U.S. patent application number 15/380329 was filed with the patent office on 2018-06-21 for semiconductor structure having low-k spacer and method of manufacturing the same.
The applicant listed for this patent is TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY LTD.. Invention is credited to Victor Y. LU, Shiang-Bau WANG.
Application Number | 20180174846 15/380329 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 62562032 |
Filed Date | 2018-06-21 |
United States Patent
Application |
20180174846 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
WANG; Shiang-Bau ; et
al. |
June 21, 2018 |
SEMICONDUCTOR STRUCTURE HAVING LOW-K SPACER AND METHOD OF
MANUFACTURING THE SAME
Abstract
The present disclosure provides a semiconductor structure,
including a semiconductor fin, a metal gate over the semiconductor
fin, and a sidewall spacer composed of low-k dielectric surrounding
opposing sidewalls of the metal gate. A portion of the sidewall
spacer comprises a tapered profile with a greater separation of the
opposing sidewalls toward a top portion and a narrower separation
of the opposing sidewalls toward a bottom portion of the sidewall
spacer. The present disclosure also provides a method of
manufacturing a semiconductor device. The method includes forming a
polysilicon stripe over a semiconductor fin, forming a nitride
sidewall spacer surrounding a long side of the polysilicon stripe,
forming a raised source/drain region in the semiconductor fin, and
forming a carbonitride etch stop layer surrounding the nitride
sidewall spacer.
Inventors: |
WANG; Shiang-Bau; (Taoyuan
County, TW) ; LU; Victor Y.; (Foster City,
CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY LTD. |
Hsinchu |
|
TW |
|
|
Family ID: |
62562032 |
Appl. No.: |
15/380329 |
Filed: |
December 15, 2016 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01L 29/6656 20130101;
H01L 29/0847 20130101; H01L 29/66545 20130101; H01L 21/28114
20130101; H01L 29/66795 20130101; H01L 21/28079 20130101; H01L
21/28132 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H01L 21/28 20060101
H01L021/28; H01L 29/78 20060101 H01L029/78; H01L 29/66 20060101
H01L029/66; H01L 29/08 20060101 H01L029/08 |
Claims
1. (canceled)
2. (canceled)
3. (canceled)
4. (canceled)
5. (canceled)
6. (canceled)
7. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor structure,
comprising: patterning polysilicon stripes over a semiconductor
fin; forming a sidewall spacer on the polysilicon stripes; forming
an etch stop layer surrounding the sidewall spacer; forming a metal
gate trench by removing the polysilicon stripes; removing the
sidewall spacer; forming a low-k dielectric conformally in the
metal gate trench after removing the sidewall spacer, the low-k
dielectric having a dielectric constant below 3; and removing a
portion of the low-k dielectric at a bottom of the metal gate
trench.
8. (canceled)
9. The method of claim 7, further comprising: forming a gate oxide
before the formation of the polysilicon stripes; removing the gate
oxide after the removing the portion of the low-k dielectric at the
bottom of the metal gate trench.
10. The method of claim 7, further comprising: performing a
source/drain etch between the polysilicon stripes before the
forming of the etch stop layer.
11. The method of claim 7, further comprising: forming a lightly
doped region in the semiconductor fin by patterning a photoresist
over the semiconductor fin; and removing the photoresist by ashing
and fluoride-based wet cleaning.
12. The method of claim 7, wherein the removing the polysilicon
stripes comprising: performing a dry etch and followed by a wet
etch.
13. The method of claim 7, further comprising: filling gaps between
the polysilicon stripes with dielectric; and performing a chemical
mechanical polishing to expose a top surface of the polysilicon
stripes.
14. The method of claim 7, comprising using phosphoric acid to
remove the sidewall spacer.
15. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor structure,
comprising: forming a polysilicon stripe over a semiconductor fin;
forming a nitride sidewall spacer surrounding a long side of the
polysilicon stripe; forming a raised source/drain region in the
semiconductor fin, abutting the polysilicon stripe; and forming a
carbonitride etch stop layer surrounding the nitride sidewall
spacer; removing the nitride sidewall spacer until exposing a
sidewall of the carbonitride etch stop layer; and forming a low-k
dielectric in contact with the sidewall of the exposed carbonitride
etch stop layer.
16. The method of claim 15, further comprising: planarize the
polysilicon stripe by gap filling; and removing the polysilicon
stripe.
17. (canceled)
18. The method of claim 15, further comprising: removing a bottom
portion of the low-k dielectric by a dry etch, thereby forming a
tapered opening at a top portion of the low-k dielectric and a
footing in proximity to the bottom portion of the low-k
dielectric.
19. The method of claim 18, further comprising: forming a gate
oxide before the formation of the polysilicon stripe; and removing
the gate oxide after the removing the bottom portion of the low-k
dielectric.
20. The method of claim 15, further comprising: using the
polysilicon stripe and the nitride sidewall spacer as a hardmask to
form a lightly doped region in the semiconductor fin.
21. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor structure,
comprising: forming a polysilicon stripe over and orthogonal to a
semiconductor fin; forming a sidewall spacer of a first material
surrounding a long side of the polysilicon stripe; forming an etch
stop layer of a second material surrounding the sidewall spacer,
wherein the first material and the second material have different
etching rates with respect to an etchant; removing the sidewall
spacer until exposure of a sidewall of the etch stop layer; and
forming a comformal low-k dielectric in contact with the sidewall
of the exposed etch stop layer, the low-k dielectric having a
dielectric constant below 3.
22. The method of claim 21, further comprising: removing a bottom
portion of the low-k dielectric by a dry etch, thereby forming a
tapered opening at a top portion of the low-k dielectric and a
footing in proximity to the bottom portion of the low-k
dielectric.
23. The method of claim 22, further comprising: forming a gate
oxide before the formation of the polysilicon stripe; and removing
the gate oxide after the removing the bottom portion of the low-k
dielectric.
24. The method of claim 21, wherein the first material comprises
nitride and the second material comprises carbonitride.
25. The method of claim 21, wherein the etchant comprises
phosphoric acid.
26. The method of claim 21, further comprising removing the
polysilicon stripe before removing the sidewall spacer.
Description
FIELD
[0001] The present disclosure relates to the structure and
manufacturing method of a low-k spacer of a FinFET metal gate.
BACKGROUND
[0002] The semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) industry has
experienced rapid growth. Technological advances in IC materials
and design have produced generations of ICs where each generation
has smaller and more complex circuits than the previous generation.
However, these advances have increased the complexity of processing
and manufacturing ICs and, for these advances to be realized,
similar developments in IC processing and manufacturing are
needed.
[0003] Increasing precision in device manufacturing is required
because of the constantly increasing density of semiconductor
devices in integrated circuit manufacturing. The ability to control
the gate length in field effect transistors (FETs) is of
importance. Without the ability to shorten gate length, an increase
in density and circuit performance could not be accomplished. Also,
because of the reduced gate lengths, there is a need for an
improved process that reduces the junction capacitance between the
source/drain extension lateral overlap and the gate.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0004] Aspects of the present disclosure are best understood from
the following detailed description when read with the accompanying
figures. It is emphasized that, in accordance with the standard
practice in the industry, various features are not drawn to scale.
In fact, the dimensions of the various features may be arbitrarily
increased or reduced for clarity of discussion.
[0005] FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view of a semiconductor
structure, in accordance with some embodiments of the present
disclosure.
[0006] FIG. 2 is a regional enlarged cross sectional view of a
semiconductor structure, in accordance with some embodiments of the
present disclosure.
[0007] FIG. 3 is a manufacturing operation flow of a semiconductor
structure, in accordance with some embodiments of the present
disclosure.
[0008] FIG. 4A to FIG. 4M are fragmental cross sectional views of a
manufacturing operation flows of a semiconductor structure, in
accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0009] FIG. 5 is a manufacturing operation flow of a semiconductor
structure, in accordance with some embodiments of the present
disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0010] In the drawings, like reference numbers are used to
designate like or similar elements throughout the various views and
illustrative embodiments of the present invention are shown and
described. The figures are not necessarily drawn to scale, and in
some instances the drawings have been exaggerated and/or simplified
in places for illustrative purposes only. One of ordinary skill in
the art will appreciate the many possible applications and
variations of the present invention based on the following
illustrative embodiments of the present invention.
[0011] Further, spatially relative terms, such as "beneath,"
"below," "lower," "above," "upper" and the like, may be used herein
for ease of description to describe one element or feature's
relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in
the figures. The spatially relative terms are intended to encompass
different orientations of the device in use or operation in
addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. The apparatus
may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other
orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein
may likewise be interpreted accordingly.
[0012] Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameters
setting forth the broad scope of the disclosure are approximations,
the numerical values set forth in the specific examples are
reported as precisely as possible. Any numerical value, however,
inherently contains certain errors necessarily resulting from the
standard deviation found in the respective testing measurements.
Also, as used herein, the term "about" generally means within 10%,
5%, 1%, or 0.5% of a given value or range. Alternatively, the term
"about" means within an acceptable standard error of the mean when
considered by one of ordinary skill in the art. Other than in the
operating/working examples, or unless otherwise expressly
specified, all of the numerical ranges, amounts, values and
percentages such as those for quantities of materials, durations of
times, temperatures, operating conditions, ratios of amounts, and
the likes thereof disclosed herein should be understood as modified
in all instances by the term "about." Accordingly, unless indicated
to the contrary, the numerical parameters set forth in the present
disclosure and attached claims are approximations that can vary as
desired. At the very least, each numerical parameter should at
least be construed in light of the number of reported significant
digits and by applying ordinary rounding techniques. Ranges can be
expressed herein as from one endpoint to another endpoint or
between two endpoints. All ranges disclosed herein are inclusive of
the endpoints, unless specified otherwise.
[0013] A typical transistor generally includes a gate electrode
formed near a semiconductor substrate to control the flow of
current from a source to a drain of the transistor and metal
contacts which facilitate the flow of electrical current to and
from source and drain regions of the transistor. Sidewall spacers
formed proximate the gate electrode are used as implant blockers
and as well as to prevent the components of the transistor from
shorting during various stages of the manufacturing process of the
transistor. The sidewall spacers create an undesired capacitance
between the metal contacts and the gate electrode. Furthermore, as
the components of the transistor decrease in size, this capacitance
between the gate electrode and the contacts gets larger. This
gate-to-contact capacitance constitutes approximately ten to
fifteen percent of the overall capacitance of the transistor (or
the capacitance between the gate electrode and the drain or between
the gate electrode and the source). The higher the overall
capacitance, the greater the adverse effect on the operation of the
transistor. For example, the higher the overall capacitance, the
slower the switching speed of the transistor.
[0014] The low-k spacer presented herein could reduce junction
capacitance between the source/drain extension lateral overlap and
the gate because the low k spacer overlies the S/D extension (e.g.,
LDD). The low k spacer has a lower dielectric constant and thus RC
is lowered because Capacitance is lowered. This is important and a
benefit because the device has faster signal propagation and larger
drive current.
[0015] In addition, the manufacturing method of the low-k spacer
allows the low-k spacer in final product to be free from material
damages resulted in various implantation and photolithography
operations.
[0016] Implantation operations, such as lightly doped drain (LDD),
entail high energy ion bombardment to the substrate. Due to the
fact that the ion bombardment does not occur in perfectly vertical
direction, some of the ion bombardment trajectory would encounter
the low-k sidewall spacer, rendering a damaged surface of said
low-k sidewall spacer.
[0017] On the other hand, after the LDD implantation,
photolithography operations such as ashing and fluoride-containing
wet etching may be conducted to remove and descum photoresist used
as a soft mask in the previous implantation operation. The damaged
surface of low-k sidewall spacer can easily be oxidized in the
ashing operation and then structurally removed through the
fluoride-containing wet etching descum. For example, if the low-k
sidewall spacer is carbon-containing dielectric such as SiOCN, the
ashing operation can turns the reactants into CO.sub.2 and SiON.
Oxynitride could then be easily removed by the fluoride-containing
wet etchant, such as diluted hydrofluoride (DHF). Since the surface
of the low-k sidewall spacer is damaged and subsequently removed
through the implantation and photolithography operations, the
thickness of the low-k sidewall spacer changes substantially. The
change of sidewall spacer thickness, in other words, the change of
critical dimension of the gate, generates impacts on the following
source/drain recess formation. One of the major issues is that the
proximity of the source/drain recess formation could be different
from the one that designed according to the original sidewall
spacer thickness. Proximity of a regrown source/drain structure is
controlled by the critical dimension of the gate. Once the critical
dimension drifts along the manufacturing operations, the proximity
changes and deteriorates the production uniformity and device
performance.
[0018] Other manufacturing operations in a replacement gate FET
structure, such as the removal of polysilicon stripes and formation
of a metal gate trench, the aforesaid photolithography operation is
carried out to complete the removal operation. As previously
discussed, the ashing and wet cleaning sequences could influence
the thickness of the low-k sidewall spacer, rendering an impact on
the metal gate critical dimension control. Since different volume
of the metal is filled into the metal gate trench due to lack of
critical dimension control, the switching speed of the replacement
gate FET cannot be assured to meet the specification and achieve
desired performance uniformity.
[0019] Moreover, when the device size shrinks in a replacement gate
FET, the gate filling metal is inclined to generate voids due to
narrower trench opening and increased aspect ratio of the trench. A
wider trench opening is thus desired to overcome such gate filling
difficulties in reduced scale.
[0020] Present disclosure provides a semiconductor structure having
a low-k sidewall spacer. The critical dimension of the metal gate
of the semiconductor structure can be controlled by depositing a
dummy sidewall spacer that is resistant to the oxidizing (i.e.,
ashing) and wet cleaning (e.g., etchant that removes oxides)
operations, followed by a removal of said dummy sidewall spacer.
The low-k sidewall spacer is then deposited in the metal gate
trench and dry etched to remove a portion of the low-k sidewall
spacer at the bottom of the metal gate trench. A particular profile
of the low-k sidewall spacer can be observed in accordance with the
manufacturing operations disclosed in the present disclosure. For
example, a portion of the sidewall spacer includes a tapered
profile having a greater separation of the opposing sidewalls
toward a top portion of the sidewall spacer. In addition, the
tapered profile further includes a narrower separation of the
opposing sidewalls toward a bottom of the sidewall spacer. Such
particular profile of the low-k sidewall spacer could further
facilitate the gate metal filling capability because a top opening
of the metal gate trench is enlarged as a result of the dry etch
operation removing a portion of the low-k sidewall spacer at the
bottom of the metal gate trench.
[0021] The present disclosure also detailed the manufacturing
operations of the semiconductor structure having the low-k sidewall
spacer possessing the aforesaid effect.
[0022] In the present disclosure, a "low k" material means a
material with a dielectric constant below 3.0 (e.g., preferably
about 1.8 to 2.2) and a "high k" material means a material with a
dielectric constant of 3.0 or higher and more preferably of greater
than 5.0. In some embodiments, the low-k materials include carbon
atoms in a form of compound or dopant.
[0023] In the present disclosure, proximity is a measure of
distance from a tip of widest lateral separation of a source/drain
recess to an extension line of the sidewall spacer-gate electrode
interface at a same horizontal level.
[0024] Referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view of a
semiconductor structure 10, in accordance with some embodiments of
the present disclosure. The semiconductor structure 10 includes a
semiconductor fin 100, or a protruded stripe over a semiconductor
substrate (not shown). The protruded stripe, or the semiconductor
fin 100, includes a long side and a short side perpendicular to the
long side. In FIG. 1, a long side L of the semiconductor fin 100 is
illustrated. In some embodiments, the semiconductor fin 100 is
formed by photolithography processes, including forming a
photoresist layer (resist) overlying the substrate, exposing the
resist to a pattern, performing post-exposure bake processes, and
developing the resist to form a masking element including the
resist. The masking element is then used to etch recesses into the
substrate, leaving the substrate protrusions. The recesses forming
substrate protrusions may be etched using reactive ion etch (RIE)
and/or other suitable processes. Alternatively, the protrusions may
be formed by double-patterning lithography (DPL) process. DPL
allows for enhanced feature (e.g., fin) density. Various DPL
methodologies may be used, including double exposure (e.g., using
two mask sets), forming spacers adjacent features and removing the
features to provide a pattern of spacers, resist freezing, and/or
other suitable processes. After the substrate protrusions are
formed, silicon dioxide or other suitable dielectric is deposited
and etched to form the shallow trench isolation (STI) that surround
and isolate the substrate protrusions. This may be accomplished by
any suitable process, which may include dry etching, wet etching,
and a chemical vapor deposition process.
[0025] In FIG. 1, a metal gate 101A of a first conductivity type is
over the top right of the long side of the semiconductor fin 100,
and a metal gate 101B of a second conductivity type is over the top
left of the long side of the semiconductor fin 100. The following
description is directed to the metal gate 101A of the first
conductivity type. However, people having ordinary skill in the art
could appreciate that the same description could also be applied to
the metal gate 101B of the second conductivity type. A sidewall
spacer 103 is laterally surrounding the metal gate 101A. In more
detail, the sidewall spacer 103 is surrounding the gate electrode
portion of the metal gate 101A. The gate electrode may be composed
of any appropriate conducting material, such as polycrystalline
silicon or metal such as aluminum and tungsten. In some
embodiments, the sidewall spacer 103 is composed of low-k
dielectric.
[0026] The profile of the low-k sidewall spacer 103 surrounding the
metal gate 101A is further described below and enlarged in FIG. 2.
The low-k sidewall spacer 103 is illustrated to have a tapered
profile. The tapering feature can be observed in a top portion 103A
of the low-k sidewall spacer. As shown in FIG. 2, in the top
portion 103A of the low-k sidewall spacer, a separation S1 between
the opposing sidewalls of the sidewall spacer is greater than a
separation S1' between the opposing sidewalls of the sidewall
spacer. The top portion 103A of the low-k sidewall spacer 103
refers to the region closer to the top or the opening of the metal
gate 101A. Moreover, in the bottom portion 103B of the low-k
sidewall spacer, a separation S2 between the opposing sidewalls of
the sidewall spacer is greater than a separation S2' between the
opposing sidewalls of the sidewall spacer. The bottom portion 103B
of the low-k sidewall spacer 103 refers to the region closer to the
bottom of the metal gate 101A or closer to the semiconductor fin
100.
[0027] The tapering feature of the low-k sidewall spacer 103 can
also be described as a separation S1 between the opposing sidewalls
of the sidewall spacer is greater than separations S2 or S2'
between the opposing sidewalls of the sidewall spacer, a separation
S1' between the opposing sidewalls of the sidewall spacer is
greater than separations S2 or S2' between the opposing sidewalls
of the sidewall spacer. In a more visual perspective, a trumpet
shape can be observed in proximity to the top portion 103A of the
sidewall spacer 103, whereas a footing can be observed in proximity
to the bottom portion 103B of the sidewall spacer 103.
[0028] Further illustrated in FIG. 2, the profiles of a trumpet
shape and a footing is further discussed. In the top portion 103A,
the sidewall spacer 103 possesses a convex boundary 201 interfacing
with the gate electrode 200. Such convex boundary 201 is a
geometrical feature of the trumpet shape described herein. In the
bottom portion 103B, the sidewall spacer 103 possesses a concave
boundary 202 interfacing with the gate electrode 200. Such concave
boundary 202 is a geometrical feature of the footing described
herein. The gate electrode are composed of conductive materials
including work function metal layer, TiN/TaN layer, conductive
metal such as Al, Cu, W, Ti, or the combinations thereof.
[0029] Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the sidewall spacer 103 is
further surrounded by an etch stop layer 105 and interlayer
dielectric 107. In some embodiments, the etch stop layer 105 is
composed of materials different from those constituting the
sidewall spacer 103. For example, materials of the etch stop layer
105 is not low-k dielectric whereas sidewall spacer 103 is composed
of low-k dielectric. For another example, materials of the etch
stop layer 105 does not contain carbon atoms whereas sidewall
spacer 103 contains carbon atoms. In some embodiments, the etch
stop layer 105 and the sidewall spacer 103 may composed of same
materials. However, in order to decrease the capacitance between
the gate electrode and the drain or between the gate electrode and
the source, all the dielectric material disposed in-between can be
low-k materials.
[0030] Referring to FIG. 3, FIG. 3 is a manufacturing operation
flow 30 of a semiconductor structure, in accordance with some
embodiments of the present disclosure. The manufacturing operation
flow 30 is a high-level flowchart showing the operations that are
to be described below in association with FIGS. 4A to 4M.
[0031] Operation 301 and FIG. 4A begin with the formation of a
semiconductor fin 100 protruding from a semiconductor substrate
(not shown) and the formation of dummy polysilicon stripes 400 over
the semiconductor fin 100. Semiconductor substrate comprises wafer,
which is formed from a single crystalline silicon material.
Semiconductor substrate may comprise other suitable materials or
layers without departing from the scope of the present invention.
For example, semiconductor substrate may include an epitaxial
layer, a recrystallized semiconductor material, a polycrystalline
semiconductor material or any other suitable semiconductor
material. Semiconductor substrate may alternatively include other
elementary semiconductors such as germanium, or include a compound
semiconductor such as silicon carbide, gallium arsenide, indium
arsenide, and indium phosphide. Alternatively, the semiconductor
substrate may be a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate. In such a
case, the SOI substrate may be fabricated using separation by
implantation of oxygen (SIMOX), wafer bonding, and/or other
suitable methods.
[0032] Semiconductor fin 100 extends upwardly from the
semiconductor substrate and form portions of NMOS FinFET and PMOS
FinFET, respectively. Shallow trench isolation (STI) regions (not
shown) surround the bottom portions of the semiconductor fin 100
and prevent electrical interference or crosstalk. The STI regions
are composed of silicon oxide. Alternatively, they could be silicon
nitride, silicon oxynitride, other suitable materials, and/or
combinations thereof. It is understood that although two fin
structures are illustrated, additional parallel fins may be formed
from the semiconductor substrate in a similar manner.
[0033] Before the forming and the patterning of the dummy
polysilicon stripes 400, a high-k dielectric layer 401 with a
thickness in the range of about 1 to 200 Angstrom is formed over
the semiconductor fin 100. The dielectric layer 401 is composed of
a high-k dielectric material, HfO.sub.x, and is deposited using
chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The high-k material of dielectric
layer 401 is deposited on all portions of the semiconductor fin
100, including the top and side portions. Alternately, dielectric
layer 401 could be formed of HfO.sub.2, HfSiO, HfSiON, HfTaO,
HfIiO, HfZrO, AlO, ZrO, TiO, Ta.sub.2O.sub.5, Y.sub.2O.sub.3,
SrTiO.sub.3 (STO), BaTiO.sub.3 (BTO), BaZrO, HfLaO, HfSiO, LaSiO,
AISiO, (Ba, Sr)TiO.sub.3 (BST), Al.sub.2O.sub.3, Si.sub.3N.sub.4,
oxynitrides, other suitable high-k dielectric materials, and/or
combinations thereof. Next, a barrier layer (not shown) of TiN is
deposited by CVD over the dielectric layer 401 to a thickness in a
range of about 5 to 1000 Angstrom. A polysilicon layer is then
formed by CVD over the barrier layer. The polysilicon layer is
deposited to a thickness in a range of about 50 to 200 Angstrom.
The polysilicon layer may each alternatively be formed using any
other suitable process, such as physical vapor deposition (PVD),
atomic layer deposition (ALD), high density plasma CVD (HDPCVD),
metal organic CVD (MOCVD), remote plasma CVD (RPCVD), plasma
enhanced CVD (PECVD), plating, other suitable methods, and/or
combinations thereof. Also, a photoresist layer is deposited over
the polysilicon layer and patterned in a known manner to leave
polysilicon stripes 400 over the semiconductor fin 100.
[0034] Operation 302 and FIG. 4B illustrate the formation of a
sidewall spacer 405 surrounding the semiconductor stripes 400. In
some embodiments, a hardmask layer 403 is formed over the top
surface of the semiconductor stripes 400, followed by the formation
of the sidewall spacer 405. In some embodiments, the sidewall
spacer 405 is a dummy sidewall spacer that is to be removed in
subsequent operations. The dummy sidewall spacer 405 formed in the
present operation is resistant to photolithography operations such
as ashing and fluoride-containing wet etching. For example, the
dummy sidewall spacer 405 does not include low-k materials or
carbon-containing dielectric. In some embodiments, the dummy
sidewall spacer 405 is composed of nitride materials such as
silicon nitride or the like. In some embodiments, dummy sidewall
spacer 405 may be composed of materials other than nitrides, as
long as the materials possess a sufficient etch selectivity with
respect to the etch stop layer later described in FIG. 4F.
[0035] Operation 303 and FIGS. 4C, 4D illustrate a lightly doped
region or so called lightly doped drain (LDD) formation by applying
an ion implantation 410. After photoresist patterning, the exposed
region (or the LDD-to-be region) of the semiconductor fin 100
receives high energy ion implantation. In some embodiments, the
polysilicon stripes 400 and the dummy sidewall spacer 405
surrounding the polysilicon stripes 400 can be the hardmask of the
LDD implantation operation so as to define the channel length of
the transistor. N-type or P-type dopants are implanted into the
designated region of the fin structure 100 to form LDD regions 410'
abutting the bottom corner of the polysilicon stripes 400. During
the ion implantation, high energy beams bombard not only the
exposed semiconductor fin 100 but also the dummy sidewall spacer
405 previously formed and causing a damaged surface of such dummy
sidewall spacer 405.
[0036] The photoresist removal upon the completion of the LDD
formation entails an oxidation operation (e.g., ashing) and a
descum operation (e.g., fluoride-containing wet etching). Since the
dummy sidewall spacer 405 is resistant to the ashing and the
fluoride-containing wet etching operations, the thickness of the
dummy sidewall spacer 405 is not changed after the ashing and the
fluoride-containing wet etching operations. Alternatively stated,
the critical dimension of the gate structure is maintained as
originally designed irrespective of the impact of the ion
implantation operation, the ashing operation, and the
fluoride-containing wet etching operation.
[0037] Operation 304 and FIG. 4E illustrate the formation of raised
source and raised drain regions between adjacent polysilicon
stripes 400. The raised source and raised drain regions are formed
with first removing a portion of the semiconductor fin 100 and then
epitaxially regrow the semiconductor materials into a trench 109'
resulted from the removal operation. In some embodiments, the
source and drain regions each include portions of the epitaxial Si
growths that extend above the STI regions, and portions of
semiconductor fin 100. These source and drain regions are doped
regions having a dopant implanted therein that is appropriate for
the design requirements of the FinFET. In a case which the
semiconductor fin 100 is part of an NMOS device, source and drain
regions are doped with an n-type dopant such as phosphorus or
arsenic, or combinations thereof. In a case which the semiconductor
fin 100 is part of a PMOS device so source and drain regions are
doped with a p-type dopant such as boron or BF.sub.2 or
combinations thereof.
[0038] The proximity P of the trench 109' is in line with the
original designed value as a result of the consistency of the
critical dimension of the gate structure. Using the oxygen- and
acid-resistant materials as sidewall spacer 405', exposure of the
semiconductor fin 100 between the sidewall spacer 405' of adjacent
semiconductor stripes 400 is substantially the same before and
after the ashing and descum operations. The proximity P of the
trench 109' would further affect the volume and location of the
regrown semiconductor materials and the performance of the
transistor device.
[0039] In some embodiments, epitaxial silicon is grown on
semiconductor fin 100 on opposite sides of the gate structure. The
epitaxial growth processes include CVD deposition techniques (e.g.,
vapor-phase epitaxy (VPE) and/or ultra-high vacuum CVD (UHV-CVD)),
molecular beam epitaxy, and/or other suitable processes. The
epitaxial process may further use gaseous and/or liquid precursors,
which interact with the composition of the semiconductor fin 100
(e.g., silicon). The channel region is disposed between epitaxial
growths and, as the epitaxial Si is grown, tensile strain is
induced in the channel region due to lattice mismatch.
Alternatively, carbon-containing epitaxial silicon (Si:C) may be
grown instead of epitaxial silicon. The semiconductor fin 100 and
newly-formed epitaxial silicon are then doped with n-type dopants,
such as phosphorous or arsenic, to form the source and drain
regions 109 as far as an NMOS FinFET is concerned. Next, epitaxial
growth is employed to form epitaxial silicon germanium in the
trench 109' in semiconductor fin 100. The channel region is
disposed between the trenches 109' and, as the epitaxial SiGe is
grown in the trench 109', compression strain is induced in the
channel region due to lattice mismatch. The epitaxial SiGe are then
doped with p-type dopants, such as boron, to form source and drain
regions 109 as far as a PMOS FinFET is concerned. Optionally, other
source and drain regions 109, such as lightly doped drain (LDD) as
previously discussed and/or highly doped drain (HDD) regions, may
be formed in the semiconductor fin 100 prior to forming the source
and drain regions 109. Additionally, during this stage of
processing, hard mask layers 403 are formed on top of the
polysilicon stripes 400. The hard mask layer 403 can be silicon
nitride in the present embodiment but alternatively may be silicon
oxynitride, silicon carbide, or other suitable material.
[0040] Operation 305 and FIGS. 4F, 4G illustrate the formation of
an etch stop layer 105' surrounding the dummy sidewall spacer 405.
The etch stop layer 105' is conformally deposited over the dummy
sidewall spacer 405, the top of the source and drain regions 109,
and the hardmask layer 403. In some embodiments, the etch stop
layer 105' is formed by atomic layer deposition (ALD) for better
thickness control. In the case where the dummy sidewall spacer 405
is composed of nitride materials, the etch stop layer 105' is
composed of carbonitride. However, the materials for the dummy
sidewall spacer 405 and the etch stop layer 105' are not limited
thereto. The aforesaid materials can be determined as long as the
etching selectivity between the dummy sidewall spacer 405 and the
etch stop layer 105' is greater than 10. Alternatively, in the case
where the etch stop layer 105' is composed of nitride materials,
the dummy sidewall spacer 405 can be selected from the materials
which possess an etching selectivity 10 times greater than the
nitride materials.
[0041] An interlayer (or inter-level) dielectric (ILD) 107 is next
formed over the semiconductor device, including polysilicon stripes
400 and semiconductor fin 100. The ILD 107 is composed of a
dielectric such as silicon oxide or doped silicon oxide. Subsequent
to the deposition of the ILD 107, a chemical mechanical polishing
(CMP) process is performed, as shown in FIG. 4G, until a top
surface of polysilicon stripes 400 is exposed.
[0042] Operation 306 and FIG. 4H illustrate the removal of
polysilicon stripes 400 and the formation of gate trench 400'. In
some embodiments, a gate replacement process is performed, wherein
the polysilicon stripes 400 are removed and replaced with a metal
gate electrode. A photoresist layer protects the gate structure
during this removal of the dummy polysilicon stripes 400. The dummy
polysilicon stripes 400 may be removed from the gate structure
simultaneously or independently by any suitable process, such as a
dry etching and/or wet etching process. After etching away the
polysilicon stripes 400, the photoresist is removed and descum
operation may be applied. Subsequently, the gate trench 400' is
formed, exposing the low-k sidewall spacer 405 and the high-k
dielectric 401 at the sidewall and the bottom of the gate trench
400', respectively.
[0043] Operation 307 and FIG. 4I illustrate the removal of the
dummy sidewall spacer 405 until the exposure of the etch stop layer
105. In a case where the low-k sidewall spacer 405 is composed of
nitride materials, the etch stop layer 105 can be composed of
carbonitride materials or oxide materials. In some embodiments, wet
etchant containing phosphoric acid is applied to remove the nitride
materials at a rate greater than that to the carbonitride
materials. In this connection, the low-k sidewall spacer 405 is
removed without affecting the thickness of the etch stop layer 105.
For example, The structural integrity of the etch stop layer 105
after the removal of the low-k sidewall spacer 405 is to maintain
the critical dimension of the gate structure in order to achieve
the desired device performance.
[0044] Operation 308 and FIG. 4J illustrate the formation of low-k
sidewall spacer 103' over the gate trench 400', including the
sidewall and the bottom of the gate trench 400', as well as the top
of the etch stop layer 105 and the ILD 107. Low-k sidewall spacer
103' is conformally formed over the sidewalls and bottom of the
gate trench 400' and in contact with the exposed etch stop layer
105 at least at the sidewall of the gate trench 400'. Low-k
sidewall spacer 103' may be formed by any of a variety of
techniques well known to those skilled in the art. In the
illustrated embodiment, Low-k sidewall spacer 103' is formed by
depositing carbon-containing low-k material, for example, SiOCN,
upon underlying semiconductor structure. As stated above, low-k
sidewall spacer 103' include a material with a dielectric
coefficient k value less than the k value of silicon dioxide (i.e.,
less than approximately 4.2), such as HSQ, FSG or parylene. The low
dielectric coefficient k value of low-k sidewall spacer 103'
reduces the capacitance between gate electrode (not shown) and
subsequently formed contacts over the source/drain regions. Since
the capacitance between gate electrode and contacts is
approximately ten to fifteen percent of the overall capacitance
(gate-to-drain or gate-to-source capacitance) of a transistor, this
reduction results in a reduction of the overall capacitance of
transistor. This reduction in effect increases the switching speed
and efficiency of transistor.
[0045] Operation 309 and FIG. 4K illustrate the partial removal of
the low-k sidewall spacer 103 so as to form a low-k sidewall spacer
103 having a tapered feature at the sidewall of the gate trench as
previously discussed. The deposited low-k sidewall spacer 103' is
dry etched to remove the horizontal portion thereof, leaving behind
the vertical portion in contact with the etch stop layer 105. The
dry etch operation leaving a trace of tapering feature in the
remaining low-k sidewall spacer 103. For example, a portion of the
low-k sidewall spacer 103 includes a tapered profile having a
greater separation of the opposing sidewalls toward a top portion
of the low-k sidewall spacer 103. In addition, the tapered profile
further includes a narrower separation of the opposing sidewalls
toward a bottom of the low-k sidewall spacer 103. Such particular
profile of the low-k sidewall spacer 103 could further facilitate
the gate metal filling capability because a tapered opening 103C of
the metal gate trench 400' is enlarged as a result of the dry etch
operation removing a portion of the low-k sidewall spacer at the
bottom of the metal gate trench. The resulting low-k sidewall
spacer 103 may simultaneously possesses a profile of a trumpet
shape and a footing. The trumpet shape includes a convex feature
with respect to the subsequently-filled gate metal, whereas the
footing includes a concave feature with respect to the same.
Detailed structure of the low-k sidewall spacer 103 after the dry
etch operation can be referred to the illustration and the
discussion of FIG. 2.
[0046] FIG. 4L and FIG. 4M illustrate the gate filling operation
being applied upon the tapered opening 103C provided by the low-k
sidewall spacer 103. The gate filling metal 50' is then planarized
to become substantially coplanar with the top surface of the ILD
107. Filling the gate trench 400' includes depositing a work
function layer and a fill metal layer, to thereby form the final
gate structure. Specifically, filling the tapered opening 103C
includes depositing the work function layer on the sides of the
low-k sidewall spacer 103 and depositing the gate filling metal 50'
in the remainder of the tapered opening 103C. In the present
embodiment, the work function layer 68 is formed by the deposition
of p-type work function metal (P-metal) such as TiN to a thickness
in a range of about 10 Angstrom to 200 Angstrom. The gate filling
metal 50' is formed by the deposition of aluminum or other
conductive metal such as copper, tungsten, or titanium.
Alternatively, the work function layer may include other materials
such as Ru, Mo, Al, WN, or combinations thereof. Further, the work
function metal may alternatively be a multi-metal layer structure
with a sufficiently high effective work function (EWF) value for
proper PMOS device performance. For example, the work function
metal may include both a TiN layer and a TaN layer. Alternatively,
the tapered opening 103C may be filled with only the gate filling
metal 50', and the gate structure may be tuned to have an
appropriate work function value in other known ways. Alternatively,
the gate filling metal 50' may include copper, tungsten, titanium,
other suitable materials, and/or combinations thereof. Subsequent
to the formation of the gate structure, a CMP process is performed
to planarize the top portions of the gate filling metal 50' and the
ILD layer 107. FIG. 4M shows the planarized gate filling metal 50
being coplanar with the etch stop layer 105 and the ILD layer
107.
[0047] It is understood that the semiconductor device 10 will
undergo further processing to complete fabrication. For example, a
not-illustrated multilayer interconnection (MLI) including metal
layers (e.g., M1, M2, etc.) and inter-metal dielectric (IMD) will
be formed above semiconductor fin 100 and gate structures in order
to electrically couple various device parts to form an integrated
circuit. The multilayer interconnection includes vertical
interconnects, such as conventional vias or contacts, and
horizontal interconnects, such as metal lines. The various
interconnection features may utilize various conductive materials
including copper, tungsten and silicide. In one example, a
damascene process is used to form copper multilayer interconnection
structure.
[0048] Referring to FIG. 5, FIG. 5 is a manufacturing operation
flow 50 of a semiconductor structure, in accordance with some
embodiments of the present disclosure. The difference between the
manufacturing operation flow 30 and the manufacturing operation
flow 50 is that manufacturing operation flow 50 further illustrates
two timings for non-I/O region oxide removal. The non-/YO region
oxide removal 507A, 509A can optionally follow operation 507 or
operation 509, respectively. Although other methods may be used,
I/O region oxide is typically grown by oxidation in oxygen. Other
oxygen compounds such as N.sub.2O and NO may be used. One exemplary
I/O region oxide is silicon dioxide. I/O region oxide is generally
slightly thinner than high voltage (HV) oxide layer, having a
thickness between 4 and 8 nm. HV oxide layer is naturally thickened
during the growth of I/O region oxide.
[0049] In some embodiments where the non-I/O region oxide is
removed right after operation 507, the formation of low-k sidewall
spacer 508 is deposited directly on the semiconductor fin 100
instead of the I/O oxide. In other embodiments where the non-I/O
region oxide is removed right after operation 509 in the non-I/O
region, the formation of low-k sidewall spacer 508 were to be
deposited directly on the I/O oxide and the subsequent removal of
the bottom of the low-k sidewall spacer 508 would involve the
exposure of the underlying I/O oxide and subsequently the removal
of the I/O oxide. On the other hand, in the I/O region, the 1/O
region oxide is exposed subsequent to the removal of the bottom of
the low-k sidewall spacer 509. A suitable annealing operation can
be optionally applied to recover some of the damage made to the I/O
region oxide during the operation 509, if any.
[0050] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a
semiconductor structure, including a semiconductor fin, a metal
gate over the semiconductor fin, and a sidewall spacer composed of
low-k dielectric surrounding opposing sidewalls of the metal gate.
A portion of the sidewall spacer includes a tapered profile with a
greater separation of the opposing sidewalls toward a top portion
and a narrower separation of the opposing sidewalls toward a bottom
portion of the sidewall spacer.
[0051] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method
of manufacturing a semiconductor device. The method includes
patterning polysilicon stripes over a semiconductor fin, forming a
sidewall spacer of the polysilicon stripes, the sidewall spacer
comprising a first material, forming a lightly doped region in the
semiconductor fin; forming an etch stop layer surrounding the
sidewall spacer, wherein the etch stop layer includes a second
material, forming a metal gate trench by removing the polysilicon
stripes, and removing the sidewall spacer by using an etchant
having a greater selectivity to the first material than to the
second material.
[0052] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method
of manufacturing a semiconductor device. The method includes
forming a polysilicon stripe over a semiconductor fin, forming a
nitride sidewall spacer surrounding a long side of the polysilicon
stripe, forming a raised source/drain region in the semiconductor
fin, the raised source/drain abutting the polysilicon stripe, and
forming a carbonitride etch stop layer surrounding the nitride
sidewall spacer.
[0053] Although the present invention and its advantages have been
described in detail, it should be understood that various changes,
substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing
from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the
appended claims. For example, many of the processes discussed above
cancan be implemented in different methodologies and replaced by
other processes, or a combination thereof.
[0054] Moreover, the scope of the present application is not
intended to be limited to the particular embodiments of the
process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, means,
methods and steps described in the specification. As one of
ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate from the
disclosure of the present invention, processes, machines,
manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps,
presently existing or later to be developed, that perform
substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same
result as the corresponding embodiments described herein may be
utilized according to the present invention. Accordingly, the
appended claims are intended to include within their scope such
processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means,
methods, or steps.
* * * * *