Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Comp. Ltd.

Yuan-Chang Huang

Chen-Hua Douglas Yu

Li-Chih Chao

Shu-Ying Cho

Chien-Ming Chung

Jin-Yuan Lee

Jhon-Jhy Liaw

Hun-Jan Tao

Yuh-Jier Mii

Chin-Kun Wang

Chien-Chung Wang

Yung-Kuan Hsiao

Kuang-Hui Chang

Shu-Lan Ying

Jiunn-Der Yang

Jue-Jye Chen

Huang-Hui Chang

Chia-Shiung Tsai

Syun-Ming Jang Jang

Mong-Song Liang

Chen-Jong Wang

Tsu Shih

Shun-Liang Hsu

Po-Tao Chu

Chue-San Yoo

Min-Hsiung Chiang

Juing-Yi Wu

Cheng-Yeh Shih

Lung Chen

Chia Shiung Tsai

ChaoChieh Tsai

Chih-Chien Hung

Ding-Dar Hu

Shu-Chih Yang

Iman Hsu

Kuan-Hui Chang

Chaucer Chung

Chao-Ray Wang

Dah Jong Ou Yang

Shzh-Kuei Yen

Wen-Chan Lin

Chaucer Chnug

Hong-Che Hsiue

A method is provided for forming NMOS and PMOS transistors with ultra shallow source/drain regions having high dopant concentrations. First sidewall spacers and nitride spacers are sequentially formed on the sides of a gate electrode followed by forming a self-aligned oxide etch stop layer. The nitride spacer is removed and an amorphous silicon layer is deposited. The etch stop layer enables a controlled etch of the amorphous silicon layer to form silicon sidewalls on the first sidewall spacers. Implant steps are followed by an RTA to activate shallow and deep S/D regions. The etch stop layer maintains a high dopant concentration in deep S/D regions. After the etch stop is removed and a titanium layer is deposited on the substrate, an RTA forms a titanium silicide layer on the gate electrode and an extended silicide layer over the silicon sidewalls and substrate which results in a low resistivity.

Temporary self-aligned stop layer is applied on silicon sidewall

A method is provided for turning off MOS transistors through an anti-code (type) LDD implant without the need for high energy implant that causes poly damage. The method also negates any deleterious effects due to the variations in the thickness of the poly gate. The anti-code LDD implant can be performed vertically, or at a tilt angle, or in a combination of vertical and tilt angle. The method can be made part of a Flash-ROM process that is applicable to both polycide and silicide processes.

Anti-type dosage as LDD implant

A method forming sidewall spacers on a semiconductor substrate without using the conventional plasma etching method is disclosed. In the method, a semiconductor substrate that has a gate structure formed on a top surface is first provided, followed by the deposition of a dielectric material layer on top of the semiconductor substrate. The substrate is then rotated to a rotational speed of at least 50 rpm, and an acid vapor is flown onto the substrate until the sidewall spacers are formed. The dielectric material layer for forming the sidewall spacers may be SiO , SiON or Si N . The acid vapor utilized may be formed from an acid of HF, H PO , H SO or HCl. In a preferred embodiment, the semiconductor substrate may be rotated to a rotational speed between about 100 rpm and about 150 rpm for a time period between about 10 sec. and about 20 sec.

Method for spin etching sidewall spacers by acid vapor

A process for forming a low resistance, titanium silicide layer, for use as a component of a narrow width, polycide gate structure, has been developed. The process features a combination of ion implantation procedures, performed prior to, and after, titanium deposition. The combination of ion implantation procedures restricts excessive movement of silicon, from a polysilicon gate structure, as well as from a source/drain region, into the forming titanium silicide layer, during subsequent anneal cycles used to form the titanium silicide layer. The ability to limit the amount of silicon, in the titanium silicide layer, allows a low resistance, titanium silicide layer to be used for polycide gate structures, with a width narrower than 0.20 micrometers.

Advanced titanium silicide process for very narrow polysilicon lines

A method for removing residual photoresist and polymer residues from silicon wafers after a polysilicon plasma etch with minimal gate oxide loss is described. The method is particularly useful for cleaning wafers after polysilicon or polycide gate etching in MOSFET with when very thin gate oxides (<100&angst;). In order to etch the final portion of the polysilicon gate structure including an over etch to removed isolated polysilicon patches, an etchant containing HBr is used to provide a high polysilicon to gate oxide selectivity. This etch component causes a polymer veil to form over the surface of the photoresist which is difficult to remove except by aqueous etchants which also cause significant gate oxide loss. The method of the invention addresses the removal of the veil polymer, the photoresist, and a sidewall polymer by an all dry etching process. In a first all dry process, the residues and photoresist and sidewall polymers are removed in a commercial ICP plasma asher by a sequence of steps using O,/N,mixtures and a single O2/fluorocarbon step to remove the veil polymer. An alternate cleaning procedure removes the veil polymer with a O,/N,/H,gas mixtures at a low substrate temperature and the photoresist and sidewall polymers at a higher temperature. Maximum gate oxide loss by either method is less than 10 &angst;.

Post gate etch cleaning process for self-aligned gate mosfets

A process for forming a low resistance, titanium disilicide layer, on regions of a MOSFET device, has been developed. The process features the deposition of a capping, silicon oxide layer, on first phase, high resistance, titanium disilicide regions. The capping, silicon oxide layer, featuring a compressive stress, reduces the risk of titanium disilicide regions, formed with a tensile stress, from adhesion loss, or peeling, from underlying regions of the MOSFET device, such as from the top surface of a narrow width, polysilicon gate structure. In addition the capping silicon oxide layer protects underlying titanium disilicide regions from the ambient used during the anneal cycle used to convert the first phase, high resistance, titanium disilicide region, to the second phase, low resistance, titanium disilicide region.

Use of a novel capped anneal procedure to improve salicide formation

The present invention provides a method for monitoring a self-aligned contact (SAC) etching process. A wafer with an oxide layer serves as an oxide control wafer. The oxide layer is formed on the substrate. The oxide control wafer and a SAC wafer with SAC structure are simultaneously treated with a SAC etching process in an etching chamber with the same etching recipe. A contact hole is formed by etching the oxide layer of the oxide control wafer after the SAC etching process. The depth of a profile transition point and the depth of etching stop for the oxide control wafer can be observed by cross-section SEM. The profile transition depth in the oxide control wafer corresponds to the etching thickness of S,N corner loss in the SAC wafer. Therefore, the profile transition depth and the depth of etching stop in the oxide control wafer can be used to monitor the etching chamber condition.

Method for monitoring self-aligned contact etching

A self-aligned structure and method of etching contact holes in the self-aligned structure are described. The dielectric materials, etching methods, and etchants are chosen to provide high selectivity etching. The structure comprises an electrode with a silicon oxy-nitride cap and silicon oxy-nitride spacers on the sidewalls of the electrode and the cap. An etch stop layer of silicon nitride is deposited over the substrate covering the spacers and cap. A layer of silicon oxide is deposited over the etch stop layer. Etching methods and etchants are used which provide a ratio of the etching rate of silicon oxide to the etching rate of silicon nitride or silicon oxy-nitride of at least eight and a ratio of the etching rate of silicon nitride to the etching rate of silicon oxy-nitride of at least two.

Self-aligned contact structures using high selectivity etching

A method of etching polysilicon using an oxide hard mask using a three step etch process. Steps one and two are performed insitu in a high density plasma (e.g., TCP--transformer coupled plasma) oxide etcher. Step 3, the polysilicon etch is performed in a different etcher (e.g., poly RIE etcher). A multi-layered semiconductor structure 35 (FIG. 1) is formed comprising: a substrate 10, a gate oxide layer 14, a polysilicon layer 18, a hard mask layer 22, and a bottom anti-reflective coating (BARC) layer 26 and a resist layer 30.

Method for patterning a polysilicon gate in deep submicron technology

An improved and new method for forming a metal conductor interconnection structure on a semiconductor substrate containing DRAM devices has been developed. The method utilizes a thermal anneal in a flowing gas mixture of nitrogen and hydrogen following patterning of the metal conductor interconnection structure and results in DRAM devices having improved mean refresh time (time between refresh cycles).

Method of improving refresh time in DRAM products

The present invention is a method for reducing particles during the manufacturing of fin or cylinder capacitors on a wafer. This invention utilizes a negative photoresist wafer edge exposure process to protect the edge of a wafer. This prevents polysilicon peeling from the edge of the wafer so as to reduce the defects and particles appearing on the wafer.

Method of reducing particles during the manufacturing of fin or cylinder

A new method of metallization using a dimple free tungsten plug is described. An insulating layer is deposited overlying semiconductor device structures. An opening is etched through the insulating layer to contact one of the semiconductor device structures. A layer of tungsten is deposited overlying the insulating layer and within the opening. A photoresist block is formed on the tungsten layer over the contact opening. The photoresist block is a reverse pattern of the photoresist layer used to define the opening in the insulating layer. The tungsten layer is partially etched forming a mound in the tungsten layer under the photoresist block and over the opening. The photoresist block is removed and the remaining tungsten layer is etched again resulting in the formation of a dimple free tungsten plug with a planar surface.

Dimple elimination in a tungsten etch back process by reverse image

A method for making improved capacitor bottom electrodes (capacitor nodes) having longer refresh cycle times and increased capacitance for DRAM cells has been achieved. The method involves using a polysilicon high-temperature film (HTF) instead of the conventional doped polysilicon to form the node capacitors. After forming the DRAM pass transistors (FETs) and depositing an insulating layer, node contact openings are etched in the insulator to the drain of the FET. The capacitor bottom electrodes are formed by depositing a polysilicon HTF at a temperature of at least 650.degree. C. using a reactant gas mixture of H.sub.2 /SiH.sub.4 /PH.sub.3, which results in a longer refresh cycle time and increased capacitance. This results in a significantly improved final die yield. After forming an interelectrode dielectric layer on the bottom electrodes, another doped polysilicon layer is deposited to form the top electrodes to complete the DRAM cells.

Method for making improved capacitors on dynamic random access memory

The present invention provides a test site on a product wafer for measuring via etch depth and a method of monitoring the depth of the vias using the test site. A substrate is provided having a test site area and a circuit area. A test site via is formed in the test site area. The test site via is used in measuring the depth of the insulating layers remaining in a test site via and the depth of the test site via. The measurements are taking using an in-line non-destructible measurement tool, such as an ellipsometer or spectrophotometer. The test site is specially designed to be large enough to have the via depth measured by an in-line measuring tool. The depth of the oxide remaining in the test site via is measured after the via etch and is correlated to the amount of titanium nitride removed from the tops of the metal lines in the circuit areas. The via etch process is then adjusted to center the via etch at the optimum point to ensure that enough the vias are deep enough without removing too much of the top barrier layer (e.g., titanium nitride) film over the metal lines.

Test site and a method of monitoring via etch depths for semiconductor

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Hsin-Chu, Taiwan

Yuan-Chang Huang