Patent Application
20240224508
Embodiments of the disclosure are in the field of integrated circuit structures and processing and, in particular, integrated circuit structures having bit-cost scaling with relaxed transistor area.
For the past several decades, the scaling of features in integrated circuits has been a driving force behind an ever-growing semiconductor industry. Scaling to smaller and smaller features enables increased densities of functional units on the limited real estate of semiconductor chips. For example, shrinking transistor size allows for the incorporation of an increased number of memory or logic devices on a chip, lending to the fabrication of products with increased capacity. The drive for ever-more capacity, however, is not without issue. The necessity to optimize the performance of each device becomes increasingly significant.
In the manufacture of integrated circuit devices, multi-gate transistors, such as tri-gate transistors, have become more prevalent as device dimensions continue to scale down. In conventional processes, tri-gate transistors are generally fabricated on either bulk silicon substrates or silicon-on-insulator substrates. In some instances, bulk silicon substrates are preferred due to their lower cost and because they enable a less complicated tri-gate fabrication process. In another aspect, maintaining mobility improvement and short channel control as microelectronic device dimensions scale below the 10 nanometer (nm) node provides a challenge in device fabrication. Nanowires used to fabricate devices provide improved short channel control.
Scaling multi-gate and nanowire transistors has not been without consequence, however. As the dimensions of these fundamental building blocks of microelectronic circuitry are reduced and as the sheer number of fundamental building blocks fabricated in a given region is increased, the constraints on the lithographic processes used to pattern these building blocks have become overwhelming. In particular, there may be a trade-off between the smallest dimension of a feature patterned in a semiconductor stack (the critical dimension) and the spacing between such features.
Another aspect driving innovation is the drive for high bandwidth (HBW) computing.
Integrated circuit structures having bit-cost scaling with relaxed transistor area are described. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth, such as specific integration and material regimes, in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that embodiments of the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known features, such as integrated circuit design layouts, are not described in detail in order to not unnecessarily obscure embodiments of the present disclosure. Furthermore, it is to be appreciated that the various embodiments shown in the Figures are illustrative representations and are not necessarily drawn to scale.
Certain terminology may also be used in the following description for the purpose of reference only, and thus are not intended to be limiting. For example, terms such as “upper”, “lower”, “above”, and “below” refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made. Terms such as “front”, “back”, “rear”, and “side” describe the orientation and/or location of portions of the component within a consistent but arbitrary frame of reference which is made clear by reference to the text and the associated drawings describing the component under discussion. Such terminology may include the words specifically mentioned above, derivatives thereof, and words of similar import.
Embodiments described herein may be directed to front-end-of-line (FEOL) semiconductor processing and structures. FEOL is the first portion of integrated circuit (IC) fabrication where the individual devices (e.g., transistors, capacitors, resistors, etc.) are patterned in the semiconductor substrate or layer. FEOL generally covers everything up to (but not including) the deposition of metal interconnect layers. Following the last FEOL operation, the result is typically a wafer with isolated transistors (e.g., without any wires).
Embodiments described herein may be directed to back-end-of-line (BEOL) semiconductor processing and structures. BEOL is the second portion of IC fabrication where the individual devices (e.g., transistors, capacitors, resistors, etc.) are interconnected with wiring on the wafer, e.g., the metallization layer or layers. BEOL includes contacts, insulating layers (dielectrics), metal levels, and bonding sites for chip-to-package connections. In the BEOL part of the fabrication stage contacts (pads), interconnect wires, vias and dielectric structures are formed. For modern IC processes, more than 10 metal layers may be added in the BEOL.
Embodiments described below may be applicable to FEOL processing and structures, BEOL processing and structures, or both FEOL and BEOL processing and structures. In particular, although an exemplary processing scheme may be illustrated using a FEOL processing scenario, such approaches may also be applicable to BEOL processing. Likewise, although an exemplary processing scheme may be illustrated using a BEOL processing scenario, such approaches may also be applicable to FEOL processing.
One or more embodiments described herein are directed to bit-cost scaling with relaxed transistor area. One or more embodiments described herein are directed to integrated circuit structures having staggered or angled capacitor arrangements over an underlying planar transistor. One or more embodiments described herein are directed to integrated circuit structures having staggered or angled capacitor arrangements over a fin-based transistor. One or more embodiments described herein are directed to integrated circuit structures having staggered or angled capacitor arrangements over a nanowire-based transistor. It is to be appreciated that, unless indicated otherwise, reference to nanowires herein can indicate nanowires or nanoribbons or even nanosheets.
In an embodiment, structures described herein are suitable for use as high bandwidth (HBW) devices which may be operated at a low temperature, e.g., in a range of −77 degrees Celsius to 0 degrees Celsius. In one embodiment, a heat regulator/refrigeration device is coupled to a common board having a device with structures such as those described herein coupled thereto. In one embodiment, a heat regulator device and/or refrigeration device is included on a processing device having structures such as those described herein. In an embodiment, structures described herein enable a zetta-unit of compute (Zuoc), e.g., to enable operation at low temperature, etc.
To provide context, for state-of the-art memory, the implementation of individual access transistors implies that capacitor scaling and transistor scaling are dependent on one another. In such architectures, one cannot leverage hybrid manufacturing and bit cost reduction, i.e., transistor scaling versus capacitor scaling.
In accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, multiple capacitor lines are connected with an independent plate line (PL) connection. In an embodiment, an associated underlying transistor can be reversed scaled (e.g., “relaxed”) to provide reduced cost. In an embodiment, the capacitor pattern is staggered over the associated transistor, an example of which is described below in association with
As a first exemplary structure,
Referring to
Referring again to
In an embodiment, the transistor (including 106s and 107) is a planar transistor. In another embodiment, the transistor is a fin-based transistor. In another embodiment, the transistor is a nanowire-based (or nanoribbon-based or nanosheet-based) transistor.
As a second exemplary structure,
Referring to
A plurality of capacitor structures is coupled to the plurality of stacks of plate lines. The plurality of capacitor structures includes a first capacitor structure 124A coupled to the first vertical stack of plate lines 134, a second capacitor structure 124B inset from the first capacitor structure 124A and coupled to the second vertical stack of plate lines 136, and a third capacitor structure 124C inset from the second capacitor structure 124B and coupled to the third vertical stack of plate lines 138. The arrangement can be referred to as an angled arrangement.
Referring again to
In an embodiment, the transistor 112 is a planar transistor, as is depicted. In another embodiment, the transistor 112 is a fin-based transistor. In another embodiment, the transistor 112 is a nanowire-based (or nanoribbon-based or nanosheet-based) transistor.
As an exemplary circuit layout,
Referring to
Referring to
As another exemplary circuit layout,
Referring to
It is to be appreciated that the integrated circuit structure can be formed above a substrate (not shown), such as a silicon substrate. In one such embodiment, the substrate is retained in the final structure. In another such embodiment, the substrate is removed from the final structure, e.g., to facilitate backside contact formation.
In another aspect, it is to be appreciated that the structures described in association with
Traditionally, power is delivered from a front side interconnect. At standard cell level, power can be delivered right on top of transistors or from a top and bottom cell boundary. Power delivered from a top and bottom cell boundary enables relatively shorter standard cell height with slightly higher power network resistance. However, a front side power network shares interconnect stack with signal routing and reduces signal routing tracks. In addition, for high performance design, top and bottom cell boundary power metal wires must be wide enough to reduce power network resistance and improve performance. This normally results in a cell height increase. In accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, delivering power from a wafer or substrate backside can be implemented to solve area and performance problems. At the cell level, wider metal 0 power at the top and bottom cell boundary may no longer be needed and, hence, cell height can be reduced. In addition, power network resistance can be significantly reduced resulting in performance improvement. At block and chip level, front side signal routing tracks are increased due to removed power routing and power network resistance is significantly reduced due to very wide wires, large vias and reduced interconnect layers.
In earlier technologies, a power delivery network from bump to the transistor required significant block resources. Such resource usage on the metal stack expressed itself in some process nodes as Standard Cell architectures with layout versioning or cell placement restrictions in the block level. In an embodiment, eliminating the power delivery network from the front side metal stack allows free sliding cell placement in the block without power delivery complications and placement related delay timing variation.
As a comparison,
Referring to
Referring again to
To provide further context, one of the ultimate goals in Standard Cell design is to minimize the impact of the power delivery to the signal routing in terms of area, while maintaining a robust power delivery scheme which would have minimum voltage drop from the supply. With front side power delivery, commercialized Standard Cell architectures had to allocate routing tracks for power and ground from the top of the front side stack to the first metal routing layer, M0. This approach would exploit metal routing tracks. That means tighter metal pitches are required to deliver power while routing signals. Tighter metal pitches cause higher cap and resistance resulting in higher power consumption. Furthermore, due to the resistance greater voltage drop occurs from the top of the stack to the transistor source.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, conductive deep via structures are used between a front-side structure and a backside structure, and are fabricated prior to performing epitaxial source or drain formation. To provide context, via structures that extend beneath source or drain structures may be referred to as deep via structures. Embodiments described herein may be directed to deep via formation prior to epitaxial source or drain growth. Embodiments described herein may be directed to back-side power solution for scaled sell sizes.
It is to be appreciated that, as used throughout the disclosure, a sub-fin, a nanowire, a nanoribbon, or a fin described herein may be a silicon sub-fin, a silicon nanowire, a silicon nanoribbon, or a silicon fin. As used throughout, a silicon layer or structure may be used to describe a silicon material composed of a very substantial amount of, if not all, silicon. However, it is to be appreciated that, practically, 100% pure Si may be difficult to form and, hence, could include a tiny percentage of carbon, germanium or tin. Such impurities may be included as an unavoidable impurity or component during deposition of Si or may “contaminate” the Si upon diffusion during post deposition processing. As such, embodiments described herein directed to a silicon layer or structure may include a silicon layer or structure that contains a relatively small amount, e.g., “impurity” level, non-Si atoms or species, such as Ge, C or Sn. It is to be appreciated that a silicon layer or structure as described herein may be undoped or may be doped with dopant atoms such as boron, phosphorous or arsenic.
It is to be appreciated that, as used throughout the disclosure, a sub-fin, a nanowire, a nanoribbon, or a fin described herein may be a silicon germanium sub-fin, a silicon germanium nanowire, a silicon germanium nanoribbon, or a silicon germanium fin. As used throughout, a silicon germanium layer or structure may be used to describe a silicon germanium material composed of substantial portions of both silicon and germanium, such as at least 5% of both. In some embodiments, the amount of germanium is greater than the amount of silicon. In particular embodiments, a silicon germanium layer or structure includes approximately 60% germanium and approximately 40% silicon (Si40Ge60). In other embodiments, the amount of silicon is greater than the amount of germanium. In particular embodiments, a silicon germanium layer or structure includes approximately 30% germanium and approximately 70% silicon (Si70Ge30). It is to be appreciated that, practically, 100% pure silicon germanium (referred to generally as SiGe) may be difficult to form and, hence, could include a tiny percentage of carbon or tin. Such impurities may be included as an unavoidable impurity or component during deposition of SiGe or may “contaminate” the SiGe upon diffusion during post deposition processing. As such, embodiments described herein directed to a silicon germanium layer or structure may include a silicon germanium layer or structure that contains a relatively small amount, e.g., “impurity” level, non-Ge and non-Si atoms or species, such as carbon or tin. It is to be appreciated that a silicon germanium layer or structure as described herein may be undoped or may be doped with dopant atoms such as boron, phosphorous or arsenic.
Thus, it is to be appreciated that the integrated circuit structures described above in association with
Referring to
A gate line 308 is disposed over the protruding portions 304 of the non-planar active region (including, if applicable, surrounding nanowires 304A and 304B), as well as over a portion of the trench isolation region 306. As shown, gate line 308 includes a gate electrode 350 and a gate dielectric layer 352. In one embodiment, gate line 308 may also include a dielectric cap layer 354. A gate contact 314, and overlying gate contact via 316 are also seen from this perspective, along with an overlying metal interconnect 360, all of which are disposed in inter-layer dielectric stacks or layers 370. Also seen from the perspective of
In an embodiment, the semiconductor structure or device 300 is a non-planar device such as, but not limited to, a fin-FET device, a tri-gate device, a nano-ribbon device, or a nano-wire device. In such an embodiment, a corresponding semiconducting channel region is composed of or is formed in a three-dimensional body. In one such embodiment, the gate electrode stacks of gate lines 308 surround at least a top surface and a pair of sidewalls of the three-dimensional body.
As is also depicted in
Although not depicted in
With reference again to
Gate line 308 may be composed of a gate electrode stack which includes a gate dielectric layer 352 and a gate electrode layer 350. In an embodiment, the gate electrode of the gate electrode stack is composed of a metal gate and the gate dielectric layer is composed of a high-k material. For example, in one embodiment, the gate dielectric layer is composed of a material such as, but not limited to, hafnium oxide, hafnium oxy-nitride, hafnium silicate, lanthanum oxide, zirconium oxide, zirconium silicate, tantalum oxide, barium strontium titanate, barium titanate, strontium titanate, yttrium oxide, aluminum oxide, lead scandium tantalum oxide, lead zinc niobate, or a combination thereof. Furthermore, a portion of gate dielectric layer may include a layer of native oxide formed from the top few layers of the substrate fin 304. In an embodiment, the gate dielectric layer is composed of a top high-k portion and a lower portion composed of an oxide of a semiconductor material. In one embodiment, the gate dielectric layer is composed of a top portion of hafnium oxide and a bottom portion of silicon dioxide or silicon oxy-nitride. In some implementations, a portion of the gate dielectric is a “U”-shaped structure that includes a bottom portion substantially parallel to the surface of the substrate and two sidewall portions that are substantially perpendicular to the top surface of the substrate.
In one embodiment, the gate electrode is composed of a metal layer such as, but not limited to, metal nitrides, metal carbides, metal silicides, metal aluminides, hafnium, zirconium, titanium, tantalum, aluminum, ruthenium, palladium, platinum, cobalt, nickel or conductive metal oxides. In a specific embodiment, the gate electrode is composed of a non-workfunction-setting fill material formed above a metal workfunction-setting layer. The gate electrode layer may consist of a P-type workfunction metal or an N-type workfunction metal, depending on whether the transistor is to be a PMOS or an NMOS transistor. In some implementations, the gate electrode layer may consist of a stack of two or more metal layers, where one or more metal layers are workfunction metal layers and at least one metal layer is a conductive fill layer. For a PMOS transistor, metals that may be used for the gate electrode include, but are not limited to, ruthenium, palladium, platinum, cobalt, nickel, and conductive metal oxides, e.g., ruthenium oxide. A P-type metal layer will enable the formation of a PMOS gate electrode with a workfunction that is between about 4.9 eV and about 5.2 eV. For an NMOS transistor, metals that may be used for the gate electrode include, but are not limited to, hafnium, zirconium, titanium, tantalum, aluminum, alloys of these metals, and carbides of these metals such as hafnium carbide, zirconium carbide, titanium carbide, tantalum carbide, and aluminum carbide. An N-type metal layer will enable the formation of an NMOS gate electrode with a workfunction that is between about 3.9 eV and about 4.2 eV. In some implementations, the gate electrode may consist of a “U”-shaped structure that includes a bottom portion substantially parallel to the surface of the substrate and two sidewall portions that are substantially perpendicular to the top surface of the substrate. In another implementation, at least one of the metal layers that form the gate electrode may simply be a planar layer that is substantially parallel to the top surface of the substrate and does not include sidewall portions substantially perpendicular to the top surface of the substrate. In further implementations of the disclosure, the gate electrode may consist of a combination of U-shaped structures and planar, non-U-shaped structures. For example, the gate electrode may consist of one or more U-shaped metal layers formed atop one or more planar, non-U-shaped layers.
Spacers associated with the gate electrode stacks may be composed of a material suitable to ultimately electrically isolate, or contribute to the isolation of, a permanent gate structure from adjacent conductive contacts, such as self-aligned contacts. For example, in one embodiment, the spacers are composed of a dielectric material such as, but not limited to, silicon dioxide, silicon oxy-nitride, silicon nitride, or carbon-doped silicon nitride.
Gate contact 314 and overlying gate contact via 316 may be composed of a conductive material. In an embodiment, one or more of the contacts or vias are composed of a metal species. The metal species may be a pure metal, such as tungsten, nickel, or cobalt, or may be an alloy such as a metal-metal alloy or a metal-semiconductor alloy (e.g., such as a silicide material).
In an embodiment (although not shown), a contact pattern which is essentially perfectly aligned to an existing gate pattern 308 is formed while eliminating the use of a lithographic step with exceedingly tight registration budget. In one such embodiment, the self-aligned approach enables the use of intrinsically highly selective wet etching (e.g., versus conventionally implemented dry or plasma etching) to generate contact openings. In an embodiment, a contact pattern is formed by utilizing an existing gate pattern in combination with a contact plug lithography operation. In one such embodiment, the approach enables elimination of the need for an otherwise critical lithography operation to generate a contact pattern, as used in conventional approaches. In an embodiment, a trench contact grid is not separately patterned, but is rather formed between poly (gate) lines. For example, in one such embodiment, a trench contact grid is formed subsequent to gate grating patterning but prior to gate grating cuts.
In an embodiment, providing structure 300 involves fabrication of the gate stack structure 308 by a replacement gate process. In such a scheme, dummy gate material such as polysilicon or silicon nitride pillar material, may be removed and replaced with permanent gate electrode material. In one such embodiment, a permanent gate dielectric layer is also formed in this process, as opposed to being carried through from earlier processing. In an embodiment, dummy gates are removed by a dry etch or wet etch process. In one embodiment, dummy gates are composed of polycrystalline silicon or amorphous silicon and are removed with a dry etch process including use of SF6. In another embodiment, dummy gates are composed of polycrystalline silicon or amorphous silicon and are removed with a wet etch process including use of aqueous NH4OH or tetramethylammonium hydroxide. In one embodiment, dummy gates are composed of silicon nitride and are removed with a wet etch including aqueous phosphoric acid.
Referring again to
It is to be appreciated that not all aspects of the processes described above need be practiced to fall within the spirit and scope of embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, in one embodiment, dummy gates need not ever be formed prior to fabricating gate contacts over active portions of the gate stacks. The gate stacks described above may actually be permanent gate stacks as initially formed. Also, the processes described herein may be used to fabricate one or a plurality of semiconductor devices. The semiconductor devices may be transistors or like devices. For example, in an embodiment, the semiconductor devices are a metal-oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistors for logic or memory, or are bipolar transistors. Also, in an embodiment, the semiconductor devices have a three-dimensional architecture, such as a trigate device, an independently accessed double gate device, a gate-all-around (GAA) device, a nanowire device, a nanoribbon device, or a FIN-FET. One or more embodiments may be particularly useful for fabricating semiconductor devices at a sub-10 nanometer (10 nm) technology node.
In an embodiment, as used throughout the present description, interlayer dielectric (ILD) material is composed of or includes a layer of a dielectric or insulating material. Examples of suitable dielectric materials include, but are not limited to, oxides of silicon (e.g., silicon dioxide (SiO2)), doped oxides of silicon, fluorinated oxides of silicon, carbon doped oxides of silicon, various low-k dielectric materials known in the arts, and combinations thereof. The interlayer dielectric material may be formed by conventional techniques, such as, for example, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), physical vapor deposition (PVD), or by other deposition methods.
In an embodiment, as is also used throughout the present description, metal lines or interconnect line material (and via material) is composed of one or more metal or other conductive structures. A common example is the use of copper lines and structures that may or may not include barrier layers between the copper and surrounding ILD material. As used herein, the term metal includes alloys, stacks, and other combinations of multiple metals. For example, the metal interconnect lines may include barrier layers (e.g., layers including one or more of Ta, TaN, Ti or TiN), stacks of different metals or alloys, etc. Thus, the interconnect lines may be a single material layer, or may be formed from several layers, including conductive liner layers and fill layers. Any suitable deposition process, such as electroplating, chemical vapor deposition or physical vapor deposition, may be used to form interconnect lines. In an embodiment, the interconnect lines are composed of a conductive material such as, but not limited to, Cu, Al, Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Ru, Co, Ni, Pd, Pt, W, Ag, Au or alloys thereof. The interconnect lines are also sometimes referred to in the art as traces, wires, lines, metal, or simply interconnect.
In an embodiment, as is also used throughout the present description, hardmask materials, capping layers, or plugs are composed of dielectric materials different from the interlayer dielectric material. In one embodiment, different hardmask, capping or plug materials may be used in different regions so as to provide different growth or etch selectivity to each other and to the underlying dielectric and metal layers. In some embodiments, a hardmask layer, capping or plug layer includes a layer of a nitride of silicon (e.g., silicon nitride) or a layer of an oxide of silicon, or both, or a combination thereof. Other suitable materials may include carbon-based materials. Other hardmask, capping or plug layers known in the arts may be used depending upon the particular implementation. The hardmask, capping or plug layers maybe formed by CVD, PVD, or by other deposition methods.
In an embodiment, as is also used throughout the present description, lithographic operations are performed using 193 nm immersion lithography (i193), EUV and/or EBDW lithography, or the like. A positive tone or a negative tone resist may be used. In one embodiment, a lithographic mask is a trilayer mask composed of a topographic masking portion, an anti-reflective coating (ARC) layer, and a photoresist layer. In a particular such embodiment, the topographic masking portion is a carbon hardmask (CHM) layer and the anti-reflective coating layer is a silicon ARC layer.
In another aspect, integrated circuit structures described herein may be fabricated using a backside reveal of front-side structures fabrication approach. In some exemplary embodiments, reveal of the backside of a transistor or other device structure entails wafer-level backside processing. In contrast to a conventional TSV-type technology, a reveal of the backside of a transistor as described herein may be performed at the density of the device cells, and even within sub-regions of a device. Furthermore, such a reveal of the backside of a transistor may be performed to remove substantially all of a donor substrate upon which a device layer was disposed during front-side device processing. As such, a microns-deep TSV becomes unnecessary with the thickness of semiconductor in the device cells following a reveal of the backside of a transistor potentially being only tens or hundreds of nanometers.
Reveal techniques described herein may enable a paradigm shift from “bottom-up” device fabrication to “center-out” fabrication, where the “center” is any layer that is employed in front-side fabrication, revealed from the backside, and again employed in backside fabrication. Processing of both a front side and revealed backside of a device structure may address many of the challenges associated with fabricating 3D ICs when primarily relying on front-side processing.
A reveal of the backside of a transistor approach may be employed for example to remove at least a portion of a carrier layer and intervening layer of a donor-host substrate assembly, for example as illustrated in
In some embodiments, the above is preceded by cleaving the carrier layer along a fracture plane substantially parallel to the intervening layer. The cleaving or fracture process may be utilized to remove a substantial portion of the carrier layer as a bulk mass, reducing the polish or etch time needed to remove the carrier layer. For example, where a carrier layer is 400-900 μm in thickness, 100-700 μm may be cleaved off by practicing any blanket implant known to promote a wafer-level fracture. In some exemplary embodiments, a light element (e.g., H, He, or Li) is implanted to a uniform target depth within the carrier layer where the fracture plane is desired. Following such a cleaving process, the thickness of the carrier layer remaining in the donor-host substrate assembly may then be polished or etched to complete removal. Alternatively, where the carrier layer is not fractured, the grind, polish and/or etch operation may be employed to remove a greater thickness of the carrier layer.
Next, exposure of an intervening layer is detected. Detection is used to identify a point when the backside surface of the donor substrate has advanced to nearly the device layer. Any endpoint detection technique known to be suitable for detecting a transition between the materials employed for the carrier layer and the intervening layer may be practiced. In some embodiments, one or more endpoint criteria are based on detecting a change in optical absorbance or emission of the backside surface of the donor substrate during the polishing or etching performed. In some other embodiments, the endpoint criteria are associated with a change in optical absorbance or emission of byproducts during the polishing or etching of the donor substrate backside surface. For example, absorbance or emission wavelengths associated with the carrier layer etch byproducts may change as a function of the different compositions of the carrier layer and intervening layer. In other embodiments, the endpoint criteria are associated with a change in mass of species in byproducts of polishing or etching the backside surface of the donor substrate. For example, the byproducts of processing may be sampled through a quadrupole mass analyzer and a change in the species mass may be correlated to the different compositions of the carrier layer and intervening layer. In another exemplary embodiment, the endpoint criteria is associated with a change in friction between a backside surface of the donor substrate and a polishing surface in contact with the backside surface of the donor substrate.
Detection of the intervening layer may be enhanced where the removal process is selective to the carrier layer relative to the intervening layer as non-uniformity in the carrier removal process may be mitigated by an etch rate delta between the carrier layer and intervening layer. Detection may even be skipped if the grind, polish and/or etch operation removes the intervening layer at a rate sufficiently below the rate at which the carrier layer is removed. If an endpoint criteria is not employed, a grind, polish and/or etch operation of a predetermined fixed duration may stop on the intervening layer material if the thickness of the intervening layer is sufficient for the selectivity of the etch. In some examples, the carrier etch rate: intervening layer etch rate is 3:1-10:1, or more.
Upon exposing the intervening layer, at least a portion of the intervening layer may be removed. For example, one or more component layers of the intervening layer may be removed. A thickness of the intervening layer may be removed uniformly by a polish, for example. Alternatively, a thickness of the intervening layer may be removed with a masked or blanket etch process. The process may employ the same polish or etch process as that employed to thin the carrier, or may be a distinct process with distinct process parameters. For example, where the intervening layer provides an etch stop for the carrier removal process, the latter operation may employ a different polish or etch process that favors removal of the intervening layer over removal of the device layer. Where less than a few hundred nanometers of intervening layer thickness is to be removed, the removal process may be relatively slow, optimized for across-wafer uniformity, and more precisely controlled than that employed for removal of the carrier layer. A CMP process employed may, for example employ a slurry that offers very high selectively (e.g., 100:1-300:1, or more) between semiconductor (e.g., silicon) and dielectric material (e.g., SiO) surrounding the device layer and embedded within the intervening layer, for example, as electrical isolation between adjacent device regions.
For embodiments where the device layer is revealed through complete removal of the intervening layer, backside processing may commence on an exposed backside of the device layer or specific device regions there in. In some embodiments, the backside device layer processing includes a further polish or wet/dry etch through a thickness of the device layer disposed between the intervening layer and a device region previously fabricated in the device layer, such as a source or drain region.
In some embodiments where the carrier layer, intervening layer, or device layer backside is recessed with a wet and/or plasma etch, such an etch may be a patterned etch or a materially selective etch that imparts significant non-planarity or topography into the device layer backside surface. As described further below, the patterning may be within a device cell (i.e., “intra-cell” patterning) or may be across device cells (i.e., “inter-cell” patterning). In some patterned etch embodiments, at least a partial thickness of the intervening layer is employed as a hard mask for backside device layer patterning. Hence, a masked etch process may preface a correspondingly masked device layer etch.
The above described processing scheme may result in a donor-host substrate assembly that includes IC devices that have a backside of an intervening layer, a backside of the device layer, and/or backside of one or more semiconductor regions within the device layer, and/or front-side metallization revealed. Additional backside processing of any of these revealed regions may then be performed during downstream processing.
In accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, in order to enable backside access to a partitioned source or drain contact structure, a double-sided device processing scheme may be practiced at the wafer-level. In some exemplary embodiments, a large formal substrate (e.g., 300 or 450 mm diameter) wafer may be processed. In an exemplary processing scheme, a donor substrate including a device layer is provided. In some embodiments, the device layer is a semiconductor material that is employed by an IC device. As one example, in a transistor device, such as a field effect transistor (FET), the channel semiconductor is formed from the semiconductor device layer. As another example, for an optical device, such as a photodiode, the drift and/or gain semiconductor is formed from the device layer. The device layer may also be employed in a passive structure with an IC device. For example, an optical waveguide may employ semiconductor patterned from the device layer.
In some embodiments, the donor substrate includes a stack of material layers. Such a material stack may facilitate subsequent formation of an IC device stratum that includes the device layer but lacks other layers of the donor substrate. In an exemplary embodiment, the donor substrate includes a carrier layer separated from the device layer by one or more intervening material layers. The carrier layer is to provide mechanical support during front-side processing of the device layer. The carrier may also provide the basis for crystallinity in the semiconductor device layer. The intervening layer(s) may facilitate removal of the carrier layer and/or the reveal of the device layer backside.
Front-side fabrication operations are then performed to form a device structure that includes one or more regions in the device layer. Any known front-side processing techniques may be employed to form any known IC device and exemplary embodiments are further described elsewhere herein. A front side of the donor substrate is then joined to a host substrate to form a device-host assembly. The host substrate is to provide front-side mechanical support during backside processing of the device layer. The host substrate may also entail integrated circuitry with which the IC devices fabricated on the donor substrate are interconnected. For such embodiments, joining of the host and donor substrate may further entail formation of 3D interconnect structures through hybrid (dielectric/metal) bonding. Any known host substrate and wafer-level joining techniques may be employed.
The process flow continues where the backside of the device stratum is revealed by removing at least a portion of the carrier layer. In some further embodiments, portions of any intervening layer and/or front-side materials deposited over the device layer may also be removed during the reveal operation. As described elsewhere herein in the context of some exemplary embodiments, an intervening layer(s) may facilitate a highly-uniform exposure of the device stratum backside, for example serving as one or more of an etch marker or etch stop employed in the wafer-level backside reveal process. Device stratum surfaces exposed from the backside are processed to form a double-side device stratum. Native materials, such as any of those of the donor substrate, which interfaced with the device regions may then be replaced with one or more non-native materials. For example, a portion of a semiconductor device layer or intervening layer may be replaced with one or more other semiconductor, metal, or dielectric materials. In some further embodiments, portions of the front-side materials removed during the reveal operation may also be replaced. For example, a portion of a dielectric spacer, gate stack, or contact metallization formed during front-side device fabrication may be replaced with one or more other semiconductor, metal, or dielectric materials during backside deprocessing/reprocessing of the front-side device. In still other embodiments, a second device stratum or metal interposer is bonded to the reveal backside.
The above process flow provides a device stratum-host substrate assembly. The device stratum-host assembly may then be further processed. For example, any known technique may be employed to singulate and package the device stratum-host substrate assembly. Where the host substrate is entirely sacrificial, packaging of the device stratum-host substrate may entail separation of the host substrate from the device stratum. Where the host substrate is not entirely sacrificial (e.g., where the host substrate also includes a device stratum), the device stratum-host assembly output may be fed back as a host substrate input during a subsequent iteration of the above process flow. Iteration of the above approach may thus form a wafer-level assembly of any number of double-side device strata, each only tens or hundreds of nanometers in thickness, for example. In some embodiments, and as further described elsewhere herein, one or more device cells within a device stratum are electrically tested, for example as a yield control point in the fabrication of a wafer-level assembly of double-side device strata. In some embodiments, the electrical test entails backside device probing.
As shown in
Device layer 415 may include one or more layers of any device material composition known to be suitable for a particular IC device, such as, but not limited to, transistors, diodes, and resistors. In some exemplary embodiments, device layer 415 includes one or more group IV (i.e., IUPAC group 14) semiconductor material layers (e.g., Si, Ge, SiGe), group III-V semiconductor material layers (e.g., GaAs, InGaAs, InAs, InP), or group III-N semiconductor material layers (e.g., GaN, AlGaN, InGaN). Device layer 415 may also include one or more semiconductor transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD or TMDC) layers. In other embodiments, device layer 415 includes one or more graphene layer, or a graphenic material layer having semiconductor properties. In still other embodiments, device layer 415 includes one or more oxide semiconductor layers. Exemplary oxide semiconductors include oxides of a transition metal (e.g., IUPAC group 4-10) or post-transition metal (e.g., IUPAC groups 11-14). In advantageous embodiments, the oxide semiconductor includes at least one of Cu, Zn, Sn, Ti, Ni, Ga, In, Sr, Cr, Co, V, or Mo. The metal oxides may be suboxides (A2O) monoxides (AO), binary oxides (AO2), ternary oxides (ABO3), and mixtures thereof. In other embodiments, device layer 415 includes one or more magnetic, ferromagnetic, ferroelectric material layer. For example device layer 415 may include one or more layers of any material known to be suitable for an tunneling junction device, such as, but not limited to a magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ) device.
In some embodiments, device layer 415 is substantially monocrystalline. Although monocrystalline, a significant number of crystalline defects may nonetheless be present. In other embodiments, device layer 415 is amorphous or nanocrystalline. Device layer 415 may be any thickness (e.g., z-dimension in
Carrier layer 405 may have the same material composition as device layer 415, or may have a material composition different than device layer 415. For embodiments where carrier layer 405 and device layer 415 have the same composition, the two layers may be identified by their position relative to intervening layer 410. In some embodiments where device layer 415 is a crystalline group IV, group III-V or group III-N semiconductor, carrier layer 405 is the same crystalline group IV, group III-V or group III-N semiconductor as device layer 415. In alternative embodiments, where device layer 415 is a crystalline group IV, group III-V or group III-N semiconductor, carrier layer 405 is a different crystalline group IV, group III-V or group III-N semiconductor than device layer 415. In still other embodiments, carrier layer 405 may include, or be, a material onto which device layer 415 transferred, or grown upon. For example, carrier layer may include one or more amorphous oxide layers (e.g., glass) or crystalline oxide layer (e.g., sapphire), polymer sheets, or any material(s) built up or laminated into a structural support known to be suitable as a carrier during IC device processing. Carrier layer 405 may be any thickness (e.g., z-dimension in
In some embodiments, one or more intervening layers 410 are disposed between carrier layer 405 and device layer 415. In some exemplary embodiments, an intervening layer 410 is compositionally distinct from carrier layer 405 such that it may serve as a marker detectable during subsequent removal of carrier layer 405. In some such embodiments, an intervening layer 410 has a composition that, when exposed to an etchant of carrier layer 405 will etch at a significantly slower rate than carrier layer 405 (i.e., intervening layer 410 functions as an etch stop for a carrier layer etch process). In further embodiments, intervening layer 410 has a composition distinct from that of device layer 415. Intervening layer 410 may be a metal, semiconductor, or dielectric material, for example.
In some exemplary embodiments where at least one of carrier layer 405 and device layer 415 are crystalline semiconductors, intervening layer 410 is also a crystalline semiconductor layer. Intervening layer 410 may further have the same crystallinity and crystallographic orientation as carrier layer 405 and/or device layer 415. Such embodiments may have the advantage of reduced donor substrate cost relative to alternative embodiments where intervening layer 410 is a material that necessitates bonding (e.g., thermal-compression bonding) of intervening layer 410 to intervening layer 410 and/or to carrier layer 405.
For embodiments where intervening layer 410 is a semiconductor, one or more of the primary semiconductor lattice elements, alloy constituents, or impurity concentrations may vary between at least carrier layer 405 and intervening layer 410. In some embodiments where at least carrier layer 405 is a group IV semiconductor, intervening layer 410 may also be a group IV semiconductor, but of a different group IV element or alloy and/or doped with an impurity species to an impurity level different than that of carrier layer 405. For example, intervening layer 410 may be a silicon-germanium alloy epitaxially grown on a silicon carrier. For such embodiments, a pseudomorphic intervening layer may be grown heteroepitaxially to any thickness below the critical thickness. Alternatively, the intervening layer 410 may be a relaxed buffer layer having a thickness greater than the critical thickness.
In other embodiments, where at least carrier layer 405 is a group III-V semiconductor, intervening layer 410 may also be a group III-V semiconductor, but of a different group III-V alloy and/or doped with an impurity species to an impurity level different than that of carrier layer 405. For example, intervening layer 410 may be an AlGaAs alloy epitaxially grown on a GaAs carrier. In some other embodiments where both carrier layer 405 and device layer 415 are crystalline semiconductors, intervening layer 410 is also a crystalline semiconductor layer, which may further have the same crystallinity and crystallographic orientation as carrier layer 405 and/or device layer 415.
In embodiments where both carrier layer 405 and intervening layer 410 are of the same or different primary semiconductor lattice elements, impurity dopants may differentiate the carrier and intervening layer. For example, intervening layer 410 and carrier layer 405 may both be silicon crystals with intervening layer 410 lacking an impurity present in carrier layer 405, or doped with an impurity absent from carrier layer 405, or doped to a different level with an impurity present in carrier layer 405. The impurity differentiation may impart etch selectivity between the carrier and intervening layer, or merely introduce a detectable species.
Intervening layer 410 may be doped with impurities that are electrically active (i.e., rendering it an n-type or p-type semiconductor), or not, as the impurity may provide any basis for detection of the intervening layer 410 during subsequent carrier removal. Exemplary electrically active impurities for some semiconductor materials include group III elements (e.g., B), group IV elements (e.g., P). Any other element may be employed as a non-electrically active species. Impurity dopant concentration within intervening layer 410 need only vary from that of carrier layer 405 by an amount sufficient for detection, which may be predetermined as a function of the detection technique and detector sensitivity.
As described further elsewhere herein, intervening layer 410 may have a composition distinct from device layer 415. In some such embodiments, intervening layer 410 may have a different band gap than that of device layer 415. For example, intervening layer 410 may have a wider band-gap than device layer 415.
In embodiments where intervening layer 410 includes a dielectric material, the dielectric material may be an inorganic material (e.g., SiO, SiN, SiON, SiOC, hydrogen silsesquioxane, methyl silsesquioxane) or organic material (polyimide, polynorbornenes, benzocyclobutene). For some dielectric embodiments, intervening layer 410 may be formed as an embedded layer (e.g., SiOx through implantation of oxygen into a silicon device and/or carrier layer). Other embodiments of a dielectric intervening layer may necessitate bonding (e.g., thermal-compression bonding) of carrier layer 405 to device layer 415. For example, where donor substrate 401 is a semiconductor-on-oxide (SOI) substrate, either or both of carrier layer 405 and device layer 415 may be oxidized and bonded together to form a SiO intervening layer 410. Similar bonding techniques may be employed for other inorganic or organic dielectric materials.
In some other embodiments, intervening layer 410 includes two or more materials laterally spaced apart within the layer. The two or more materials may include a dielectric and a semiconductor, a dielectric and a metal, a semiconductor and a metal, a dielectric and a metal, two different dielectric, two different semiconductors, or two different metals. Within such an intervening layer, a first material may surround islands of the second material that extend through the thickness of the intervening layer. For example, an intervening layer may include a field isolation dielectric that surrounds islands of semiconductor, which extend through the thickness of the intervening layer. The semiconductor may be epitaxially grown within openings of a patterned dielectric or the dielectric material may be deposited within openings of a patterned semiconductor.
In some exemplary embodiments, semiconductor features, such as fins or mesas, are etched into a front-side surface of a semiconductor device layer. Trenches surrounding these features may be subsequently backfilled with an isolation dielectric, for example following any known shallow trench isolation (STI) process. One or more of the semiconductor feature or isolation dielectric may be employed for terminating a backside carrier removal process, for example as a backside reveal etch stop. In some embodiments, a reveal of trench isolation dielectric may stop, significantly retard, or induce a detectable signal for terminating a backside carrier polish. For example, a CMP polish of carrier semiconductor employing a slurry that has high selectivity favoring removal of carrier semiconductor (e.g., Si) over removal of isolation dielectric (e.g., SiO) may be significantly slowed upon exposure of a (bottom) surface of the trench isolation dielectric surrounding semiconductor features including the device layer. Because the device layer is disposed on a front side of intervening layer, the device layer need not be directly exposed to the backside reveal process.
Notably, for embodiments where the intervening layer includes both semiconductor and dielectric, the intervening layer thickness may be considerably greater than the critical thickness associated with the lattice mismatch of the intervening layer and carrier. Whereas an intervening layer below critical thickness may be an insufficient thickness to accommodate non-uniformity of a wafer-level backside reveal process, embodiments with greater thickness may advantageously increase the backside reveal process window. Embodiments with pin-holed dielectric may otherwise facilitate subsequent separation of carrier and device layers as well as improve crystal quality within the device layer.
Semiconductor material within intervening layers that include both semiconductor and dielectric may also be homoepitaxial. In some exemplary embodiments, a silicon epitaxial device layer is grown through a pin-holed dielectric disposed over a silicon carrier layer.
Continuing with description of
Intervening layer 410 may be of any thickness (e.g., z-height in
As further illustrated in
Although not depicted in detail by
With host substrate 402 facing device layer 415 on a side opposite carrier layer 405, at least a portion of carrier layer 405 may be removed as further illustrated in
In further embodiments, for example as illustrated by
In some further embodiments, for example as illustrated by
A non-native material layer may be deposited over a backside surface of an intervening layer, device layer, and/or specific device regions within device layer 415, and/or over or more other device structures (e.g., front-side device terminal contact metallization, spacer dielectric, etc.). One or more materials exposed (revealed) from the backside may be covered with non-native material layer or replaced with such a material. In some embodiments, illustrated by
In some other embodiments where device layer 415 is a group III-V semiconductor, non-native material layer 420 may also be a group III-V semiconductor of the same or different composition that is regrown upon a revealed backside surface of a group III-V device region. This material may be epitaxially regrown from the revealed group III-V device region, for example, to have relatively better crystal quality than that of the material removed, and/or to induce strain within the device layer or a specific device region within the device layer, and/or to form a vertical stack of device semiconductor regions suitable for a stacked device.
In some other embodiments where device layer 415 is a group IV semiconductor, non-native material layer 420 may also be a group IV semiconductor of the same or different composition that is regrown upon a revealed backside surface of a group IV device region. This material may be epitaxially regrown from the revealed group IV device region, for example, to have relatively better crystal quality than that of the material removed, and/or to induce strain within the device region, and/or to form a stack of device semiconductor regions suitable for a stacked device.
In some other embodiments, non-native material layer 420 is a dielectric material, such as, but not limited to SiO, SiON, SiOC, hydrogen silsesquioxane, methyl silsesquioxane, polyimide, polynorbornenes, benzocyclobutene, or the like. Deposition of such a dielectric may serve to electrically isolate various device structures, such as semiconductor device regions, that may have been previously formed during front-side processing of donor substrate 401.
In some other embodiments, non-native material layer 420 is a conductive material, such as any elemental metal or metal alloy known to be suitable for contacting one or more surfaces of device regions revealed from the backside. In some embodiments, non-native material layer 420 is a metallization suitable for contacting a device region revealed from the backside, such as a transistor source or drain region. In embodiments, intermetallic contacts such as NixSiy, TixSiy, Ni:Si:Pt, TiSi, CoSi, etc. may be formed. Additionally, implants may be used to enable robust contacts (e.g., P, Ge, B etc.).
In some embodiments, non-native material layer 420 is a stack of materials, such as a FET gate stack that includes both a gate dielectric layer and a gate electrode layer. As one example, non-native material layer 420 may be a gate dielectric stack suitable for contacting a semiconductor device region revealed from the backside, such as a transistor channel region. Any of the other the materials described as options for device layer 415 may also be deposited over a backside of device layer 415 and/or over device regions formed within device layer 415. For example, non-native material layer 420 may be any of the oxide semiconductors, TMDC, or tunneling materials described above, which may be deposited on the backside, for example, to incrementally fabricate vertically-stacked device strata.
Backside wafer-level processing may continue in any manner known to be suitable for front-side processing. For example, non-native material layer 420 may be patterned into active device regions, device isolation regions, device contact metallization, or device interconnects using any known lithographic and etch techniques. Backside wafer-level processing may further fabricate one or more interconnect metallization levels coupling terminals of different devices into an IC. In some embodiments further described elsewhere herein, backside processing may be employed to interconnect a power bus to various device terminals within an IC.
In some embodiments, backside processing includes bonding to a secondary host substrate. Such bonding may employ any layer transfer process to join the backside (e.g., non-native) material layer to another substrate. Following such joining, the former host substrate may be removed as a sacrificial donor to re-expose the front-side stack and/or the front side of the device layer. Such embodiments may enable iterative side-to-side lamination of device strata with a first device layer serving as the core of the assembly. In some embodiments illustrated in
Any bonding, such as, but not limited to, thermal-compression bonding may be employed to join secondary host substrate 440 to non-native material layer 420. In some embodiments, both a surface layer of secondary host substrate 440 and non-native material layer 420 are continuous dielectric layers (e.g., SiO), which are thermal-compression bonded. In some other embodiments, both a surface layer of secondary host substrate 440 and non-native material layer 420 include a metal layer (e.g., Au, Pt, etc.), which are thermal-compression bonded. In other embodiments, at least one of surface layer of secondary host substrate 440 and non-native material layer 420 are patterned, including both patterned metal surface (i.e., traces) and surrounding dielectric (e.g., isolation), which are thermal-compression bonded to form a hybrid (e.g., metal/oxide) joint. For such embodiments, structural features in the secondary host substrate 440 and the patterned non-native material layer 420 are aligned (e.g., optically) during the bonding process. In some embodiments, non-native material layer 420 includes one or more conductive backside traces coupled to a terminal of a transistor fabricated in device layer 415. The conductive backside trace may, for example, be bonded to metallization on secondary host substrate 440.
Bonding of device strata may proceed from the front-side and/or backside of a device layer before or after front-side processing of the device layer has been completed. A backside bonding process may be performed after front-side fabrication of a device (e.g., transistor) is substantially complete. Alternatively, backside bonding process may be performed prior to completing front-side fabrication of a device (e.g., transistor), in which case the front side of the device layer may receive additional processing following the backside bonding process. As further illustrated in
In another aspect, the integrated circuit structures described above in association with
To provide further context, advantages of a self-aligned gate endcap (SAGE) architecture may include the enabling of higher layout density and, in particular, scaling of diffusion-to-diffusion spacing. To provide illustrative comparison,
Referring to
Referring to
By contrast, referring to
Referring to
A self-aligned gate endcap (SAGE) processing scheme involves the formation of gate/trench contact endcaps self-aligned to fins without requiring an extra length to account for mask mis-registration. Thus, embodiments may be implemented to enable shrinking of transistor layout area. Embodiments described herein may involve the fabrication of gate endcap isolation structures, which may also be referred to as gate walls, isolation gate walls or self-aligned gate endcap (SAGE) walls.
In an embodiment, as described throughout, self-aligned gate endcap (SAGE) isolation structures may be composed of a material or materials suitable to ultimately electrically isolate, or contribute to the isolation of, portions of permanent gate structures from one another. Exemplary materials or material combinations include a single material structure such as silicon dioxide, silicon oxy-nitride, silicon nitride, or carbon-doped silicon nitride. Other exemplary materials or material combinations include a multi-layer stack having lower portion silicon dioxide, silicon oxy-nitride, silicon nitride, or carbon-doped silicon nitride and an upper portion higher dielectric constant material such as hafnium oxide.
It is to be appreciated that the integrated circuit structures described above in association with
Referring to
Each of the nanowires 804 includes a channel region 806 in the nanowire. The channel region 806 has a length (L). Referring to
Referring to both
In an embodiment, as depicted, the source or drain regions 810/812 are non-discrete in that there are not individual and discrete source or drain regions for each channel region 806 of a nanowire 804. Accordingly, in embodiments having a plurality of nanowires 804, the source or drain regions 810/812 of the nanowires are global or unified source or drain regions as opposed to discrete for each nanowire. That is, the non-discrete source or drain regions 810/812 are global in the sense that a single unified feature is used as a source or drain region for a plurality (in this case, 3) of nanowires 804 and, more particularly, for more than one discrete channel region 806. In one embodiment, from a cross-sectional perspective orthogonal to the length of the discrete channel regions 806, each of the pair of non-discrete source or drain regions 810/812 is approximately rectangular in shape with a bottom tapered portion and a top vertex portion, as depicted in
In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, and as depicted in
Referring again to
Substrate 802 may be composed of a material suitable for integrated circuit structure fabrication. In one embodiment, substrate 802 includes a lower bulk substrate composed of a single crystal of a material which may include, but is not limited to, silicon, germanium, silicon-germanium, germanium-tin, silicon-germanium-tin, or a group III-V compound semiconductor material. An upper insulator layer composed of a material which may include, but is not limited to, silicon dioxide, silicon nitride or silicon oxy-nitride is on the lower bulk substrate. Thus, the structure 800 may be fabricated from a starting semiconductor-on-insulator substrate. Alternatively, the structure 800 is formed directly from a bulk substrate and local oxidation is used to form electrically insulative portions in place of the above described upper insulator layer. In another alternative embodiment, the structure 800 is formed directly from a bulk substrate and doping is used to form electrically isolated active regions, such as nanowires, thereon. In one such embodiment, the first nanowire (i.e., proximate the substrate) is in the form of an omega-FET type structure.
In an embodiment, the nanowires 804 may be sized as wires or ribbons, as described below, and may have squared-off or rounder corners. In an embodiment, the nanowires 804 are composed of a material such as, but not limited to, silicon, germanium, or a combination thereof. In one such embodiment, the nanowires are single-crystalline. For example, for a silicon nanowire 804, a single-crystalline nanowire may be based from a (100) global orientation, e.g., with a <100> plane in the z-direction. As described below, other orientations may also be considered. In an embodiment, the dimensions of the nanowires 804, from a cross-sectional perspective, are on the nano-scale. For example, in a specific embodiment, the smallest dimension of the nanowires 804 is less than approximately 20 nanometers. In an embodiment, the nanowires 804 are composed of a strained material, particularly in the channel regions 806.
Referring to
Referring again to
In an embodiment, as described throughout, an integrated circuit structure includes non-planar devices such as, but not limited to, a finFET or a tri-gate structure with corresponding one or more overlying nanowire structures, and an isolation structure between the finFET or tri-gate structure and the corresponding one or more overlying nanowire structures. In some embodiments, the finFET or tri-gate structure is retained. In other embodiments, the finFET or tri-gate structure is may ultimately be removed in a substrate removal process.
Embodiments disclosed herein may be used to manufacture a wide variety of different types of integrated circuits and/or microelectronic devices. Examples of such integrated circuits include, but are not limited to, processors, chipset components, graphics processors, digital signal processors, micro-controllers, and the like. In other embodiments, semiconductor memory may be manufactured. Moreover, the integrated circuits or other microelectronic devices may be used in a wide variety of electronic devices known in the arts. For example, in computer systems (e.g., desktop, laptop, server), cellular phones, personal electronics, etc. The integrated circuits may be coupled with a bus and other components in the systems. For example, a processor may be coupled by one or more buses to a memory, a chipset, etc. Each of the processor, the memory, and the chipset, may potentially be manufactured using the approaches disclosed herein.
Depending on its applications, computing device 900 may include other components that may or may not be physically and electrically coupled to the board 902. These other components include, but are not limited to, volatile memory (e.g., DRAM), non-volatile memory (e.g., ROM), flash memory, a graphics processor, a digital signal processor, a crypto processor, a chipset, an antenna, a display, a touchscreen display, a touchscreen controller, a battery, an audio codec, a video codec, a power amplifier, a global positioning system (GPS) device, a compass, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a speaker, a camera, and a mass storage device (such as hard disk drive, compact disk (CD), digital versatile disk (DVD), and so forth).
The communication chip 906 enables wireless communications for the transfer of data to and from the computing device 900. The term “wireless” and its derivatives may be used to describe circuits, devices, systems, methods, techniques, communications channels, etc., that may communicate data through the use of modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. The term does not imply that the associated devices do not contain any wires, although in some embodiments they might not. The communication chip 906 may implement any of a number of wireless standards or protocols, including but not limited to Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 family), WiMAX (IEEE 802.16 family), IEEE 802.20, long term evolution (LTE), Ev-DO, HSPA+, HSDPA+, HSUPA+, EDGE, GSM, GPRS, CDMA, TDMA, DECT, Bluetooth, derivatives thereof, as well as any other wireless protocols that are designated as 3G, 4G, 5G, and beyond. The computing device 900 may include a plurality of communication chips 906. For instance, a first communication chip 906 may be dedicated to shorter range wireless communications such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and a second communication chip 906 may be dedicated to longer range wireless communications such as GPS, EDGE, GPRS, CDMA, WiMAX, LTE, Ev-DO, and others.
The processor 904 of the computing device 900 includes an integrated circuit die packaged within the processor 904. The integrated circuit die of the processor 904 may include one or more structures, such as integrated circuit structures built in accordance with implementations of embodiments of the present disclosure. The term “processor” may refer to any device or portion of a device that processes electronic data from registers and/or memory to transform that electronic data into other electronic data that may be stored in registers and/or memory.
The communication chip 906 also includes an integrated circuit die packaged within the communication chip 906. The integrated circuit die of the communication chip 906 may include one or more structures, such as integrated circuit structures built in accordance with implementations of embodiments of the present disclosure.
In further implementations, another component housed within the computing device 900 may contain an integrated circuit die that includes one or structures, such as integrated circuit structures built in accordance with implementations of embodiments of the present disclosure.
In various implementations, the computing device 900 may be a laptop, a netbook, a notebook, an ultrabook, a smartphone, a tablet, a personal digital assistant (PDA), an ultra mobile PC, a mobile phone, a desktop computer, a server, a printer, a scanner, a monitor, a set-top box, an entertainment control unit, a digital camera, a portable music player, or a digital video recorder. In further implementations, the computing device 900 may be any other electronic device that processes data.
The interposer 1000 may be formed of an epoxy resin, a fiberglass-reinforced epoxy resin, a ceramic material, or a polymer material such as polyimide. In further implementations, the interposer 1000 may be formed of alternate rigid or flexible materials that may include the same materials described above for use in a semiconductor substrate, such as silicon, germanium, and other group III-V and group IV materials.
The interposer 1000 may include metal interconnects 1008 and vias 1010, including but not limited to through-silicon vias (TSVs) 1012. The interposer 1000 may further include embedded devices 1014, including both passive and active devices. Such devices include, but are not limited to, capacitors, decoupling capacitors, resistors, inductors, fuses, diodes, transformers, sensors, and electrostatic discharge (ESD) devices. More complex devices such as radio-frequency (RF) devices, power amplifiers, power management devices, antennas, arrays, sensors, and MEMS devices may also be formed on the interposer 1000. In accordance with embodiments of the disclosure, apparatuses or processes disclosed herein may be used in the fabrication of interposer 1000 or in the fabrication of components included in the interposer 1000.
It is to be appreciated that structures described herein may be operated at a low temperature, e.g., in a range of −77 degrees Celsius to 0 degrees Celsius. In one embodiment, a heat regulator/refrigeration device is coupled to a common board having a device with structures such as those described herein coupled thereto, such as described below in association with
Depending on its applications, computing device 1100 may include other components that may or may not be physically and electrically coupled to the board. These other components can include, but are not limited to, memory 1104, such as volatile memory (e.g., DRAM), non-volatile memory (e.g., ROM), or flash memory, an antenna 1122, a display device 1106, a battery/power 1114, an audio output device 1108, an audio input device 1118, a global positioning system (GPS) device 1116, another output device 1110 (such as video output), and other input device 1120 (such as video input), a security interface device 1121, and/or a test device. In one embodiment, a heat regulation/refrigeration device 1111 is included and is coupled to the board, e.g., a device including actively cooled copper channels.
The communication chip 1112 enables wireless communications for the transfer of data to and from the computing device 1100. The term “wireless” and its derivatives may be used to describe circuits, devices, systems, methods, techniques, communications channels, etc., that may communicate data through the use of modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. The term does not imply that the associated devices do not contain any wires, although in some embodiments they might not. The communication chip 1112 may implement any of a number of wireless standards or protocols, including but not limited to Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 family), WiMAX (IEEE 802.16 family), IEEE 802.20, long term evolution (LTE), Ev-DO, HSPA+, HSDPA+, HSUPA+, EDGE, GSM, GPRS, CDMA, TDMA, DECT, Bluetooth, derivatives thereof, as well as any other wireless protocols that are designated as 3G, 4G, 5G, and beyond. The computing device 1100 may include a plurality of communication chips 1112. For instance, a first communication chip 1112 may be dedicated to shorter range wireless communications such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and a second communication chip 1112 may be dedicated to longer range wireless communications such as GPS, EDGE, GPRS, CDMA, WiMAX, LTE, Ev-DO, and others.
The processing device 1102 of the computing device 1100 can include an integrated circuit die in a package. The processing device 1102 may include one or more structures, such as integrated circuit structures having bit-cost scaling with relaxed transistor area, built in accordance with implementations of embodiments of the present disclosure. The term “processing device” may refer to any device or portion of a device that processes electronic data from registers and/or memory to transform that electronic data into other electronic data that may be stored in registers and/or memory.
Thus, embodiments of the present disclosure include integrated circuit structures having bit-cost scaling with relaxed transistor area.
The above description of illustrated implementations of embodiments of the disclosure, including what is described in the Abstract, is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed. While specific implementations of, and examples for, the disclosure are described herein for illustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications are possible within the scope of the disclosure, as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize.
These modifications may be made to the disclosure in light of the above detailed description. The terms used in the following claims should not be construed to limit the disclosure to the specific implementations disclosed in the specification and the claims. Rather, the scope of the disclosure is to be determined entirely by the following claims, which are to be construed in accordance with established doctrines of claim interpretation.
Example embodiment 1: An integrated circuit structure includes a plurality of plate lines along a first direction. A transistor is beneath the plurality of plate lines, with a direction of a first source or drain to a gate to a second source or drain of the transistor being a second direction orthogonal to the first direction. A plurality of capacitor structures is over the plurality of plate lines, individual ones of the plurality of capacitor structures coupled to a corresponding one of the plurality of plate lines. The plurality of capacitor structures has a staggered arrangement from a plan view perspective.
Example embodiment 2: The integrated circuit structure of example embodiment 1, wherein each of the plurality of capacitor structures has a cylindrical shape from the plan view perspective.
Example embodiment 3: The integrated circuit structure of example embodiment 1 or 2, wherein the transistor is a planar transistor.
Example embodiment 4: The integrated circuit structure of example embodiment 1 or 2, wherein the transistor is a fin-based transistor.
Example embodiment 5: The integrated circuit structure of example embodiment 1 or 2, wherein the transistor is a nanowire-based transistor.
Example embodiment 6: An integrated circuit structure includes a plurality of stacks of plate lines. The plurality of stacks of plate lines includes a first vertical stack of plate lines, a second vertical stack of plate lines inset from the first vertical stack of plate lines from a cross-sectional perspective, and a third vertical stack of plate lines inset from the second vertical stack of plate lines from the cross-sectional perspective. A transistor structure is below the plurality of stacks of plate lines. A plurality of capacitor structures is coupled to the plurality of stacks of plate lines. The plurality of capacitor structures includes a first capacitor structure coupled to the first vertical stack of plate lines, a second capacitor structure inset from the first capacitor structure from the cross-sectional perspective and coupled to the second vertical stack of plate lines, and a third capacitor structure inset from the second capacitor structure from the cross-sectional perspective and coupled to the third vertical stack of plate lines.
Example embodiment 7: The integrated circuit structure of example embodiment 6, wherein each of the plurality of capacitor structures has a cylindrical shape from the plan view perspective.
Example embodiment 8: The integrated circuit structure of example embodiment 6 or 7, wherein the transistor is a planar transistor.
Example embodiment 9: The integrated circuit structure of example embodiment 6 or 7, wherein the transistor is a fin-based transistor.
Example embodiment 10: The integrated circuit structure of example embodiment 6 or 7, wherein the transistor is a nanowire-based transistor.
Example embodiment 11: A computing device includes a board, and a component coupled to the board. The component includes an integrated circuit structure including a plurality of plate lines along a first direction. A transistor is beneath the plurality of plate lines, with a direction of a first source or drain to a gate to a second source or drain of the transistor being a second direction orthogonal to the first direction. A plurality of capacitor structures is over the plurality of plate lines, individual ones of the plurality of capacitor structures coupled to a corresponding one of the plurality of plate lines. The plurality of capacitor structures has a staggered arrangement from a plan view perspective.
Example embodiment 12: The computing device of example embodiment 11, further including a memory coupled to the board.
Example embodiment 13: The computing device of example embodiment 11 or 12, further including a communication chip coupled to the board.
Example embodiment 14: The computing device of example embodiment 11, 12 or 13, wherein the component is a packaged integrated circuit die.
Example embodiment 15: The computing device of example embodiment 11, 12, 13 or 14, wherein the component is selected from the group consisting of a processor, a communications chip, and a digital signal processor.
Example embodiment 16: A computing device includes a board, and a component coupled to the board. The component includes an integrated circuit structure including a plurality of stacks of plate lines. The plurality of stacks of plate lines includes a first vertical stack of plate lines, a second vertical stack of plate lines inset from the first vertical stack of plate lines from a cross-sectional perspective, and a third vertical stack of plate lines inset from the second vertical stack of plate lines from the cross-sectional perspective. A transistor structure is below the plurality of stacks of plate lines. A plurality of capacitor structures is coupled to the plurality of stacks of plate lines. The plurality of capacitor structures includes a first capacitor structure coupled to the first vertical stack of plate lines, a second capacitor structure inset from the first capacitor structure from the cross-sectional perspective and coupled to the second vertical stack of plate lines, and a third capacitor structure inset from the second capacitor structure from the cross-sectional perspective and coupled to the third vertical stack of plate lines.
Example embodiment 17: The computing device of example embodiment 16, further including a memory coupled to the board.
Example embodiment 18: The computing device of example embodiment 16 or 17, further including a communication chip coupled to the board.
Example embodiment 19: The computing device of example embodiment 16, 17 or 18, wherein the component is a packaged integrated circuit die.
Example embodiment 20: The computing device of example embodiment 16, 17, 18 or 19, wherein the component is selected from the group consisting of a processor, a communications chip, and a digital signal processor.
