US20040121534A1 - Novel layer of high-k inter-poly dielectric - Google Patents
Novel layer of high-k inter-poly dielectric Download PDFInfo
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- US20040121534A1 US20040121534A1 US10/323,980 US32398002A US2004121534A1 US 20040121534 A1 US20040121534 A1 US 20040121534A1 US 32398002 A US32398002 A US 32398002A US 2004121534 A1 US2004121534 A1 US 2004121534A1
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- MCMNRKCIXSYSNV-UHFFFAOYSA-N Zirconium dioxide Chemical compound O=[Zr]=O MCMNRKCIXSYSNV-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims abstract description 58
- XAGFODPZIPBFFR-UHFFFAOYSA-N aluminium Chemical group [Al] XAGFODPZIPBFFR-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims abstract description 15
- 229910052782 aluminium Inorganic materials 0.000 claims abstract description 15
- CJNBYAVZURUTKZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N hafnium(IV) oxide Inorganic materials O=[Hf]=O CJNBYAVZURUTKZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims abstract description 7
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 claims description 44
- PNEYBMLMFCGWSK-UHFFFAOYSA-N aluminium oxide Inorganic materials [O-2].[O-2].[O-2].[Al+3].[Al+3] PNEYBMLMFCGWSK-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 25
- 229910052593 corundum Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 25
- 229910001845 yogo sapphire Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 25
- 238000007667 floating Methods 0.000 claims description 24
- 239000000758 substrate Substances 0.000 claims description 22
- XUIMIQQOPSSXEZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N Silicon Chemical compound [Si] XUIMIQQOPSSXEZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 18
- 229910052710 silicon Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 13
- 239000010703 silicon Substances 0.000 claims description 13
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 claims description 12
- 238000000151 deposition Methods 0.000 claims 18
- 238000000059 patterning Methods 0.000 claims 4
- 239000002131 composite material Substances 0.000 claims 3
- 238000012545 processing Methods 0.000 abstract description 5
- 230000015654 memory Effects 0.000 description 14
- VYPSYNLAJGMNEJ-UHFFFAOYSA-N Silicium dioxide Chemical compound O=[Si]=O VYPSYNLAJGMNEJ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 10
- GWEVSGVZZGPLCZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N Titan oxide Chemical compound O=[Ti]=O GWEVSGVZZGPLCZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 7
- 230000009467 reduction Effects 0.000 description 5
- OGIDPMRJRNCKJF-UHFFFAOYSA-N titanium oxide Inorganic materials [Ti]=O OGIDPMRJRNCKJF-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 5
- 238000010168 coupling process Methods 0.000 description 4
- 238000005859 coupling reaction Methods 0.000 description 4
- 229910000449 hafnium oxide Inorganic materials 0.000 description 4
- 239000007943 implant Substances 0.000 description 4
- 230000014759 maintenance of location Effects 0.000 description 4
- 239000000377 silicon dioxide Substances 0.000 description 4
- 230000004888 barrier function Effects 0.000 description 3
- 230000008901 benefit Effects 0.000 description 3
- 230000008878 coupling Effects 0.000 description 3
- 230000007547 defect Effects 0.000 description 3
- 238000004519 manufacturing process Methods 0.000 description 3
- 239000004065 semiconductor Substances 0.000 description 3
- 229910052814 silicon oxide Inorganic materials 0.000 description 3
- 229910052681 coesite Inorganic materials 0.000 description 2
- 229910052906 cristobalite Inorganic materials 0.000 description 2
- 238000002513 implantation Methods 0.000 description 2
- 239000012535 impurity Substances 0.000 description 2
- 238000012986 modification Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000004048 modification Effects 0.000 description 2
- 229910021420 polycrystalline silicon Inorganic materials 0.000 description 2
- 229920005591 polysilicon Polymers 0.000 description 2
- 235000012239 silicon dioxide Nutrition 0.000 description 2
- 229910052682 stishovite Inorganic materials 0.000 description 2
- 229910052905 tridymite Inorganic materials 0.000 description 2
- 238000013459 approach Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000003247 decreasing effect Effects 0.000 description 1
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- 239000003989 dielectric material Substances 0.000 description 1
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- 238000002474 experimental method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000003993 interaction Effects 0.000 description 1
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L29/00—Semiconductor devices specially adapted for rectifying, amplifying, oscillating or switching and having potential barriers; Capacitors or resistors having potential barriers, e.g. a PN-junction depletion layer or carrier concentration layer; Details of semiconductor bodies or of electrodes thereof ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
- H01L29/40—Electrodes ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
- H01L29/43—Electrodes ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor characterised by the materials of which they are formed
- H01L29/49—Metal-insulator-semiconductor electrodes, e.g. gates of MOSFET
- H01L29/51—Insulating materials associated therewith
- H01L29/511—Insulating materials associated therewith with a compositional variation, e.g. multilayer structures
-
- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
- Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10S438/00—Semiconductor device manufacturing: process
- Y10S438/954—Making oxide-nitride-oxide device
Definitions
- the invention relates to the fabrication of integrated circuit devices, and more particularly, to a method of creating a high-k inter-poly dielectric for the creation of small-scale gate electrodes.
- Gate electrodes which form the essential component of flash memory devices, are typically created using overlying layers of semiconductor material, with the lowest layer being a layer of pad oxide (also referred to as a layer of gate dielectric) and the highest layer being a layer of silicided material that serves as a low resistivity electrical contact to the gate electrode.
- the layers of the gate electrode are typically overlying layers of dielectric, that can consist of polysilicon, separated by a layer of Inter-Poly Dielectric (ILD).
- ILD Inter-Poly Dielectric
- Prior Art methods have primarily used silicon oxide as the material of choice for the creation of a layer of IPD, this in part because a layer of silicon oxide can be grown from an underlying layer of polysilicon. It has thereby long been recognized that grown layers of silicon oxide contain fewer defects (such as pinholes) than deposited layers of material.
- U.S. Pat. No. 5,923,056 shows an Al doped Zr dielectric layer.
- a principle objective of the invention is to provide a high-k dielectric layer for use as an Inter Poly Dielectric (IPD) layer.
- IPD Inter Poly Dielectric
- Another objective of the invention is to provide a gate dielectric that allows for reduced programming voltage of Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM) devices.
- EEPROM Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory
- Another objective of the invention is to provide a gate dielectric that allows for reduced programming time of Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM) devices.
- EEPROM Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory
- a still further objective of the invention is to provide a high-k dielectric layer for use as an Inter Poly Dielectric (IPD) layer of superior thermal stability.
- IPD Inter Poly Dielectric
- a new Inter Poly Dielectric (IPD) layer is provided for use in creating ultra-small gate electrodes.
- a first and a second high-k dielectric film are provided which remain amorphous at relatively high processing temperatures.
- the first high-k dielectric film is of Al 3 O 5 —ZrO 2 —Al 3 O 5
- the second high-k dielectric film is aluminum doped ZrO 2 or HfO 2 .
- FIG. 1 shows a cross section of the layer of ILD as created under the first embodiment of the invention.
- FIG. 2 shows a cross section of the layer of ILD as created under the second embodiment of the invention.
- EPROM Electrically Programmable Read Only Memory
- EPROM cells are capable of being electrically programmed. EPROM cells may or may not be capable of being electrically erased.
- Electrically erasable and electrically programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) cells are a special type of EPROM cells. Flash EEPROM cells are specific types of both EPROM and EEPROM cells. Flash EEPROM cells are configured such that a plurality of the cells may be erased during a single erasing operation. In many devices, a row of memory cells, a column of memory cells or even the entire memory array may be erased during the same erasing operation. EEPROM cells that are not flash EEPROM's can be referred to as individual erasable EEPROM or IEEPROM's.
- the IPD coupling capacitance can be increased by reducing the effective dielectric thickness of the IPD layer.
- decreasing the thickness of for instance a layer of ONO, that is used as layer of IPD of a gate electrode significantly increases the leakage current through this layer. This results in poor data retention of the memory device that is created using the (reduced thickness) layer of ONO as an IPD layer.
- One of the materials that has been mentioned for the use of a layer of IPD is titanium oxide (Ta 2 O 5 ).
- Ta 2 O 5 has a high dielectric constant, it may be expected that Ta 2 O 5 provides benefits in allowing a reduction in the thickness of the layer of ILD and thus in improving programming performance, due to its high dielectric constant. It is known in the art that the higher the dielectric constant of a layer of material, the lower the barrier height of this layer, which is critical to assuring low leakage current across the layer. Al 3 O 3 has a relatively high dielectric constant of 8.5, this is still below a desired value. However, a high-k dielectric layer comprising aluminum (such as Al 3 O 5 ) or a layer of ZrO 2 , which is doped by impurity implantation, provides improved thermal stability over comparable, high-k layers which have not been provided with an impurity implantation.
- [0025] must be able to withstand high temperatures processing environments so that the layer of ILD can be integrated with the manufacturing of semiconductor devices.
- a layer of Al 3 O 3 has previously been proposed to be used as the ILD of a gate electrode.
- This layer of Al 3 O 3 deposited to a thickness of about 10 nm and having a dielectric constant of about 9.5, provided improved performance in erase time, voltage and leakage current when compared with conventional layers of ONO applied for the TLD.
- ZrO 2 and Hafnium Oxide have been mentioned in the literature of the art as alternate candidates for the materials of gate dielectric for future generations of gate electrodes. This is due to a higher dielectric constant and to improved thermal stability of these layers when compared with Ta 2 O 5 and TiO 2 . These materials are expected to be increasingly used in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices if these materials can be processed such that they can serve as a replacement material for conventional SiO 2 in creating a gate dielectric. The use of ZrO 2 and HfO 2 can potentially be extended for use as an inter-poly dielectric for non-volatile memory applications.
- the coupling ratio of the non-volatile memory can then be increased in order to reduce programming time and programming voltage, due to the thin effective dielectric thickness of the layer of ILD.
- a reasonable leakage level, required for data retention, can be maintained due to the (actual or physical) thickness of the layer of ILD.
- a layer of Al 2 O 3 provides a high dielectric constant (8.5), which is too low for further reduction of the effective thickness of the layer of ILD.
- a layer of Al 2 O 3 however has a higher barrier height, which improves leakage current performance while Al 2 O 3 forms an interface with silicon of good quality. We can therefore deposit a layer of Al 2 O 3 over the silicon surface (as an intermediate layer), suppressing the interaction between the high-k material and the underlying silicon.
- layers ZrO 2 and HfO 2 doped with aluminum to be used as materials for the IPD.
- the doping of these layers is provided by applying methods of metallo-organic CVD (MO-CVD) and aluminum CVD (Al-CVD). These latter layers have been demonstrated to provide excellent thermal stability and are provided as candidates for the use as layers of IPD.
- FIG. 1 presents a first embodiment of the invention and shows a cross section of a silicon substrate 10 over which have been created:
- the gate electrode that is created as shown in cross section in FIG. 1 provides the following advantages:
- a layers 20 / 22 / 24 of ILD provide a higher k value when compared with pure Al 2 O 3
- layer 20 of Al 2 O 3 provides a good interface with the underlying silicon 10
- layer 20 of Al 2 O 3 provides improved thermal stability of layer 22 of ZrO 2 overlying the silicon 10
- layers 20 and 22 of Al 2 O 3 provide high barrier height, improving current leakage performance of the gate electrode
- layer 22 of ZrO 2 provides for increased thickness of the combined layers 20 , 22 and 24 , improving current leakage performance of the gate electrode.
- FIG. 2 presents a second embodiment of the invention and shows a cross section of a silicon substrate 10 over the surface of which have been created:
- a layer that comprises either: 1) a layer of ZrO 2 , doped with aluminum or 2) a layer of HfO 2 , doped with aluminum, and
- the gate electrode that is created as shown in cross section in FIG. 2 provides the following advantages:
- layers 28 of aluminum doped ZrO 2 or HfO provide a higher k value when compared with pure Al 2 O 3
- layer 28 of aluminum doped ZrO 2 provides improved thermal stability when overlying the silicon 10 as compared with a layer of undoped ZrO 2 .
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- Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
- Power Engineering (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Ceramic Engineering (AREA)
- Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
- Non-Volatile Memory (AREA)
- Semiconductor Memories (AREA)
Abstract
A new Inter Poly Dielectric (IPD) layer is provided for use in creating ultra-small gate electrodes. A first and a second high-k dielectric film are provided which remain amorphous at relatively high processing temperatures. The first high-k dielectric film is of Al3O5—ZrO2—Al3O5, the second high-k dielectric film is aluminum doped ZrO2 or HfO2.
Description
- (1) Field of the Invention
- The invention relates to the fabrication of integrated circuit devices, and more particularly, to a method of creating a high-k inter-poly dielectric for the creation of small-scale gate electrodes.
- (2) Description of the Prior Art
- Gate electrodes, which form the essential component of flash memory devices, are typically created using overlying layers of semiconductor material, with the lowest layer being a layer of pad oxide (also referred to as a layer of gate dielectric) and the highest layer being a layer of silicided material that serves as a low resistivity electrical contact to the gate electrode. The layers of the gate electrode are typically overlying layers of dielectric, that can consist of polysilicon, separated by a layer of Inter-Poly Dielectric (ILD).
- Current technology for the creation of gate electrodes uses a silicon dioxide layer as the gate dielectric for MOS devices. With a sharp reduction in device feature size, the thickness of the layer of gate dielectric must also be reduced, for the era of device features in the sub-micron range the gate thickness is approaching 2 nanometers or less. A continued reduction of the thickness of the layer of gate dielectric leads to increasing the tunneling current through this thin layer of gate dielectric. For this reason, a thin layer of silicon dioxide (thinner than about 105 nm) cannot be used as the gate dielectric for MOS devices having sub-micron device size.
- The main issues facing the creation of ever smaller flash memories center on maintaining fast programming and erase time while simultaneously reducing the operating voltage of the device, frequently resulting in a trade-off between reduced power and high operating speed. The operating voltage must be reduced with reduced device dimensions, resulting in the requirement to increase the device-coupling ratio by increasing the floating gate capacitance of the device. This leads to the requirement of reducing the thickness of the layers of Inter Poly Dielectric (IPD) or to provide layers of IPD of advantageous dielectric properties. Among the most essential of these properties is the quality of the interface between the layers of dielectric that are selected to form the IPD. This because defects in interfaces between overlying layers of dielectric can cause a reduction in the signal to noise level of the device which, in sub-micron devices where a relatively small number of charges distinguishes between data bit states, quickly leads to an unacceptable design of the gate electrode.
- Prior Art methods have primarily used silicon oxide as the material of choice for the creation of a layer of IPD, this in part because a layer of silicon oxide can be grown from an underlying layer of polysilicon. It has thereby long been recognized that grown layers of silicon oxide contain fewer defects (such as pinholes) than deposited layers of material.
- From the above it is clear that efforts to reduce flash memory cell dimensions must focus not only on providing suitable materials for the creation of layers of IPD but must also provide methods whereby these layers of IPD can be properly deposited without causing interface defects. The invention addresses the first of these two aspects of creating flash memory cells by providing a novel high-k layer of Inter Poly Dielectric (IPD).
- U.S. Pat. No. 5,923,056 (Lee et al.) shows an Al doped Zr dielectric layer.
- U.S. Pat. No. 6,060,755 (Ma et al.) shows an Al doped Zr dielectric.
- U.S. Pat. No. 6,008,091 (Gregor et al.) reveals a SiO2—TaO5—SiO2 dielectric layer.
- U.S. Pat. No. 6,171,910 (Hobbs et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,020,243 (Wallace et al.) are related patents.
- A principle objective of the invention is to provide a high-k dielectric layer for use as an Inter Poly Dielectric (IPD) layer.
- Another objective of the invention is to provide a gate dielectric that allows for reduced programming voltage of Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM) devices.
- Another objective of the invention is to provide a gate dielectric that allows for reduced programming time of Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM) devices.
- A still further objective of the invention is to provide a high-k dielectric layer for use as an Inter Poly Dielectric (IPD) layer of superior thermal stability.
- In accordance with the objectives of the invention a new Inter Poly Dielectric (IPD) layer is provided for use in creating ultra-small gate electrodes. A first and a second high-k dielectric film are provided which remain amorphous at relatively high processing temperatures. The first high-k dielectric film is of Al3O5—ZrO2—Al3O5, the second high-k dielectric film is aluminum doped ZrO2 or HfO2.
- FIG. 1 shows a cross section of the layer of ILD as created under the first embodiment of the invention.
- FIG. 2 shows a cross section of the layer of ILD as created under the second embodiment of the invention.
- Electrically Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM) cells are capable of being electrically programmed. EPROM cells may or may not be capable of being electrically erased. Electrically erasable and electrically programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) cells are a special type of EPROM cells. Flash EEPROM cells are specific types of both EPROM and EEPROM cells. Flash EEPROM cells are configured such that a plurality of the cells may be erased during a single erasing operation. In many devices, a row of memory cells, a column of memory cells or even the entire memory array may be erased during the same erasing operation. EEPROM cells that are not flash EEPROM's can be referred to as individual erasable EEPROM or IEEPROM's.
- In order to reduce the programming voltage and the programming time of EEPROM devices, the IPD coupling capacitance can be increased by reducing the effective dielectric thickness of the IPD layer. However, decreasing the thickness of for instance a layer of ONO, that is used as layer of IPD of a gate electrode, significantly increases the leakage current through this layer. This results in poor data retention of the memory device that is created using the (reduced thickness) layer of ONO as an IPD layer. One of the materials that has been mentioned for the use of a layer of IPD is titanium oxide (Ta2O5). Since Ta2O5 has a high dielectric constant, it may be expected that Ta2O5 provides benefits in allowing a reduction in the thickness of the layer of ILD and thus in improving programming performance, due to its high dielectric constant. It is known in the art that the higher the dielectric constant of a layer of material, the lower the barrier height of this layer, which is critical to assuring low leakage current across the layer. Al3O3 has a relatively high dielectric constant of 8.5, this is still below a desired value. However, a high-k dielectric layer comprising aluminum (such as Al3O5) or a layer of ZrO2, which is doped by impurity implantation, provides improved thermal stability over comparable, high-k layers which have not been provided with an impurity implantation.
- The requirements that must be met by a layer of IPD for the application of such a layer in the creation of flash memory cells can be summarized as follows:
- must provide a high coupling ratio of the floating gate capacitance, this to shorten programming and erase times and to reduce required operating voltages
- must have low leakage current, this to guarantee a data retention time of at least 10 years, and
- must be able to withstand high temperatures processing environments so that the layer of ILD can be integrated with the manufacturing of semiconductor devices.
- Previous experiments have shown that high-k dielectrics, used as a layer of ILD, provide for a high retention rate of flash memory cells.
- A layer of Al3O3 has previously been proposed to be used as the ILD of a gate electrode. This layer of Al3O3, deposited to a thickness of about 10 nm and having a dielectric constant of about 9.5, provided improved performance in erase time, voltage and leakage current when compared with conventional layers of ONO applied for the TLD.
- Also previously proposed (Ma et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,060,755) has been a layer of aluminum doped with ZrO2, the doping being performed by methods of sputter or CVD. This latter approach provided for:
- improved thermal stability when compared with an undoped layer of ZrO2, and
- a thickness of the doped layer of ZrO2 Of about 7.5 nm, a dielectric constant value in excess of 18 has been measured for the doped layer of ZrO2.
- ZrO2 and Hafnium Oxide (HfO2) have been mentioned in the literature of the art as alternate candidates for the materials of gate dielectric for future generations of gate electrodes. This is due to a higher dielectric constant and to improved thermal stability of these layers when compared with Ta2O5 and TiO2. These materials are expected to be increasingly used in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices if these materials can be processed such that they can serve as a replacement material for conventional SiO2 in creating a gate dielectric. The use of ZrO2 and HfO2 can potentially be extended for use as an inter-poly dielectric for non-volatile memory applications. The coupling ratio of the non-volatile memory can then be increased in order to reduce programming time and programming voltage, due to the thin effective dielectric thickness of the layer of ILD. A reasonable leakage level, required for data retention, can be maintained due to the (actual or physical) thickness of the layer of ILD.
- The following paragraphs address the invention. A layer of Al2O3 provides a high dielectric constant (8.5), which is too low for further reduction of the effective thickness of the layer of ILD. A layer of Al2O3 however has a higher barrier height, which improves leakage current performance while Al2O3 forms an interface with silicon of good quality. We can therefore deposit a layer of Al2O3 over the silicon surface (as an intermediate layer), suppressing the interaction between the high-k material and the underlying silicon. The in this manner created layers of Al2O3—ZrO2—Al2O3 or Al2O3—HfO2—Al2O3 effectively provide the structure of a thinner layer of dielectric, resulting in lower leakage current, improved thermal stability and an improved interface between the layers and the underlying silicon.
- Further provided by the invention are layers ZrO2 and HfO2 doped with aluminum, to be used as materials for the IPD. The doping of these layers is provided by applying methods of metallo-organic CVD (MO-CVD) and aluminum CVD (Al-CVD). These latter layers have been demonstrated to provide excellent thermal stability and are provided as candidates for the use as layers of IPD.
- The above paragraphs, which have addressed the invention, are reflected in the cross sections that are shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, as follows:
- FIG. 1 presents a first embodiment of the invention and shows a cross section of a
silicon substrate 10 over which have been created: -
-
-
-
-
gate 18 of gate dielectric -
layer 20 of Al2O3 -
layer 22 of ZrO2, and -
- The gate electrode that is created as shown in cross section in FIG. 1 provides the following advantages:
- the processing steps are compatible with the creation of expected (future) gate electrode structures
- a
layers 20/22/24 of ILD provide a higher k value when compared with pure Al2O3 -
layer 20 of Al2O3 provides a good interface with the underlyingsilicon 10 -
layer 20 of Al2O3 provides improved thermal stability oflayer 22 of ZrO2 overlying thesilicon 10 - layers20 and 22 of Al2O3 provide high barrier height, improving current leakage performance of the gate electrode
-
layer 22 of ZrO2 provides for increased thickness of the combined layers 20, 22 and 24, improving current leakage performance of the gate electrode. - FIG. 2 presents a second embodiment of the invention and shows a cross section of a
silicon substrate 10 over the surface of which have been created: -
-
-
-
-
-
- The gate electrode that is created as shown in cross section in FIG. 2 provides the following advantages:
- the processing steps are compatible with the creation of expected (future) gate electrode constructs
- layers28 of aluminum doped ZrO2 or HfO provide a higher k value when compared with pure Al2O3, and
layer 28 of aluminum doped ZrO2 provides improved thermal stability when overlying thesilicon 10 as compared with a layer of undoped ZrO2. - Although the invention has been described and illustrated with reference to specific illustrative embodiments thereof, it is not intended that the invention be limited to those illustrative embodiments. Those skilled in the art will recognize that variations and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is therefore intended to include within the invention all such variations and modifications which fall within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.
Claims (7)
1. A method of creating a layer of Inter-Poly Dielectric for use in flash memory devices, comprising the steps of:
providing a silicon substrate, an active surface area having been defined in the surface of said substrate, said active surface area being designated as being the surface area of the substrate over which at least one gate structure is to be created, said gate structure forming a gate structure for a flash memory device;
depositing a layer of gate dielectric over the surface of the substrate;
depositing a layer of floating gate material over the surface of the layer of gate dielectric;
depositing a composite layer of Inter-Poly Dielectric over the surface of the layer of floating gate material;
depositing a layer of control gate material over the surface of the layer of gate dielectric;
patterning said layer of control gate material, said composite layer of Inter-Poly Dielectric, said layer of floating gate material and said layer of gate dielectric; and
forming source and drain regions in the surface of said substrate, self-aligned with said patterned layers of control gate material, of Inter-Poly Dielectric, of floating gate material and of gate dielectric.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein said layer of Inter-Poly Dielectric comprises:
a first layer of Al2O3 deposited over the surface of said layer of floating gate material;
a layer of ZrO2 deposited over the surface of said first layer of Al2O3; and
a second layer of Al2O3 deposited over the surface of said layer of ZrO2.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein said layer of Inter-Poly Dielectric comprises a layer of ZrO2, doped with aluminum, deposited over the surface of said layer of floating gate material.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein said layer of Inter-Poly Dielectric comprises a layer of HfO2, doped with aluminum, deposited over the surface of said layer of floating gate material.
5. A method of creating a layer of Inter-Poly Dielectric for use in flash memory devices, comprising the steps of:
providing a silicon substrate, an active surface area having been defined in the surface of said substrate, said active surface area being designated as being the surface area of the substrate over which at least one gate structure is to be created, said gate structure forming a gate structure for a flash memory device;
depositing a layer of gate dielectric over the surface of the substrate;
depositing a layer of floating gate material over the surface of the layer of gate dielectric;
depositing a first layer of Al2O3 over the surface of said layer of floating gate material; then depositing a layer of ZrO2 over the surface of said first layer of Al2O3; then
depositing a second layer of Al2O3 over the surface of said layer of ZrO2; then
depositing a layer of control gate material over the surface of the second layer of Al2O3;
patterning said layer of control gate material, said second layer of Al2O3, said layer of ZrO2, said first layer of Al2O3, said layer of floating gate material and said layer of gate dielectric; and
forming source and drain regions in the surface of said substrate, self-aligned with said patterned layers of control gate material, said second layer of Al2O3, said layer of ZrO2, said first layer of Al2O3, said layer of floating gate material and said layer of gate dielectric.
6. A method of creating a layer of Inter-Poly Dielectric for use in flash memory devices, comprising the steps of:
providing a silicon substrate, an active surface area having been defined in the surface of said substrate, said active surface area being designated as being the surface area of the substrate over which at least one gate structure is to be created, said gate structure forming a gate structure for a flash memory device;
depositing a layer of gate dielectric over the surface of the substrate;
depositing a layer of floating gate material over the surface of the layer of gate dielectric;
depositing a layer of ZrO2, doped with aluminum, over the surface of said layer of floating gate material;
depositing a layer of control gate material over the surface of the layer of ZrO2;
patterning said layer of control gate material, said layer of ZrO2, doped with aluminum, said layer of floating gate material and said layer of gate dielectric; and
forming source and drain regions in the surface of said substrate, self-aligned with said patterned layers of control gate material, of ZrO2, of floating gate material and of gate dielectric.
7. A method of creating a layer of Inter-Poly Dielectric for use in flash memory devices, comprising the steps of:
providing a silicon substrate, an active surface area having been defined in the surface of said substrate, said active surface area being designated as being the surface area of the substrate over which at least on gate structure is to be created, said gate structure forming a gate structure for a flash memory device;
depositing a layer of gate dielectric over the surface of the substrate;
depositing a layer of floating gate material over the surface of the layer of gate dielectric;
depositing a layer of HfO2, doped with aluminum, over the surface of said layer of floating gate material;
depositing a layer of control gate material over the surface of the layer of HfO2;
patterning said layer of control gate material, said composite layer of HfO2, said layer of floating gate material and said layer of gate dielectric; and
forming source and drain regions in the surface of said substrate, self-aligned with said patterned layers of control gate material, of HfO2, of floating gate material and of gate dielectric.
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