This application claims priority under 35 USC § 119 to Korean Patent Application Nos. 10-2022-0066516 and 10-2022-0092552, filed on May 31, 2022 and Jul. 26, 2022, respectively, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.
Example embodiments relate to a method of forming a wiring structure, a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device using the same, and a semiconductor device manufactured by the same method.
A channel including silicon may be used in a semiconductor device, however, as the size of semiconductor devices decreases, the electrical characteristics of the channel including silicon may reach a limit. Thus, a channel including a 2-dimensional material having higher charge mobility than silicon has been developed, and an electrode including graphene has been developed. However, more study is need in order that the electrode including graphene may be used in the semiconductor device.
The embodiments may be realized by providing a method of forming a wiring structure, the method comprising alternately and repeatedly stacking electrode layers and insulation layers on a substrate, the electrode layers including graphene and the insulation layer including hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN); etching a first insulation layer through a first dry etching process using an etching gas including fluorine (F) to form an opening exposing an upper surface of a first electrode layer, the first insulation layer being an uppermost one of the insulation layers, and the first electrode layer being an uppermost one of the electrode layers; removing a portion of the first electrode layer exposed by the opening through a reactive ion etching (RIE) process using oxygen plasma and/or hydrogen plasma to enlarge the opening so that an upper surface of a second insulation layer is exposed, the second insulation layer being one of the insulation layers directly under the first electrode layer; etching the second insulation layer exposed by the opening through a second dry etching process using an etching gas including fluorine (F) to enlarge the opening so that an upper surface of a second electrode layer is exposed, the second electrode layer being one of the electrode layers directly under the second insulation layer; and forming a contact plug in the enlarged opening
The embodiments may be realized by providing a method of forming a wiring structure, the method including forming a first channel on a substrate; forming first source/drain electrodes on the substrate to cover lateral portions, respectively, of the first channel, each of the first source/drain electrodes including graphene forming a first insulation layer on the substrate to cover the first channel and the first source/drain electrodes forming a gate electrode on the first insulation layer, the gate electrode including graphene forming a second channel on the second insulation layer; forming second source/drain electrodes on the second insulation layer to cover lateral portions of the second channel, each of the second source/drain electrodes including graphene; forming a third insulation layer on the second insulation layer to cover the second channel and the second source/drain electrodes; forming a first contact plug through the third insulation layer to contact an upper surface of a first one of the second source/drain electrodes at a first side of the second channel; forming a second contact plug through the first to third insulation layers to contact an upper surface of a first one of the first source/drain electrodes at a first side of the first channel; forming a third contact plug through the first to third insulation layers and a second one of the second source/drain electrodes at a second side of the second channel to contact an upper surface of a second one of the first source/drain electrodes at a second side of the first channel; and forming a fourth contact plug through the second and third insulation layers to contact an upper surface of the gate electrode.
The embodiments may be realized by providing a semiconductor device, comprising a first insulation layer on a substrate; a first channel on the first insulation layer; first source/drain electrodes contacting opposite lateral portions, respectively, of the first channel and portions of the first insulation layer adjacent thereto, each of the first source/drain electrodes including graphene; a second insulation layer on the first insulation layer, the second insulation layer covering the first channel and the first source/drain electrodes; a gate electrode on the second insulation layer, the gate electrode including graphene; a third insulation layer on the second insulation layer, the third insulation layer covering the gate electrode; a second channel on the third insulation layer; second source/drain electrodes contacting opposite lateral portions, respectively, of the second channel and portions of the third insulation layer adjacent thereto, each of the second source/drain electrodes including graphene; a fourth insulation layer on the third insulation layer, the fourth insulation layer covering the second channel and the second source/drain electrodes; a first contact plug extending through the fourth insulation layer and contacting an upper surface of a first one of the second source/drain electrodes at a first side of the second channel; a second contact plug extending through the second to fourth insulation layers and contacting an upper surface of the first source/drain electrode at a first side of the first channel; a third contact plug extending through the second to fourth insulation layers and a second one of the second source/drain electrodes at a second side of the second channel and contacting an upper surface of the first source/drain electrode at a second side of the first channel; and a fourth contact plug extending through the third and fourth insulation layers and contacting an upper surface of the gate electrode
Features will become apparent to those of skill in the art by describing in detail exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings in which:
Referring to
The substrate 100 may include a semiconductor material, e.g., silicon, germanium, silicon-germanium, etc., or an insulating material, e.g., silicon oxide.
The insulation layer 110 may include, e.g., hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), silicon oxide, silicon nitride, etc. The electrode layer 120 may include, e.g., graphene. The first mask 130 may include, e.g., polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) in a form of a photoresist pattern, etc.
Referring to
In example embodiments, the first dry etching process may be performed using an etching gas including fluorine (F), e.g., xenon difluoride (XeF2), carbon tetrafluoride (CF4), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), etc. Thus, the upper surface of the upper one of the electrode layers 120 exposed by the first dry etching process may be fluorinated to form fluorinated graphene, which may serve as an etch stop layer in the first dry etching process. Accordingly, during the first dry etching process, an upper portion of the insulation layer 110 under the upper one of the electrode layers 120 may not be removed.
Referring to
Thus, a first contact plug 150 may be formed in the first opening 140 to contact the upper surface of the upper one of the electrode layers 120.
The planarization process may include, e.g., a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process and/or an etch back process.
The first conductive layer may include a metal, e.g., copper, aluminum, ruthenium, titanium, tantalum, chromium, palladium, etc.
Referring to
The RIE process may be performed using, e.g., oxygen plasma, hydrogen plasma, etc.
Hereinafter, a case in which the electrode 125 is formed is explained.
Referring to
For example, a second dry etching process may be performed using the first mask 130, the insulation pattern 115, and the electrode 125 under the first mask 130 as an etching mask on a middle one of the insulation layers 110 such that the first opening 140 may be enlarged downwardly to expose an upper surface of a lower one of the electrode layers 120. The middle one of the insulation layers 110 may be patterned to form an insulation pattern 115.
The second dry etching process may be performed using an etching gas including fluorine (F), e.g., xenon difluoride (XeF2), carbon tetrafluoride (CF4), or sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), etc. Thus, the upper surface of the lower one of the electrode layers 120 exposed by the second dry etching process may be fluorinated to form fluorinated graphene, which may serve as an etch stop layer in the second dry etching process. Accordingly, during the second dry etching process, an upper portion of the insulation layer 110 under the lower one of the electrode layers 120 may not be removed.
Referring to
For example, after removing the first mask 130, a second conductive layer may be formed on the exposed upper surface of the lower one of the electrode layers 120 and an upper surface of an upper one of the insulation patterns 115 to fill the first opening 140, and a planarization process may be performed on the second conductive layer until the upper surface of the upper one of the insulation patterns 115 is exposed. Thus, the first contact plug 150 may be formed in the first opening 140 to contact the upper surface of the lower one of the electrode layers 120.
The first contact plug 150 may contact the upper surface of the lower one of the electrode layers 120 and a sidewall of the electrode 125.
By the above processes, the wiring structure including the lower one of the electrode layers 120, the electrode 125 and the first contact plug 150 may be manufactured.
As illustrated above, in a stack structure including the insulation layers 110 and the electrode layers 120 alternately and repeatedly stacked, one of the insulation layers 110 may be selectively etched by a dry etching process using an etching gas having an etching selectivity between the insulation layer 110 and the electrode layer 120, that is, an etching gas including fluorine (F) so that one of the electrode layers 120 under the one of the insulation layers 110 may not be removed, and further, one of the insulation layers 110 under the one of the electrode layers 120 also may not be removed.
Additionally, one of the electrode layers 120 may be selectively etched by an RIE process using oxygen plasma or hydrogen plasma having an etching selectivity between the insulation layer 110 and the electrode layer 120, such that the electrode 125 may be formed with one of the insulation layers 110 under the one of the electrode layers 120 that were not removed.
Thus, the first contact plug 150 may be easily formed to contact an upper surface of one of the electrode layers 120 at a desired level in the stack structure. During the formation of the first opening 140 in which the first contact plug 150 is to be formed, damage to the electrode layer 120 and the insulation layer 110 thereunder may be avoided.
This method may include processes substantially the same as or similar to those illustrated with reference to
Hereinafter, in the specification (and not necessarily in the claims), two horizontal directions substantially parallel to an upper surface of a substrate may be referred to as first and second directions D1 and D2, respectively. A vertical direction substantially perpendicular to the upper surface of the substrate may be referred to as a third direction D3. In example embodiments, the first and second directions D1 and D2 may be substantially perpendicular to each other.
Referring to
The substrate 200 may include a semiconductor material, e.g., silicon, germanium, silicon-germanium, etc., or an insulating material, e.g., silicon oxide. The first insulation layer 210 may include, e.g., h-BN, silicon oxide, silicon nitride, etc.
In example embodiments, the first channel 220 may extend in the first direction D1 to a given length on the first insulation layer 210.
In example embodiments, the first channel 220 may include a two-dimensional (2D) material, and for example, a transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) that may include a transition metal and a chalcogen element. That is, the first channel 220 may include a material that may be represented by a chemical formula MX2 (M is a transition metal, and X is a chalcogen element).
The transition metal may include, for example, molybdenum (Mo), tungsten (W), rhenium (Re), technetium (Tc), niobium (Nb), tantalum (Ta), hafnium (Hf), zirconium (Zr), osmium (Os), ruthenium (Ru), iridium (Ir), rhodium (Rh), platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd), yttrium (Y), Lanthanum (La), Lutetium (Lu), scandium (Sc), titanium (Ti), vanadium (V), chromium (Cr), Manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), or the like, and the chalcogen element may include, for example, sulfur (S), selenium (Se), tellurium (Te), or the like.
Thus, the first channel 220 may include a 2D material, for example, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), molybdenum diselenide (MoSe2), molybdenum ditelluride (MoTe2), tungsten disulfide (WS2), tungsten diselenide (WSe2), tungsten ditelluride (WTe2), or the like.
In an example embodiment, the first channel 220 may include a n-type 2D material, e.g., molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), molybdenum diselenide (MoSe2), etc., and thus may serve as a channel of an NMOS transistor.
The first source/drain electrode 230 may be formed at each of opposite sides of the first channel 220 in the second direction D2, and may also be formed on a portion of an upper surface of the first insulation layer 210 adjacent thereto. In example embodiments, the first source/drain electrode 230 may include graphene.
Each of the first channel 220 and the first source/drain electrode 230 may be formed on the first insulation layer 210 by a dry transfer process.
Referring to
The second insulation layer 240 may include, e.g., h-BN, silicon oxide, silicon nitride, etc., and the gate electrode 250 may include graphene.
In example embodiments, the gate electrode 250 may extend in the first direction D1 on the second insulation layer 240, and may overlap the first channel 220 in the third direction D3. In example embodiments, an extension length of the gate electrode 250 in the first direction D1 may be greater than an extension length of the first channel 220 in the first direction D1.
Referring to
In example embodiments, the second channel 270 may extend in the first direction D1 to a given length on the third insulation layer 260, and may overlap the gate electrode 250 in the third direction D3. In example embodiments, an extension length of the second channel 270 in the first direction D1 may be less than the extension length of the gate electrode 250 in the first direction D1.
The second source/drain electrode 280 may be formed at each of opposite sides of the second channel 270 in the second direction D2, and may also be formed on a portion of the third insulation layer 260 adjacent thereto.
In example embodiments, a first one of the second source/drain electrodes 280 at a first side of the second channel 270 may have a width in the second direction D2 less than a width in the second direction D2 of a second one of the second source/drain electrodes 280 at a second side of the second channel 270 that is opposite to the first side thereof, and thus the first one of the second source/drain electrodes 280 may overlap only a portion of the first source/drain electrode 230 in the third direction D3. Hereinafter, sides of the first channel 220 overlapped in the third direction D3 by the first and second sides of the second channel 270 may also be referred to as first and second sides, respectively, of the first channel 220.
Each of the third and fourth insulation layers 260 and 290 may include, e.g., h-BN, silicon oxide, silicon nitride, etc., and the second source/drain electrode 280 may include graphene.
The second channel 270 may include a 2D material. In an example embodiment, the second channel 270 may include a p-type 2D material, for example, molybdenum ditelluride (MoTe2), tungsten disulfide (WS2), etc., and thus may serve as a channel of a PMOS transistor.
Referring to
As illustrated with reference to
Referring to
Referring to
Particularly, a third mask 350 may be formed on the fourth insulation layer 290 and the second and third contact plugs 330 and 340, and a fourth dry etching process may be performed on the fourth insulation layer 290 using the third mask 350 as an etching mask. Thus, a fourth opening 360 extending through the fourth insulation layer 290 may be formed to expose an upper surface of the second one of the second source/drain electrodes 280 at the second side of the second channel 270.
During the fourth dry etching process, an etching gas including fluorine (F), e.g., xenon difluoride (XeF2), carbon tetrafluoride (CF4), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), etc., may be used, such that the third insulation layer 260 under the second one of the second source/drain electrodes 280 may not be removed.
Referring to
Particularly, the exposed portion of the second source/drain electrode 280 may be removed by an RIE process using, e.g., oxygen plasma, hydrogen plasma, etc.
A fifth dry etching process may be performed on the second and third insulation layers 240 and 260 using the third mask 350, and the fourth insulation layer 290 and the second source/drain electrode 280 thereunder as an etching mask so that the fourth opening 360 may be enlarged downwardly to expose an upper surface of a second one of the first source/drain electrodes 230 at the second side of the first channel 220.
The fifth dry etching process may be performed using an etching gas including fluorine (F), e.g., xenon difluoride (XeF2), carbon tetrafluoride (CF4), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), etc., such that the second one of first source/drain electrodes 230 and the first insulation layer 210 under the second one of the first source/drain electrodes 230 may not be removed.
Referring to
Referring to
The semiconductor device may include the first insulation layer 210 on the substrate 200, the first channel 220 on the first insulation layer 210, the first source/drain electrodes 230 contacting opposite lateral portions, respectively, in the second direction D2 of the first channel 220 and portions of the first insulation layer 210 adjacent thereto, the second insulation layer 240 covering the first channel 220 and the first source/drain electrode 230 and on the first insulation layer 210, the gate electrode 250 on the second insulation layer 240, the third insulation layer 260 covering the gate electrode 250 and on the second insulation layer 240, the second channel 270 on the third insulation layer 260, the second source/drain electrodes 280 contacting opposite lateral portions, respectively, in the second direction D2 of the second channel 270 and portions of the third insulation layer 260 adjacent thereto, the fourth insulation layer 290 covering the second channel 270 and the second source/drain electrodes 280 and on the third insulation layer 260, the second contact plug 330 extending through the fourth insulation layer 290 to contact the upper surface of the first one of the second source/drain electrodes 280 at the first side of the second channel 270, the third contact plug 340 extending through the second to fourth insulation layers 240, 260 and 290 to contact the upper surface of the first one of the first source/drain electrodes 280, the fourth contact plug 370 extending through the second to fourth insulation layers 240, 260 and 290 and the second one of the second source/drain electrodes 280 at the second side of the second channel 270 to contact the upper surface of the second one of the first source/drain electrodes 230, and the fifth contact plug 380 extending through the third and fourth insulation layers 260 and 290 to contact the upper surface of the gate electrode 250.
In example embodiments, a width in the second direction D2 of the first one of the first source/drain electrodes 230 at the first side of the first channel 220 may be greater than a width in the second direction D2 of the first one of the second source/drain electrodes 280 at the first side of the second channel 270.
In the semiconductor device, the gate electrode 250, the first channel 220 and the first source/drain electrodes 230 may form an NMOS transistor, and the gate electrode 250, the second channel 270 and the second source/drain electrodes 280 may form a PMOS transistor.
That is, the NMOS transistor and the PMOS transistor stacked in the third direction D3 may form a vertical inverter, and the gate electrode 250 may serve as a common gate of the NMOS transistor and the PMOS transistor.
For example, a source voltage (Vss) may be applied through the third contact plug 340 contacting the upper surface of the first one of the first source/drain electrodes 230 at the first side of the first channel 220, and a drain voltage (Vdd) may be applied through the second contact plug 330 contacting the upper surface of the first one of the second source/drain electrodes 280 at the first side of the second channel 270.
Additionally, an input voltage (Vin) may be applied through the fifth contact plug 380 contacting the upper surface of the gate electrode 250, and an output voltage (Vout) may be applied through the fourth contact plug 370 contacting the upper surface of the second one of the first source/drain electrodes 230 at the second side of the first channel 220 and contacting the sidewall of the second one of the second source/drain electrodes 280.
The semiconductor device may also be a vertical inverter including a PMOS transistor and an NMOS transistor stacked in the vertical direction.
In the method of forming the wiring structure in accordance with example embodiments, in which the stack structure includes insulation layers and electrode layers alternately and repeatedly stacked, the upper insulation layer may be selectively etched by a dry etching process using an etching gas including fluorine, which may have an etching selectivity between the insulation layers and the electrode layers. In this case, the electrode layer under the upper insulation layer may not be removed, and further the lower insulation layer may not be removed.
Additionally, an RIE process may be performed using oxygen plasma and hydrogen plasma having an etching selectivity between the insulation layers and the electrode layers such that the upper electrode layer may be selectively etched and such that the electrode may be formed without the lower insulation layer being removed.
Accordingly, the contact plug contacting an upper surface of an electrode layer at a desired level in the stack structure may be easily formed, and during the formation of an opening for forming the contact plug, damage to the electrode layer and the insulation layer thereunder may be avoided.
One or more embodiments may provide a method of forming a wiring structure having improved characteristics.
One or more embodiments may provide a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device having improved characteristics.
One or more embodiments may provide a semiconductor device having improved characteristics.
Example embodiments have been disclosed herein, and although specific terms are employed, they are used and are to be interpreted in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purpose of limitation. In some instances, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art as of the filing of the present application, features, characteristics, and/or elements described in connection with a particular embodiment may be used singly or in combination with features, characteristics, and/or elements described in connection with other embodiments unless otherwise specifically indicated. Accordingly, it will be understood by those of skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the following claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2022-0066516 | May 2022 | KR | national |
10-2022-0092552 | Jul 2022 | KR | national |