass-productivity which can be applied to a large-area substrate, such as a DC sputtering method or a pulsed DC sputtering method. This film is heated at 400° C. to 700° C., whereby the added material is segregated in the vicinity of a surface of the film. Another portion of the film has a decreased concentration of the added material and a sufficiently high insulating property; therefore, it can be used for a gate insulator of a semiconductor device, or the like.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2016
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Shunpei Yamazaki
  • Patent number: 9275861
    Abstract: One method disclosed herein includes forming a patterned mask layer above a surface of a semiconductor substrate, performing at least one etching process through the patterned mask layer to define a plurality of intersecting ridges that define a ridged surface in the substrate, and forming a Group III-V material on the ridged surface of the substrate. An illustrative device disclosed herein includes a Group IV substrate having a ridged surface comprised of a plurality of intersecting ridges and a Group III-V material layer positioned on the ridged surface of the Group IV substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2016
    Assignee: GLOBALFOUNDRIES Inc.
    Inventors: Li Yang, Kejia Wang, Ashish Baraskar, Bin Yang, Shurong Liang
  • Patent number: 9000507
    Abstract: A mechanism is provided for extending useable lifetimes of semiconductor devices that are subject to trapped charge carriers in a gate dielectric. Embodiments of the present invention provide heat to the gate dielectric region from one or more sources, where the heat sources are included in a package along with the semiconductor device. It has been determined that heat, when applied during a period when the channel region of a transistor is in accumulation mode or is not providing a current across the channel, can at least partially recover the device from trapped charge carrier effects. Embodiments of the present invention supply heat to the affected gate dielectric region using mechanisms available where the semiconductor device is used (e.g., in the field).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2015
    Assignee: Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.
    Inventors: Bradley P. Smith, Mehul D. Shroff
  • Patent number: 8952458
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a substrate having a first active region, a first gate structure over the first active region, wherein the first gate structure includes a first interfacial layer having a convex top surface, a first high-k dielectric over the first interfacial layer, and a first gate electrode over the first high-k dielectric.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 10, 2015
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Wei-Yang Lee, Xiong-Fei Yu, Da-Yuan Lee, Kuang-Yuan Hsu
  • Patent number: 8729644
    Abstract: A III-nitride semiconductor device which includes a charged gate insulation body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2014
    Assignee: International Rectifier Corporation
    Inventor: Michael A. Briere
  • Patent number: 8618603
    Abstract: A nonvolatile semiconductor memory device includes: a semiconductor member; a memory film provided on a surface of the semiconductor member and being capable of storing charge; and a plurality of control gate electrodes provided on the memory film, spaced from each other, and arranged along a direction parallel to the surface. Average dielectric constant of a material interposed between one of the control gate electrodes and a portion of the semiconductor member located immediately below the control gate electrode adjacent to the one control gate electrode is lower than average dielectric constant of a material interposed between the one control gate electrode and a portion of the semiconductor member located immediately below the one control gate electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2013
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Yoshio Ozawa, Fumiki Aiso
  • Patent number: 8507971
    Abstract: The present invention provides an apparatus and method for a non-volatile memory comprising at least one array of memory cells with shallow trench isolation (STI) regions between bit lines for increased process margins. Specifically, in one embodiment, each of the memory cells in the array of memory cells includes a source, a control gate, and a drain, and is capable of storing at least one bit. The array of memory cells further includes word lines that are coupled to control gates of memory cells. The word lines are arranged in rows in the array. In addition, the array comprises bit lines coupled to source and drains of memory cells. The bit lines are arranged in columns in the array. Also, the array comprises at least one row of bit line contacts for providing electrical conductivity to the bit lines. Further, the array comprises shallow trench isolation (STI) regions separating each of the bit lines along the row of bit line contacts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2013
    Assignee: Spansion LLC
    Inventor: Satoshi Torii
  • Patent number: 8350341
    Abstract: Adjustment of a switching threshold of a field effect transistor including a gate structure including a Hi-K gate dielectric and a metal gate is achieved and switching thresholds coordinated between NFETs and PFETs by providing fixed charge materials in a thin interfacial layer adjacent to the conduction channel of the transistor that is provided for adhesion of the Hi-K material, preferably hafnium oxide or HfSiON, depending on design, to semiconductor material rather than diffusing fixed charge material into the Hi-K material after it has been applied. The greater proximity of the fixed charge material to the conduction channel of the transistor increases the effectiveness of fixed charge material to adjust the threshold due to the work function of the metal gate, particularly where the same metal or alloy is used for both NFETs and PFETs in an integrated circuit; preventing the thresholds from being properly coordinated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2013
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Michael P. Chudzik, William K. Henson, Unoh Kwon
  • Publication number: 20120319207
    Abstract: Semiconductor devices and methods of making semiconductor devices are provided. According to one embodiment, the field effect transistor can contain a semiconductor substrate containing shallow trench isolations; a p-FET and an n-FET; a silicon germanium layer in a recess in the upper surface of the p-FET; a pair of gate dielectrics including a hafnium compound and a rare earth compound disposed on the silicon germanium layer and the upper surface of the n-FET; and a pair of gate electrodes both including the same material disposed on the pair of gate dielectrics.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 17, 2011
    Publication date: December 20, 2012
    Applicant: TOSHIBA AMERICA ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS, INC.
    Inventor: Ryosuke Iijima
  • Patent number: 8217440
    Abstract: MOSFETs and methods of making MOSFETs are provided. According to one embodiment, a semiconductor device includes a substrate and a Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (MOS) transistor that includes a semiconductor region formed on the substrate, a source region and drain region formed in the semiconductor region that are separated from each other, a channel region formed in the semiconductor region that separates the source region and the drain region, an interfacial oxide layer (IL) formed on the channel region into which at least one element disparate from Si, O, or N is incorporated at a peak concentration greater than 1×1019 atoms/cm2, and a high-k dielectric layer formed on the interfacial oxide layer having a high-k/IL interface at a depth substantially adjacent to the IL. In addition, at least one depth of peak density of the incorporated element(s) is located substantially below the high-k/IL interface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2012
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaihsa Toshiba
    Inventor: Yoshinori Tsuchiya
  • Patent number: 8072024
    Abstract: A nonvolatile semiconductor memory device with a substrate. A plurality of dielectric films and electrode films are alternately stacked on the substrate and have a through hole penetrating in the stacking direction. A semiconductor pillar is formed inside the through hole. A charge storage layer is provided at least between the semiconductor pillar and the electrode film. At least part of a side surface of a portion of the through hole located in the electrode film is sloped relative to the stacking direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2011
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Masao Ishikawa, Katsunori Yahashi
  • Patent number: 8039873
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a substrate including an element region having a polygonal shape defined by a plurality of edges, and an isolation region surrounding the element region, and a plurality of gate electrodes provided on the substrate, crossing the element region, arranged in parallel with each other, and electrically connected with each other, wherein at least one of the edges does not cross any of the gate electrodes, and is not parallel to the gate electrodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2011
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Kazuhide Abe, Tadahiro Sasaki, Kazuhiko Itaya
  • Patent number: 7989877
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a substrate and a doped hafnium oxide layer disposed on the substrate, the doped hafnium oxide layer including a hafnium oxide layer doped with doping atoms and having tetragonal unit lattices, an ion size of the doping atom being greater than an ion size of a hafnium atom.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2011
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Jaesoon Lim, Kyuho Cho, Jaehyoung Choi, Younsoo Kim
  • Patent number: 7989362
    Abstract: Electronic apparatus and methods of forming the electronic apparatus include a hafnium lanthanide oxynitride film on a substrate for use in a variety of electronic systems. The hafnium lanthanide oxynitride film may be structured as one or more monolayers. Metal electrodes may be disposed on a dielectric containing a hafnium lanthanide oxynitride film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2011
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Leonard Forbes, Kie Y. Ahn, Arup Bhattacharyya
  • Patent number: 7968397
    Abstract: A semiconductor device according to the present invention comprises a semiconductor substrate, a gate insulating film which is composed of a material whose main component is a tetravalent metal oxide, a mixture of a tetravalent metal oxide and SiO2, or a mixture of a tetravalent metal oxide and SiON and which containing B when it is in an nMOS structure on the semiconductor substrate or containing at least one of P and As when it is in a pMOS structure on the semiconductor substrate, and a gate electrode made of a metal having a work function of 4 eV to 5.5 eV.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2011
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Akio Kaneko, Seiji Inumiya, Katsuyuki Sekine, Kazuhiro Eguchi, Motoyuki Sato
  • Patent number: 7893508
    Abstract: A semiconductor device capable of suppressing a threshold shift and a manufacturing method of the semiconductor device. On a high dielectric constant insulating film, a diffusion barrier film for preventing the diffusion of metal elements from the high dielectric constant insulating film to an upper layer is formed. Therefore, the diffusion of the metal elements from the high dielectric constant insulating film to the upper layer can be prevented. As a result, a reaction and bonding between the metal elements and a Si element in a gate electrode can be suppressed near a boundary between an insulating film and the gate electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2011
    Assignee: Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited
    Inventors: Tsunehisa Sakoda, Kazuto Ikeda
  • Patent number: 7876610
    Abstract: A plurality of first transistors formed on a substrate share a gate electrode. Isolation regions isolate the plurality of first transistors from one another. In the region where the plurality of first transistors, an impurity region is formed in such a manner that it includes the source and drain regions of the plurality of first transistors and that the depth of the impurity region is greater than the depth of the source and drain regions. The impurity region sets the threshold voltage of the first transistors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2011
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Kenji Gomikawa, Mitsuhiro Noguchi
  • Patent number: 7851833
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a first transistor unit including first field effect transistors with first gate electrodes electrically connected together, first sources electrically connected together, and first drains electrically connected together, the first gate electrodes being electrically connected to the first drains, a second transistor unit including second field effect transistors with second gate electrodes electrically connected together, second sources electrically connected together, and second drains electrically connected together, the second gate electrodes being electrically connected to the first gate electrodes, and dummy gate electrodes electrically isolated from the first gate electrodes and the second gate electrodes. The first gate electrodes, the second gate electrodes, and the dummy gate electrodes are arranged parallel to one another, and at least one dummy gate electrode is located between any one of the first gate electrodes and any one of the second gate electrodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 14, 2010
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Kazuhide Abe, Tadahiro Sasaki, Kazuhiko Itaya
  • Patent number: 7834408
    Abstract: It is possible to prevent the deterioration of device characteristic as much as possible. A semiconductor device includes: a semiconductor substrate; a gate insulating film provided above the semiconductor substrate and containing a metal, oxygen and an additive element; a gate electrode provided above the gate insulating film; and source/drain regions provided in the semiconductor substrate on both sides of the gate electrode. The additive element is at least one element selected from elements of Group 5, 6, 15, and 16 at a concentration of 0.003 atomic % or more but 3 atomic % or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2010
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Yuuichi Kamimuta, Akira Nishiyama, Yasushi Nakasaki, Tsunehiro Ino, Masato Koyama
  • Patent number: 7759746
    Abstract: A semiconductor device, such as a transistor or capacitor, is provided. The device includes a substrate, a gate dielectric over the substrate, and a conductive gate electrode film over the gate dielectric. The gate dielectric includes a mixed rare earth aluminum oxide, nitride or oxynitride film containing aluminum and at least two different rare earth metal elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 20, 2010
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventor: Robert D. Clark
  • Patent number: 7687869
    Abstract: A semiconductor device according to the present invention comprises a semiconductor substrate, a gate insulating film which is composed of a material whose main component is a tetravalent metal oxide, a mixture of a tetravalent metal oxide and SiO2, or a mixture of a tetravalent metal oxide and SiON and which containing B when it is in an nMOS structure on the semiconductor substrate or containing at least one of P and As when it is in a pMOS structure on the semiconductor substrate, and a gate electrode made of a metal having a work function of 4 eV to 5.5 eV.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 30, 2010
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Akio Kaneko, Seiji Inumiya, Katsuyuki Sekine, Kazuhiro Eguchi, Motoyuki Sato
  • Publication number: 20100013021
    Abstract: Disclosed are embodiments of a p-type, silicon germanium (SiGe), high-k dielectric-metal gate, metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (PFET) having an optimal threshold voltage (Vt), a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) device that includes the PFET and methods of forming both the PFET alone and the CMOS device. The embodiments incorporate negatively charged ions (e.g., fluorine (F), chlorine (Cl), bromine (Br), iodine (I), etc.) into the high-k gate dielectric material of the PFET only so as to selectively adjust the negative Vt of the PFET (i.e., so as to reduce the negative Vt of the PFET).
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 21, 2008
    Publication date: January 21, 2010
    Applicants: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION, FREESCALE SEMICONDUCTOR INC., SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Xiangdong Chen, Jong Ho Lee, Weipeng Li, Dae-Gyu Park, Kenneth J. Stein, Voon-Yew Thean
  • Patent number: 7646072
    Abstract: It is possible to prevent the deterioration of device characteristic as much as possible. A semiconductor device includes: a semiconductor substrate; a gate insulating film provided above the semiconductor substrate and containing a metal, oxygen and an additive element; a gate electrode provided above the gate insulating film; and source/drain regions provided in the semiconductor substrate on both sides of the gate electrode. The additive element is at least one element selected from elements of Group 5, 6, 15, and 16 at a concentration of 0.003 atomic % or more but 3 atomic % or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 12, 2010
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Yuuichi Kamimuta, Akira Nishiyama, Yasushi Nakasaki, Tsunehiro Ino, Masato Koyama
  • Patent number: 7619926
    Abstract: A string of nonvolatile memory cells connected in series includes fixed charges located between floating gates and the underlying substrate surface. Such a fixed charge affects distribution of charge carriers in an underlying portion of the substrate and thus affects threshold voltage of a device. A fixed charge layer may extend over source/drain regions also.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2009
    Assignee: SanDisk Corporation
    Inventors: Takashi Orimoto, George Matamis, Henry Chien, James Kai
  • Patent number: 7573094
    Abstract: Random number generating element comprises source region, drain region, semiconductor channel provided between source region and drain region and having portion of width W and length L, width W and length L satisfying W?(?/10(?m2))/L, tunnel insulation film provided on semiconductor channel, and conductive fine particle group containing conductive fine particles provided on tunnel insulation film with surface density not less than 2.5×1011 cm?2, charge and discharge of electrons generating between conductive fine particles and semiconductor channel via tunnel insulation film, wherein following inequalities are satisfied: LWDdot?[RTunnel/RTunnel(Tox=0.8 nm)]0.3 nm/T×exp[0.3 nm×(0.8 nm/T)×(4?(2m×3.1 eV)1/2/h)], (q/4??T)?26meV, [Ddot×d4/3/(W×L1/2)]×[RTunnel/RTunnel(Tox=0.8 nm)]?2/3?8000×21/2(?m?13/6) where Ddot represents surface density, d average diameter, T thickness, Rtunnel tunnel resistance per unit area, Rtunnel (Tox=0.8 nm) tunnel resistance, per unit area, of tunnel oxide film with thickness of 0.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2004
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2009
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Ryuji Ohba, Shinobu Fujita
  • Patent number: 7563730
    Abstract: Electronic apparatus and methods of forming the electronic apparatus include a hafnium lanthanide oxynitride film on a substrate for use in a variety of electronic systems. The hafnium lanthanide oxynitride film may be structured as one or more monolayers. Metal electrodes may be disposed on a dielectric containing a hafnium lanthanide oxynitride film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 21, 2009
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Leonard Forbes, Kie Y. Ahn, Arup Bhattacharyya
  • Patent number: 7498643
    Abstract: It is possible to prevent the deterioration of device characteristic as much as possible. A semiconductor device includes: a semiconductor substrate; a gate insulating film provided above the semiconductor substrate and containing a metal, oxygen and an additive element; a gate electrode provided above the gate insulating film; and source/drain regions provided in the semiconductor substrate on both sides of the gate electrode. The additive element is at least one element selected from elements of Group 5, 6, 15, and 16 at a concentration of 0.003 atomic % or more but 3 atomic % or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2009
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Yuuichi Kamimuta, Akira Nishiyama, Yasushi Nakasaki, Tsunehiro Ino, Masato Koyama
  • Patent number: 7485919
    Abstract: A non-volatile memory and a method of fabricating the same are described. First, a substrate is provided. Then, a plurality of stack structures is formed on the substrate. Each stack structure comprises, from bottom to top, a bottom dielectric layer, a charge trapping layer, a top dielectric layer, a control gate and a cap layer. Next, a plurality of spacers is formed on the sidewalls of the stack structures. Thereafter, a gate dielectric layer is formed over the substrate. A word line is formed between two neighboring stack structures. After that, the cap layers in the stack structures are removed. A source and a drain are formed in the substrate beside the stack structures adjacent to the sides of each word line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2009
    Assignee: United Microelectronics Corp.
    Inventor: Tzyh-Cheang Lee
  • Patent number: 7459757
    Abstract: The invention encompasses a method of incorporating nitrogen into a silicon-oxide-containing layer. The silicon-oxide-containing layer is exposed to a nitrogen-containing plasma to introduce nitrogen into the layer. The nitrogen is subsequently thermally annealed within the layer to bond at least some of the nitrogen to silicon within the layer. The invention also encompasses a method of forming a transistor. A gate oxide layer is formed over a semiconductive substrate. The gate oxide layer comprises silicon dioxide. The gate oxide layer is exposed to a nitrogen-containing plasma to introduce nitrogen into the layer, and the layer is maintained at less than or equal to 400° C. during the exposing. Subsequently, the nitrogen within the layer is thermally annealed to bond at least a majority of the nitrogen to silicon. At least one conductive layer is formed over the gate oxide layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2002
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2008
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Gurtej S. Sandhu, John T. Moore, Neal R. Rueger
  • Patent number: 7442999
    Abstract: A semiconductor substrate includes: a semiconductor crystal layer grown on one face of a substrate; and a stress relaxation layer, which is formed on the other face opposite to the one face and the side face of the substrate and applies stress to the substrate in the same direction as the direction of stress which the semiconductor crystal layer applies to the substrate. In this case, stress of the semiconductor crystal layer to the substrate is offset. Therefore, warp of the semiconductor substrate and generation of cracks are inhibited.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2008
    Assignee: Eudyna Devices In.
    Inventors: Shunsuke Kurachi, Tsutomu Komatani
  • Patent number: 7411237
    Abstract: Dielectric layers containing a lanthanum hafnium oxide layer, where the lanthanum hafnium oxide layer is arranged as a structure of one or more monolayers, provide an insulating layer in a variety of structures for use in a wide range of electronic devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2006
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2008
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Kie Y. Ahn, Leonard Forbes
  • Publication number: 20080173956
    Abstract: This invention discloses a new MOSFET device. The MOSFET device has an improved operation characteristic achieved by manufacturing a MOSFET with a higher gate work function by implementing a P-doped gate in an N-MOSFET device. The P-type gate increases the threshold voltage and shifts the C-Vds characteristics. The reduced Cgd thus achieves the purpose of suppressing the shoot through and resolve the difficulties discussed above. Unlike the conventional techniques, the reduction of the capacitance Cgd is achieved without requiring complicated fabrication processes and control of the recess electrode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 22, 2008
    Publication date: July 24, 2008
    Inventors: Anup Bhalla, Sik K. Lui
  • Patent number: 7355226
    Abstract: This invention is generally concerned with power semiconductors such as power MOS transistors, insulated gate by bipolar transistors (IGBTs), high voltage diodes and the like, and method for their fabrication. A power semiconductor, the semiconductor comprising a power device, said power device having first and second electrical contact regions and a drift region extending therebetween; and a semiconductor substrate mounting said device; and wherein said power semiconductor includes an electrically insulating layer between said semiconductor substrate and said power device, said electrically insulating layer having a thickness of at least 5 ?m.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2008
    Assignee: Cambridge Semiconductor Limited
    Inventors: Gehan Anil Joseph Amaratunga, Florin Udrea
  • Patent number: 7312491
    Abstract: A semiconductor memory element, which can be controlled via field effect, includes a semiconductor substrate of a first conduction type, a first doping region of a second conduction type provided in the semiconductor substrate, a second doping region of the second conduction type provided in the semiconductor substrate, a channel region located between the first and second doping regions, a multilayer gate dielectric which is arranged adjacent to the channel region and has a charge trapping memory layer, and a gate terminal provided above the gate dielectric. The charge trapping memory layer includes at least one sequence of adjacent layers, wherein the sequence of adjacent layers comprises an amorphous silicon carbide layer and an amorphous silicon nitride layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2006
    Date of Patent: December 25, 2007
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies, AG
    Inventors: Klaus-Dieter Ufert, Josef Willer
  • Patent number: 7304340
    Abstract: A semiconductor storage element has a memory function body on opposite sides of a gate electrode formed on a semiconductor substrate. Each end of source/drain regions is located in the semiconductor substrate just under the memory function body and offset with respect to an edge of the gate electrode in a gate length direction to improve efficiency of electric charge injection into the memory function body. A storage state in the memory function body is found by detecting a amount of current between the source/drain regions, which current changes depending on the amount of the electric charge retained in the charge retention portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2004
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2007
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Takayuki Ogura, Hiroshi Iwata, Akihide Shibata
  • Patent number: 7301219
    Abstract: An asymmetrically doped memory cell has first and second N+ doped junctions on a P substrate. A composite charge trapping layer is disposed over the P substrate and between the first and the second N+ doped junctions. A N? doped region is positioned adjacent to the first N+ doped junction and under the composite charge trapping layer. A P? doped region is positioned adjacent to the second N+ doped junction and under the composite charge trapping layer. The asymmetrically doped memory cell will store charges at the end of the composite charge trapping layer that is above the P? doped region. The asymmetrically doped memory cell can function as an electrically erasable programmable read only memory cell, and is capable of multiple level cell operations. A method for making an asymmetrically doped memory cell is also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2005
    Date of Patent: November 27, 2007
    Assignee: Macronix International Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Tzu-Hsuan Hsu, Yen-Hao Shih, Ming-Hsiu Lee
  • Patent number: 7208802
    Abstract: An insulating film includes a first barrier layer, a well layer provided on the first barrier layer, a second barrier layer provided on the well layer. The first barrier layer consists of a material having a first bandgap and a first relative permittivity. The well layer consists of a material having a second bandgap smaller than the first bandgap and having a second relative permittivity larger than first relative permittivity. The second barrier layer consists of a material having a third bandgap larger than the second bandgap and having a third relative perminivity smaller than second relative permittivity. Each of the first and second barrier layers has a thickness not smaller than 2.5 angstroms, and 2.5>(d1/?1+d2/?2) is satisfied where d1 and d2 (angstrom) are the thicknesses of the first and second barrier layers, respectively, ?1 is the first relative permittivity, and ?2 is the third permittivity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2007
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Tatsuo Shimizu, Hideki Satake
  • Patent number: 7187043
    Abstract: A memory function body has a medium interposed between a first conductor (e.g., a conductive substrate) and a second conductor (e.g., an electrode) and consisting of a first material (e.g., silicon oxide or silicon nitride). The medium contains particles. Each particle is covered with a second material (e.g., silver oxide) and formed of a third material (e.g., silver). The second material functions as a barrier against passage of electric charges, and the third material has a function of retaining electric charges. The third material is introduced into the medium by, for example, a negative ion implantation method.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2004
    Date of Patent: March 6, 2007
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Nobutoshi Arai, Hiroshi Iwata, Seizo Kakimoto
  • Patent number: 7164177
    Abstract: A multi-level memory cell including a substrate, a tunneling dielectric layer, a charge-trapping layer, a top dielectric layer, a gate and a pair of source/drain regions is provided. The tunneling dielectric layer, the charge-trapping layer and the top dielectric layer are sequentially formed between the substrate and the gate. The top dielectric layer has at least two portions, and the top dielectric layer in each portion has a different thickness. The source/drain regions are disposed in the substrate on each side of the gate. Since the thickness of the top dielectric layer in each portion is different, the electric field strength between the gate and the substrate when a voltage is applied to the memory cell are different in each portion. With the number of charges trapped within the charge-trapping layer different in each portion, a multiple of data bits can be stored within each memory cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 2, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2007
    Assignee: Powerchip Semiconductor Corp.
    Inventors: Ko-Hsing Chang, Chiu-Tsung Huang
  • Patent number: 7161203
    Abstract: This invention includes gated field effect devices, and methods of forming gated field effect devices. In one implementation, a gated field effect device includes a pair of source/drain regions having a channel region therebetween. A gate is received proximate the channel region between the source/drain regions. The gate has a gate width between the source/drain regions. A gate dielectric is received intermediate the channel region and the gate. The gate dielectric has at least two different regions along the width of the gate. The different regions are characterized by different materials which are effective to define the two different regions to have different dielectric constants k. Other aspects and implementations are contemplated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2007
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Cem Basceri, H. Montgomery Manning, Gurtej S. Sandhu, Kunal R. Parekh
  • Patent number: 7141857
    Abstract: Semiconductor structures and processes for fabricating semiconductor structures comprising hafnium oxide layers modified with lanthanum oxide or a lanthanide-series metal oxide are provided. A semiconductor structure in accordance with an embodiment of the invention comprises an amorphous layer of hafnium oxide overlying a substrate. A lanthanum-containing dopant or a lanthanide-series metal-containing dopant is comprised within the amorphous layer of hafnium oxide. The process comprises growing an amorphous layer of hafnium oxide overlying a substrate. The amorphous layer of hafnium oxide is doped with a dopant having the chemical formulation LnOx, where Ln is lanthanum, a lanthanide-series metal, or a combination thereof, and X is any number greater than zero. The doping step may be performed during or after growth of the amorphous layer of hafnium oxide.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2004
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2006
    Assignee: Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.
    Inventors: Zhiyi Yu, Jay A. Curless, Yong Liang, Alexandra Navrotsky, Sergey Ushakov, Bich-Yen Nguyen, Alexander Demkov
  • Patent number: 7129544
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a compound semiconductor vertical FET device (11) includes a first trench (29) formed in a body of semiconductor material (13), and a second trench (34) formed within the first trench (29) to define a channel region (61). A doped gate region (59) is then formed on the sidewalls and the bottom surface of the second trench (34). Source regions (26) are formed on opposite sides of the double trench structure (28). Localized gate contact regions (79) couple individual doped gate regions (59) together. Contacts (84,85,87) are then formed to the localized gate contact regions (79), the source regions (26), and an opposing surface (21) of the body of semiconductor material (13). The structure provides a compound semiconductor vertical FET device (11, 41, 711, 712, 811, 812) having enhanced blocking capability and improved switching performance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 2004
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2006
    Assignee: Semiconductor Components Industries, L.L.C.
    Inventor: Peyman Hadizad
  • Patent number: 7119402
    Abstract: A field effect transistor includes a first semiconductor region forming a channel region, a gate electrode insulatively disposed above the first semiconductor region, source and drain electrodes formed to sandwich the first semiconductor region in a channel lengthwise direction, and second semiconductor regions formed between the first semiconductor region and the source and drain electrodes and having impurity concentration higher than the first semiconductor region. The thickness of the second semiconductor region in the channel lengthwise direction is set to a value equal to or less than depletion layer width determined by the impurity concentration so that the second semiconductor region is depleted in a no-voltage application state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 2004
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2006
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Atsuhiro Kinoshita, Junji Koga
  • Patent number: 7119395
    Abstract: The storage layer (6) is in each case present above a region in which the channel region (3) adjoins a source/drain region (2) and is in each case interrupted above an intervening middle part of the channel region (3). The storage layer (6) is formed by material of the gate dielectric (4) and contains silicon or germanium nanocrystals or nanodots introduced through ion implantation. The gate electrode (5) is widened at the flanks by electrically conductive spacers (7).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2004
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2006
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventors: Martin Gutsche, Josef Willer, Cay-Uwe Pinnow, Ralf Symanczyk