Intel Corporation

Tahoe Research, Ltd.

Richard E Schenker

Manish Chandhok

Kevin Lai Lin

Robert L Bristol

Florian Gstrein

Charles Henry Wallace

Paul Anton Nyhus

Eungnak Han

Hui Jae Yoo

Swaminathan Sivakumar

Gurpreet Singh

Curtis W Ward

Patrick R Morrow

Rami Hourani

Elliot Tan

Tristan A Tronic

Nafees Kabir

Gilbert W Dewey

Willy Rachmady

James M Blackwell

Ehren Mannebach

Anh Phan

Marie Krysak

Mohit K Haran

Stephanie A Bojarski

Aaron D Lilak

Leonard P Guler

Alan M Myers

Kanwal Jit Singh

Jeffery D Bielefeld

Jasmeet S Chawla

Reken Patel

Mauro J Kobrinsky

Michael Harper

Brian S Doyle

Cheng-Ying Huang

Christopher J Jezewski

Satyarth Suri

David N Shykind

Urusa Alaan

Sudipto Naskar

Richard F Vreeland

Sukru Yemenicioglu

Tayseer Mahdi

Brandon Jay Holybee

Xuanxuan Chen

Kevin Y Lin

Suzanne S Rich

Giselle Elbaz

Jack T Kavalieros

Marko Radosavljevic

Seung Hoon Sung

James S Clarke

Nicole K Thomas

Ruth Amy Brain

Francisco A Leon

Miriam Ruth Reshotko

Colin T Carver

Sam Sivakumar

Guojing Zhang

Gary Allen

John Magana

Todd R Younkin

Sven Eric Henrichs

Lauren Doyle

Chang Ju Choi

Kevin Huggins

Sean Michael Pursel

Nityan Labros Nair

Jinnie Aloysius

Christopher M Neumann

Emily Walker

Stephen D Snyder

Chris Kenyon

Arvind Sundaramurthy

Achala Bhuwalka

Jeffrey D Bielefeld

Anthony C Schmitz

Gauri Nabar

Eliot N Tan

An integrated circuit interconnect level including a lower metallization line vertically spaced from upper metallization lines. Lower metallization lines may be self-aligned to upper metallization lines enabling increased metallization line width without sacrificing line density for a given interconnect level. Combinations of upper and lower metallization lines within an interconnect metallization level may be designed to control intra-layer resistance/capacitance of integrated circuit interconnect. Dielectric material between two adjacent co-planar metallization lines may be recessed or deposited selectively to the metallization lines. Supplemental metallization may then be deposited and planarized. A top surface of the supplemental metallization may either be recessed to form lower metallization lines between upper metallization lines, or planarized with dielectric material to form upper metallization lines between lower metallization lines. Vias to upper and lower metallization line may extend another metallization level.

Vertically spaced intra-level interconnect line metallization for integrated circuit devices

Described herein are IC devices include tight-pitched patterned metal layers, such as metal gratings, and processes for forming such patterned metal layers. The processes include subtractive metal patterning, where portions of a metal layer are etched and replaced with an insulator to form the metal grating. Masks for etching portions of the metal layer are generated using directed self-assembly (DSA). In some examples, multiple etching steps are performed, e.g., to generate metal lines at a first pitch, and to add additional lines at half of the first pitch. In some examples, additive metal patterning is performed in addition to subtractive metal patterning.

Directed self-assembly enabled subtractive metal patterning

Contact over active gate (COAG) structures are described. In an example, an integrated circuit structure includes a plurality of gate structures above substrate, each of the gate structures including a gate insulating layer thereon. A plurality of conductive trench contact structures is alternating with the plurality of gate structures, each of the conductive trench contact structures including a trench insulating layer thereon. A remnant of a di-block-co-polymer is over a portion of the plurality of gate structures or the plurality of conductive trench contact structures. An interlayer dielectric material is over the di-block-co-polymer, over the plurality of gate structures, and over the plurality of conductive trench contact structures. An opening in the interlayer dielectric material. A conductive structure is in the opening, the conductive structure in direct contact with a corresponding one of the trench contact structures or with a corresponding one of the gate contact structures.

Contact over active gate structures using directed self-assembly for advanced integrated circuit structure fabrication

Advanced lithography techniques including sub-10 nm pitch patterning and structures resulting therefrom are described. Self-assembled devices and their methods of fabrication are described.

Advanced lithography and self-assembled devices

Self-aligned patterning with colored blocking and resulting structures are described. In an example, an integrated circuit structure includes an inter-layer dielectric (ILD) layer above a substrate, and a hardmask layer on the ILD layer. A plurality of conductive interconnect lines is in and spaced apart by the ILD layer and the hardmask layer. The plurality of conductive interconnect lines includes a first interconnect line having a first width. A second interconnect line is immediately adjacent the first interconnect line by a first distance, the second interconnect line having the first width. A third interconnect line is immediately adjacent the second interconnect line by the first distance, the third interconnect line having the first width. A fourth interconnect line is immediately adjacent the third interconnect line by a second distance greater than the first distance, the fourth interconnect line having a second width greater than the first width.

Self-aligned patterning with colored blocking and structures resulting therefrom

Disclosed herein are colored gratings in microelectronic structures. For example, a microelectronic structure may include first conductive structures alternating with second conductive structures, wherein individual ones of the first conductive structures include a bottom portion and a top portion, individual cap structures are on individual ones of the second conductive structures, the bottom portions of the first conductive structures are laterally spaced apart from and aligned with the second conductive structures, and the top portions of the first conductive structures are laterally spaced apart from and aligned with the cap structures. In some embodiments, a microelectronic structure may include one or more unordered lamellar regions laterally spaced apart from and aligned with the first conductive structures.

Colored gratings in microelectronic structures

Contact over active gate structures with metal oxide cap structures are described. In an example, an integrated circuit structure includes a plurality of gate structures above substrate, each of the gate structures including a gate insulating layer thereon. A plurality of conductive trench contact structures is alternating with the plurality of gate structures, each of the conductive trench contact structures including a metal oxide cap structure thereon. An interlayer dielectric material is over the plurality of gate structures and over the plurality of conductive trench contact structures. An opening is in the interlayer dielectric material and in a gate insulating layer of a corresponding one of the plurality of gate structures. A conductive via is in the opening, the conductive via in direct contact with the corresponding one of the plurality of gate structures, and the conductive via on a portion of one or more of the metal oxide cap structures.

Contact over active gate structures with metal oxide-caped contacts to inhibit shorting

Backside contact structures include etch selective materials to facilitate backside contact formation. An integrated circuit structure includes a frontside contact region, a device region below the frontside contact region, and a backside contact region below the device region. The device region includes a transistor. The backside contact region includes a first dielectric material under a source or drain region of the transistor, a second dielectric material laterally adjacent to the first dielectric material and under a gate structure of the transistor. A non-conductive spacer is between the first and second dielectric materials. The first and second dielectric materials are selectively etchable with respect to one another and the spacer. The backside contact region may include an interconnect feature that, for instance, passes through the first dielectric material and contacts a bottom side of the source/drain region, and/or passes through the second dielectric material and contacts the gate structure.

Backside contacts for semiconductor devices

Contact over active gate structure with metal oxide layers are described are described. In an example, an integrated circuit structure includes a plurality of gate structures above substrate, each of the gate structures including a gate insulating layer thereon. A plurality of conductive trench contact structures is alternating with the plurality of gate structures. A portion of one of the plurality of trench contact structures has a metal oxide layer thereon. An interlayer dielectric material is over the plurality of gate structures and over the plurality of conductive trench contact structures. An opening is in the interlayer dielectric material and in a gate insulating layer of a corresponding one of the plurality of gate structures. A conductive via is in the opening, the conductive via in direct contact with the corresponding one of the plurality of gate structures, and the conductive via on the metal oxide layer.

Contact over active gate structures with metal oxide layers to inhibit shorting

Disclosed herein are structures and techniques utilizing directed self-assembly for microelectronic device fabrication. For example, a microelectronic structure may include a patterned region including a first conductive line and a second conductive line, wherein the second conductive line is adjacent to the first conductive line; and an unordered region having an unordered lamellar pattern, wherein the unordered region is coplanar with the patterned region.

Directed self-assembly structures and techniques

Embodiments disclosed herein include stacked forksheet transistor devices, and methods of fabricating stacked forksheet transistor devices. In an example, an integrated circuit structure includes a backbone. A first transistor device includes a first vertical stack of semiconductor channels adjacent to an edge of the backbone. A second transistor device includes a second vertical stack of semiconductor channels adjacent to the edge of the backbone. The second transistor device is stacked on the first transistor device.

Stacked forksheet transistors

Dielectric helmet-based approaches for back end of line (BEOL) interconnect fabrication, and the resulting structures, are described. In an example, a semiconductor structure includes a substrate. A plurality of alternating first and second conductive line types is disposed along a same direction of a back end of line (BEOL) metallization layer disposed in an inter-layer dielectric (ILD) layer disposed above the substrate. A dielectric layer is disposed on an uppermost surface of the first conductive line types but not along sidewalls of the first conductive line types, and is disposed along sidewalls of the second conductive line types but not on an uppermost surface of the second conductive line types.

Dielectric helmet-based approaches for back end of line (BEOL) interconnect fabrication and structures resulting therefrom

Embodiments disclosed herein include semiconductor devices and methods of forming such devices. In an embodiment a semiconductor device comprises a first interlayer dielectric (ILD), a plurality of source/drain (S/D) contacts in the first ILD, a plurality of gate contacts in the first ILD, wherein the gate contacts and the S/D contacts are arranged in an alternating pattern, and wherein top surfaces of the gate contacts are below top surfaces of the S/D contacts so that a channel defined by sidewall surfaces of the first ILD is positioned over each of the gate contacts, mask layer partially filling a first channel over a first gate contact, and a fill metal filling a second channel over a second gate contact that is adjacent to the first gate contact.

1D vertical edge blocking (VEB) via and plug

Growing community of inventors

Portland, OR, United States of America

Richard E Schenker