Introduction of metal impurity to change workfunction of conductive electrodes

Abstract

Semiconductor structures, such as, for example, field effect transistors (FETs) and/or metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitor (MOSCAPs), are provided in which the workfunction of a conductive electrode stack is changed by introducing metal impurities into a metal-containing material layer which, together with a conductive electrode, is present in the electrode stack. The choice of metal impurities depends on whether the electrode is to have an n-type workfunction or a p-type workfunction. The present invention also provides a method of fabricating such semiconductor structures. The introduction of metal impurities can be achieved by codeposition of a layer containing both a metal-containing material and workfunction altering metal impurities, forming a stack in which a layer of metal impurities is present between layers of a metal-containing material, or by forming a material layer including the metal impurities above and/or below a metal-containing material and then heating the structure so that the metal impurities are introduced into the metal-containing material.