Globalfoundries Inc.

Globalfoundries U.S. Inc.

Elliot John Smith

Nigel Chan

Jan Hoentschel

Sven Beyer

Nilesh Kenkare

Hans-Juergen Thees

Carsten Peters

Peter Baars

Gunter Grasshoff

Ming-Cheng Chang

Steffen A Sichler

Thorsten E Kammler

Markus Lenski

Carsten Grass

Alexander Ebermann

Michael Zier

Andreas Hellmich

Loic Gaben

Tom Hasche

Marcus Wolf

Hongsik Yoon

A semiconductor device includes a first transistor element having a first channel region and a second transistor element having a second channel region, wherein the first channel region includes a first crystalline silicon/germanium (Si/Ge) material mixture having a first germanium concentration, and wherein the second channel region includes a second crystalline Si/Ge material mixture having a second germanium concentration that is higher than the first germanium concentration.

Semiconductor devices having silicon/germanium active regions with different germanium concentrations

A device including an SOI substrate and an isolation structure positioned at least partially in a trench that extends through a buried insulation layer and into a semiconductor bulk substrate of the SOI substrate is disclosed. The isolation structure includes a first dielectric layer positioned in a lower portion of the trench, a first material layer positioned above the first dielectric layer, the first material layer having a material different from a material of the first dielectric layer, and a second dielectric layer positioned above the first material layer, the second dielectric layer having a material different from the material of the first material layer.

Semiconductor device with interconnect to source/drain

One illustrative device disclosed herein is formed on an SOI substrate. The transistor device includes a first channel region formed in a semiconductor bulk substrate of the SOI substrate and a first gate insulation layer formed above the first channel region. In one embodiment, the first gate insulation layer includes a part of the buried insulation layer of the SOI substrate and an oxidized part of the semiconductor layer of the SOI substrate.

High-voltage transistor device with thick gate insulation layers

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device is provided including providing an SOI substrate comprising a semiconductor bulk substrate, a buried insulation layer and a semiconductor layer, forming a shallow trench isolation in the SOI substrate, forming a FET in and over the SOI substrate, and forming a contact to a source or drain region of the FET that is positioned adjacent to the source or drain region, wherein forming the shallow trench isolation includes forming a trench in the SOI substrate, filling a lower portion of the trench with a first dielectric layer, forming a buffer layer over the first dielectric material layer, the buffer layer having a material different from a material of the first dielectric layer, and forming a second dielectric layer over the buffer layer and of a material different from the material of the buffer layer.

Structures for field-effect transistors and methods for fabricating a structure for field-effect transistors. A logic cell includes first and second field-effect transistors and a well defining a back gate that is arranged beneath the first and second field-effect transistors. A dielectric layer is arranged between the well and the logic cell. A plurality of deep trench isolation regions extend through the dielectric layer and are arranged to surround the first and second field-effect transistors and the well. The back gate is shared by the first and second field-effect transistors.

Deep fence isolation for logic cells

A device including multiple depth STI regions with sidewall profiles, and method of production thereof Embodiments include a top region having a substantially vertical sidewall profile; and a bottom region having a width greater than or equal to the top region and a sidewall profile.

Dual-depth STI cavity extension and method of production thereof

In semiconductor devices, some active regions may frequently have to be formed on the basis of a silicon/germanium (Si/Ge) mixture in order to appropriately adjust transistor characteristics, for instance, for P-type transistors. To this end, the present disclosure provides manufacturing techniques and respective devices in which at least two different types of active regions, including Si/Ge material, may be provided with a high degree of compatibility with conventional process strategies. Due to the provision of different germanium concentrations, increased flexibility in adjusting characteristics of transistor elements that require Si/Ge material in their active regions may be achieved.

Semiconductor devices including Si/Ge active regions with different Ge concentrations

In various aspects, the present disclosure relates to device structures and a method of forming such a device structure. In some illustrative embodiments herein, a device is provided, including a semiconductor substrate having a first trench formed therein, and a first trench isolation structure formed in the first trench. The first trench isolation structure includes first and second insulating liners formed adjacent inner surfaces of the first trench, wherein the first insulating liner is in direct contact with inner surfaces of the first trench and the second insulating liner is formed directly on the first insulating liner, and a first insulating filling material which at least partially fills the first trench. In some aspects, a thickness of the first insulating liner is greater than a thickness of the second insulating liner.

Front-end-of-line device structure and method of forming such a front-end-of-line device structure

A method of forming a semiconductor device is provided including the steps of providing a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate comprising a semiconductor bulk substrate, a buried insulation layer formed on the semiconductor bulk substrate and a semiconductor layer positioned on the buried insulation layer, and forming a first transistor device, wherein forming the first transistor device includes forming a channel region in the semiconductor bulk substrate and forming a gate insulation layer over the channel region partially of a part of the buried insulation layer and wherein forming the gate insulation layer includes oxidizing a part of the semiconductor layer.

Active regions for planar transistor architectures may be patterned in one lateral direction, i.e., the width direction, on the basis of a single lithography process, followed by deposition and etch processes, thereby providing multiple width dimensions and multiple spaces or pitches with reduced process variability due to the avoidance of overlay errors typically associated with conventional approaches when patterning the width dimensions and spaces on the basis of a sequence of sophisticated lithography processes. Consequently, increased packing density, enhanced performance and reduced manufacturing costs may be achieved on the basis of process techniques as disclosed herein.

Semiconductor devices including self-aligned active regions for planar transistor architecture

A high-k dielectric metal gate (HKMG) transistor includes a substrate, an HKMG gate stack with a gate dielectric layer and a gate electrode layer positioned above the substrate. The gate electrode layer has an upper portion and a lower portion. A first liner contacts a sidewall portion of the upper portion. A spacer contacts the first liner and a sidewall portion of the lower portion. Raised source and drain regions are positioned adjacent the spacer. A height of the uppermost surface of the spacer is greater than a height of an uppermost surface of the raised source and drain regions. A width of the upper portion between the raised source and drain regions is smaller than a width of the lower portion between the raised source and drain regions.

Gate structure with dual width electrode layer

A high voltage transistor may be formed on the basis of well-established CMOS techniques by using a buried insulating material of an SOI architecture as gate dielectric material, while the gate electrode material may be provided in the form of a doped semiconductor region positioned below the buried insulating layer. The high voltage transistor may be formed with high process compatibility on the basis of a process flow for forming sophisticated fully depleted SOI transistors, wherein, in some illustrative embodiments, the high voltage transistor may also be provided as a fully depleted transistor configuration.

High voltage transistor using buried insulating layer as gate dielectric

By decoupling the formation of a metal silicide in the gate electrode structure and the raised drain and source regions, superior flexibility in designing transistor elements and managing overall process flow may be achieved. To this end, the metal silicide in the gate electrode structures may be formed prior to actually patterning the gate electrode structures, while, also during this process sequence, a mask material may be applied for reliably covering any device regions in which a silicidation is not required. Consequently, superior gate conductivity may be accomplished, without increasing the risk of silicide penetration into the channel region of sophisticated fully depleted SOI transistors.

Early gate silicidation in transistor elements

A method of forming a crystalline semiconductor material on the basis of a very thin semiconductor base material and an amorphous semiconductor material deposited thereon is disclosed. Radiation-based anneal process techniques may be applied by using appropriate radiation wavelengths, for instance, below 380 nm, in order to efficiently restrict energy deposition to the surface-near area. A solid and crystalline bottom portion of the semiconductor base material may be reliably preserved, thereby achieving crystallization of the overlying material portions and, in particular, of the previously deposited amorphous semiconductor material. Extremely thin channel regions of fully depleted SOI transistor elements may be used as a semiconductor base material, upon which raised drain and source regions may be formed in a later manufacturing stage, thereby substantially avoiding any process irregularities, which are conventionally associated with the epitaxial growth of a semiconductor material on a very thin semiconductor base material.

Technique and related semiconductor devices based on crystalline semiconductor material formed on the basis of deposited amorphous semiconductor material

In semiconductor devices requiring the formation of fully depleted SOI transistor elements in combination with non-FET elements, such as substrate diodes and the like, the patterning of the active regions may be accomplished on the basis of deep isolation trenches, which may be formed first on the basis of immersion-based lithography, followed by formation of shallow isolation trenches also formed on the basis of immersion lithography. Thereafter, respective openings connecting to the substrate materials may be formed, possibly in combination with isolation trenches of reduced depth compared to the deep isolation trenches, on the basis of non-immersion lithography techniques. In this manner, device scaling for semiconductor devices requiring critical dimensions of 26 nm and less in a planar transistor architecture may be accomplished.

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Dresden, Germany

Elliot John Smith