Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Comp. Ltd.

National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University

China Glaze Co., Ltd.

Kuo-Ju Chen

Su-Hao Liu

Huicheng Chang

Liang-Yin Chen

Yee-Chia Yeo

Ying-Lang Wang

Meng-Han Chou

Chia-Cheng Chen

Lun-Kuang Tan

Chun-Hung Wu

Wei-Ming You

Pei-Yu Chou

Kei-Wei Chen

Huai-Tei Yang

Li-Ting Wang

Chang-Miao Liu

Wen-Yen Chen

Li-Chieh Wu

Kuo-Hsiu Wei

Ting-Kui Chang

Tang-Kuei Chang

Chia Hsuan Lee

Jie-Huang Huang

Syun-Ming Jang Jang

Tze-Liang Lee

Mei-Yun Wang

Chen-Ming Lee

Chun-Hsien Huang

Kai-Hsuan Lee

Jr-Hung Li

Kuo-Yi Chao

Chao-Hsun Wang

I-Hsieh Wong

Cheng-Yu Yang

Tsai-Jung Ho

Jing-Huei Huang

Tung-Po Hsieh

Tzu-Yang Ho

Shih-Hsiang Chiu

Hong-Chih Liu

Tien-Shun Chang

Ming-Hsi Yeh

Chih-Hung Chen

Kuo-Bin Huang

Ru-Shi Liu

Chun-Neng Lin

Ying-Liang Chuang

Hui-Chi Huang

Hao-Chung Kuo

Chun-Hao Kung

Kao-Feng Liao

Chun-Cheng Chou

Wei-Ting Chang

Chun-Che Lin

Chien-Chung Lin

Yu-Fang Huang

Jen-Chun Lin

Chang-Maio Liu

Hau-Vei Han

Su-Ren Wang

Pei-Chun Tsai

A method of forming a semiconductor device includes forming a first dummy gate structure over a first region of a substrate and a second dummy gate structure over a second region of the substrate, the first region and the second region of the substrate having a first composition, the first composition having a first etch rate; implanting the first region of the substrate with dopants laterally adjacent to the first dummy gate structure, wherein after the implanting the first region, the first region has a second composition having a second etch rate, the second etch rate being different from the first etch rate; etching a first recess in the first region of the substrate having the second composition and a second recess in the second region having the first composition; and epitaxially growing a first source/drain region in the first recess and a second source/drain region in the second recess.

Semiconductor device and methods of forming the same

A device includes a fin extending from a semiconductor substrate; a gate stack over the fin; a first spacer on a sidewall of the gate stack; a source/drain region in the fin adjacent the first spacer; an inter-layer dielectric layer (ILD) extending over the gate stack, the first spacer, and the source/drain region, the ILD having a first portion and a second portion, wherein the second portion of the ILD is closer to the gate stack than the first portion of the ILD; a contact plug extending through the ILD and contacting the source/drain region; a second spacer on a sidewall of the contact plug; and an air gap between the first spacer and the second spacer, wherein the first portion of the ILD extends across the air gap and physically contacts the second spacer, wherein the first portion of the ILD seals the air gap.

Device having an air gap adjacent to a contact plug and covered by a doped dielectric layer

A method includes forming a fin structure over a substrate; depositing a dummy gate layer over the substrate and the fin structure; depositing a hard mask stack over the dummy gate layer; depositing a photoresist bottom layer over the hard mask stack, wherein the photoresist bottom layer has a first stress; performing an implantation process to the photoresist bottom layer to form an implanted bottom layer with a second stress closer to 0 than the first stress; patterning the implanted bottom layer; patterning the hard mask stack and the dummy gate layer by using the patterned implanted bottom layer as an etch mask to form a dummy gate structure over the fin structure; and replacing the dummy gate structure with a metal gate structure.

Method for manufacturing semiconductor device

A semiconductor device and a method of forming the same are provided. The semiconductor device includes a substrate, a gate structure, a dielectric structure and a contact structure. The substrate has source/drain (S/D) regions. The gate structure is on the substrate and between the S/D regions. The dielectric structure covers the gate structure. The contact structure penetrates through the dielectric structure to connect to the S/D region. A lower portion of a sidewall of the contact structure is spaced apart from the dielectric structure by an air gap therebetween, while an upper portion of the sidewall of the contact structure is in contact with the dielectric structure.

Methods of forming semiconductor device

Disclosed is a method of fabricating a contact in a semiconductor device. The method includes: receiving a semiconductor structure having an opening into which the contact is to be formed; forming a metal layer in the opening; forming a bottom anti-reflective coating (BARC) layer in the opening; performing implanting operations with a dopant on the BARC layer and the metal layer, the performing implanting operations including controlling an implant energy level and controlling an implant dosage level to form a crust layer with a desired minimum depth on top of the BARC layer; removing unwanted metal layer sections using wet etching operations, wherein the crust layer and BARC layer protect remaining metal layer sections under the BARC layer from metal loss during the wet etching operations; removing the crust layer and the BARC layer; and forming the contact in the opening over the remaining metal layer sections.

Metal layer protection during wet etching

Semiconductor devices and methods of manufacturing semiconductor devices are described herein. A method includes implanting neutral elements into a dielectric layer, an etch stop layer, and a metal feature, the dielectric layer being disposed over the etch stop layer and the metal feature being disposed through the dielectric layer and the etch stop layer. The method further includes using a germanium gas as a source for the neutral elements and using a beam current above 6.75 mA to implant the neutral elements.

Semiconductor devices and methods of manufacture

A semiconductor structure includes a source/drain (S/D) feature disposed in a semiconductor layer, a metal gate stack (MG) disposed in a first interlayer dielectric (ILD) layer and adjacent to the S/D feature, a second ILD layer disposed over the MG, and an S/D contact disposed over the S/D feature. The semiconductor structure further includes an air gap disposed between a sidewall of a bottom portion of the S/D contact and the first ILD layer, where a sidewall of a top portion of the S/D contact is in direct contact with the second ILD layer.

Methods of forming air spacers in semiconductor devices

Methods for improving sealing between contact plugs and adjacent dielectric layers and semiconductor devices formed by the same are disclosed. In an embodiment, a semiconductor device includes a first dielectric layer over a conductive feature, a first portion of the first dielectric layer including a first dopant; a metal feature electrically coupled to the conductive feature, the metal feature including a first contact material in contact with the conductive feature; a second contact material over the first contact material, the second contact material including a material different from the first contact material, a first portion of the second contact material further including the first dopant; and a dielectric liner between the first dielectric layer and the metal feature, a first portion of the dielectric liner including the first dopant.

Semiconductor device and method

A method includes forming a metallic feature, forming an etch stop layer over the metallic feature, implanting the metallic feature with a dopant, forming a dielectric layer over the etch stop layer, performing a first etching process to etch the dielectric layer and the etch stop layer to form a first opening, performing a second etching process to etch the metallic feature and to form a second opening in the metallic feature, wherein the second opening is joined with the first opening, and filling the first opening and the second opening with a metallic material to form a contact plug.

Bottom lateral expansion of contact plugs through implantation

A method includes forming a first dielectric layer over a source/drain region, and forming a source/drain contact plug over and electrically connecting to the source/drain region. A top portion of the source/drain contact plug has a first lateral dimension. An implantation process is performed to implant a dopant into the first dielectric layer. The implantation process results in the source/drain contact plug to have a second lateral dimension smaller than the first lateral dimension. The method further includes forming a second dielectric layer over the etch stop layer, and forming a gate contact plug adjacent to the source/drain contact plug.

Reducing spacing between conductive features through implantation

The present disclosure provides methods for forming conductive features in a dielectric layer without using adhesion layers or barrier layers and devices formed thereby. In some embodiments, a structure comprising a dielectric layer over a substrate, and a conductive feature disposed through the dielectric layer. The dielectric layer has a lower surface near the substrate and a top surface distal from the substrate. The conductive feature is in direct contact with the dielectric layer, and the dielectric layer comprises an implant species. A concentration of the implant species in the dielectric layer has a peak concentration proximate the top surface of the dielectric layer, and the concentration of the implant species decreases from the peak concentration in a direction towards the lower surface of the dielectric layer.

Metal loss prevention using implantation

The present disclosure relates generally to doping for conductive features in a semiconductor device. In an example, a structure includes an active region of a transistor. The active region includes a source/drain region, and the source/drain region is defined at least in part by a first dopant having a first dopant concentration. The source/drain region further includes a second dopant with a concentration profile having a consistent concentration from a surface of the source/drain region into a depth of the source/drain region. The consistent concentration is greater than the first dopant concentration. The structure further includes a conductive feature contacting the source/drain region at the surface of the source/drain region.

Doping for semiconductor device with conductive feature

A semiconductor device includes a first dielectric layer disposed over a substrate and a conductive feature, a doped dielectric layer disposed over the first dielectric layer, a first metal portion disposed in the first dielectric layer and in contact with the conductive feature, and a doped metal portion disposed over the first metal portion. The first metal portion and the doped metal portion include a same noble metal material. The doped dielectric layer and the doped metal portion include same dopants. The dopants are bonded to the noble metal material.

Semiconductor device and method for forming the same

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Taichung, Taiwan

Kuo-Ju Chen