Imec Vzw

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Pieter Weckx

Julien Ryckaert

Juergen Boemmels

Eugenio Dentoni Litta

Francky Catthoor

Naoto Horiguchi

Alessio Spessot

Praveen Raghavan

Wim Dehaene

Trong Huynh Bao

Dimitrios Rodopoulos

Benjamin Kaczer

Subrat Mishra

A method includes: producing on a substrate a stack of: a first layer including a first dielectric material, a second layer including dielectric material on the first layer, and an etch stop layer between the first layer and the second layer, etching a trench through the second layer, the etch stop layer, and the first layer, producing a lower conductive line in the trench, producing a third layer including a second dielectric material in the trench and on the tower conductive line, removing a first portion of the second layer, such that a second portion of the second layer remains in contact with the etch stop layer, etching a via opening through the third layer in the trench, using the second portion of the second layer as a mask, and depositing a conductive upper line and an interconnect via on the lower conductive line within the via opening.

Method for producing an interconnect via

A system and method of simulating device aging based on a digital waveform representative of a workload of an electronic device are disclosed. In one aspect, the method comprises grouping contiguous sets of cycles into segments, each set corresponding to a segment. Each segment has values for a combination of segment parameters that are unique from each of the other segments and a start point that is separated from a start point of an adjacent segment by a pre-defined distance criterion. Grouping the sets into the segments comprises, for each segment: sampling one or more sequential cycles of the workload, generating the segment based on the sampled contiguous cycles having a period exceeding a threshold period, and determining the values for the combination of segment parameters. The method further comprises applying an aging model to the segments to simulate the aging. The segments are a representation of the digital waveform.

System and method of simulating aging in device circuits

A system and method for simulating an electronic circuit is disclosed. The method includes creating a finite set of circuit or device parameter points selected from within an n-dimensional parameter space. The method includes determining, for each circuit or device parameter point of the set, a corresponding response value of the performance metric and a corresponding probability of occurrence. The method includes determining, for a predetermined value of the performance metric, the total probability of occurrence.

Complexity-reduced simulation of circuit reliability

In one aspect, a method of forming a semiconductor device can comprise forming a first transistor structure and a second transistor structure separated by a first trench which comprises a first dielectric wall protruding above a top surface of the transistor structures. The first and the second transistor structures each can comprise a plurality of stacked nanosheets forming a channel structure, and a source portion and a drain portion horizontally separated by the channel structure. The method further can comprise depositing a contact material over the transistor structures and the first dielectric wall, thereby filling the first trench and contacting a first source/drain portion of the first transistor structure and a first source/drain portion of the second transistor structure. Further, the method can comprise etching back the contact material layer below a top surface of the first dielectric wall, thereby forming a first contact contacting the first source/drain portion of the first transistor structure, and a second contact contacting the first source/drain portion of the second transistor structure.

Self-aligned contacts for walled nanosheet and forksheet field effect transistor devices

In one aspect, a method of forming a semiconductor device, can comprise forming a first transistor structure and a second transistor structure separated by a trench. The first and the second transistor structures can comprise a plurality of stacked nanosheets forming a channel structure, and a source portion and a drain portion horizontally separated by the channel structure. A first and a second spacer can beformed in the trench at sidewalls of the transistor structures, both protruding above a top surface of the transistor structures. The method can comprise applying a first mask layer including an opening exposing the first spacer at a first source/drain portion of the first transistor structure and covering the second spacer, partially etching the exposed first spacer through the opening, exposing at least parts of a sidewall of the first source/drain portion of the first transistor structure, and removing the mask layer. The method can further comprise depositing a contact material over the transistor structures and the first and second spacer, filling the trench and contacting the first source/drain portion of the first transistor structure, and etching back the contact material layer below a top surface of the second spacer.

Self-aligned contacts for nanosheet field effect transistor devices

The disclosed technology generally relates to semiconductor devices and more particularly to a semiconductor device comprising stacked complementary transistor pairs. In one aspect, a semiconductor device comprises first and second sets of transistors comprising a pass transistor and a stacked complementary transistor pair of a lower transistor and an upper transistor, wherein first transistor comprises a semiconductor channel extending along a horizontal first fin track, and each second transistor comprises a semiconductor channel extending along a second fin track parallel to the first fin track, and wherein the semiconductor channels of the pass transistors and of the lower transistors are arranged at a first level and the semiconductor channels of said upper transistors are arranged at a second level, a first tall gate electrode forming a common gate for the first complementary transistor pair and arranged along a horizontal first gate track, and a first short gate electrode forming a gate for the first pass transistor and arranged along a second gate track, a second tall gate electrode forming a common gate for the second complementary transistor pair and arranged along the second gate track, a second short gate electrode forming a gate for the second pass transistor and arranged along the first gate track, first and second contact arrangements forming a common drain contact for the transistors of the first set and the second set, respectively, and first and second cross-couple contacts extending horizontally between and interconnecting the first tall gate electrode and the second contact arrangement, and the second tall gate electrode and the first contact arrangement, respectively.

Semiconductor device having stacked transistor pairs and method of forming same

According to an aspect of the present inventive concept there is provided a method for forming a first and a second nanosheet transistor structure, each comprising a source, a drain, and a channel extending between the source and the drain in a first direction, and a gate extending across the channel, wherein the first and second nanosheet transistor structures are spaced apart in a second direction, transverse to the first direction, by an insulating wall extending in the first direction.

Method for forming nanosheet transistor structures

In an aspect of the disclosed technology, a SRAM device includes a first stack of transistors and a second stack of transistors arranged on a substrate. Each of the first and second stacks includes a pull-up transistor, a pull-down transistor and a pass transistor, where each of the transistors includes a horizontally extending channel. In each of the first and second stacks, the pull-up transistor and the pull-down transistor have a common gate electrode extending vertically therebetween, and the pass transistor has a gate electrode separated from the common gate electrode. A source/drain of each of the pull-up transistor and the pull-down transistor and a source/drain of the pass transistor included in one of the first stack and the second stack are electrically interconnected with the common gate electrode of the pull-up transistor and the pull-down transistor included in the other of the first stack and the second stack.

Growing community of inventors

Bunsbeek, Belgium

Pieter Weckx