Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

International Business Machines Corporation

Infineon Technologies Ag

Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd (corporation)

Ja-Hum Ku

Seong-Jun Heo

Sun-Pil Youn

Sung-Man Kim

Chang-won Lee

Sunfei Fang

Chul-Joon Choi

Min-chul Sun

Zhijiong Luo

Brian Joseph Greene

Manfred Eller

Chul-Sung Kim

Jun-Kyu Cho

Mahn-Ho Cho

Thomas W Dyer

Min-Joo Kim

Alois Gutmann

Yong Meng Lee

Min-Chul Sun

Jae-Eun Park

Dong-Ho Ahn

Roman Knoefler

Matthias Hierlemann

Johnny Widodo

Young-Gun Ko

Daewon Yang

Ki-Chul Park

Sug-Woo Jung

Jae-Yoon Yoo

Sug-hun Hong

Soo-Geun Lee

Kwan-Jong Roh

Seung-Man Choi

Jae-eon Park

Jun-jung Kim

Wan Jae Park

Minchul Sun

Tae-Wook Seo

Kyoung Woo Lee

Junjung Kim

Si-young Choi

Duk Ho Hong

Dae-won Yang

Eung-joon Lee

O-sung Kwon

Wee Lang Tan

Joo-Hyuk Chung

Robert Weiser

A method and apparatus for crystallizing a semiconductor that includes a first layer having a first crystal lattice orientation and a second layer having a second crystal lattice orientation, comprising amorphizing at least a portion of the second layer, applying a stress to the second layer and heating the second layer above a recrystallization temperature.

Method and apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor

A method of fabricating a semiconductor device having a metal gate pattern is provided in which capping layers are used to control the relative oxidation rates of portions of the metal gate pattern during a oxidation process. The capping layer may be a multilayer structure and may be etched to form insulating spacers on the sidewalls of the metal gate pattern. The capping layer(s) allow the use of a selective oxidation process, which may be a wet oxidation process utilizing partial pressures of both HO and Hin an H-rich atmosphere, to oxidize portions of the substrate and metal gate pattern while suppressing the oxidation of metal layers that may be included in the metal gate pattern. This allows etch damage to the silicon substrate and edges of the metal gate pattern to be reduced while substantially maintaining the original thickness of the gate insulating layer and the conductivity of the metal layer(s).

Methods of fabricating semiconductor device having a metal gate pattern

A stress nitride structure is formed on an integrated circuit field effect transistor by high density plasma (HDP) depositing a first stress nitride layer on the integrated circuit field effect transistor and then plasma enhanced chemical vapor depositing (PECVD) a second stress nitride layer on the first stress nitride layer. The first stress nitride layer is non-conformal and the second stress nitride layer is conformal. Related structures also are described.

HDP/PECVD methods of fabricating stress nitride structures for field effect transistors

An integrated circuit device having an increased source/drain contact area by a formed silicided polysilicon spacer. The polysilicon sidewall spacer is formed having a height less than seventy percent of said gate conductor height, and having a continuous surface silicide layer over the deep source and drain regions. The contact area is enhanced by the silicided polysilicon spacer.

Silicided polysilicon spacer for enhanced contact area

Electrically programmable integrated fuses are provided for low power applications. Integrated fuse devices have stacked structures with a polysilicon layer and a conductive layer formed on the polysilicon layer. The integrated fuses have structural features that enable the fuses to be reliably and efficiently programmed using low programming currents/voltages, while achieving consistency in fusing locations. For example, programming reliability and consistency is achieved by forming the conductive layers with varied thickness and forming the polysilicon layers with varied doping profiles, to provide more precise localized regions in which fusing events readily occur.

Devices and methods for constructing electrically programmable integrated fuses for low power applications

Methods of fabricating a semiconductor device having a metal gate pattern

Methods of forming integrated circuit devices include depositing an electrically insulating layer onto an integrated circuit substrate having integrated circuit structures thereon. This deposition step results in the formation of an electrically insulating layer having an undulating surface profile, which includes at least one peak and at least one valley adjacent to the at least one peak. A non-uniform thickening step is then performed. This non-uniform thickening step includes thickening a portion of the electrically insulating layer by redepositing portions of the electrically insulating layer from the least one peak to the at least one valley. This redeposition occurs using a sputter deposition technique that utilizes the electrically insulating layer as a sputter target.

Methods of forming integrated circuit structures using insulator deposition and insulator gap filling techniques

Methods are provided for forming dual damascene interconnect structures using different conductor materials to fill via holes and line trenches. For example, a method for forming an interconnection structure includes depositing dielectric material on a semiconductor substrate and etching the dielectric material to form a dual damascene recess structure including a via hole and trench. A layer of first conductive material is then conformally deposited to fill the via hole with the first conductive material, and the layer of first conductive material is etched to remove the first conductive material from the trench and an upper region of the via hole below the trench. A layer of second conductive material is then deposited to fill the trench and upper region of the via hole with the second conductive material.

Methods for forming damascene wiring structures having line and plug conductors formed from different materials

A test structure of a semiconductor device with improved test reliability is provided. The test structure includes first and second active regions which are electrically isolated from each other and on which silicided first and second junction regions are formed, respectively, a semiconductor substrate or a well which is formed on lower parts of the first and second junction regions and has a conductivity type different from the first and second junction regions, and first and second pads through which an electrical signal is applied to the first and second junction regions and detected, and which are formed on the same level as a lower part of a metal layer or on the same level as the semiconductor substrate.

Test structure of semiconductor device

Methods of forming metal interconnect structures include forming a first electrically insulating layer on a semiconductor substrate and forming a second electrically insulating layer on the first electrically insulating layer. The second and first electrically insulating layers are selectively etched in sequence to define a contact hole therein. A first metal layer (e.g., tungsten) is deposited. This first metal layer extends on the second electrically insulating layer and into the contact hole. The first metal layer is then patterned to expose the second electrically insulating layer. The second electrically insulating layer is selectively etched for a sufficient duration to expose the first electrically insulating layer and expose a metal plug within the contact hole. This selective etching step is performed using the patterned first metal layer as an etching mask. A seam within the exposed metal plug is then filled with an electrically conductive filler material (e.g., CoWP). A second metal layer is then formed on the exposed metal plug containing the electrically conductive filler material.

Methods of forming integrated circuit devices having metal interconnect structures therein

A test structure of a semiconductor device is provided. The test structure includes a semiconductor substrate, a transistor which includes a gate electrode formed on first and second active regions defined within the semiconductor substrate, and first and second junction regions which are arranged at both sidewalls of the gate electrode to reside within the first and second active regions and are silicided, and first and second pads through which electrical signals are applied to the silicided first and second junction regions and detected and which are formed on the same level as the gate electrode or the semiconductor substrate.

Provided are exemplary methods for forming a semiconductor devices incorporating silicide layers formed at temperatures below about 700&#xb0; C., such as nickel silicides, that are formed after completion of a silicide blocking layer (SBL). The formation of the SBL tends to deactivate dopant species in the gate, lightly-doped drain and/or source/drain regions. The exemplary methods include a post-SBL activation anneal either in place of or in addition to the traditional post-implant activation anneal. The use of the post-SBL anneal produces CMOS transistors having properties that reflect reactivation of sufficient dopant to overcome the SBL process effects, while allowing the use of lower temperature silicides, including nickel silicides and, in particular, nickel silicides incorporating a minor portion of an alloying metal, such as tantalum, the exhibits reduced agglomeration and improved temperature stability.

Nickel salicide process with reduced dopant deactivation

In a method of forming a metal gate electrode, an annealing process is performed in a hydrogen-containing gas ambient following a selective oxidation process. During the annealing process, a metal oxide layer formed by the selective oxidation process is removed by a reduction reaction or hydrogen atoms are contained in the metal oxide layer to suppress whisker nucleation and surface mobility.

Method of forming a metal gate

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Lagrangeville, NY, United States of America

Ja-Hum Ku