International Business Machines Corporation

Richard Lee Donze

William Paul Hovis

John Edward Sheets, Ii

Jon Robert Tetzloff

Terrance Wayne Kueper

Karl Robert Erickson

Todd Alan Christensen

Delbert Raymond Cecchi

John Edward Sheet, Ii

An apparatus and method are disclosed for an improved semiconductor interconnect scheme using a simplified process. In an embodiment of the apparatus, a polysilicon shape is formed on a silicon area. The polysilicon shape is created having a bridging vertex. When a spacer is created on the polysilicon shape, the spacer width is formed to be small enough near the bridging vertex to allow a silicide bridge to form that creates an electrical coupling between the silicon area and the bridging vertex. Semiconductor devices and circuits are created using the improved semiconductor interconnect scheme using the simplified process.

Semiconductor scheme for reduced circuit area in a simplified process

A FinFET body contact structure and a method for creating the FinFET body contact structure are disclosed. The body contact structure comprises a wide fin portion of a semiconductor fin, the wide fin portion having a polysilicon polygon shape formed on a top surface of the wide fin portion. The polysilicon polygon shape has a center area having no polysilicon. FinFETs are formed on two vertical surfaces of the wide fin portion and gates of the FinFETs are coupled to the polysilicon polygon shape. Top surfaces of the wide fin portion and the polysilicon polygon shape are silicided. Silicide bridging is prevented by sidewall spacers. All convex angles on the polysilicon polygon shape are obtuse enough to prevent creation of bridging vertices. The center area is doped of an opposite type from a source and a drain of an associated FinFET.

FinFET body contact structure

An apparatus for measuring a structural characteristic between a polysilicon shape and a silicon area. The apparatus for measuring a structural characteristic between a polysilicon shape and a silicon area comprises the silicon area, and a plurality of polysilicon shapes each having a unique orientation relative to the silicon area wherein each of the polysilicon shapes is formed having an angle less than or equal to a critical angle. The critical angle is an angle at or below which a sidewall spacer no longer is formed on a polysilicon shape, thereby causing the polysilicon shape to short circuit to an underlying portion of the silicon area by way of a silicide bridge.

Electrical open/short contact alignment structure for active region vs. gate region

A method is disclosed for measuring alignment of polysilicon shapes relative to a silicon area wherein the presence of an electrical coupling is used to determine the presence of bias or misalignment. Bridging vertices on the polysilicon shapes are formed. Bridging vertices over the silicon area create low resistance connections between those bridging vertices and the silicon area; other bridging vertices over ROX (recessed oxide) areas do not create low resistance connections between those other bridging vertices and the silicon area. Determining which bridging vertices have low resistance connections to the silicon area and how many bridging vertices have low resistance connections to the silicon area are used to determine the bias and misalignment of the polysilicon shapes relative to the silicon area.

An apparatus and method are disclosed for measuring bias of polysilicon shapes relative to a silicon area wherein the presence of an electrical coupling is used to determine the presence of bias. Bridging vertices on the polysilicon shapes are formed. Bridging vertices over the silicon area create low resistance connections between those bridging vertices and the silicon area; other bridging vertices over ROX (recessed oxide) areas do not create low resistance connections between those other bridging vertices and the silicon area. Determining which bridging vertices have low resistance connections to the silicon area and how many bridging vertices have low resistance connections to the silicon area are used to determine the bias of the polysilicon shapes relative to the silicon area.

Measurement of bias of a silicon area using bridging vertices on polysilicon shapes to create an electrical open/short contact structure

An apparatus and method is disclosed for improving timing margins of logic paths on a semiconductor chip. Typical logic embodiments, such as CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor), have path delays that become shorter as supply voltage is increased. Embodiments of the present invention store product data on each particular chip. The product data includes, for examples, but not limited to, a voltage range having a low limit voltage and a high limit voltage, a limit temperature, and performance of the particular chip in storage for the particular chip. Each chip has a voltage controller, a timer, and a thermal monitor. The voltage controller communicates with a voltage regulator and dynamically causes a voltage supply coupled to the chip to be as high as possible in the voltage range, subject to the limit temperature.

Method and apparatus for improving performance margin in logic paths

An apparatus and method is disclosed for determining polysilicon conductor width for 3-dimensional field effect transistors (FinFETs). Two or more resistors are constructed using a topology in which polysilicon conductors are formed over a plurality of silicon 'fins'. A first resistor has a first line width. A second resistor has a second line width. The second line width is slightly different than the first line width. Advantageously, the first line width is equal to the nominal design width used to make FET gates in the particular semiconductor technology. Resistance measurements of the resistors and subsequent calculations using the resistance measurements are used to determine the actual polysilicon conductor width produced by the semiconductor process. A composite test structure not only allows calculation of the polysilicon conductor width, but provides proof that differences in the widths used in the calculations do not introduce objectionable etching characteristics of the polysilicon conductors.

Polysilicon conductor width measurement for 3-dimensional FETs

An apparatus for measuring alignment of polysilicon shapes to a silicon area. Each polysilicon shape in a first plurality of polysilicon shapes has a bridging vertex positioned near the silicon area. Each polysilicon shape in a second plurality of polysilicon shapes has a bridging vertex positioned near the silicon area. The second plurality of silicon shapes is positioned on the opposite side of the silicon area from the first plurality of silicon shapes. An electrical measurement of how many of the polysilicon shapes in the first plurality of polysilicon shapes and in the second plurality of polysilicon shapes provides a measurement of alignment of the polysilicon shapes and the silicon area.

A digital data waveform is precompensated for attenuation through a transmission medium. First, during actual initial power-on or upon reconfiguration of a digital communication system, attenuation characteristics of the transmission medium are actually measured. The attenuation characteristics can be measured by measuring the length of the transmission medium, measuring the error rate of test packets having known frequency, measuring the slope of a test pulse at two separate threshold voltages, and/or measuring the error rate of a random signal packet. Upon determination of the magnitude of the attenuation characteristic, one of a plurality of registers corresponding to the range of values of the attenuation characteristic is selected. These registers have a plurality of pre-emphasis coefficients to be applied in the driver to each bit of a series of digital signal pulses as determined by the transition history of at least three sequential bits. Thus, dynamic and in-situ pre-emphasis can be determined and applied to signals to compensate for attenuation in the transmission network attenuation.

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Rochester, MN, United States of America

Richard Lee Donze