This application claims priority to Chinese Application No. 201410392572.9, filed Aug. 11, 2014 (not published), and claims priority to Chinese Application No. 201410456374.4, filed Sep. 9, 2014 (published as CN 104167391 A), both of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to semiconductor technology, and more particularly, to a method for manufacturing a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
A CMOS structure includes metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) of two opposite types (i.e. N-type and P-type) on one semiconductor substrate. The CMOS structure is widely used in various logical circuits which operates at low power consumption. A control chip of a power converter has advantages of low power consumption, high integration level, and high speed, if being on the basis of a CMOS structure.
To complete a CMOS structure, a well region is typically formed in a semiconductor substrate for at least one type of MOSFET. Source/drain regions of the at least one type of MOSFET are then formed in the well region by ion implantation. The well region has a doping type opposite to that of the MOSFET to be formed therein, and functions as an actual semiconductor substrate of such a MOSFET. Lightly-doped drain (LDD region) regions may also be formed between the source/drain regions and a channel region for improving electric field distribution in the channel region and suppressing a short-channel effect.
In a conventional CMOS process, doping processes are usually independent of each other for different types of MOSFETs. When doped regions of one type of MOSFETs are formed, active regions of the other type of MOSFETs are blocked, or vice versa. Consequently, a large number of masks must be used in various doping steps in the conventional CMOS process, which increases manufacturing cost, and may cause low yield and poor reliability of the product due to possible mismatching of different masks.
Thus, it is desirable to further reduce manufacturing cost of a CMOS process and reduce reliability problem due to the process complexity.
In view of this, the present disclosure provides a method for manufacturing a CMOS structure in which less masks are used.
In an embodiment, there is provided a method for manufacturing a CMOS structure, comprising: forming a first gate stack on a semiconductor substrate in a first region; forming a second gate stack on the semiconductor substrate in a second region; implanting a dopant of a first type with the first gate stack and the second gate stack as a hard mask, to form a lightly-doped drain region of the first type; and implanting a dopant of a second type by using a first mask and with the second gate stack as a hard mask, to form a lightly-doped drain region of the second type, wherein the first mask blocks the first region and exposes the second region, wherein when the lightly-doped drain region of the second type is formed, the dopant of the second type over dopes a predetermined region of the lightly-doped drain region of the first type.
Preferably, each of the first gate stack and the second gate stack comprises a gate conductor and a gate dielectric, and the gate dielectric is disposed between the gate conductor and the semiconductor substrate.
Preferably, the gate conductor is made of polysilicon.
Preferably, after the steps of forming the first gate stack and forming the second gate stack, the method further comprises doping the gate conductor of at least one of the first gate stack and the second gate stack to adjust work function.
Preferably, before the step of forming the first gate stack, the method further comprises at least one of: forming a first well region of the second type by implanting a dopant of the second type in the first region of the semiconductor substrate; and forming a second well region of the first type by implanting the dopant of the first type in the second region of the semiconductor substrate.
Preferably, at least one of the first well region and the second well region has a doping concentration which is controlled in view of a threshold voltage.
Preferably, before the step of forming the first gate stack, the method further comprises forming shallow trench isolation in the semiconductor substrate for defining the first region for MOSFETs of the first type and the second region for MOSFETs of the second type.
Preferably, after the steps of forming the first gate stack and forming the second gate stack, and before the steps of forming the lightly-doped drain region of the first type and forming the lightly-doped drain region of the second type, the method further comprises forming gate spacers on side walls of the first gate stack and the second gate stack.
Preferably, after the steps of forming the lightly-doped drain region of the first type and forming the lightly-doped drain region of the second type, the method further comprises forming gate spacers on side walls of the first gate stack and the second gate stack.
Preferably, after the steps of forming the first gate stack and forming the second gate stack, and after the step of forming the lightly-doped drain region of the first type, and before the step of forming the lightly-doped drain region of the second type, the method further comprises forming gate spacers on side walls of the first gate stack and the second gate stack.
Preferably, the method further comprises implanting a dopant of the first type by using a second mask and with the first gate stack and the gate spacers as a hard mask, to form source/drain regions of the first type, wherein the second mask blocks the second region and exposes the first region; and implanting a dopant of the second type by using a third mask and with the second gate stack and the gate spacers as a hard mask, to form source/drain regions of the second type, wherein the third mask blocks the first region and exposes the second region.
Preferably, the method further comprises implanting a dopant of the second type by using the first mask and with the second gate stack and the gate spacers as a hard mask, to form the lightly-doped drain region of the second type and source/drain regions of the second type, wherein the first mask blocks the first region and exposes the second region, and implanting a dopant of the first type by using a second mask and with the first gate stack and the gate spacers as a hard mask, to form source/drain regions of the first type, wherein the second mask blocks the second region and exposes the first region.
Preferably, the method further comprises implanting a dopant of the second type by angled ion implantation through the gate spacers to form the lightly-doped drain region of the second type.
Preferably, after the steps of forming the source/drain regions of the first type and forming the source/drain regions of the second type, the method further comprises performing silicidation to form a metal silicide layer on the source/drain regions of the first type, on the source/drain regions of the second type, and on the gate stack.
Preferably, the gate conductor of the first gate stack contains a dopant of the first type, and the gate conductor of the second gate stack contains a dopant of the first type and a dopant of the second type.
In the present method, a predetermined region of the lightly-doped region of the first type is over doped and compensated to be a lightly-doped drain region of the second type. Only one mask is used for both the first-type MOSFETs and second-type MOSFETs when forming the lightly-doped regions, which reduces the number of the masks. Accordingly, the failure of the CMOS structure due to mismatching of different masks is avoided.
In a preferable embodiment, a doping concentration of the well region may be well controlled in view of a threshold voltage when at least one of the first well region and the second well region is formed, so that work function difference between the gate conductor and the channel region fulfills design requirements. Thus, an additional ion implantation for adjusting work function by doping the gate conductor is omitted.
The above and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow in connection with the appended drawings, and wherein:
Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more details below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numerals denote like members. The figures are not drawn to scale, for the sake of clarity. Moreover, some well-known parts may not be shown. For simplicity, the structure of the semiconductor device having been subject to several relevant process steps may be shown in one figure.
It should be understood that when one layer or region is referred to as being “above” or “on” another layer or region in the description of device structure, it can be directly above or on the other layer or region, or other layers or regions may be intervened therebetween. Moreover, if the device in the figures is turned over, the layer or region will be “under” or “below” the other layer or region.
In contrast, when one layer is referred to as being “directly on” or “on and adjacent to” or “adjoin” another layer or region, there are not intervening layers or regions present. In the present application, when one region is referred to as being “directly in”, it can be directly in another region and adjoins the another region, but not in a doping region of the another region.
In the present application, the term “semiconductor structure” means generally the whole semiconductor structure formed at each step of the method for manufacturing the semiconductor device, including all of the layers and regions having been formed. The term “source/drain region” means at least one of a source region and a drain region of a MOSFET.
Some particular details of the present disclosure will be described below, such as exemplary semiconductor structures, materials, dimensions, process steps and technologies of the semiconductor device, for better understanding of the present disclosure. However, it can be understood by one skilled person in the art that these details are not always essential for but can be varied in a specific implementation of the disclosure.
Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, each part of the semiconductor device can be made of material(s) well known to one skilled person in the art. The semiconductor material includes for example group III-V semiconductor, such as GaAs, InP, GaN, and SiC, and group IV semiconductor, such as Si, and Ge. A gate conductor may be made of any conductive material, such as metal, doped polysilicon, and a stack of metal and doped polysilicon, among others. For example, the gate conductor may be made of one selected from a group consisting of TaC, TiN, TaSiN, HfSiN, TiSiN, TiCN, TaAlC, TiAlN, TaN, PtSix, Ni3Si, Pt, Ru, W, and their combinations. A gate dielectric may be made of SiO2 or any material having dielectric constant larger than that of SiO2. For example, the gate dielectric may be made of one selected from a group consisting of oxides, nitrides, oxynitrides, silicates, aluminates, and titanates. Moreover, the gate dielectric can be made of those developed in the future, besides the above known materials.
The disclosure can be embodied in various forms, some of which will be described below.
Referring to
As shown in
In a preferable embodiment, a photoresist layer is formed on a surface of the semiconductor substrate, and then patterned by lithography to be a photoresist mask which exposes those regions other than active regions (also being referred to as field regions). Portions of the semiconductor substrate 101 are removed by a conventional etching process which is performed from top to bottom through openings in the photoresist mask to form shallow trenches. The etching may be dry etching such as ion beam milling, plasma etching, reactive ion etching, laser ablation and the like, or wet etching using a selective solution of etchant. Then, the photoresist mask is removed by ashing or dissolution with a solvent.
An insulating layer is then formed on a surface of the semiconductor structure by a conventional deposition process. The insulating layer has a thickness at least large enough to fill up the shallow trenches. For example, the deposition process may be one selected from a group consisting of electron beam evaporation (EBM), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), and sputtering. For example, a surface of the semiconductor structure may be planarized by chemical mechanical polishing so that portions of the insulating layer outside the shallow trenches are removed and the remaining portions of the insulating layer form shallow trench isolation(STI).
Next, a photoresist layer is formed on a surface of the semiconductor structure, and then patterned by lithography to be a photoresist mask PR1 which exposes an active region of a P-type MOSFET. A first ion implantation is performed by a conventional ion implantation and driving-in process to form an N-type well region 110 of a P-type MOSFET in the semiconductor substrate 101, as shown in
An N-type semiconductor layer or region may be formed by implanting an N-type dopant such as P or As in the semiconductor layer or region. By controlling implantation parameters, such as implantation energy and dosage, the dopant may reach a predetermined depth and may have a predetermined doping concentration.
Next, a photoresist layer is formed on a surface of the semiconductor structure, and then patterned by lithography to be a photoresist mask PR2 which exposes an active region of an N-type MOSFET. A second ion implantation is performed by a conventional ion implantation and driving-in process to form a P-type well region 120 of an N-type MOSFET in the semiconductor substrate 101, as shown in
A P-type semiconductor layer or region may be formed by implanting a P-type dopant such as B in the semiconductor layer or region. By controlling implantation parameters, such as implantation energy and dosage, the dopant may reach a predetermined depth and may have a predetermined doping concentration.
It is well known that a threshold voltage of a MOSFET is mainly determined by work function difference between the gate conductor and the channel region. In a conventional CMOS process, a gate conductor of an N-type MOSFET is typically doped to adjust its work function, which further changes the threshold voltage. Doping the gate conductor must be performed in an additional ion implantation process.
In a preferable embodiment, a doping concentration of a P-type well region 120 may be well controlled in view of a threshold voltage when the P-type well region 120 is formed, so that work function difference between the gate conductor and the channel region fulfills design requirements. In an example, the P-type well region 120 has a doping concentration of about 2×1017/cm3, which is smaller than a typical doping concentration of about 7×1017/cm3 of the P-type well region in a conventional CMOS process. In this preferable embodiment, an additional ion implantation for doping the gate conductor and for adjusting work function can be omitted.
In the first ion implantation and the second ion implantation, the N-type well region 110 and the P-type well region 120 are defined respectively by the photoresist masks. The photoresist masks may be designed to have predetermined patterns so that the N-type well region 110 and the P-type well region 120 are separated from each other by the shallow trench isolation 102 at the surface of the semiconductor structure, and are separated from each other with a distance below the shallow trench isolation 102.
Next, a gate dielectric 104 is then formed on the surface of the semiconductor structure by the above conventional deposition process, as shown in
Next, a gate conductor 105 is formed on the gate dielectric 104 by the above conventional deposition process, as shown in
Next, a third ion implantation is performed with the gate conductor 105 and the shallow trench isolation 102 together as a hard mask, without using an additional photoresist mask, to form a LDD region 111 in the N-type well region 110 near the surface and a LDD region 122 in the P-type well region 120 near the surface. An N-type dopant is used in the ion implantation, as shown in
Moreover, the N-type dopant is also implanted into the gate conductor 105 of the P-type MOSFET and the N-type MOSFET in the ion implantation.
Next, a photoresist layer is formed on a surface of the semiconductor structure, and then patterned by lithography to be a photoresist mask PR4. The photoresist mask PR4 blocks the active region of the N-type MOSFET and exposes the active region of the P-type MOSFET. A fourth ion implantation is performed by using the photoresist PR4. A dopant reaches the N-type well region 110 through the openings in the photoresist mask PR4 in the implantation, as shown in
A P-type dopant is used in the fourth ion implantation, which has a dosage larger than that of the N-type dopant used in the third ion implantation. Thus, the P-type dopant over dopes a region of the N-type LDD region 111 to be a P-type LDD region 112.
Moreover, the N-type dopant is also implanted into only the gate conductor 105 of the P-type MOSFET.
Only one photoresist mask is used for the P-type MOSFET and the N-type MOSFET in the third ion implantation and the fourth ion implantation when forming the above LDDs. Two opposite-types of LDD regions are formed by over doping even in a case that only one photoresist mask is used. Thus, the number of the photoresist masks is reduced. The failure of the CMOS structure due to mismatching of different masks is avoided.
Next, a nitride layer is then formed on the surface of the semiconductor structure by the above conventional deposition process. In an example, the nitride layer is a silicon nitride layer with a thickness of about 5-30 nanometers. Lateral portions of the nitride layer are removed by anisotropic etching, for example, reactive ion etching. Consequently, only vertical portions of the nitride layer remain at side walls of the gate conductor 105 to form gate spacers 106, as shown in
Next, a photoresist layer is formed on a surface of the semiconductor structure, and then patterned by lithography to be a mask PR5. The photoresist mask PR5 blocks the active region of the N-type MOSFET and exposes the active region of the P-type MOSFET. A fifth ion implantation is performed by using the photoresist mask PR5 and with the gate conductor 105, the gate spacers 106 and the shallow trench isolation 102 together as a hard mask. A dopant reaches the N-type well region 110 through the openings in the photoresist mask PR5 in the ion implantation to form P-type source/drain regions 115, as shown in
Next, a photoresist layer is formed on a surface of the semiconductor structure, and then patterned by lithography to be photoresist mask PR6. The photoresist mask PR6 blocks the active region of the P-type MOSFET and exposes the active region of the N-type MOSFET. A sixth ion implantation is performed by using the photoresist mask PR6 and with the gate conductor 105, the gate spacers 106 and the shallow trench isolation 102 together as a hard mask. A dopant reaches the P-type well region 120 through the openings in the photoresist mask PR6 in the ion implantation to form N-type source/drain regions 125, as shown in
Preferably, spike anneal and/or laser anneal may be performed at the temperature of about 1000-1100° C. to activate the dopants after the step of forming the source/drain regions 125 for the N-type MOSFET and the step of forming the source/drain regions 115 for the P-type MOSFET.
Preferably, a metal layer is formed on the surface of the semiconductor structure by the above conventional deposition process, after the step of forming the source/drain regions 125 for the N-type MOSFET and the step of forming the source/drain regions 115 for the P-type MOSFET. The metal layer is made of one from a group consisting of Ni, W, Ti, Co and alloys of any of Ni, W, Ti, Co with others. In an example, the metal layer is a Co layer formed by sputtering. In an example, thermal anneal is then performed for about 1-10 seconds at the temperature of about 300-500° C.
The thermal anneal causes silicidation of the metal layer at surfaces of the source/drain regions 125 of the N-type MOSFET and the source/drain regions 115 of the P-type MOSFET to form a metal silicide layer 107. Meanwhile, the silicidation also occurs at a surface of the gate conductor 105 to form the metal silicide layer 107. The metal silicide layer 107 will reduce contact resistance of the source and drain regions. Remaining portions of the metal layer 111 are removed by well-known dry etching or wet etching, as shown in
After the steps described in connection with
In the above embodiment, the active regions of the CMOS structure are defined by shallow trench isolation. Alternatively, other isolation structure may be used instead of the shallow trench isolation, for example, a field oxide (FOX) or the like.
In the above embodiment, the N-type well region 110 and the P-type well region 120 are formed in the semiconductor substrate 101 respectively. However, only
P-type well region 120 can be formed, without the need for the N-type well region 110, if the semiconductor substrate is N-type itself. Similarly, only N-type well region 110 can be formed, without the need for the P-type well region 120, if the semiconductor substrate 101 is P-type itself.
In the above embodiment, the gate spacers 106 are formed after forming the P-type LDD regions 112 and the N-type LDD regions 122. Alternatively, the gate spacers 106 may be formed before forming the P-type LDD regions 112 and the N-type LDD regions 122. Angled implantation is then performed when forming the P-type LDD regions 112 and the N-type LDD regions 122. The N-type dopant penetrates the gate spacers 106 and reaches the P-type well region 120 to form the N-type LDD regions 122, and the P-type dopant penetrates the gate spacers 106 and reaches the N-type well region 110 to form the P-type LDD regions 112.
Also alternatively, the gate spacers may be formed after forming the N-type LDD regions 122 and before forming the P-type LDD regions 112. Angled implantation is then performed when forming the P-type LDD regions 112. The P-type dopant penetrates the gate spacers 106 and reaches the N-type well region to form the P-type LDD regions 112.
Instead of the step shown in
The step shown in
In this embodiment, one photoresist mask is used for forming both the P-type LDD regions and the P-type source/drain regions. The photoresist mask PR6 shown in
It should also be understood that the relational terms such as “first”, “second”, and the like are used in the context merely for distinguishing one element or operation form the other element or operation, instead of meaning or implying any real relationship or order of these elements or operations. Moreover, the terms “comprise”, “comprising” and the like are used to refer to comprise in nonexclusive sense, so that any process, approach, article or apparatus relevant to an element, if follows the terms, means that not only said element listed here, but also those elements not listed explicitly, or those elements inherently included by the process, approach, article or apparatus relevant to said element. If there is no explicit limitation, the wording “comprise a/an . . . ” does not exclude the fact that other elements can also be included together with the process, approach, article or apparatus relevant to the element.
Although various embodiments of the present invention are described above, these embodiments neither present all details, nor imply that the present invention is limited to these embodiments. Obviously, many modifications and changes may be made in light of the teaching of the above embodiments. These embodiments are presented and some details are described herein only for explaining the principle of the invention and its actual use, so that one skilled person can practice the present invention and introduce some modifications in light of the invention. The invention is intended to cover alternatives, modifications and equivalents that may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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201410392572.9 | Aug 2014 | CN | national |
201410456374.4 | Sep 2014 | CN | national |