Texas Instruments Corporation

International Business Machines Corporation

Infineon Technologies Ag

Craig Henry Huffman

Weize W Xiong

Prashant Majhi

Kisik Choi

Freidoon Mehrad

Thomas Schulz

Shaofeng Yu

Shashank Sureshchandra Ekbote

Lindsey H Hall

Robert Kraft

Ting Yiu Tsui

Seung-Chul Song

Cloves Rinn Cleavelin

Ajith Varghese

Puneet Kohli

Borna J Obradovic

Manfred Ramin

David Gerald Farber

Byoung Hun Lee

Steven Arthur Vitale

Nirmal Chaudhary

Rino Choi

Sang Ho Bae

Jong Hoan Sim

Zhibo Zhang

A method of forming fully silicided NMOS and PMOS semiconductor devices having independent polysilicon gate thicknesses, and related device. At least some of the illustrative embodiments are methods comprising forming an N-type gate over a semiconductor substrate (the N-type gate having a first thickness), forming a P-type gate over the semiconductor substrate (the P-type gate having a second thickness different than the first thickness), and performing a simultaneous silicidation of the N-type gate and the P-type gate.

Method of forming fully silicided NMOS and PMOS semiconductor devices having independent polysilicon gate thicknesses, and related device

Methods of forming dual metal gates and the gates so formed are disclosed. A method may include forming a first metal (e.g., NMOS metal) layer on a gate dielectric layer and a second metal (e.g., PMOS metal) layer on the first metal layer, whereby the second metal layer alters a work function of the first metal layer (to form PMOS metal). The method may remove a portion of the second metal layer to expose the first metal layer in a first region; form a silicon layer on the exposed first metal layer in the first region and on the second metal layer in a second region; and form the dual metal gates in the first and second regions. Since the gate dielectric layer is continuously covered with the first metal, it is not exposed to the damage from the metal etch process.

Dual metal gates using one metal to alter work function of another metal

Sidewall spacers that are primarily oxide, instead of nitride, are formed adjacent to a gate stack of a CMOS transistor. Individual sidewall spacers are situated between a conductive gate electrode of the gate stack and a conductive contact of the transistor. As such, a capacitance can develop between the gate electrode and the contact, depending on the dielectric constant of the interposed sidewall spacer. Accordingly, forming sidewall spacers out of oxide, which has a lower dielectric constant than nitride, mitigates capacitance that can otherwise develop between these features. Such capacitance is undesirable, at least, because it can inhibit transistor switching speeds. Accordingly, fashioning sidewall spacers as described herein can mitigate yield loss by reducing the number of devices that have unsatisfactory switching speeds and/or other undesirable performance characteristics.

Mitigation of gate to contact capacitance in CMOS flow

One embodiment of the present invention relates to a method of fabricating a multi-gate transistor. During the method a second gate electrode material is selectively removed from a semiconductor structure from which the multi-gate transistor is formed, thereby exposing at least one surface of a first gate electrode material. The exposed surface of the first gate electrode material is deglazed. Subsequently, the first gate electrode material is removed. Other methods and devices are also disclosed.

Multiple-gate MOSFET device and associated manufacturing methods

A simple and cost effective method of forming a fully silicided (FUSI) gate of a MOS transistor is disclosed. In one example, the method comprises forming a nitride hardmask overlying a polysilicon gate, forming an S/D silicide in source/drain regions of the transistor, oxidizing a portion of the S/D silicide to form an oxide barrier overlying the S/D silicide in the source/drain regions, removing the nitride hardmask from the polysilicon gate, and forming a gate silicide such as by deposition of a gate silicide metal over the polysilicon gate and the oxide barrier in the source/drain regions to form a fully silicided (FUSI) gate in the transistor. Thus, the oxide barrier protects the source/drain regions from additional silicide formation by the gate silicide metal formed thereafter. The method may further comprise selectively removing the oxide barrier in the source/drain regions after forming the fully silicided (FUSI) gate.

Formation of fully silicided gate with oxide barrier on the source/drain silicide regions

In a method of forming a semiconductor device, a self-planarizing conductive layer is formed over a substrate that includes a topography having sharp drop-offs. The self-planarizing conductive layer is characterized by a substantially flatter surface than the underlying topography. As a result of the self-planarizing layer, a masking layer having a more uniform thickness may be formed over the conductive layer. Because the masking layer has a more uniform thickness, the masking layer may easily be patterned without causing damage to the underlying materials. These techniques may be used to fabricate, among other things, a FinFET without parasitic spacers formed around the fins and the source/drain regions.

Gate electrode for FinFET device

An embodiment of the invention is a metal layer of a back-end module where the height of the interconnects is greater than the height of the dielectric regions . Another embodiment of the invention is a method of fabricating a semiconductor wafer where the height of the interconnects is greater than the height of the dielectric regions

Etch back of interconnect dielectrics

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Krugerville, TX, United States of America

Craig Henry Huffman