Plural Gate Electrodes (e.g., Dual Gate, Etc.) Patents (Class 438/176)
  • Patent number: 8546854
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes an isolation layer formed on a semiconductor substrate; an active region defined by the isolation layer; at least one gate line formed to overlap with the active region; at least one first active tab formed on a first interface of the active region which overlaps with the gate line; and a first gate tab formed on a second interface facing away from the first interface in such a way as to project from the gate line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2013
    Assignee: SK Hynix Inc.
    Inventor: Jong Su Kim
  • Patent number: 8530942
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a semiconductor device, including a semiconductor layer including a first region and a second region isolated from the first region, a source in a surface of the first region, a drain in a surface of the second region, a back-gate in the surface of the first region, an end of a drain side of the back-gate being located closer to the drain side than an end of the drain side of the source, a gate insulator on a surface of the semiconductor layer between the first region and the second region, a gate electrode on the gate insulator, a source electrode being contacted to both the source and the back-gate, and a drain electrode being contacted to the drain area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2013
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventor: Tsubasa Yamada
  • Patent number: 8518757
    Abstract: A strained semiconductor structure and method of making the structure. The method includes: forming a pad layer on a top surface of a silicon layer of a substrate, the substrate comprising the silicon layer separated from a supporting substrate by a buried oxide layer; forming openings in the pad layer and etching trenches through the silicon layer to the buried oxide layer in the openings to form silicon regions from the silicon layer; forming spacers on the entirety of sidewalls of the silicon regions exposed in the trenches; forming oxide regions in corners of the silicon regions proximate to both the sidewalls and the buried oxide layer to form strained silicon regions, the oxide regions not extending to the pad layer; and removing at least a portion of the spacers and filling remaining spaces in the trenches with silicon to form filled regions abutting the strained silicon region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2013
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Brent Alan Anderson, Edward Joseph Nowak
  • Patent number: 8507346
    Abstract: A method of forming a semiconductor device having a substrate, an active region and an inactive region includes: forming a hardmask layer over the substrate; transferring a first pattern into the hardmask layer in the active region of the semiconductor device; forming one or more fills in the inactive region; forming a cut-away hole within, covering, or partially covering, the one or more fills to expose a portion of the hardmask layer, the exposed portion being within the one or more fills; and exposing the hardmask layer to an etchant to divide the first pattern into a second pattern including at least two separate elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2013
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Martin Burkhardt, Matthew E. Colburn, Allen H. Gabor, Oleg Gluschenkov, Scott D. Halle, Howard S. Landis, Helen Wang
  • Patent number: 8502279
    Abstract: Semiconductor devices are formed with a nano-electro-mechanical system (NEMS) logic or memory on a bulk substrate. Embodiments include forming source/drain regions directly on a bulk substrate, forming a fin connecting the source/drain regions, forming two gates, one on each side of the fin, the two gates being insulated from the bulk substrate, and forming a substrate gate in the bulk substrate. The fin is separated from each of the two gates and the substrate gate with an air gap.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2013
    Assignee: GLOBALFOUNDRIES Singapore Pte. Ltd.
    Inventors: Eng Huat Toh, Elgin Quek, Chung Foong Tan
  • Patent number: 8501550
    Abstract: A method of fabricating a gate includes sequentially forming an insulation layer and a conductive layer on substantially an entire surface of a substrate. The substrate has a device isolation layer therein and a top surface of the device isolation layer is higher than a top surface of the substrate. The method includes planarizing a top surface of the conductive layer and forming a gate electrode by patterning the insulation layer and the conductive layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2013
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Jong-Pil Kim, Young-Goan Jang, Dong-Won Kim, Hag-Ju Cho
  • Patent number: 8492210
    Abstract: The invention relates to a transistor, a semiconductor device comprising the transistor and manufacturing methods for the transistor and the semiconductor device. The transistor according to the invention comprises: a substrate comprising at least a base layer, a first semiconductor layer, an insulating layer and a second semiconductor layer stacked sequentially; a gate stack formed on the second semiconductor layer; a source region and a drain region located on both sides of the gate stack respectively; a back gate comprising a back gate dielectric and a back gate electrode formed by the insulating layer and the first semiconductor layer, respectively; and a back gate contact formed on a portion of the back gate electrode. The back gate contact comprises an epitaxial part raised from the surface of the back gate electrode, and each of the source region and the drain region comprises an epitaxial part raised from the surface of the second semiconductor layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2013
    Assignee: Institute of Microelectronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Inventors: Qingqing Liang, Huilong Zhu, Huicai Zhong
  • Patent number: 8476677
    Abstract: An aspect of the present invention inheres in a semiconductor device includes a semiconductor region, a source electrode and a drain electrode, which are provided on a main surface of the semiconductor region, a gate electrode exhibiting normally-off characteristics, the gate electrode being provided above the main surface of the semiconductor region while interposing a p-type material film therebetween, and being arranged between the source electrode and the drain electrode, and a fourth electrode that is provided on the main surface of the semiconductor region, and is arranged between the gate electrode and the drain electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2013
    Assignee: Sanken Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Osamu Machida, Akio Iwabuchi
  • Patent number: 8471344
    Abstract: Disclosed is an integrated circuit device having stacked fin-type field effect transistors (FINFETs) with integrated voltage equalization and a method. A multi-layer fin includes a semiconductor layer, an insulator layer above the semiconductor layer and a high resistance conductor layer above the insulator layer. For each FINFET, a gate is positioned on the sidewalls and top surface of the fin and source/drain regions are within the semiconductor layer on both sides of the gate. Thus, the portion of the semiconductor layer between any two gates contains a source/drain region of one FINFET abutting a source/drain region of another. Conductive straps are positioned on opposing ends of the fin and also between adjacent gates in order to electrically connect the semiconductor layer to the conductor layer. Contacts electrically connect the conductive straps at the opposing ends of the fin to positive and negative supply voltages, respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 25, 2013
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Brent A. Anderson, Andres Bryant, Edward J. Nowak
  • Patent number: 8466517
    Abstract: A method of forming capacitorless DRAM over localized silicon-on-insulator comprises the following steps: A silicon substrate is provided, and an array of silicon studs is defined within the silicon substrate. An insulator layer is defined atop at least a portion of the silicon substrate, and between the silicon studs. A silicon-over-insulator layer is defined surrounding the silicon studs atop the insulator layer, and a capacitorless DRAM is formed within and above the silicon-over-insulator layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2013
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Suraj Mathew, Jigish D. Trivedi
  • Patent number: 8409938
    Abstract: A method for fabricating a semiconductor device includes: forming a plurality of photoresist patterns over a substrate structure; forming an insulation layer for a spacer over a structure including the photoresist patterns; forming a plurality of spacers on sidewalls of the photoresist patterns by anisotropically etching the insulation layer, and forming a first opening through the insulation layer; and forming second openings in the insulation layer to expose the substrate structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2013
    Assignee: Hynix Semiconductor Inc.
    Inventor: Jung-Hee Park
  • Patent number: 8389392
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a FinFET with separate gates and to a method for fabricating the same. A dielectric gate-separation layer between first and second gate electrodes has an extension in a direction pointing from a first to a second gate layer that is smaller than a lateral extension of the fin between its opposite lateral faces. This structure corresponds with a processing method that starts from a covered basic FinFET structure with a continuous first gate layer, and proceeds to remove parts of the first gate layer and of a first gate-isolation layer through a contact opening to the gate layer. Subsequently, a replacement gate-isolation layer that at the same time forms the gate separation layer fabricated, followed by filling the tunnel with a replacement gate layer and a metal filling.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2013
    Assignee: NXP B.V.
    Inventors: Jan Sonsky, Radu Surdeanu
  • Patent number: 8367490
    Abstract: The present application discloses a semiconductor structure and a method for manufacturing the same. The semiconductor structure according to the present invention adjusts a threshold voltage with a common contact, which has a portion outside the source or drain region extending to the back-gate region and provides an electrical contact of the source or drain region and the back-gate region, which leads to a simple manufacturing process, an increased integration level and a lowered manufacture cost. Moreover, the asymmetric design of the back-gate structure further increases the threshold voltage and improves the performance of the device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2013
    Assignee: Institute of Microelectronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Inventors: Huilong Zhu, Qingqing Liang, Haizhou Yin, Zhijiong Luo
  • Patent number: 8361869
    Abstract: The present application discloses a method for manufacturing a gate-all-around field effect transistor, comprising the steps of: forming a suspended fin in a semiconductor substrate; forming a gate stack around the fin; and forming source/drain regions in the fin on both sides of the gate stack, wherein an isolation dielectric layer is formed in a portion of the semiconductor substrate which is adjacent to bottom of both the fin and the gate stack. The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a gate-all-around device on a bulk silicon substrate, which suppress a self-heating effect and a floating-body effect of the SOI substrate, and lower a manufacture cost. The inventive method is a conventional top-down process with respect to a reference plane, which can be implemented as a simple manufacture process, and is easy to be integrated into and compatible with a planar CMOS process. The inventive method suppresses a short channel effect and promotes miniaturization of MOSFETs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2013
    Assignee: Institute of Microelectronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Inventors: Huajie Zhou, Yi Song, Qiuxia Xu
  • Patent number: 8334178
    Abstract: A double-gate semiconductor device includes a MOS gate and a junction gate, in which the bias of the junction gate is a function of the gate voltage of the MOS gate. The breakdown voltage of the double-gate semiconductor device is the sum of the breakdown voltages of the MOS gate and the junction gate. The double-gate semiconductor device provides improved RF capability in addition to operability at higher power levels as compared to conventional transistor devices. The double-gate semiconductor device may also be fabricated in a higher spatial density configuration such that a common implantation between the MOS gate and the junction gate is eliminated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 18, 2012
    Assignee: ACCO Semiconductor, Inc.
    Inventors: Denis A. Masliah, Alexandre G. Bracale, Francis C. Huin, Patrice J. Barroul
  • Patent number: 8329522
    Abstract: A method for fabricating a semiconductor device includes: forming a plurality of photoresist patterns over a substrate structure; forming an insulation layer for a spacer over a structure including the photoresist patterns; forming a plurality of spacers on sidewalls of the photoresist patterns by anisotropically etching the insulation layer, and forming a first opening through the insulation layer; and forming second openings in the insulation layer to expose the substrate structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2012
    Assignee: Hynix Semiconductor Inc.
    Inventor: Jung-Hee Park
  • Patent number: 8304841
    Abstract: A gate-last method for forming a metal gate transistor is provided. The method includes forming an opening within a dielectric material over a substrate. A gate dielectric structure is formed within the opening and over the substrate. A work function metallic layer is formed within the opening and over the gate dielectric structure. A silicide structure is formed over the work function metallic layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2012
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Jeff J. Xu, Cheng-Tung Lin, Hsiang-Yi Wang, Wen-Chin Lee, Betty Hsieh
  • Patent number: 8263451
    Abstract: A method of forming an integrated circuit structure includes providing a wafer including a substrate and a semiconductor fin at a major surface of the substrate, and performing a deposition step to epitaxially grow an epitaxy layer on a top surface and sidewalls of the semiconductor fin, wherein the epitaxy layer includes a semiconductor material. An etch step is then performed to remove a portion of the epitaxy layer, with a remaining portion of the epitaxy layer remaining on the top surface and the sidewalls of the semiconductor fin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2012
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Chien-Chang Su, Tsz-Mei Kwok, Hsien-Hsin Lin, Hsueh-Chang Sung, Yi-Fang Pai, Kuan-Yu Chen
  • Patent number: 8258577
    Abstract: A CMOS inverter formed with narrowly spaced fins structures including transistors formed on sidewalls of each fin structure. A high-k dielectric material is deposited on the fins to provide mechanical stability to the fins and serve as a gate dielectric material. A mid gap metal gate layer may be formed on the high-k dielectric layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2012
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventor: Abhisek Dixit
  • Patent number: 8207027
    Abstract: A semiconductor structure and its method of fabrication include multiple finFETs with different vertical dimensions for the semiconductor fins. An implant species is implanted in a bottom portion of selected semiconductor fins on which reduced vertical dimension is desired. The bottom portion of the selected semiconductor fins with implant species is etched selective to the semiconductor material without the implanted species, i.e., the semiconductor material in the top portion of the semiconductor fin and other semiconductor fins without the implanted species. FinFETs with the full vertical dimension fins and a high on-current and finFETs with reduced vertical dimension fins with a low on-current thus results on the same semiconductor substrate. By adjusting the depth of the implant species, the vertical dimension of the semiconductor fins may be adjusted in selected finFETs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2012
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Huilong Zhu, Yue Tan
  • Patent number: 8207582
    Abstract: Semiconductor devices including dual gate structures and methods of forming such semiconductor devices are disclosed. For example, semiconductor devices are disclosed that include a first gate stack that may include a first conductive gate structure formed from a first material, and a second gate stack that may include a dielectric structure formed from an oxide of the first material. For another example, methods including forming a high-K dielectric material layer over a semiconductor substrate, forming a first conductive material layer over the high-K dielectric material layer, oxidizing a portion of the first conductive material layer to convert the portion of the first conductive material layer to a dielectric material layer, and forming a second conductive material layer over both the conductive material layer and the dielectric material layer are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2012
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventor: Jaydeb Goswami
  • Patent number: 8188515
    Abstract: An aspect of the present invention inheres in a semiconductor device includes a semiconductor region, a source electrode and a drain electrode, which are provided on a main surface of the semiconductor region, a gate electrode exhibiting normally-off characteristics, the gate electrode being provided above the main surface of the semiconductor region while interposing a p-type material film therebetween, and being arranged between the source electrode and the drain electrode, and a fourth electrode that is provided on the main surface of the semiconductor region, and is arranged between the gate electrode and the drain electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2012
    Assignee: Sanken Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Osamu Machida, Akio Iwabuchi
  • Patent number: 8183116
    Abstract: A planar double-gate transistor is manufactured wherein crystallisation inhibitors are implanted into the channel region (16) of a semiconductor wafer (10), said wafer having a laminate structure comprising an initial crystalline semiconductor layer (14) adjacent an amorphous semiconductor layer (12). Upon heating, partial re-growth of the amorphous semiconductor layer is restricted in the channel area thus allowing for the thickness of the source/drain extension regions to be increased whilst maintaining a thin channel. Any remaining amorphous material is selectively removed leaving a cavity to allow for the forming of gate electrodes (30,32) on opposing sides of the channel region. The invention can be exploited to a greater extent by providing an amorphous layer on both sides of the initial crystalline semiconductor layer thus providing for re-growth limitation in two directions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2012
    Assignee: NXP B.V.
    Inventor: Bartlomiej J. Pawlak
  • Patent number: 8173505
    Abstract: A method includes forming a first layer of gate material over a semiconductor substrate; forming a hard mask layer over the first layer; forming an opening; forming a charge storage layer over the hard mask layer and within the opening; forming a second layer of gate material over the charge storage layer; removing a portion of the second layer and a portion of the charge storage layer which overlie the hard mask layer, wherein a second portion of the second layer remains within the opening; forming a patterned masking layer over the hard mask layer and over the second portion, wherein the patterned masking layer defines both a first and second bitcell; and forming the first and second bitcell using the patterned masking layer, wherein each of the first and second bitcell comprises a select gate made from the first layer and a control gate made from the second layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2012
    Assignee: Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.
    Inventors: Matthew T. Herrick, Ko-Min Chang, Gowrishankar L. Chindalore, Sung-Taeg Kang
  • Patent number: 8158471
    Abstract: A method of forming capacitorless DRAM over localized silicon-on-insulator comprises the following steps: A silicon substrate is provided, and an array of silicon studs is defined within the silicon substrate. An insulator layer is defined atop at least a portion of the silicon substrate, and between the silicon studs. A silicon-over-insulator layer is defined surrounding the silicon studs atop the insulator layer, and a capacitorless DRAM is formed within and above the silicon-over-insulator layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2012
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Suraj Mathew, Jigish D Trivedi
  • Patent number: 8119474
    Abstract: A method of manufacture and device for a dual-gate CMOS structure. The structure includes a first plate in an insulating layer and a second plate above the insulating layer electrically corresponding to the first plate. An isolation structure is between the first plate and the second plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2012
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Andres Bryant, Edward J. Nowak, Richard Q. Williams
  • Patent number: 8114739
    Abstract: Methods are provided for fabricating a transistor. An exemplary method involves depositing an oxide layer overlying a layer of semiconductor material, forming an oxygen-diffusion barrier layer overlying the oxide layer, forming a layer of high-k dielectric material overlying the oxygen-diffusion barrier layer, forming a layer of conductive material overlying the layer of high-k dielectric material, selectively removing portions of the layer of conductive material, the layer of high-k dielectric material, the oxygen-diffusion barrier layer, and the oxide layer to form a gate stack, and forming source and drain regions about the gate stack. When the conductive material is an oxygen-gettering conductive material, the oxygen-diffusion barrier layer prevents diffusion of oxygen from the deposited oxide layer to the oxygen-gettering conductive material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2012
    Assignee: Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.
    Inventors: Murshed M. Chowdhury, James K. Schaeffer
  • Patent number: 8114724
    Abstract: A method for fabricating a semiconductor device includes: forming a plurality of photoresist patterns over a substrate structure; forming an insulation layer for a spacer over a structure including the photoresist patterns; forming a plurality of spacers on sidewalls of the photoresist patterns by anisotropically etching the insulation layer, and forming a first opening through the insulation layer; and forming second openings in the insulation layer to expose the substrate structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2012
    Assignee: Hynix Semiconductor Inc.
    Inventor: Jung-Hee Park
  • Patent number: 8110465
    Abstract: The gate electrode of a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) comprises a source side gate electrode and a drain side gate electrode that abut each other near the middle of the channel. In one embodiment, the source side gate electrode comprises a silicon oxide based gate dielectric and the drain side gate electrode comprises a high-k gate dielectric. The source side gate electrode provides high carrier mobility, while the drain side gate electrode provides good short channel effect and reduced gate leakage. In another embodiment, the source gate electrode and drain gate electrode comprises different high-k gate dielectric stacks and different gate conductor materials, wherein the source side gate electrode has a first work function a quarter band gap away from a band gap edge and the drain side gate electrode has a second work function near the band gap edge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2012
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Huilong Zhu, Qingqing Liang
  • Patent number: 8105888
    Abstract: A diode assembly comprising first and second diodes each having a different breakdown voltage, each of the first and second diodes comprising a semiconductor substrate; an electrically conducting channel layer on the semiconductor substrate; an upper semiconductor layer on the channel layer, the upper semiconductor layer comprising a recess; first and second ohmic contacts on the upper semiconductor layer on opposite sides of the recess, the ohmic contacts being connected together to form a first diode contact; a gate electrode within the recess, the gate electrode forming a second diode contact; wherein the area of the recess of the first diode covered by the first gate electrode is different to the area of the recess of the second diode covered by the second gate electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2012
    Assignee: RFMD (UK) Limited
    Inventor: John Stephen Atherton
  • Patent number: 8093114
    Abstract: A method for making a semiconductor device with at least two gate regions. The method includes providing a substrate region including a surface. Additionally, the method includes forming a source region in the substrate region by at least implanting a first plurality of ions into the substrate region and forming a drain region in the substrate region by at least implanting a second plurality of ions into the substrate region. The drain region and the source region are separate from each other. Moreover, the method includes depositing a gate layer on the surface and forming a first gate region and a second gate region on the surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2012
    Assignee: Semiconductor Manufacturing International (Shanghai) Corporation
    Inventors: Deyuan Xiao, Gary Chen, Tan Leong Seng, Roger Lee
  • Patent number: 8089128
    Abstract: A transistor gate forming method includes forming a first and a second transistor gate. Each of the two gates includes a lower metal layer and an upper metal layer. The lower metal layer of the first gate originates from an as-deposited material exhibiting a work function the same as exhibited in an as-deposited material from which the lower metal layer of the second gate originates. However, the first gate's lower metal layer exhibits a modified work function different from a work function exhibited by the second gate's lower metal layer. The first gate's lower metal layer may contain less oxygen and/or carbon in comparison to the second gate's lower metal layer. The first gate's lower metal layer may contain more nitrogen in comparison to the second gate's lower metal layer. The first gate may be a n-channel gate and the second gate may be a p-channel gate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2012
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: D. V. Nirmal Ramaswamy, Ravi Iyer
  • Patent number: 8076729
    Abstract: Disclosed is a method for forming a dual gate electrode of a semiconductor device, which may improve manufacturing productivity by simplifying a process of forming gate electrodes in PMOS and NMOS regions, respectively, and may provide improvement in performance by making the two gate electrodes have a different thickness and material state in a manner that one of the two gate electrodes has a single-layer structure and the other one has a two-layer structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2011
    Assignee: Dongbu Hitek Co., Ltd
    Inventor: Eun Sang Cho
  • Patent number: 8071448
    Abstract: A disclosed semiconductor device includes multiple gate electrodes disposed on a semiconductor substrate; and multiple sidewall spacers disposed on sidewalls of the gate electrodes. The thickness of the sidewall spacers is larger on the sidewalls along longer sides of the gate electrodes than on the sidewalls along shorter sides of the gate electrodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2011
    Assignee: Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited
    Inventor: Masaki Okuno
  • Patent number: 8034674
    Abstract: To provide a semiconductor device in which a channel formation region can be thinned without adversely affecting a source region and a drain region through a simple process and a method for manufacturing the semiconductor device. In the method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, a semiconductor film, having a thickness smaller than a height of a projection of a substrate, is formed over a surface of the substrate having the projections; the semiconductor film is etched to have an island shape with a resist used as a mask; the resist is etched to expose a portion of the semiconductor film which covers a top surface of the projection; and the exposed portion of the semiconductor film is etched to be thin, while the adjacent portions of the semiconductor film on both sides of the projection remain covered with the resist.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2011
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masaharu Nagai, Takafumi Mizoguchi
  • Patent number: 8030144
    Abstract: A method of fabricating a semiconductor device is provided. The method forms a fin arrangement on a semiconductor substrate, the fin arrangement comprising one or more semiconductor fin structures. The method continues by forming a gate arrangement overlying the fin arrangement, where the gate arrangement includes one or more adjacent gate structures. The method proceeds by forming an outer spacer around sidewalls of each gate structure. The fin arrangement is then selectively etched, using the gate structure and the outer spacer(s) as an etch mask, resulting in one or more semiconductor fin sections underlying the gate structure(s). The method continues by forming a stress/strain inducing material adjacent sidewalls of the one or more semiconductor fin sections.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2011
    Assignee: GLOBALFOUNDRIES Inc.
    Inventors: Scott Luning, Frank Scott Johnson
  • Patent number: 8003466
    Abstract: A fabrication process for a FinFET device is provided. The process begins by providing a semiconductor wafer having a layer of conductive material such as silicon. A whole-field arrangement of fins is then formed from the layer of conductive material. The whole-field arrangement of fins includes a plurality of conductive fins having a uniform pitch and a uniform fin thickness. Next, a cut mask is formed over the whole-field arrangement of fins. The cut mask selectively masks sections of the whole-field arrangement of fins with a layout that defines features for a plurality of FinFET devices. The cut mask is used to remove a portion of the whole-field arrangement of fins, the portion being unprotected by the cut mask. The resulting fin structures are used to complete the fabrication of the FinFET devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2011
    Assignee: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
    Inventors: Zhonghai Shi, David Wu, Jingrong Zhou, Ruigang Li
  • Patent number: 7977174
    Abstract: Methods for fabricating FinFET structures with stress-inducing source/drain-forming spacers and FinFET structures having such spacers are provided herein. In one embodiment, a method for fabricating a FinFET structure comprises fabricating a plurality of parallel fins overlying a semiconductor substrate. Each of the fins has sidewalls. A gate structure is fabricated overlying a portion of each of the fins. The gate structure has sidewalls and overlies channels within the fins. Stress-inducing sidewall spacers are formed about the sidewalls of the fins and the sidewalls of the gate structure. The stress-inducing sidewall spacers induce a stress within the channels. First conductivity-determining ions are implanted into the fins using the stress-inducing sidewall spacers and the gate structure as an implantation mask to form source and drain regions within the fins.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2011
    Assignee: Globalfoundries Inc.
    Inventors: Scott Luning, Frank Scott Johnson, Michael J. Hargrove
  • Patent number: 7977195
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing at least one structure for a double grid field effect transistor, including: forming, on an isolating face of a first substrate, a stack comprising successively at least one layer of rear grid material, a layer of rear grid isolator, one semi-conducting zone for each structure to be manufactured, an electrically insulating layer of a front grid, at least one layer of front grid material and a masking element for each structure to be manufactured, placed facing the semi-conducting zone; forming in the at least one layer of front grid material a pattern reproducing a shape of the masking element and comprising etching of the layer of front grid material to eliminate the front grid material outside the pattern; and forming on free faces of the pattern a sacrificial spacer covering a first part of the semi-conducting zone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2011
    Assignee: Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique
    Inventor: Bernard Previtali
  • Patent number: 7968392
    Abstract: Dual-gate memory cells and tri-gate CMOS devices are integrated on a common substrate. A plurality of silicon bodies are formed from a monocrystalline silicon on the substrate to define a plurality of transistors including dual-gate memory cells, PMOS transistors, and NMOS transistors. An insulative layer is formed overlying the silicon body of the memory cell. A layer of a high-k dielectric and at least a metal layer cover the silicon bodies and their overlying layers. Next, gain regions of the transistors are filled with polysilicon. Thus, a gate is formed on the top surface and both sidewalls of a tri-gate transistor. Thereafter, the high-k dielectric and the metal layer overlying the insulative layer of the memory cell are removed to expose the insulative layer. Thus, two electrically-isolated gates of the memory cell are formed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2011
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Ibrahim Ban, Peter L. D. Chang
  • Patent number: 7947547
    Abstract: A semiconductor device fabrication method by which CMOS transistors with low-resistance metal gate electrodes each having a proper work function can be fabricated. A HfN layer in which nitrogen concentration in an nMOS transistor formation region differs from nitrogen concentration in a pMOS transistor formation region is formed. A MoN layer is formed over the HfN layer and heat treatment is performed. Nitrogen diffuses from the MoN layer into the HfN layer in which nitrogen concentration is low and a work function is set by the HfN layer according to nitrogen concentration which depends on the nitrogen content of the HfN layer before the heat treatment and the amount of nitrogen that diffuses into the HfN layer. On the other hand, nitrogen hardly diffuses from the MoN layer into the HfN layer which originally has a certain nitrogen content, and a work function is set by the HfN layer according to nitrogen concentration in the HfN layer before the heat treatment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2011
    Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
    Inventors: Teruo Kurahashi, Manabu Sakamoto, Yasuyoshi Mishima
  • Patent number: 7943452
    Abstract: A gate conductor structure is provided having a barrier region between a N-type device and a P-type device, wherein the barrier region minimizes or eliminates cross-diffusion of dopant species across the barrier region. The barrier region comprises at least one sublithographic gap in the gate conductor structure. The sublithographic gap is formed by using self-assembling copolymers to form a sublithographic patterned mask over the gate conductor structure. According to one embodiment, at least one sublithographic gap is a slit or line that traverses the width of the gate conductor structure. The sublithographic gap is sufficiently deep to minimize or prevent cross-diffusion of the implanted dopant from the upper portion of the gate conductor. According to another embodiment, the sublithographic gaps are of sufficient density that cross-diffusion of dopants is reduced or eliminated during an activation anneal such that changes in Vt are minimized.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2011
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Wai-Kin Li, Haining Yang
  • Patent number: 7923315
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for fabricating a planar independent-double-gate FET or a planar gate-all-around FET on a bulk semiconductor substrate. The method comprises refilling a surface recess in an active semiconductor region with a buried sacrificial layer, and, after preparing a pre-processing a gate stack by respective deposition and patterning, the formation of a recess in the isolation regions so as to cause the recess to extend, in a depth direction that points towards the inner substrate, to a depth level that allows removing the buried sacrificial layer and so as to cause the recess to undercut portions of gate stack in the channel direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2011
    Assignee: NXP B.V.
    Inventors: Arnaud Pouydebasque, Philippe Coronel, Stephanne Denorme
  • Patent number: 7915105
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a method for fabricating a semiconductor device. The method includes forming first, second, third, and fourth gate structures on a semiconductor substrate, each gate structure having a dummy gate, removing the dummy gate from the first, second, third, and fourth gate structures, thereby forming first, second, third, and fourth trenches, respectively, forming a metal layer to partially fill in the first, second, third, and fourth trenches, forming a first photoresist layer over the first, second, and third trenches, etching a portion of the metal layer in the fourth trench, removing the first photoresist layer, forming a second photoresist layer over the second and third trenches, etching the metal layer in the first trench and the remaining portion of the metal layer in the fourth trench, and removing the second photoresist layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2011
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Matt Yeh, Shun Wu Lin, Chung-Ming Wang, Chi-Chun Chen
  • Patent number: 7910413
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing a fin structure comprises forming a first structure of a first material type on a wafer and forming a buried channel of a second material adjacent sidewalls of the first structure. The second material type is different than the first material type. The structure includes a first structure and a buried channel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2011
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventor: Huilong Zhu
  • Patent number: 7882482
    Abstract: A layout method that enables a high power switch mode voltage regulator integrated circuit to generate a large output current and achieve substantially low switching loss is disclosed. The layout method includes forming an array of switching elements on a semiconductor die, each switching element including a plurality of discrete transistors configured to have a substantially reduced ON resistance; and forming a plurality of gate driver circuits on the same die among the switching elements, all using a single metal process. Each gate driver circuit placed substantially close to and dedicated to drive only one switching element so that the gate coupling capacitance resistance product is substantially reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2011
    Assignee: Monolithic Power Systems, Inc.
    Inventor: Paul Ueunten
  • Patent number: 7879661
    Abstract: A semiconductor device of a dual-gate structure including a P-channel type field-effect transistor formed at a first region of a substrate and an N-channel type field-effect transistor formed at a second region of the substrate, includes a gate electrode including a polycrystalline silicon film continuously formed on the substrate to cover the first and second regions and a metal silicide film formed on the polycrystalline silicon film. The polycrystalline silicon film has a P-type part located on the first region and an N-type part coming into contact with the P-type part and located on the second region, and the P-type part is further doped with a heavier element than a P-type impurity that determines a conductivity type of the P-type part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2008
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventor: Akihiko Tsuzumitani
  • Patent number: 7855134
    Abstract: Provided is a highly reliable semiconductor device equipped with a plurality of semiconductor elements having desired properties, respectively; and a manufacturing method facilitating the manufacture of the semiconductor device. The semiconductor device is manufactured by forming a gate-electrode metal film having a thickness of from 3 to 30 nm over the entire upper surface of a gate insulating film; forming an n-side cap layer having a thickness of 10 nm or less over the entire upper surface of a portion of the gate-electrode metal film belonging to an nFET region by using a material different from that of the gate-electrode metal film; and carrying out heat treatment over the n-side cap layer to diffuse the material of the n-side cap layer into the gate-electrode metal film immediately below the n-side cap layer and react them to form an n-side gate-electrode metal film in a nFET region. A poly-Si layer is then deposited, followed by gate electrode processing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 21, 2010
    Assignee: Renesas Electronics Corporation
    Inventors: Shinsuke Sakashita, Takaaki Kawahara, Jiro Yugami
  • Patent number: 7851790
    Abstract: The present invention describes a method of and an apparatus for providing a wafer, the wafer including Silicon; etching trenches in the wafer to form Silicon fins; filling Silicon Oxide in the trenches; planarizing the Silicon Oxide; recessing the Silicon Oxide to a first thickness to form exposed Silicon pedestals from the Silicon fins; depositing SiGe over the exposed Silicon pedestal; recessing the Silicon Oxide to a second thickness; undercutting the exposed Silicon pedestals to form necked-in Silicon pedestals; oxidizing thermally and annealing the SiGe; and forming Germanium nanowires.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 14, 2010
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Willy Rachmady, Been-Yih Jin, Ravi Pillarisetty, Robert Chau
  • Patent number: 7829399
    Abstract: A method of forming capacitorless DRAM over localized silicon-on-insulator comprises the following steps: A silicon substrate is provided, and an array of silicon studs is defined within the silicon substrate. An insulator layer is defined atop at least a portion of the silicon substrate, and between the silicon studs. A silicon-over-insulator layer is defined surrounding the silicon studs atop the insulator layer, and a capacitorless DRAM is formed within and above the silicon-over-insulator layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2010
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Suraj Mathew, Jigish D Trivedi