Intel Corporation

Shem Ogadhoh

Bernhard Sell

Pei-Hua Wang

Chieh-Jen Ku

Allen B Gardiner

Jack T Kavalieros

Tahir Ghani

Abhishek A Sharma

Travis W LaJoie

Juan G Alzate Vinasco

Nikhil Mehta

Akash Garg

Van H Le

Yih Wang

Fatih Hamzaoglu

Blake C Lin

Umut Arslan

Shu Zhou

Gregory George

Juan G Alzate-Vinasco

Seongtae Jeong

Julie Rollins

Yu-Wen Huang

Swaminathan Sivakumar

Vivek K Singh

Bikram Baidya

Mark C Phillips

John A Swanson

Bin Hu

Shakul Tandon

Sungwon Kim

Vinaykumar Hadagali

Travis Lajoie

Raguraman Venkatesan

Kevin J Hooker

Prasad Narendra Atkar

Jared Stoeger

Charles Henry Wallace

Paul Anton Nyhus

Ryan Pearman

Robert M Bigwood

Abhishek Sharma

Sven Eric Henrichs

Arvind Sundaramurthy

Ting Chen

Joseph E Brandenburg

An interconnect structure is disclosed. The interconnect structure includes a first metal interconnect in a bottom dielectric layer, a via that extends through a top dielectric layer, a metal plate, an intermediate dielectric layer, and an etch stop layer, and a metal in the via to extend through the top dielectric layer, the metal plate, the intermediate dielectric layer and the etch stop layer to the top surface of the first metal interconnect. The metal plate is coupled to an MIM capacitor that is parallel to the via. The second metal interconnect is on top of the metal in the via.

Through plate interconnect for a vertical MIM capacitor

Integrated circuit structures having differentiated interconnect lines in a same dielectric layer, and methods of fabricating integrated circuit structures having differentiated interconnect lines in a same dielectric layer, are described. In an example, an integrated circuit structure includes an inter-layer dielectric (ILD) layer above a substrate. A plurality of conductive interconnect lines is in the ILD layer. The plurality of conductive interconnect lines includes a first interconnect line having a first height, and a second interconnect line immediately laterally adjacent to but spaced apart from the first interconnect line, the second interconnect line having a second height less than the first height.

Integrated circuit structures having differentiated interconnect lines in a same dielectric layer

Embodiments herein describe techniques for a semiconductor device including a substrate, a first inter-level dielectric (ILD) layer above the substrate, and a second ILD layer above the first ILD layer. A first capacitor and a second capacitor are formed within the first ILD layer and the second ILD layer. A first top plate of the first capacitor and a second top plate of the second capacitor are formed at a boundary between the first ILD layer and the second ILD layer. The first capacitor and the second capacitor are separated by a dielectric area in the first ILD layer. The dielectric area includes a first dielectric area that is coplanar with the first top plate or the second top plate, and a second dielectric area above the first dielectric area and to separate the first top plate and the second top plate. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.

Capacitor separations in dielectric layers

Embodiments herein describe techniques for a semiconductor device including a substrate. A first capacitor includes a first top plate and a first bottom plate above the substrate. The first top plate is coupled to a first metal electrode within an inter-level dielectric (ILD) layer to access the first capacitor. A second capacitor includes a second top plate and a second bottom plate, where the second top plate is coupled to a second metal electrode within the ILD layer to access the second capacitor. The second metal electrode is disjoint from the first metal electrode. The first capacitor is accessed through the first metal electrode without accessing the second capacitor through the second metal electrode. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.

Capacitor connections in dielectric layers

Embodiments herein describe techniques for a semiconductor device having an interconnect structure including an inter-level dielectric (ILD) layer between a first layer and a second layer of the interconnect structure. The interconnect structure further includes a separation layer within the ILD layer. The ILD layer includes a first area with a first height to extend from a first surface of the ILD layer to a second surface of the ILD layer. The ILD layer further includes a second area with a second height to extend from the first surface of the ILD layer to a surface of the separation layer, where the first height is larger than the second height. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.

Intermediate separation layers at the back-end-of-line

Lithographic apparatuses suitable for complementary e-beam lithography (CEBL) are described. In an example, a method of forming a pattern for a semiconductor structure includes forming a pattern of parallel lines above a substrate. The method also includes aligning the substrate in an e-beam tool to provide the pattern of parallel lines parallel with a scan direction of the e-beam tool. The e-beam tool includes a column having a blanker aperture array (BAA) with a staggered pair of columns of openings along an array direction orthogonal to the scan direction. The method also includes forming a pattern of cuts or vias in or above the pattern of parallel lines to provide line breaks for the pattern of parallel lines by scanning the substrate along the scan direction. A cumulative current through the column has a non-zero and substantially uniform cumulative current value throughout the scanning.

Fill pattern to enhance ebeam process margin

An integrated circuit structure comprises one or more backend-of-line (BEOL) interconnects formed over a first ILD layer. An etch stop layer is over the one or more BEOL interconnects, the etch stop layer having a plurality of vias that are in contact with the one or more BEOL interconnects. An array of BEOL thin-film-transistors (TFTs) is over the etch stop layer, wherein adjacent ones of the BEOL TFTs are separated by isolation trench regions. The TFTs are aligned with at least one of the plurality of vias to connect to the one or more BEOL interconnects, wherein each of the BEOL TFTs comprise a bottom gate electrode, a gate dielectric layer over the bottom gate electrode, and an oxide-based semiconductor channel layer over the bottom gate electrode having source and drain regions therein. Contacts are formed over the source and drain regions of each of BEOL TFTs, wherein the contacts have a critical dimension of 35 nm or less, and wherein the BEOL TFTs have an absence of diluted hydro-fluoride (DHF).

Method of contact patterning of thin film transistors for embedded DRAM using a multi-layer hardmask

An integrated circuit includes a base, a first transistor structure on or above the base, and a second transistor structure on or above the base, where the second transistor structure is spaced from the first transistor structure. An insulator material at least partially encapsulates an airgap or other gas pocket laterally between the first transistor structure and the second transistor structure. The gas pocket is at least 5 nm in height and at least 5 nm wide according to an embodiment, and in some cases is as tall or taller than active device layers of the transistor structures it separates.

Thin-film transistor structures with gas spacer

Fill pattern to enhance e-beam process margin

Techniques are disclosed for using sub-resolution phased assist features (SPAF) in a lithography mask to improve through process pattern fidelity and/or mitigate inverted aerial image problems. The technique also may be used to improve image contrast in non-inverted weak image sites. The use of SPAF in accordance with some such embodiments requires no adjustment to existing design rules, although adjustments can be made to enable compliance with mask inspection constraints. The use of SPAF also does not require changing existing fab or manufacturing processes, especially if such processes already comprehend phased shift mask capabilities. The SPAFs can be used to enhance aerial image contrast, without the SPAFs themselves printing. In addition, the SPAF phase etch depth can be optimized so as to make adjustments to a given predicted printed feature critical dimension.

Lithography mask having sub-resolution phased assist features

Techniques are provided for determining how thick or how deep to make the phased regions of a lithography mask. One example embodiment provides a method that includes: providing a first mask layout design including a first test set, and providing a second mask layout design including a second test set, wherein the second test set is larger than the first test set; simulating critical dimensions through focus of structures of interest in the first test set for a range of phase depths/thicknesses, and selecting an initial preferred mask phase depth/thickness based on results of the simulating; and generating a fast thick-mask model (FTM) at the initial preferred phase depth/thickness, and correcting the second test set of the second mask layout design using the FTM, thereby providing an optimized mask layout design. A mask having the optimized mask layout design may be implemented to give the optimum patterning.

Techniques for phase tuning for process optimization

Described herein is mask design and modeling for a set of masks to be successively imaged to print a composite pattern on a substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer. Further described herein is a method of double patterning a substrate with the set of masks. Also described herein is a method of correcting a drawn pattern of one of the mask levels based on a predicted pattern contour of the other of the mask levels. Also described herein is a method of modeling a resist profile contour for a mask level in which photoresist is applied onto a inhomogeneous substrate, as well as method of predicting a resist profile of a Boolean operation of two masks.

Mask design and OPC for device manufacture

Growing community of inventors

Beaverton, OR, United States of America

Shem Ogadhoh