Globalfoundries Singapore Pte. Ltd.

Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd (corporation)

International Business Machines Corporation

Globalfoundiers Singapore Pte. Ltd.

Yun Ling Tan

Alex See

Xuesong Rao

Hai Cong

Lup San Leong

Zheng Zou

Liang Li

Huang Liu

Chim Seng Seet

Mei Sheng Zhou

Liang Choo Hsia

Benjamin Colombeau

Yung Fu Chong

Chew Hoe Ang

Benfu Lin

Francis Lionel Benistant

Yudi Setiawan

Alex Kai Hung See

Wen Zhan Zhou

Debora Chyiu Hyia Poon

Donald Ray Disney

Purakh Raj Verma

Jia Zhen Zheng

Jae Gon Lee

Guowei Zhang

Michael Vincent Aquilino

Young Way Teh

Zhao Lun

Bo Li

Liang-Choo Hsia

Dong Kyun Sohn

Siow Lee Chwa

Alex K H See

Kah Wee Gan

Deleep R Nair

Lulu Peng

Chuan Chu Wang

Kai Hung Alex See

Chiew Wah Yap

Xiaodong Li

Chengang Feng

Arifuzzaman (Arif) Sheikh

Dong Zhong

Hao Zhang

Jinghong H (John) Li

Hao Nong

Ting Huo

Honghui Mou

Changwei Pei

Jingyan Huang

The present disclosure relates to semiconductor structures and, more particularly, to an integrated thin film resistor with a memory device and methods of manufacture. The structure includes a memory device in back end of line (BEOL) materials and a thin film resistor located in the BEOL materials. The thin film resistor includes electrical resistive material, and an insulator material over the electrical resistive material is thicker than insulator material over the memory device.

Integrated thin film resistor and memory device

A semiconductor device is provided, which includes a dielectric layer and a via structure. The dielectric layer is arranged over a substrate. The via structure is arranged in the dielectric layer, the via structure having a peripheral portion and a central portion. The peripheral portion of the via structure has a height that is greater than that of the central portion.

Via structures of passive semiconductor devices

A structure comprises a substrate and a conductive pad disposed over the substrate. A conductive layer overlies the conductive pad. A via is disposed over the conductive pad. The via penetrates through the conductive layer and touches a surface of the conductive pad.

Thin film conductive material with conductive etch stop layer

Integrated circuits and methods of producing the same are provided. In an exemplary embodiment, a method of producing an integrated circuit includes forming a lower conductor element overlying a substrate, and forming a magnetic stack layer overlying the lower conductor element. A waste portion of the magnetic stack layer is removed with a wet etchant to produce a magnetic core. The wet etchant includes hydrofluoric acid, a second acid different than the hydrofluoric acid, an oxidizer, and a solvent.

Methods for producing integrated circuits with magnets and a wet etchant for the same

Methods of forming integrated circuits are provided herein. In an embodiment, a method of forming an integrated circuit includes providing a semiconductor substrate. The semiconductor substrate includes a plurality of gate structures that have sidewalls spacers disposed adjacent to the gate structures. A gap is defined between sidewall spacers of adjacent gate structures. The method proceeds with decreasing an aspect ratio between a width of the gap at an opening thereto and a depth of the gap, wherein an aspect ratio between a width of the gap at a base of the sidewall spacers and the depth of the gap remains substantially unchanged after decreasing the aspect ratio between the width of the gap at the opening thereto.

Methods of forming integrated circuits with solutions to interlayer dielectric void formation between gate structures

The present disclosure generally relates to methods for cleaning the backside of a wafer. A wet cleaning method may be used by stripping off the uppermost spacer layers on the backside of the wafer using a cleaning solution. In one embodiment, hydrogen fluoride (HF) solution may be employed to remove the nitride/oxide spacer layer. In another embodiment, a dry cleaning method may be employed to etch the wafer at the bevel region. Residues are completely removed from the wafer backside. This method improves the yield and storage life of the semiconductor wafers.

Method and device for reducing contamination for reliable bond pads

Embodiments of a method of processing semiconductor devices are presented. The method includes providing a substrate prepared with isolation regions having a non-planar surface topology. The substrate includes at least first and second regions. The first region includes a memory region and the second region includes a logic region. A hard mask layer is formed covering the substrate and the isolation regions with non-planar surface topology. The method includes selectively processing an exposed portion of the hard mask layer over a select region while protecting a portion of the hard mask layer over a non-select region. The top substrate area and isolation regions of the non-select region are not exposed during processing of the portion of the hard mask layer over the select region. Hard mask residue is completely removed over the select region during processing of the exposed portion of the hard mask layer.

Methods for removal of hard mask

Integrated circuits having nickel silicide contacts and methods for fabricating integrated circuits with nickel silicide contacts are provided. An exemplary method for fabricating an integrated circuit includes providing a semiconductor substrate and forming a nonvolatile memory structure over the semiconductor substrate. The nonvolatile memory structure includes a gate surface. The method further includes depositing a nickel-containing material over the gate surface. Also, the method includes annealing the nonvolatile memory structure and forming a nickel silicide contact on the gate surface from the nickel-containing material.

Integrated circuits having nickel silicide contacts and methods for fabricating the same

Semiconductor devices with through silicon vias (TSVs) are formed without copper contamination. Embodiments include exposing a passivation layer surrounding a bottom portion of a TSV in a silicon substrate, forming a silicon composite layer over the exposed passivation layer and over a bottom surface of the silicon substrate, forming a hardmask layer over the silicon composite layer and over the bottom surface of the silicon substrate, removing a section of the silicon composite layer around the bottom portion of the TSV using the hardmask layer as a mask, re-exposing the passivation layer, and removing the hardmask layer and the re-exposed passivation layer to expose a contact for the bottom portion of the TSV.

Method for forming through silicon via with wafer backside protection

A method (and semiconductor device) of fabricating a semiconductor device utilizes a thermal proximity correction (TPC) technique to reduce the impact of thermal variations during anneal. Prior to actual fabrication, a location of interest (e.g., a transistor) within an integrated circuit design is determined and an effective thermal area around the location is defined. Thermal properties of structures intended to be fabricated within this area are used to calculate an estimated temperature that would be achieved at the location of interest from a given anneal process. If the estimated temperature is below or above a predetermined target temperature (or range), TPC is performed. Various TPC techniques may be performed, such as the addition of dummy cells and/or changing dimensions of the structure to be fabricated at the location of interest (resulting in an modified thermally corrected design, to suppress local variations in device performance caused by thermal variations during anneal.

Method and apparatus to reduce thermal variations within an integrated circuit die using thermal proximity correction

A device includes a substrate with a device region surrounded by an isolation region, in which the device region includes edge portions along a width of the device region and a central portion. The device further includes a gate layer disposed on the substrate over the device region, in which the gate layer includes a graded thickness in which the gate layer at edge portions of the device region has a thickness Tthat is different from a thickness Tat the central portion of the device region.

High-K metal gate device

Interlayer dielectric gap fill processes are enhanced by forming gate spacers with a tapered profile. Embodiments include forming a gate electrode on a substrate, depositing a spacer material over the gate electrode and substrate, the spacer layer having a first surface nearest the gate electrode and substrate, a second surface furthest from the gate electrode and substrate, and a continuously increasing etch rate from the first surface to the second surface, and etching the spacer layer to form a spacer on each side of the gate electrode. Embodiments further include forming the spacer layer by depositing a spacer material and continuously decreasing the density of the spacer material during deposition or depositing a carbon-containing spacer material and causing a gradient of carbon content in the spacer layer.

Spacer profile engineering using films with continuously increased etch rate from inner to outer surface

Interlayer dielectric gap fill processes are enhanced by forming gate spacers with a step-like or tapered profile. Embodiments include forming a gate electrode on a substrate, depositing a spacer material over the gate electrode, etching the spacer material to form a first spacer on each side of the gate electrode, and pulling back the first spacers to form second spacers which have a step-like profile. Embodiments further include depositing a second spacer material over the gate electrode and the second spacers, and etching the second spacer material to form a third spacer on each second spacer, the second and third spacers forming an outwardly tapered composite spacer.

Step-like spacer profile

Growing community of inventors

Singapore, Singapore

Yun Ling Tan