The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 11, 2001
Filed:
Dec. 21, 1999
Kung Linliu, Hsinchu, TW;
Worldwide Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation, Hsinchu, TW;
Abstract
The present invention discloses a method for forming a self-aligned contact hole, which provides a large process window and ensures full utilization of bottom contact area even when the overlay is not well aligned. The method comprises the steps of (a) providing a semiconductor substrate having a gate electrode and a diffusion region thereon; (b) forming a conformal layer of etch barrier material overlying the substrate surface including the diffusion region and the upper surface and the sidewalls of the gate electrode; (c) forming an insulating layer overlying the barrier layer; (d) forming a mask layer overlying the insulating layer; (e) etching an opening through the mask layer and part of the way through the insulating layer, aligned with the diffusion region, until the barrier layer is exposed; (f) forming spacers on the sidewalls of the opening; (g) removing the remaining portion of the insulating layer underneath the opening by isotropically etching using mask layer, spacers and barrier layer as stopping layers; and (h) removing the barrier layer underneath the opening, thereby exposing the diffusion region.