The present invention relates to semiconductor devices, and more particularly to manufacturing a semiconductor device having an integrated metal shield.
With reference to
Electrical contacts to the body region 24, source region 12, and drain region 14 may be established through conductive vias. As illustrated, a body contact via 26 and a source contact via 28 extend from the respective body region 24 and source region 12 to a source contact 30. A drain contact via 32 extends from the drain region 14 to a drain contact 34. The electrical contact to the gate electrode 18 is not shown.
MOSFETs 10 are used in numerous electrical applications, including those that are required to operate at high frequencies and over wide operating voltage ranges. Designers are constantly faced with the challenge of creating MOSFETs 10 that operate at higher frequencies and higher operating voltage ranges. The inherent drain-to-gate capacitance of the MOSFET 10 is a significant obstacle in achieving higher operating frequencies. The breakdown voltage of the MOSFET 10 is a significant obstacle in achieving wider operating voltage ranges.
Reference is now made to
The shield 36 is isolated from the gate electrode 18 and the surface of the semiconductor wafer 16 by extending a gate electrode spacer 38 from the gate electrode 18 toward the drain region 14. Notably, the shield 36 is formed by depositing an additional polysilicon layer over the extended gate electrode spacer 38. Unfortunately, formation of the additional polysilicon layer requires an additional polysilicon process step, which is not part of a common MOSFET manufacturing process. Further, the widely varying topology of the MOSFET 10 makes the etching process for creating the shield 36 from the additional polysilicon layer complex.
Accordingly, there is a need to create a shield that reduces drain-to-gate capacitance and increases breakdown voltage of a MOSFET 10 in a more efficient and effective manner. In particular, there is a need to create a shield that does not require adding an additional polysilicon layer to the normal manufacturing process or require etching over a complex topology.
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device having an integrated metal shield. The shield is created as part of a MOSFET and is formed about a gate electrode of the MOSFET to effectively reduce drain-to-gate capacitance and increase breakdown voltage. The shield consists of a metallic shield contact via and a source contact extension. The metallic shield contact via is formed between the gate electrode and a drain region of the MOSFET. This metallic shield contact via, which may be either a series of closely spaced vias or a wide continuous via, is isolated from the surface of a semiconductor wafer by a shield isolation layer at one end. The metallic shield contact via is electrically coupled to the source contact extension at the other end. The source contact extension is metallic, and may be formed from the same metal used to create a source contact and a drain contact for the MOSFET.
To manufacture the MOSFET with an integrated metal shield, the semiconductor wafer is formed having a source and drain region. The gate electrode surrounded by a gate electrode spacer is positioned on the surface of the semiconductor wafer between the source region and the drain region. The shield isolation layer, which may be an extension of the existing gate electrode spacer or a dielectric layer over the gate electrode spacer, is then positioned over the surface of the semiconductor wafer between the gate electrode and the drain region. Next, metallic vias are formed in a dielectric layer, which is created over the semiconductor wafer. Source contact vias and drain contact vias are electrically coupled to the source region, and the drain region, respectively, through a contact layer. The metallic shield contact via is formed and connected to the shield isolation layer between the gate electrode and the drain region. Finally, a metal layer is formed over the dielectric layer and the metallic vias so that the source contact, source contact extension, and drain contact are formed. The source contact is electrically coupled to the source contact via, and isolated from the drain contact. The source contact extension is electrically coupled to the shield contact via and may be electrically coupled to the source contact, remaining isolated from the drain contact. Forming this integrated metal shield does not necessarily require a polysilicon layer in addition to those normally required to manufacture the MOSFET or etching over a complex topology.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate the scope of the present invention and realize additional aspects thereof after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments in association with the accompanying drawing figures.
The accompanying drawing figures incorporated in and forming a part of this specification illustrate several aspects of the invention, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention.
The embodiments set forth below represent the necessary information to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention and illustrate the best mode of practicing the invention. Upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawing figures, those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the invention and will recognize applications of these concepts not particularly addressed herein. It should be understood that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of the disclosure and the accompanying claims.
A graphical representation of a MOSFET 10 according to the present invention is depicted in
In traditional fashion, the MOSFET 10 is formed by creating a source region 12 and a drain region 14 in a semiconductor wafer 16 and placing a gate electrode 18 over the surface of the semiconductor wafer 16 between the source region 12 and the drain region 14. The source region 12 and the drain region 14 are heavily doped with N-type material. The gate electrode 18 is isolated from the surface of the semiconductor wafer 16 by an appropriate gate dielectric layer 20. In the illustrated embodiment, a lightly doped drain region 22 in the semiconductor wafer 16 extends from the drain region 14 to the gate electrode 18. Also, a body region 24 may be formed in the semiconductor wafer 16 adjacent to the source region 12 wherein the source region 12 is between the body region 24 and the gate electrode 18.
Electrical contacts to the body region 24, source region 12, and drain region 14 may be established through conductive vias. As illustrated, a body contact via 26 and a source contact via 28 extend from the respective body region 24 and source region 12 to a source contact 30. A drain contact via 32 extends from a drain region 14 to a drain contact 34. The electrical contact to the gate electrode 18 is not shown.
A shield isolation layer 46, formed on the surface of the semiconductor wafer 16, partially covers the gate electrode 18 and extends to the drain region 14. Notably, the shield isolation layer 46 may be the gate electrode spacer 38 or other dielectric layer. The shield isolation layer 46 provides an etch stop for the shield vias 44 and isolates the shield vias 44 from the surface of the semiconductor wafer 16.
For the present invention, the shield 40 is formed from the shield vias 44 and the source contact extension 42. The shield vias 44 extend from the shield isolation layer 46 to the source contact extension 42, which is preferably created from the same metal layer that is used to create the source contact 30 and drain contact 34. As illustrated, the source contact extension 42 connects to, or effectively extends from, the source contact 30. However, the source extension 42 may be isolated from the source contact 30, as shown in
When comparing the electrostatic potential contour lines throughout the semiconductor wafer 16 at the breakdown voltage of the respective MOSFETs 10 of
A perspective representation of the MOSFET 10 without illustrating the drain contact via 32 and drain contact 34 is depicted in
With reference to the graphical representations of
In
In
In
In
In
In
In
Next, a metal layer is formed over the dielectric layer 54 and the body contact via 26, source contact via 28, drain contact via 32 and shield contact via 44. The metal may be Al, Cu, or any other appropriate conducting material. By etching the metal layer, a source contact 30, source contact extension 42, and a drain contact 34 are formed as shown in
Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modifications to the preferred embodiments of the present invention. All such improvements and modifications are considered within the scope of the concepts disclosed herein and the claims that follow.
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