Sandisk Technologies Inc.

Genta Mizuno

Raghuveer S Makala

Rahul Sharangpani

Senaka Kanakamedala

Masanori Tsutsumi

Naoki Takeguchi

Johann Alsmeier

Fumitaka Amano

Yusuke Mukae

Ryo Nakamura

Yu Ueda

Yanli Zhang

George Matamis

Fei Zhou

Yao-Sheng Lee

Adarsh Rajashekhar

Tatsuya Hinoue

Seiji Shimabukuro

Naohiro Hosoda

Shigehisa Inoue

Keisuke Izumi

Yujin Terasawa

Kazuki Isozumi

Kenzo Iizuka

Shuichi Hamaguchi

Jayavel Pachamuthu

Michiaki Sano

Satoshi Shimizu

Sateesh Koka

Kensuke Yamaguchi

Hiroaki Iuchi

Yusuke Yoshida

Ryousuke Itou

Yoshinobu Tanaka

Naohito Yanagida

Akio Yanai

Toshiyuki Sega

Shiori Kataoka

Takashi Arai

Takashi Hamaya

Takehiro Yamazaki

Minoru Yamaguchi

Takayuki Yokoyama

Shin Sakiyama

Ryosuke Itou

A memory die includes dielectric isolation rails embedded within a substrate semiconductor layer, laterally spaced apart along a first horizontal direction, and each laterally extending along a second horizontal direction that is perpendicular to the first horizontal direction, and alternating stacks of insulating layers and electrically conductive layers located over the substrate semiconductor layer. The alternating stacks are laterally spaced apart along the second horizontal direction by line trenches that laterally extend along the first horizontal direction. Arrays of memory stack structures are provided such that each array of memory stack structures among the arrays of memory stack structures vertically extends through a respective alternating stack. Each of the memory stack structures includes a respective vertical stack of memory elements and a respective vertical semiconductor channel.

Three-dimensional memory device including dielectric rails for warpage reduction and method of making the same

A semiconductor structure includes an alternating stack of insulating layers and electrically conductive layers located over a substrate, memory openings vertically extending through the alternating stack, memory opening fill structures located in the memory openings, where each of the memory opening fill structures contains a memory film and a vertical semiconductor channel that extend vertically, and each memory film includes a crystalline blocking dielectric metal oxide layer, and a metal oxide amorphous dielectric nucleation layer located between each of the vertically neighboring electrically conductive layers and insulating layers, and located between each of the crystalline blocking dielectric metal oxide layers and each of the electrically conductive layers.

Three-dimensional memory device containing amorphous and crystalline blocking dielectric layers

A three-dimensional memory device includes a first word-line region including a first alternating stack of first word lines and continuous insulating layers, first memory stack structures vertically extending through the first alternating stack, a second word-line region comprising a second alternating stack of second word lines and the continuous insulating layers, second memory stack structures vertically extending through the second alternating stack, plural dielectric separator structures located between the first word-line region and the second word-line region, and at least one bridge region located between the plural dielectric separator structures and between the between the first word-line region and the second word-line region. The continuous insulating layers extend through the at least one bridge region between the first alternating stack in the first word-line region and the second alternating stack in the second word-line region.

Three-dimensional memory device containing bridges for enhanced structural support and methods of forming the same

A method of forming a memory device includes forming an alternating stack of insulating layers and sacrificial material layers over a substrate forming memory stack structures through the alternating stack, forming a first backside trench and a second backside trench through the alternating stack, forming backside recesses by removing the sacrificial material layers, depositing a backside blocking dielectric layer after formation of the backside recesses, forming a liner that a lesser lateral extent than a lateral distance between the first backside trench and the second backside trench; and selectively growing a metal from surfaces of the liners while either not growing or growing at a lower rate the metal from surfaces of the backside recesses that are not covered by the liners.

Three-dimensional memory device containing word lines formed by selective tungsten growth on nucleation controlling surfaces and methods of manufacturing the same

An alternating stack of insulating layers and sacrificial material layers is formed over a substrate. Memory stack structures are formed through the alternating stack. Each of the memory stack structures includes respective charge storage elements and a respective vertical semiconductor channel contacting an inner sidewall of the respective charge storage elements. The sacrificial material layers are replaced with electrically conductive layers. A polycrystalline aluminum oxide blocking dielectric layer is provided between each charge storage element and a neighboring one of the electrically conductive layers. The polycrystalline aluminum oxide blocking dielectric layer is formed by: depositing an amorphous aluminum oxide layer, converting the amorphous aluminum oxide layer into an in-process polycrystalline aluminum oxide blocking dielectric layer, and by thinning the in-process polycrystalline aluminum oxide blocking dielectric layer.

Three-dimensional memory device having a slimmed aluminum oxide blocking dielectric and method of making same

An alternating stack of insulating layers and sacrificial material layers is formed with stepped surfaces. Sacrificial metal plates are formed on the top surfaces of the sacrificial material layers, and a retro-stepped dielectric material portion is formed over the sacrificial metal plates. Contact via cavities are formed through the retro-stepped dielectric material portion employing the sacrificial metal plates as etch stop structures. The sacrificial metal plates are replaced with portions of insulating spacer layers. Sacrificial via fill structures within remaining volumes of the contact via cavities. The sacrificial material layers are replaced with electrically conductive layers. The sacrificial via fill structures are replaced with portions of staircase-region contact via structures that contact the electrically conductive layers.

Three-dimensional memory device containing replacement contact via structures and method of making the same

Void formation in tungsten lines in a three-dimensional memory device can be prevented by providing polycrystalline aluminum oxide liners in portions of lateral recesses that are laterally spaced from backside trenches by a distance grater than a predefined lateral offset distance. Tungsten nucleates on the polycrystalline aluminum oxide liners prior to nucleating on a metallic liner layer. Thus, tungsten layers can be deposited from the center portion of each backside recess, and the growth of tungsten can proceed toward the backside trenches. By forming the tungsten layers without voids, structural integrity of the three-dimensional memory device can be enhanced.

Selective tungsten growth for word lines of a three-dimensional memory device

A memory film and a semiconductor channel can be formed within each memory opening that extends through a stack including an alternating plurality of insulator layers and sacrificial material layers. After formation of backside recesses through removal of the sacrificial material layers selective to the insulator layers, a metallic barrier material portion can be formed in each backside recess. A cobalt portion can be formed in each backside recess. Each backside recess can be filled with a cobalt portion alone, or can be filled with a combination of a cobalt portion and a metallic material portion including a material other than cobalt.

Cobalt-containing conductive layers for control gate electrodes in a memory structure

A memory cell can be formed with a pair of charge storage regions. The pair of charge storage regions can be two portions of a charge storage region that are located at the same level and are positioned adjacent to two different control gate electrodes. Alternately, the pair of charge storage regions can be two disjoined structures located on opposite sides of a portion of a semiconductor channel. Yet alternately, the pair of charge storage regions can be two disjoined structures located at the same level, and on two laterally split semiconductor channel. The memory cell can be employed to store two bits of information within the pair of charge storage regions located at the same level within a vertical memory string that employs a single memory opening.

Multi-charge region memory cells for a vertical NAND device

Contact openings extending to sacrificial layers located at different depths can be formed by sequentially exposing a greater number of openings in a mask layer by iterative alternation of trimming of a slimming layer over the mask layer and an anisotropic etch that recesses pre-existing contact openings by one level. In one embodiment, pairs of an electrically conductive via contact and electrically conductive electrodes can be simultaneously formed as integrated line and via structures. In another embodiment, encapsulated unfilled cavities can be formed in the contact openings by non-conformal deposition of a material layer, electrically conductive electrodes can be formed by replacement of portions of the sacrificial layers, and the electrically conductive via contacts can be subsequently formed on the electrically conductive electrodes. Electrically conductive via contacts extending to electrically conductive electrodes located at different level can be provided with self-aligned insulating liner.

Multiheight contact via structures for a multilevel interconnect structure

A monolithic three dimensional NAND string includes a semiconductor channel, with at least one end portion of the semiconductor channel extending substantially perpendicular to a major surface of a substrate, and a plurality of copper containing control gate electrodes extending substantially parallel to the major surface of the substrate. The plurality of control gate electrodes include at least a first control gate electrode located in a first device level and a second control gate electrode located in a second device level located over the major surface of the substrate and below the first device level. The NAND string also includes a blocking dielectric located over the plurality of control gates, a tunnel dielectric in contact with the semiconductor channel, and at least one charge storage region located between the blocking dielectric and the tunnel dielectric.

Floating gate ultrahigh density vertical NAND flash memory

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Yokkaichi, Japan

Genta Mizuno