Semiconductor device and method of fabricating the same

Abstract

A method for simply forming a miniature contact hole in a self-aligned manner with a wiring layer. A gate insulating film, a gate electrode, and a protective insulating layer are formed on the surface of a silicon substrate, and a blanket insulating film is deposited over the entire surface to cover a source/drain diffusion layer. Subsequently, an interlayer insulating film is laminated on the blanket insulating film. Nitrogen is added to a mixture gas of CFand O, and the resulting mixture gas is excited by a plasma for use as an etching gas. The interlayer insulating film is etched by reactive ion etching (RIE) using the blanket insulating film as an etching stopper to form a contact hole. A silicon nitride film is preferably used for the protective insulating layer. A silicon nitride film or a silicon carbide film is preferably used for the blanket insulating film.