Method of forming a vertical field effect transistor (vfet) and a vfet structure

Abstract

Disclosed are embodiments of an improved method for forming a vertical field effect transistor (VFET). In each of the embodiments of the method, a semiconductor fin is formed sufficiently thick (i.e., wide) so that the surface area of the top of the semiconductor fin is sufficiently large to facilitate epitaxial growth thereon of a semiconductor material for a second source/drain region. As a result, the second source/drain region will be sufficiently large to avoid potential contact-related defects (e.g., unlanded contacts, complete silicidation of second source/drain region during contact formation, etc.). Additionally, either before or after this second source/drain region is formed, at least the center portion of the semiconductor fin, which will include the channel region of the VFET, is thinned down to a desired critical dimension for optimal VFET performance. Also disclosed are VFET structure embodiments resulting from this method.