Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Jaegoo Lee

Youngwoo Park

Kwang Soo Seol

Byungkwan You

Hansoo Kim

Changhyun Lee

Kihyun Hwang

Byoungkeun Son

Jaeduk Lee

Jungdal Choi

Sung-Il Chang

Phil Ouk Nam

Woonkyung Lee

Jaeyoung Ahn

Junkyu Yang

Chaeho Kim

Young-Jin Kwon

Kil-Su Jeong

Juhyung Kim

Jintaek Park

Yoocheol Shin

Bongyong Lee

Dohyun Lee

Byong-Hyun Jang

Byong-hyun Jang

A vertical memory device includes a cell stacked structure on a substrate, a support structure and cell contact plugs. The cell stacked structure includes gate patterns spaced apart from each other in a vertical direction and insulation layers between the gate patterns. The gate patterns extend in a first direction, and edges of the gate patterns along the first direction include step portions having step shape. The support structure passes through the cell stacked structure and the step portion of one of the gate patterns, and includes a spacer layer having cup shape, first metal patterns having ring shape, and a second metal pattern filling an inner space of the spacer layer. The cell contact plugs are on the step portions. The first metal patterns are at the same vertical levels of the gate patterns. Sidewalls of the first metal patterns are adjacent to sidewalls of the gate patterns.

Vertical memory device with metal and spacer support structure

A semiconductor device includes a substrate having a first region and a second region, gate electrodes stacked in the first region and forming a pad region having a stepped shape extending by different lengths in the second region, interlayer insulating layers alternately stacked with the gate electrodes, channel structures passing through the gate electrodes in the first region and including a channel layer, separation regions passing through the gate electrodes in the first and second regions, an etch-stop layer disposed on uppermost gate electrodes, among the gate electrodes forming the pad region in the second region, not to overlap the first region and the separation regions, a cell region insulating layer covering the gate electrodes and the etch-stop layer, and contact plugs passing through the cell region insulating layer and the etch-stop layer in the second region and connected to the gate electrodes in the pad region.

Semiconductor devices

A 3D memory device and a method of manufacturing the same, the device including a substrate including a cell and an extension region; a cell stack including insulation layers and word lines alternately stacked on the substrate; channel structures vertically passing through the cell stack; a word line separation layer vertically passing through the cell stack and extending lengthwise in a first direction; a contact plug vertically connected to the word lines on the extension region; and a bit line extending lengthwise in a second direction on the channel structures, wherein each of the word lines includes an inner pattern including polysilicon; and an outer pattern including metal, the outer pattern surrounds an outer surface of the inner pattern, the channel structures vertically pass through the inner pattern, and the contact plug is on the outer pattern.

Three-dimensional memory device including word line including polysilicon and metal

A semiconductor device a substrate; conductive patterns on the substrate, the conductive patterns being spaced apart from each other in a vertical direction perpendicular to a surface of the substrate, and an edge of the conductive patterns including a step portion such that an end of one conductive pattern is not overlapped in the vertical direction with conductive patterns positioned thereover; insulation patterns between the conductive patterns; sidewall insulation patterns on the sidewalls of the conductive patterns to cover sidewalls of the conductive patterns; upper pad patterns on upper surfaces of the step portion of the conductive patterns and upper surfaces of a portion of the sidewall insulation patterns; an insulating interlayer covering the conductive patterns, the insulation patterns, the sidewall insulation patterns, and the upper pad patterns; and contact plugs passing through the insulating interlayer, the contact plugs contacting the upper pad patterns, respectively.

A three-dimensional semiconductor memory device may include a substrate comprising a cell array region and a connection region, an electrode structure including a plurality of gate electrodes sequentially stacked on a surface of the substrate and extending from the cell array region to the connection region, a first source conductive pattern between the electrode structure and the substrate on the cell array region, and a cell vertical semiconductor pattern and a first dummy vertical semiconductor pattern that penetrate the electrode structure and the first source conductive pattern and extend into the substrate. The cell vertical semiconductor pattern may contact the first source conductive pattern. The first dummy vertical semiconductor pattern may be electrically insulated from the first source conductive pattern.

Three-dimensional semiconductor memory devices

A semiconductor device includes a lower stack structure including lower gate electrodes and lower insulating layers that are alternately and repeatedly stacked on a substrate. The semiconductor device includes an upper stack structure including upper gate electrodes and upper insulating layers that are alternately and repeatedly stacked on the lower stack structure. A lower channel structure penetrates the lower stack structure. An upper channel structure penetrates and is connected to the upper stack structure. A lower vertical insulator is disposed between the lower stack structure and the lower channel structure. The lower channel structure includes a first vertical semiconductor pattern connected to the substrate, and a first connecting semiconductor pattern disposed on the first vertical semiconductor pattern. The upper channel structure includes a second vertical semiconductor pattern electrically connected to the first vertical semiconductor pattern with the first connecting semiconductor pattern disposed therebetween.

Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the semiconductor device

A semiconductor memory device and a method of fabricating the same. The device includes a plurality of gates vertically stacked on a top surface of a substrate with an epitaxial layer formed in the substrate, a vertical channel vertically penetrating the gates to be electrically connected to the epitaxial layer, and a memory layer provided between the vertical channel and the gates. The epitaxial layer has a top surface positioned at a level between a bottom surface of the lowermost one of the gates and the top surface of the substrate.

Semiconductor memory devices and methods of fabricating the same

Semiconductor memory devices may include a semiconductor substrate, a first stack disposed on the semiconductor substrate and a second stack disposed on the first stack. The first stack may include a plurality of first word lines with a plurality of first line pads stacked in a stair form, and the second stack may include a plurality of second word lines with a plurality of second line pads stacked in a stair form. The second stack may be shifted on the first stack such that sides of the plurality of first word line pads are exposed.

Semiconductor memory devices including asymmetric word line pads

A three-dimensional (3D) semiconductor device includes a stack of conductive layers spaced from each other in a vertical direction, the stack having a staircase-shaped section in a connection region, and ends of the conductive layers constituting treads of the staircase-shaped section, respectively. The 3D semiconductor device further includes buffer patterns disposed on and protruding above the respective ends of the conductive layers, an interconnection structure disposed above the stack and including conductive lines, and contact plugs extending vertically between the conductive lines and the buffer patterns and electrically connected to the conductive layers of the stack via the buffer patterns.

Three-dimensional (3D) semiconductor devices and methods of fabricating 3D semiconductor devices

A method of fabricating a semiconductor memory device includes forming a mold stack on a substrate and the mold stack including first sacrificial layers and second sacrificial layers alternately stacked on the substrate. The method also includes forming a plurality of vertical channels that penetrate the mold stack and that contact the substrate, patterning the mold stack to form word line cuts between the vertical channels, the word line cuts exposing the substrate, removing one of the first and second sacrificial layers to form recessed regions in the mold stack, forming a data storage layer, at least a portion of the data storage layer being formed between the vertical channels and the gates, forming gates in the recessed regions, forming air gaps between the gates by removing the other of the first and second sacrificial layers, and forming an insulation layer pattern in the word line cuts.

Semiconductor devices and methods of fabricating the same

A semiconductor device is provided as follows. A peripheral circuit structure is disposed on a first substrate. A cell array structure is disposed on the peripheral circuit structure. A second substrate is interposed between the peripheral circuit structure and the cell array structure. The cell array structure includes a stacked structure, a through hole and a vertical semiconductor pattern. The stacked structure includes gate electrodes stacked on the second substrate. The through hole penetrates the stacked structure and the second substrate to expose the peripheral circuit structure. The vertical semiconductor pattern is disposed on the peripheral circuit structure, filling the through hole.

Semiconductor device and method of fabricating the same

A plurality of vertical channels of semiconductor material are formed to extend in a vertical direction through the plurality of insulation layers and the plurality of conductive patterns, a gate insulating layer between the conductive pattern and the vertical channels that insulates the conductive pattern from the vertical channels. Conductive contact regions of the at least two of the conductive patterns are in a stepped configuration. An etch stop layer is positioned on the conductive contact regions, wherein the etch stop layer has a first portion on a first one of the plurality of conductive patterns and has a second portion on a second one of the plurality of conductive patterns, wherein the first portion is of a thickness that is greater than a thickness of the second portion.

Methods for forming etch stop layers, semiconductor devices having the same, and methods for fabricating semiconductor devices

A 3D semiconductor device includes an electrode structure has electrodes stacked on a substrate, semiconductor patterns penetrating the electrode structure, charge storing patterns interposed between the semiconductor patterns and the electrode structure, and blocking insulating patterns interposed between the charge storing patterns and the electrode structure. Each of the blocking insulating patterns surrounds the semiconductor patterns, and the charge storing patterns are horizontally spaced from each other and configured in such a way as to each be disposed around a respective one of the semiconductor patterns. Also, each of the charge storing patterns includes a plurality of horizontal segments, each interposed between vertically adjacent ones of the electrodes.

Three dimensional semiconductor memory devices and methods of fabricating the same

Semiconductor devices are provided including an active pillar protruding from a substrate; a first gate electrode and a second gate electrode adjacent to a sidewall of the active pillar and vertically overlapping with each other, the first and second gate electrodes being insulated from each other; a first intergate insulating layer covering a first surface of the first gate electrode; and a second intergate insulating layer covering a second surface, opposite the first surface, of the second gate electrode and spaced apart from the first intergate insulating layer. The first intergate insulating layer and the second intergate insulating layer define an air gap therebetween.

Growing community of inventors

Suwon-si, South Korea

Jaegoo Lee