US20130181265A1 - Methods of Forming a Gate Cap Layer Above a Replacement Gate Structure and a Semiconductor Device That Includes Such a Gate Structure and Cap Layer - Google Patents
Methods of Forming a Gate Cap Layer Above a Replacement Gate Structure and a Semiconductor Device That Includes Such a Gate Structure and Cap Layer Download PDFInfo
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- US20130181265A1 US20130181265A1 US13/352,775 US201213352775A US2013181265A1 US 20130181265 A1 US20130181265 A1 US 20130181265A1 US 201213352775 A US201213352775 A US 201213352775A US 2013181265 A1 US2013181265 A1 US 2013181265A1
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- H01L29/00—Semiconductor devices adapted for rectifying, amplifying, oscillating or switching, or capacitors or resistors with at least one potential-jump barrier or surface barrier, e.g. PN junction depletion layer or carrier concentration layer; Details of semiconductor bodies or of electrodes thereof ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
- H01L29/66—Types of semiconductor device ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
- H01L29/66007—Multistep manufacturing processes
- H01L29/66075—Multistep manufacturing processes of devices having semiconductor bodies comprising group 14 or group 13/15 materials
- H01L29/66227—Multistep manufacturing processes of devices having semiconductor bodies comprising group 14 or group 13/15 materials the devices being controllable only by the electric current supplied or the electric potential applied, to an electrode which does not carry the current to be rectified, amplified or switched, e.g. three-terminal devices
- H01L29/66409—Unipolar field-effect transistors
- H01L29/66477—Unipolar field-effect transistors with an insulated gate, i.e. MISFET
- H01L29/66545—Unipolar field-effect transistors with an insulated gate, i.e. MISFET using a dummy, i.e. replacement gate in a process wherein at least a part of the final gate is self aligned to the dummy gate
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- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/04—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having at least one potential-jump barrier or surface barrier, e.g. PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer
- H01L21/18—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having at least one potential-jump barrier or surface barrier, e.g. PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer the devices having semiconductor bodies comprising elements of Group IV of the Periodic System or AIIIBV compounds with or without impurities, e.g. doping materials
- H01L21/30—Treatment of semiconductor bodies using processes or apparatus not provided for in groups H01L21/20 - H01L21/26
- H01L21/31—Treatment of semiconductor bodies using processes or apparatus not provided for in groups H01L21/20 - H01L21/26 to form insulating layers thereon, e.g. for masking or by using photolithographic techniques; After treatment of these layers; Selection of materials for these layers
- H01L21/3105—After-treatment
- H01L21/31051—Planarisation of the insulating layers
- H01L21/31053—Planarisation of the insulating layers involving a dielectric removal step
- H01L21/31055—Planarisation of the insulating layers involving a dielectric removal step the removal being a chemical etching step, e.g. dry etching
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/04—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having at least one potential-jump barrier or surface barrier, e.g. PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer
- H01L21/18—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having at least one potential-jump barrier or surface barrier, e.g. PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer the devices having semiconductor bodies comprising elements of Group IV of the Periodic System or AIIIBV compounds with or without impurities, e.g. doping materials
- H01L21/30—Treatment of semiconductor bodies using processes or apparatus not provided for in groups H01L21/20 - H01L21/26
- H01L21/31—Treatment of semiconductor bodies using processes or apparatus not provided for in groups H01L21/20 - H01L21/26 to form insulating layers thereon, e.g. for masking or by using photolithographic techniques; After treatment of these layers; Selection of materials for these layers
- H01L21/3105—After-treatment
- H01L21/311—Etching the insulating layers by chemical or physical means
- H01L21/31105—Etching inorganic layers
- H01L21/31111—Etching inorganic layers by chemical means
- H01L21/31116—Etching inorganic layers by chemical means by dry-etching
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/04—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having at least one potential-jump barrier or surface barrier, e.g. PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer
- H01L21/18—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having at least one potential-jump barrier or surface barrier, e.g. PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer the devices having semiconductor bodies comprising elements of Group IV of the Periodic System or AIIIBV compounds with or without impurities, e.g. doping materials
- H01L21/30—Treatment of semiconductor bodies using processes or apparatus not provided for in groups H01L21/20 - H01L21/26
- H01L21/31—Treatment of semiconductor bodies using processes or apparatus not provided for in groups H01L21/20 - H01L21/26 to form insulating layers thereon, e.g. for masking or by using photolithographic techniques; After treatment of these layers; Selection of materials for these layers
- H01L21/3205—Deposition of non-insulating-, e.g. conductive- or resistive-, layers on insulating layers; After-treatment of these layers
- H01L21/321—After treatment
- H01L21/32115—Planarisation
- H01L21/3212—Planarisation by chemical mechanical polishing [CMP]
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/70—Manufacture or treatment of devices consisting of a plurality of solid state components formed in or on a common substrate or of parts thereof; Manufacture of integrated circuit devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/71—Manufacture of specific parts of devices defined in group H01L21/70
- H01L21/768—Applying interconnections to be used for carrying current between separate components within a device comprising conductors and dielectrics
- H01L21/76801—Applying interconnections to be used for carrying current between separate components within a device comprising conductors and dielectrics characterised by the formation and the after-treatment of the dielectrics, e.g. smoothing
- H01L21/76829—Applying interconnections to be used for carrying current between separate components within a device comprising conductors and dielectrics characterised by the formation and the after-treatment of the dielectrics, e.g. smoothing characterised by the formation of thin functional dielectric layers, e.g. dielectric etch-stop, barrier, capping or liner layers
- H01L21/76834—Applying interconnections to be used for carrying current between separate components within a device comprising conductors and dielectrics characterised by the formation and the after-treatment of the dielectrics, e.g. smoothing characterised by the formation of thin functional dielectric layers, e.g. dielectric etch-stop, barrier, capping or liner layers formation of thin insulating films on the sidewalls or on top of conductors
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- H—ELECTRICITY
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- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/70—Manufacture or treatment of devices consisting of a plurality of solid state components formed in or on a common substrate or of parts thereof; Manufacture of integrated circuit devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/71—Manufacture of specific parts of devices defined in group H01L21/70
- H01L21/768—Applying interconnections to be used for carrying current between separate components within a device comprising conductors and dielectrics
- H01L21/76897—Formation of self-aligned vias or contact plugs, i.e. involving a lithographically uncritical step
Definitions
- the present disclosure relates to sophisticated semiconductor devices and the manufacturing of such devices, and, more specifically, to various methods of forming a gate cap layer above a replacement gate structure and various devices having such a gate cap layer.
- NMOS and PMOS transistors represent one important type of circuit element used in manufacturing such integrated circuit products.
- a field effect transistor irrespective of whether an NMOS transistor or a PMOS transistor is considered, is typically comprised of doped source and drain regions that are formed in a semiconducting substrate and are separated by a channel region.
- a gate insulation layer is positioned above the channel region and a conductive gate electrode is positioned above the gate insulation layer.
- the channel length of the transistors used in such products i.e., the lateral spacing between the source region and the drain region
- the transistors tend to exhibit higher drive current capabilities and faster switching speeds as compared to earlier generations of transistors.
- Efforts to reduce the channel length of transistors continue to this day as device designers are under constant pressure to improve the performance of such transistors.
- the historical and ongoing reduction in channel length of transistors causes certain problems that may at least partially offset the advantages that may be obtained by reduction in the channel length of the device.
- the pitch between adjacent transistors likewise decreases, thereby limiting the physical size of conductive contact elements—e.g., those elements that provide electrical connection to the transistor, such as contact vias and the like—that may fit within the available real estate between adjacent transistors. Accordingly, the electrical resistance of such conductive contact elements becomes a significant issue in the overall transistor design, since the cross-sectional area of these elements is correspondingly decreased.
- the cross-sectional area of the contact vias may have a significant influence on the effective electrical resistance and overall performance of these circuit elements.
- the small spacing between adjacent transistors has made it more challenging to precisely locate and form the conductive contact elements in the proper location on the integrated circuit product. For example, if a conductive contact is misaligned, e.g., if it is partially formed on a source region and an adjacent gate structure, the device may not perform as designed and, in a worst-case scenario, such misalignment may establish a short circuit that may lead to complete device failure.
- the gate electrode structures of most transistor elements have been made of silicon-based materials, such as a silicon dioxide and/or silicon oxynitride gate insulation layer, in combination with a polysilicon gate electrode.
- silicon-based materials such as a silicon dioxide and/or silicon oxynitride gate insulation layer
- many newer generation devices employ gate electrode stacks comprised of alternative materials in an effort to avoid the short-channel effects which may be associated with the use of traditional silicon-based materials in reduced channel length transistors.
- gate electrode stacks comprising a so-called high-k dielectric/metal gate (HK/MG) configuration have been shown to provide significantly enhanced operational characteristics over the heretofore more commonly used silicon dioxide/polysilicon (SiO/poly) configurations.
- SiO/poly silicon dioxide/polysilicon
- a high-k gate insulation layer may include tantalum oxide (Ta 2 O 5 ), hafnium oxide (HfO 2 ), zirconium oxide (ZrO 2 ), titanium oxide (TiO 2 ), aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ), hafnium silicates (HfSiO x ) and the like.
- one or more non-polysilicon metal gate electrode materials may be used in HK/MG configurations so as to control the work function of the transistor.
- These metal gate electrode materials may include, for example, one or more layers of titanium (Ti), titanium nitride (TiN), titanium-aluminum (TiAl), aluminum (Al), aluminum nitride (AlN), tantalum (Ta), tantalum nitride (TaN), lanthanum, etc.
- FIGS. 1A-1D is a simplified depiction of one illustrative prior art method for forming an HK/MG replacement gate structure using a gate-last technique. As shown in FIG. 1A , the process includes the formation of a basic transistor structure 100 above a semiconducting substrate 10 in an active area defined by a shallow trench isolation structure 11 . At the point of fabrication depicted in FIG.
- the device 100 includes a sacrificial or dummy gate insulation layer 12 , a dummy or sacrificial gate electrode 14 , sidewall spacers 16 , a layer of insulating material 17 and source/drain regions 18 formed in the substrate 10 .
- the various components and structures of the device 100 may be formed using a variety of different materials and by performing a variety of known techniques.
- the sacrificial gate insulation layer 12 may be comprised of silicon dioxide
- the sacrificial gate electrode 14 may be comprised of polysilicon
- the sidewall spacers 16 may be comprised of silicon nitride
- the layer of insulating material 17 may be comprised of silicon dioxide.
- the source/drain regions 18 may be comprised of implanted dopant materials (N-type dopants for NMOS devices and P-type dopants for PMOS devices) that are implanted into the substrate using known masking and ion implantation techniques.
- implanted dopant materials N-type dopants for NMOS devices and P-type dopants for PMOS devices
- halo implant regions are not depicted in the drawings, as well as various layers or regions of silicon germanium that are typically found in high-performance PMOS transistors.
- the various structures of the device 100 have been formed and sequence of steps were performed to remove any materials above the sacrificial gate electrode 14 (such as a protective gate cap layer (not shown) comprised of silicon nitride) so that the sacrificial gate electrode 14 may be removed.
- a protective gate cap layer (not shown) comprised of silicon nitride
- one or more etching processes are performed to remove the sacrificial gate electrode 14 and the sacrificial gate insulation layer 12 to thereby define a gate opening 20 where a replacement gate structure will be subsequently formed.
- the sacrificial gate insulation layer 12 is removed as part of the replacement gate technique, as depicted herein.
- the sacrificial gate insulation layer 12 may not be removed in all applications, depending upon the material of construction for the gate insulation layer.
- the replacement gate structure 30 is comprised of a high-k gate insulation layer 30 A, a work-function adjusting layer 30 B comprised of a metal (e.g., a layer of titanium nitride) and a bulk metal layer 30 C (e.g., aluminum).
- a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process is performed to remove excess portions of the gate insulation layer 30 A, the work-function adjusting layer 30 B and the bulk metal layer 30 C positioned outside of the gate opening 20 to define the replacement gate structure 30 .
- CMP chemical mechanical polishing
- One important aspect of the replacement gate technique involves the formation of a protective dielectric layer (not shown) above the replacement gate structure 30 after the replacement gate structure 30 is formed.
- a protective layer acts to protect the replacement gate structure 30 in subsequent processing operations, such as the various process operations performed to form conductive contacts to the source/drain regions 18 . Protection of the replacement gate structure 30 is even more important as device dimensions continue to shrink and the use of self-aligned contact formation techniques are employed in forming conductive contacts to the transistor 100 .
- One technique that has been employed in the past is to simply form another layer of material above the replacement gate structure 30 using known deposition techniques. However, such techniques involve performing a number of time-consuming processing operations and perhaps require hard-masking and patterning, which is not feasible with current lithographic alignment capabilities.
- the present disclosure is directed to various methods of forming a gate cap layer above a replacement gate structure and various devices having such a gate cap layer that may solve, or at least reduce, one or more of the problems identified above.
- a device disclosed herein includes a replacement gate structure having a dished upper surface, sidewall spacers positioned proximate the replacement gate structure and a gate cap layer positioned above the replacement gate structure, wherein the gate cap layer has a bottom surface that corresponds to the dished upper surface of the replacement gate structure.
- One illustrative method disclosed herein involves the steps of performing a first chemical mechanical polishing process on a replacement gate structure to define a polished replacement gate surface having a dished upper surface, and forming a gate cap layer above the polished replacement gate structure, wherein a bottom surface of the gate cap layer corresponds to the polished, dished upper surface of the polished replacement gate structure.
- Another illustrative method disclosed herein includes forming a replacement gate structure in a gate opening defined by sidewall spacers positioned in a layer of insulating material, performing a common etching process on at least the sidewall spacers and the layer of insulating material, wherein, after the common etching process is completed, an upper surface of the sidewall spacers is recessed relative to an upper surface of the layer of insulating material, performing a first chemical mechanical polishing process to remove at least portions of the replacement gate structure that are positioned above the upper surface of the layer of insulating material and thereby defining a polished replacement gate structure and, after performing the first chemical mechanical polishing process, forming a gate cap layer above the polished replacement gate structure.
- FIGS. 1A-1D depict one illustrative prior art process flow for forming a semiconductor device using a gate last or replacement gate approach
- FIGS. 2A-2F depict one illustrative process flow disclosed herein for forming a gate cap layer above a replacement gate structure
- FIGS. 3A-3E depict another illustrative process flow disclosed herein for forming a gate cap layer above a replacement gate structure.
- the present disclosure is directed to depict one illustrative process flow disclosed herein for forming a gate cap layer above a replacement gate structure and a device having such a gate cap layer.
- the device disclosed herein may be employed with a variety of technologies, e.g., NMOS, PMOS, CMOS, etc., and it may be incorporated into a variety of integrated circuit products.
- various illustrative embodiments of the methods and devices disclosed herein will now be described in more detail. It should be understood that the various features and layers in the attached drawing may not be to scale so as to facilitate disclosure of the present inventions.
- FIGS. 2A-2F depict one illustrative technique disclosed herein for forming a protective cap layer above a replacement gate structure.
- FIG. 2A is a simplified view of an illustrative semiconductor device 200 at an early stage of manufacturing that is formed above a semiconducting substrate 10 .
- the device 200 includes a plurality of replacement gate structures 202 that have been formed in a gate opening 205 defined by illustrative sidewall spacers 204 that are positioned in a layer of insulating material 206 .
- the gate openings 205 were formed by removing a sacrificial gate insulation layer (not shown) and a sacrificial gate electrode (not shown) in a similar fashion to that described above in connection with the illustrative prior art replacement gate technique shown in FIGS. 1A-1D .
- the device 200 is depicted at the point of fabrication that corresponds to that depicted in FIG. 1D for the device 100 discussed in the background section of the application, i.e., after the replacement gate structures have been formed.
- the substrate 10 may have a variety of configurations, such as the depicted bulk silicon configuration.
- the substrate 10 may also have a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) configuration that includes a bulk silicon layer, a buried insulation layer and an active layer, wherein semiconductor devices are formed in and above the active layer.
- SOI silicon-on-insulator
- the terms substrate or semiconductor substrate should be understood to cover all forms of semiconductor structures.
- the substrate 10 may also be made of materials other than silicon.
- the replacement gate structures 202 are comprised of a high-k gate insulation layer 202 A, a first metal layer 202 B and a second metal layer 202 C.
- the first metal layer 202 B may be comprised of a work-function adjusting metal (e.g., a layer of titanium nitride), while the second layer of metal 202 C may be a layer of aluminum or tungsten, etc.
- one or more additional metal layers may be formed as part of the replacement gate structures 202 , although such an additional metal layer(s) is not shown in the drawings.
- the insulating materials and the metal layer(s) that are part of the replacement gate structures 202 may be of any desired construction and comprised of any of a variety of different materials.
- the replacement gate structure 202 for an NMOS device may have different material combinations as compared to a replacement gate structure 202 for a PMOS device.
- the particular details of construction of replacement gate structures 202 , and the manner in which such replacement gate structures 202 are formed, should not be considered a limitation of the present invention.
- the methods disclosed herein may also be employed with replacement gate structures 202 that do not employ a high-k gate insulation layer, although a high-k gate insulation layer will likely be used in most applications.
- the sidewall spacers 204 may be comprised of a material that will etch at a faster rate than the material used for the layer of insulating material 206 when both the sidewall spacers 204 and the layer of insulating material 206 are exposed to a common etching process.
- this common etching process should be designed such that it does not damage the materials of the replacement gate structure 202 , as those materials may also be exposed to this common etching process.
- the layer of insulating material 206 may be comprised of a silicon dioxide material, such as a TEOS-based oxide, a flowable oxide, an HDP oxide, etc., while the sidewall spacers 204 may be made of a silicon nitride or other dielectric materials that are suitable for spacer applications.
- the thickness of the layer of insulating material 206 and the base thickness of the sidewall spacer 204 may vary depending upon the particular application.
- FIG. 2B depicts the device 200 after the common etching process has been performed to define recessed sidewall spacers 204 R and a recessed layer of insulating material 206 R. Due to the higher etch rate for the sidewall spacers 204 , there is a difference in height between the recessed sidewall spacers 204 R and the recessed layer of insulating material 206 R, as schematically depicted by the recess 208 in FIG. 2B . Stated another way, an upper surface 204 U of the sidewall spacer 204 R is recessed relative to an upper surface 206 U of the recessed layer of insulating material 206 R.
- the depth of the recess 208 may vary depending upon the materials used for the sidewall spacers 204 and the layer of insulating material 206 and the etching process. In one illustrative example, the depth of the recess 208 may be on the order of about 5-15 nm. In one particularly illustrative embodiment where the layer of insulating material 206 is comprised of silicon dioxide and the sidewall spacers 204 are comprised of silicon nitride, the etching process may be a dry, anisotropic based etching process using a C x H y F z based chemistry that is sufficiently selective to silicon dioxide.
- the common etching process common is adjusted to provide etch selectivity between silicon nitride and silicon dioxide.
- the duration of the etching process may also vary depending upon the various materials of construction and the desired depth of the recess 208 .
- a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process is performed on the device 200 that results in the definition of polished replacement gate structures 202 P.
- the CMP process acts to remove excess portions of the gate insulation layer 202 A, the first metal layer 202 B and the second metal layer 202 C that were exposed after the common etching process described above was performed.
- the CMP process is also designed to remove at least some portions of the original replacement gate structure 202 and the sidewall spacers 204 to thereby define a recess 210 above the polished replacement gate structures 202 P. In some cases, more or different types of abrasives and/or chemicals may be employed in the CMP process to produce the recesses 210 .
- the CMP process may result in at least a portion of the polished replacement gate structures 202 P having a polished, dished surface 211 .
- the depth and degree of the recess 210 may vary depending upon the materials used for the layer of insulating material 206 , the sidewall spacers 204 and the replacement gate structures 202 as well as the parameters of the CMP process. In one illustrative embodiment, the peak depth of the recess 210 may be about 5-15 nm.
- the CMP process may also result in the rounding of the corners 206 C of the layer of insulating material 206 , as shown in FIG. 2C .
- a gate cap layer 212 is formed above the device 200 such that it over-fills the recesses 210 .
- the gate cap layer 212 should be made of a material that may withstand etching processes that will be performed on the layer of insulating material 206 .
- the gate cap layer 212 may be comprised of a material that will protect the underlying polished replacement gate structure 202 P when an etching process is performed on the layer of insulating material 206 , as described more fully below.
- the gate cap layer 212 may be comprised of the same material as the sidewall spacers 204 , although that is not required in all applications.
- the gate cap layer 212 may be a layer of silicon nitride with a thickness within the range of about 30-50 nm that was formed by performing a CVD process.
- FIG. 2E another CMP process is performed to remove excess portions of the gate cap layer 212 positioned outside of the recesses 210 .
- the process results in the definition of protective gate cap layers 212 P positioned above each of the polished replacement gate structures 202 P.
- the protective gate cap layer 212 P has a polished upper surface 212 U and a bottom surface 212 S that corresponds to the polished, dished surface 211 of the polished replacement gate structure 202 P.
- the gate cap layer 212 P and the sidewall spacers 204 R encapsulate or protect the polished replacement gate structure 202 P.
- FIG. 2F depicts the device 200 after several process operations have been performed to form a conductive contact 216 for the device 200 .
- the contact 216 is intended to be representative in nature of any type of conductive contact structure that may be formed on integrated circuit devices. To the extent that formation of the conductive contact 216 involves the formation of one or more barrier layers, such barrier layers are not depicted in the drawings so as not to obscure the present inventions.
- the conductive contact 216 may be made from a variety of conductive materials, e.g., aluminum, tungsten, copper, etc., and it may be formed using traditional techniques. For example, the conductive structure 216 may be formed using self-aligned techniques.
- a layer of insulating material 214 is formed above the device 200 and a plurality of openings 214 A, 206 A are forming in the layers of insulating material 214 , 206 R, respectively, using known photo-lithography tools and techniques.
- One or more deposition processes are then performed to form one or more conductive materials in the openings 214 A, 206 A.
- a CMP process may then be performed to remove the excess amounts of conductive material positioned outside of the opening 214 A to thereby result in the definition of the conductive contact 216 .
- the conductive contact 216 may be formed to establish electrical connection to a source or drain region (not shown) formed in the substrate 10 between the two depicted polished replacement gate structures 202 PP.
- the conductive contact 216 is depicted as being slightly misaligned in that part of the conductive contact 216 is formed above the sidewall spacer 204 R and a portion of the polished replacement gate structure 202 P.
- the gate cap layer 212 P protects the underlying polished replacement gate structure 202 P from damage associated with the processes used to form the openings 214 A, 206 A in the layers of insulating material 214 , 206 .
- FIGS. 3A-3E depict another illustrative technique disclosed herein for forming a protective cap layer above a replacement gate structure.
- FIG. 3A depicts the device at a similar stage of fabrication as depicted in FIG. 2 A—a plurality of replacement gate structures 202 have been formed in gate openings 218 defined by sidewall spacers 220 . Unlike the process flow depicted in FIGS.
- the sidewall spacers 220 may simply be made of a material that will protect the polished replacement gate structure 202 P when a subsequent etching process is performed to define an opening in the layer of insulating material 206 for a conductive contact.
- a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process is performed on the device 200 to define a plurality of polished replacement gate structures 202 P.
- the CMP process acts to remove portions of the gate insulation layer 202 A, the first metal layer 202 B and the second metal layer 202 C and perhaps at least some portions of the sidewall spacers 220 to thereby define a recess 210 above the polished replacement gate structures 202 P.
- more or different types of abrasives and/or chemicals may be employed in the CMP process to produce the recesses 210 .
- the CMP process may result in at least a portion of the polished replacement gate structures 202 P having a polished, dished surface 221 .
- the depth and degree of the recess 210 may vary depending upon the materials used for the layer of insulating material 206 , the sidewall spacers 220 and the replacement gate structures 202 , as well as the parameters of the CMP process. In one illustrative embodiment, the peak depth of the recess 210 may be about 5-15 nm.
- the CMP process may also result in the rounding of the corners 206 C of the layer of insulating material 206 , as shown in FIG. 3B .
- the CMP process that results in the polished replacement gate structures 202 P may be a separate CMP process that is performed after an initial CMP process was performed to initially define the replacement gate structures 202 (with the substantially planar upper surface) shown in FIG. 3A , or it may be part of the initial CMP process wherein the process conditions or material of the initial CMP process may be modified toward the end of the initial CMP process to define the polished replacement gate structures 202 P shown in FIG. 3B .
- the gate cap layer 212 (described above) is formed above the device 200 such that it over-fills the recesses 210 .
- another CMP process is performed to remove excess portions of the gate cap layer 212 positioned outside of the recesses 210 .
- the process results in the definition of the previously described protective gate cap layers 212 P positioned above each of the polished replacement gate structures 202 P.
- the gate cap layer 212 P and the sidewall spacers 220 encapsulate or protect the polished replacement gate structure 202 P.
- 3E depicts the device 200 after several process operations have been performed to form the conductive contact 216 in the layers of insulating material 214 , 206 , as described above.
- the conductive contact 216 is depicted as being slightly misaligned in that part of the conductive contact 216 is formed above the sidewall spacer 220 and a portion of the polished replacement gate structure 202 P.
- the gate cap layer 212 P protects the underlying polished replacement gate structure 202 P from damage associated with the processes used to form the openings in the layers of insulating material 214 , 206 .
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Abstract
Description
- 1. Field of the Invention
- Generally, the present disclosure relates to sophisticated semiconductor devices and the manufacturing of such devices, and, more specifically, to various methods of forming a gate cap layer above a replacement gate structure and various devices having such a gate cap layer.
- 2. Description of the Related Art
- The fabrication of advanced integrated circuits, such as CPU's, storage devices, ASIC's (application specific integrated circuits) and the like, requires the formation of a large number of circuit elements in a given chip area according to a specified circuit layout and a specific flow of process operations. Field effect transistors (NMOS and PMOS transistors) represent one important type of circuit element used in manufacturing such integrated circuit products. A field effect transistor, irrespective of whether an NMOS transistor or a PMOS transistor is considered, is typically comprised of doped source and drain regions that are formed in a semiconducting substrate and are separated by a channel region. A gate insulation layer is positioned above the channel region and a conductive gate electrode is positioned above the gate insulation layer. By applying an appropriate voltage to the gate electrode, the channel region becomes conductive and current is allowed to flow between the source region and the drain region.
- In modern, ultra-high density integrated circuit products, the channel length of the transistors used in such products, i.e., the lateral spacing between the source region and the drain region, has been steadily decreased in size to enhance the performance of the transistors and the overall functionality of integrated circuit products incorporating such transistors. For example, as channel lengths are decreased, the transistors tend to exhibit higher drive current capabilities and faster switching speeds as compared to earlier generations of transistors. Efforts to reduce the channel length of transistors continue to this day as device designers are under constant pressure to improve the performance of such transistors.
- However, the historical and ongoing reduction in channel length of transistors, along with the reduction in size of other features of the transistors, causes certain problems that may at least partially offset the advantages that may be obtained by reduction in the channel length of the device. For example, as the channel length of transistors decreases, the pitch between adjacent transistors likewise decreases, thereby limiting the physical size of conductive contact elements—e.g., those elements that provide electrical connection to the transistor, such as contact vias and the like—that may fit within the available real estate between adjacent transistors. Accordingly, the electrical resistance of such conductive contact elements becomes a significant issue in the overall transistor design, since the cross-sectional area of these elements is correspondingly decreased. Moreover, the cross-sectional area of the contact vias, together with the characteristics of the materials they comprise, may have a significant influence on the effective electrical resistance and overall performance of these circuit elements. Additionally, the small spacing between adjacent transistors has made it more challenging to precisely locate and form the conductive contact elements in the proper location on the integrated circuit product. For example, if a conductive contact is misaligned, e.g., if it is partially formed on a source region and an adjacent gate structure, the device may not perform as designed and, in a worst-case scenario, such misalignment may establish a short circuit that may lead to complete device failure.
- For many early device technology generations, the gate electrode structures of most transistor elements have been made of silicon-based materials, such as a silicon dioxide and/or silicon oxynitride gate insulation layer, in combination with a polysilicon gate electrode. However, as the channel length of aggressively scaled transistor elements has become increasingly smaller, many newer generation devices employ gate electrode stacks comprised of alternative materials in an effort to avoid the short-channel effects which may be associated with the use of traditional silicon-based materials in reduced channel length transistors. For example, in some aggressively scaled transistor elements, which may have channel lengths on the order of approximately 14-32 nm, gate electrode stacks comprising a so-called high-k dielectric/metal gate (HK/MG) configuration have been shown to provide significantly enhanced operational characteristics over the heretofore more commonly used silicon dioxide/polysilicon (SiO/poly) configurations.
- Depending on the specific overall device requirements, several different high-k materials—i.e., materials having a dielectric constant, or k-value, of approximately 10 or greater—have been used with varying degrees of success for the gate insulation layer in a HK/MG gate electrode structure. For example, in some transistor element designs, a high-k gate insulation layer may include tantalum oxide (Ta2O5), hafnium oxide (HfO2), zirconium oxide (ZrO2), titanium oxide (TiO2), aluminum oxide (Al2O3), hafnium silicates (HfSiOx) and the like. Furthermore, one or more non-polysilicon metal gate electrode materials—i.e., a metal gate stack—may be used in HK/MG configurations so as to control the work function of the transistor. These metal gate electrode materials may include, for example, one or more layers of titanium (Ti), titanium nitride (TiN), titanium-aluminum (TiAl), aluminum (Al), aluminum nitride (AlN), tantalum (Ta), tantalum nitride (TaN), lanthanum, etc.
- One well-known processing method that has been used for forming a transistor with a high-k/metal gate structure is the so-called “gate last” or “replacement gate” technique.
FIGS. 1A-1D is a simplified depiction of one illustrative prior art method for forming an HK/MG replacement gate structure using a gate-last technique. As shown inFIG. 1A , the process includes the formation of abasic transistor structure 100 above asemiconducting substrate 10 in an active area defined by a shallowtrench isolation structure 11. At the point of fabrication depicted inFIG. 1A , thedevice 100 includes a sacrificial or dummygate insulation layer 12, a dummy orsacrificial gate electrode 14,sidewall spacers 16, a layer ofinsulating material 17 and source/drain regions 18 formed in thesubstrate 10. The various components and structures of thedevice 100 may be formed using a variety of different materials and by performing a variety of known techniques. For example, the sacrificialgate insulation layer 12 may be comprised of silicon dioxide, thesacrificial gate electrode 14 may be comprised of polysilicon, thesidewall spacers 16 may be comprised of silicon nitride and the layer ofinsulating material 17 may be comprised of silicon dioxide. The source/drain regions 18 may be comprised of implanted dopant materials (N-type dopants for NMOS devices and P-type dopants for PMOS devices) that are implanted into the substrate using known masking and ion implantation techniques. Of course, those skilled in the art will recognize that there are other features of thetransistor 100 that are not depicted in the drawings for purposes of clarity. For example, so-called halo implant regions are not depicted in the drawings, as well as various layers or regions of silicon germanium that are typically found in high-performance PMOS transistors. At the point of fabrication depicted inFIG. 1A , the various structures of thedevice 100 have been formed and sequence of steps were performed to remove any materials above the sacrificial gate electrode 14 (such as a protective gate cap layer (not shown) comprised of silicon nitride) so that thesacrificial gate electrode 14 may be removed. - As shown in
FIG. 1B , one or more etching processes are performed to remove thesacrificial gate electrode 14 and the sacrificialgate insulation layer 12 to thereby define agate opening 20 where a replacement gate structure will be subsequently formed. Typically, the sacrificialgate insulation layer 12 is removed as part of the replacement gate technique, as depicted herein. However, the sacrificialgate insulation layer 12 may not be removed in all applications, depending upon the material of construction for the gate insulation layer. - Next, as shown in
FIG. 1C , various layers of material that will constitute areplacement gate structure 30 are formed in thegate opening 20. In one illustrative example, thereplacement gate structure 30 is comprised of a high-kgate insulation layer 30A, a work-function adjustinglayer 30B comprised of a metal (e.g., a layer of titanium nitride) and abulk metal layer 30C (e.g., aluminum). Ultimately, as shown inFIG. 1D , a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process is performed to remove excess portions of thegate insulation layer 30A, the work-function adjustinglayer 30B and thebulk metal layer 30C positioned outside of thegate opening 20 to define thereplacement gate structure 30. - One important aspect of the replacement gate technique involves the formation of a protective dielectric layer (not shown) above the
replacement gate structure 30 after thereplacement gate structure 30 is formed. Such a protective layer acts to protect thereplacement gate structure 30 in subsequent processing operations, such as the various process operations performed to form conductive contacts to the source/drain regions 18. Protection of thereplacement gate structure 30 is even more important as device dimensions continue to shrink and the use of self-aligned contact formation techniques are employed in forming conductive contacts to thetransistor 100. One technique that has been employed in the past is to simply form another layer of material above thereplacement gate structure 30 using known deposition techniques. However, such techniques involve performing a number of time-consuming processing operations and perhaps require hard-masking and patterning, which is not feasible with current lithographic alignment capabilities. More recently, efforts made to form such a protective layer have included oxidizing, nitriding or fluorinating the metal portions of thereplacement gate structure 30. See, for example, US Patent Publication No. 2011/0062501. However, as the gate length of thedevice 100 is scaled, the proportion of the work function adjustinglayer 30B becomes much greater as compared to the other layers that make up thereplacement gate structure 30. Forming the metal-containing insulating material by oxidation or nitridation of such a work function adjustinglayer 30B comprised of, for example, titanium nitride or tantalum nitride has proven to be difficult. Additionally, there is often a stringent constraint on the allowable temperature of the oxidation or nitridation process, which tends to make the oxidation or nitridation of metals more difficult. With fluorination, it is very difficult to form a sufficiently thick oxide cap layer to protect the underlyingreplacement gate structure 30. - The present disclosure is directed to various methods of forming a gate cap layer above a replacement gate structure and various devices having such a gate cap layer that may solve, or at least reduce, one or more of the problems identified above.
- The following presents a simplified summary of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an exhaustive overview of the invention. It is not intended to identify key or critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is discussed later.
- Generally, the present disclosure is directed to various methods of forming a gate cap layer above a replacement gate structure and a device having such a gate cap layer. In one example, a device disclosed herein includes a replacement gate structure having a dished upper surface, sidewall spacers positioned proximate the replacement gate structure and a gate cap layer positioned above the replacement gate structure, wherein the gate cap layer has a bottom surface that corresponds to the dished upper surface of the replacement gate structure.
- One illustrative method disclosed herein involves the steps of performing a first chemical mechanical polishing process on a replacement gate structure to define a polished replacement gate surface having a dished upper surface, and forming a gate cap layer above the polished replacement gate structure, wherein a bottom surface of the gate cap layer corresponds to the polished, dished upper surface of the polished replacement gate structure.
- Another illustrative method disclosed herein includes forming a replacement gate structure in a gate opening defined by sidewall spacers positioned in a layer of insulating material, performing a common etching process on at least the sidewall spacers and the layer of insulating material, wherein, after the common etching process is completed, an upper surface of the sidewall spacers is recessed relative to an upper surface of the layer of insulating material, performing a first chemical mechanical polishing process to remove at least portions of the replacement gate structure that are positioned above the upper surface of the layer of insulating material and thereby defining a polished replacement gate structure and, after performing the first chemical mechanical polishing process, forming a gate cap layer above the polished replacement gate structure.
- The disclosure may be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals identify like elements, and in which:
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FIGS. 1A-1D depict one illustrative prior art process flow for forming a semiconductor device using a gate last or replacement gate approach; -
FIGS. 2A-2F depict one illustrative process flow disclosed herein for forming a gate cap layer above a replacement gate structure; and -
FIGS. 3A-3E depict another illustrative process flow disclosed herein for forming a gate cap layer above a replacement gate structure. - While the subject matter disclosed herein is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the description herein of specific embodiments is not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
- Various illustrative embodiments of the invention are described below. In the interest of clarity, not all features of an actual implementation are described in this specification. It will of course be appreciated that in the development of any such actual embodiment, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which will vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.
- The present subject matter will now be described with reference to the attached figures. Various structures, systems and devices are schematically depicted in the drawings for purposes of explanation only and so as to not obscure the present disclosure with details that are well known to those skilled in the art. Nevertheless, the attached drawings are included to describe and explain illustrative examples of the present disclosure. The words and phrases used herein should be understood and interpreted to have a meaning consistent with the understanding of those words and phrases by those skilled in the relevant art. No special definition of a term or phrase, i.e., a definition that is different from the ordinary and customary meaning as understood by those skilled in the art, is intended to be implied by consistent usage of the term or phrase herein. To the extent that a term or phrase is intended to have a special meaning, i.e., a meaning other than that understood by skilled artisans, such a special definition will be expressly set forth in the specification in a definitional manner that directly and unequivocally provides the special definition for the term or phrase.
- The present disclosure is directed to depict one illustrative process flow disclosed herein for forming a gate cap layer above a replacement gate structure and a device having such a gate cap layer. As will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon a complete reading of the present application, the device disclosed herein may be employed with a variety of technologies, e.g., NMOS, PMOS, CMOS, etc., and it may be incorporated into a variety of integrated circuit products. With reference to the attached drawings, various illustrative embodiments of the methods and devices disclosed herein will now be described in more detail. It should be understood that the various features and layers in the attached drawing may not be to scale so as to facilitate disclosure of the present inventions.
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FIGS. 2A-2F depict one illustrative technique disclosed herein for forming a protective cap layer above a replacement gate structure.FIG. 2A is a simplified view of anillustrative semiconductor device 200 at an early stage of manufacturing that is formed above asemiconducting substrate 10. At the point of fabrication depicted inFIG. 2A , thedevice 200 includes a plurality ofreplacement gate structures 202 that have been formed in agate opening 205 defined byillustrative sidewall spacers 204 that are positioned in a layer of insulatingmaterial 206. Thegate openings 205 were formed by removing a sacrificial gate insulation layer (not shown) and a sacrificial gate electrode (not shown) in a similar fashion to that described above in connection with the illustrative prior art replacement gate technique shown inFIGS. 1A-1D . In general, inFIG. 2A , thedevice 200 is depicted at the point of fabrication that corresponds to that depicted inFIG. 1D for thedevice 100 discussed in the background section of the application, i.e., after the replacement gate structures have been formed. Thesubstrate 10 may have a variety of configurations, such as the depicted bulk silicon configuration. Thesubstrate 10 may also have a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) configuration that includes a bulk silicon layer, a buried insulation layer and an active layer, wherein semiconductor devices are formed in and above the active layer. Thus, the terms substrate or semiconductor substrate should be understood to cover all forms of semiconductor structures. Thesubstrate 10 may also be made of materials other than silicon. - In the illustrative embodiment depicted herein, the
replacement gate structures 202 are comprised of a high-kgate insulation layer 202A, afirst metal layer 202B and asecond metal layer 202C. In a more specific example, thefirst metal layer 202B may be comprised of a work-function adjusting metal (e.g., a layer of titanium nitride), while the second layer ofmetal 202C may be a layer of aluminum or tungsten, etc. In other embodiments, one or more additional metal layers may be formed as part of thereplacement gate structures 202, although such an additional metal layer(s) is not shown in the drawings. As will be recognized by those skilled in the art after a complete reading of the present application, the insulating materials and the metal layer(s) that are part of thereplacement gate structures 202 may be of any desired construction and comprised of any of a variety of different materials. Additionally, thereplacement gate structure 202 for an NMOS device may have different material combinations as compared to areplacement gate structure 202 for a PMOS device. Thus, the particular details of construction ofreplacement gate structures 202, and the manner in which suchreplacement gate structures 202 are formed, should not be considered a limitation of the present invention. The methods disclosed herein may also be employed withreplacement gate structures 202 that do not employ a high-k gate insulation layer, although a high-k gate insulation layer will likely be used in most applications. - In one illustrative embodiment disclosed herein, the
sidewall spacers 204 may be comprised of a material that will etch at a faster rate than the material used for the layer of insulatingmaterial 206 when both thesidewall spacers 204 and the layer of insulatingmaterial 206 are exposed to a common etching process. Of course, this common etching process should be designed such that it does not damage the materials of thereplacement gate structure 202, as those materials may also be exposed to this common etching process. In one illustrative embodiment, the layer of insulatingmaterial 206 may be comprised of a silicon dioxide material, such as a TEOS-based oxide, a flowable oxide, an HDP oxide, etc., while thesidewall spacers 204 may be made of a silicon nitride or other dielectric materials that are suitable for spacer applications. The thickness of the layer of insulatingmaterial 206 and the base thickness of thesidewall spacer 204 may vary depending upon the particular application. -
FIG. 2B depicts thedevice 200 after the common etching process has been performed to define recessedsidewall spacers 204R and a recessed layer of insulatingmaterial 206R. Due to the higher etch rate for thesidewall spacers 204, there is a difference in height between the recessedsidewall spacers 204R and the recessed layer of insulatingmaterial 206R, as schematically depicted by therecess 208 inFIG. 2B . Stated another way, anupper surface 204U of thesidewall spacer 204R is recessed relative to anupper surface 206U of the recessed layer of insulatingmaterial 206R. The depth of therecess 208 may vary depending upon the materials used for thesidewall spacers 204 and the layer of insulatingmaterial 206 and the etching process. In one illustrative example, the depth of therecess 208 may be on the order of about 5-15 nm. In one particularly illustrative embodiment where the layer of insulatingmaterial 206 is comprised of silicon dioxide and thesidewall spacers 204 are comprised of silicon nitride, the etching process may be a dry, anisotropic based etching process using a CxHyFz based chemistry that is sufficiently selective to silicon dioxide. In one illustrative embodiment, the common etching process common is adjusted to provide etch selectivity between silicon nitride and silicon dioxide. The duration of the etching process may also vary depending upon the various materials of construction and the desired depth of therecess 208. - Next, as shown in
FIG. 2C , a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process is performed on thedevice 200 that results in the definition of polishedreplacement gate structures 202P. The CMP process acts to remove excess portions of thegate insulation layer 202A, thefirst metal layer 202B and thesecond metal layer 202C that were exposed after the common etching process described above was performed. The CMP process is also designed to remove at least some portions of the originalreplacement gate structure 202 and thesidewall spacers 204 to thereby define arecess 210 above the polishedreplacement gate structures 202P. In some cases, more or different types of abrasives and/or chemicals may be employed in the CMP process to produce therecesses 210. In one illustrative embodiment, the CMP process may result in at least a portion of the polishedreplacement gate structures 202P having a polished, dishedsurface 211. The depth and degree of therecess 210 may vary depending upon the materials used for the layer of insulatingmaterial 206, thesidewall spacers 204 and thereplacement gate structures 202 as well as the parameters of the CMP process. In one illustrative embodiment, the peak depth of therecess 210 may be about 5-15 nm. The CMP process may also result in the rounding of thecorners 206C of the layer of insulatingmaterial 206, as shown inFIG. 2C . - Then, as shown in
FIG. 2D , agate cap layer 212 is formed above thedevice 200 such that it over-fills therecesses 210. In one illustrative embodiment, thegate cap layer 212 should be made of a material that may withstand etching processes that will be performed on the layer of insulatingmaterial 206. Stated another way, thegate cap layer 212 may be comprised of a material that will protect the underlying polishedreplacement gate structure 202P when an etching process is performed on the layer of insulatingmaterial 206, as described more fully below. In some cases, thegate cap layer 212 may be comprised of the same material as thesidewall spacers 204, although that is not required in all applications. In one illustrative embodiment, thegate cap layer 212 may be a layer of silicon nitride with a thickness within the range of about 30-50 nm that was formed by performing a CVD process. - Next, as shown in
FIG. 2E , another CMP process is performed to remove excess portions of thegate cap layer 212 positioned outside of therecesses 210. The process results in the definition of protectivegate cap layers 212P positioned above each of the polishedreplacement gate structures 202P. The protectivegate cap layer 212P has a polishedupper surface 212U and abottom surface 212S that corresponds to the polished, dishedsurface 211 of the polishedreplacement gate structure 202P. As can be seen inFIG. 2E , thegate cap layer 212P and thesidewall spacers 204R encapsulate or protect the polishedreplacement gate structure 202P. -
FIG. 2F depicts thedevice 200 after several process operations have been performed to form aconductive contact 216 for thedevice 200. Thecontact 216 is intended to be representative in nature of any type of conductive contact structure that may be formed on integrated circuit devices. To the extent that formation of theconductive contact 216 involves the formation of one or more barrier layers, such barrier layers are not depicted in the drawings so as not to obscure the present inventions. Theconductive contact 216 may be made from a variety of conductive materials, e.g., aluminum, tungsten, copper, etc., and it may be formed using traditional techniques. For example, theconductive structure 216 may be formed using self-aligned techniques. In the depicted example, a layer of insulatingmaterial 214 is formed above thedevice 200 and a plurality ofopenings material openings opening 214A to thereby result in the definition of theconductive contact 216. In the depicted example, theconductive contact 216 may be formed to establish electrical connection to a source or drain region (not shown) formed in thesubstrate 10 between the two depicted polished replacement gate structures 202PP. InFIG. 2F , theconductive contact 216 is depicted as being slightly misaligned in that part of theconductive contact 216 is formed above thesidewall spacer 204R and a portion of the polishedreplacement gate structure 202P. However, thegate cap layer 212P protects the underlying polishedreplacement gate structure 202P from damage associated with the processes used to form theopenings material -
FIGS. 3A-3E depict another illustrative technique disclosed herein for forming a protective cap layer above a replacement gate structure.FIG. 3A depicts the device at a similar stage of fabrication as depicted in FIG. 2A—a plurality ofreplacement gate structures 202 have been formed ingate openings 218 defined bysidewall spacers 220. Unlike the process flow depicted inFIGS. 2A-2F , in this illustrative process flow, it is not required that thesidewall spacers 220 be comprised of a material that will etch at a faster rate than the material used for the layer of insulatingmaterial 206 when both thesidewall spacers 220 and the layer of insulatingmaterial 206 are exposed to a common etching process, although such materials exhibiting such characteristics may be employed in this embodiment if desired. Rather, thesidewall spacers 220 may simply be made of a material that will protect the polishedreplacement gate structure 202P when a subsequent etching process is performed to define an opening in the layer of insulatingmaterial 206 for a conductive contact. - Next, as shown in
FIG. 3B , a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process is performed on thedevice 200 to define a plurality of polishedreplacement gate structures 202P. The CMP process acts to remove portions of thegate insulation layer 202A, thefirst metal layer 202B and thesecond metal layer 202C and perhaps at least some portions of thesidewall spacers 220 to thereby define arecess 210 above the polishedreplacement gate structures 202P. In some cases, more or different types of abrasives and/or chemicals may be employed in the CMP process to produce therecesses 210. As before, the CMP process may result in at least a portion of the polishedreplacement gate structures 202P having a polished, dishedsurface 221. The depth and degree of therecess 210 may vary depending upon the materials used for the layer of insulatingmaterial 206, thesidewall spacers 220 and thereplacement gate structures 202, as well as the parameters of the CMP process. In one illustrative embodiment, the peak depth of therecess 210 may be about 5-15 nm. The CMP process may also result in the rounding of thecorners 206C of the layer of insulatingmaterial 206, as shown inFIG. 3B . The CMP process that results in the polishedreplacement gate structures 202P may be a separate CMP process that is performed after an initial CMP process was performed to initially define the replacement gate structures 202 (with the substantially planar upper surface) shown inFIG. 3A , or it may be part of the initial CMP process wherein the process conditions or material of the initial CMP process may be modified toward the end of the initial CMP process to define the polishedreplacement gate structures 202P shown inFIG. 3B . - Then, as shown in
FIG. 3C , the gate cap layer 212 (described above) is formed above thedevice 200 such that it over-fills therecesses 210. Next, as shown inFIG. 3D , another CMP process is performed to remove excess portions of thegate cap layer 212 positioned outside of therecesses 210. The process results in the definition of the previously described protectivegate cap layers 212P positioned above each of the polishedreplacement gate structures 202P. As can be seen inFIG. 3D , thegate cap layer 212P and thesidewall spacers 220 encapsulate or protect the polishedreplacement gate structure 202P.FIG. 3E depicts thedevice 200 after several process operations have been performed to form theconductive contact 216 in the layers of insulatingmaterial FIG. 3E , theconductive contact 216 is depicted as being slightly misaligned in that part of theconductive contact 216 is formed above thesidewall spacer 220 and a portion of the polishedreplacement gate structure 202P. However, thegate cap layer 212P protects the underlying polishedreplacement gate structure 202P from damage associated with the processes used to form the openings in the layers of insulatingmaterial - The particular embodiments disclosed above are illustrative only, as the invention may be modified and practiced in different but equivalent manners apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings herein. For example, the process steps set forth above may be performed in a different order. Furthermore, no limitations are intended to the details of construction or design herein shown, other than as described in the claims below. It is therefore evident that the particular embodiments disclosed above may be altered or modified and all such variations are considered within the scope and spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the protection sought herein is as set forth in the claims below.
Claims (26)
Priority Applications (4)
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US13/352,775 US20130181265A1 (en) | 2012-01-18 | 2012-01-18 | Methods of Forming a Gate Cap Layer Above a Replacement Gate Structure and a Semiconductor Device That Includes Such a Gate Structure and Cap Layer |
TW101149711A TWI668868B (en) | 2012-01-18 | 2012-12-25 | Methods of forming a gate cap layer above a replacement gate structure and a semiconductor device that includes such a gate structure and cap layer |
CN201310020347.8A CN103219368B (en) | 2012-01-18 | 2013-01-18 | Methods of forming a gate cap layer above a replacement gate structure and a semiconductor device that includes such a gate structure and cap layer |
US14/928,681 US10199479B2 (en) | 2012-01-18 | 2015-10-30 | Methods of forming a gate cap layer above a replacement gate structure |
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US13/352,775 US20130181265A1 (en) | 2012-01-18 | 2012-01-18 | Methods of Forming a Gate Cap Layer Above a Replacement Gate Structure and a Semiconductor Device That Includes Such a Gate Structure and Cap Layer |
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US14/928,681 Division US10199479B2 (en) | 2012-01-18 | 2015-10-30 | Methods of forming a gate cap layer above a replacement gate structure |
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US14/928,681 Active 2032-08-10 US10199479B2 (en) | 2012-01-18 | 2015-10-30 | Methods of forming a gate cap layer above a replacement gate structure |
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Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
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TW201336079A (en) | 2013-09-01 |
CN103219368B (en) | 2017-04-12 |
CN103219368A (en) | 2013-07-24 |
TWI668868B (en) | 2019-08-11 |
US10199479B2 (en) | 2019-02-05 |
US20160056263A1 (en) | 2016-02-25 |
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