The technical field generally relates to methods for fabricating integrated circuits, and more particularly relates to methods for fabricating integrated circuits with reduced replacement metal gate height variability.
Transistors such as metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) or simply field effect transistors (FETs) or MOS transistors are important building blocks of the vast majority of semiconductor integrated circuits (ICs). An FET includes source and drain regions between which a current can flow through a channel under the influence of a bias applied to a gate electrode that overlies the channel. Some semiconductor ICs, such as high performance microprocessors, can include millions of FETs. For such ICs, decreasing transistor size and thus increasing transistor density has traditionally been a high priority in the semiconductor manufacturing industry. Transistor performance, however, must be maintained even as the transistor size decreases.
A FINFET is a type of transistor that lends itself to the goals of reducing transistor size while maintaining transistor performance. As illustrated in
Replacement metal gate (RMG) processing is often used during FinFET formation.
Next, referring to
The trenches left by the removal of the dummy gates and silicon nitride caps are then filled by an RMG process.
This additional CMP process can add another approximately 10 nm surface variance, resulting in an overall surface of variance of approximately 28-29 nm when only about +5 nm variance should be tolerated. Dishing between features may also be an issue. Thus, this conventional replacement metal gate protocol may not be able to comply with gate height uniformity requirements for successful development of advanced technology nodes in the semiconductor industry, such as those requiring +5 nm deviation from target features. Generally, CMP processing provides approximately 7 nm surface variance if a stop layer is utilized and approximately 10 nm surface variance if no stop layer is utilized.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide methods for fabricating integrated circuits with reduced replacement height variability. In addition, it is desirable to provide methods for fabricating integrated circuits that provide flexibility in replacement metal gate processing. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.
Methods for fabricating integrated circuits with reduced replacement metal gate height variability are provided. In an embodiment, a method includes providing a semiconductor substrate with a fin supported thereon and forming a conformal material layer overlying the fin and the semiconductor substrate. A trench is etched within the conformal material layer such that the trench exposes a surface of the fin and the semiconductor substrate. A conductive gate structure is formed within the trench, the conformal material layer is removed, and spacers are formed on the sidewalls of the conductive gate.
In accordance with another embodiment, a method of fabricating an integrated circuit includes providing a first set of fins and a second set of fins. The first set of fins and the second set of fins are supported by a semiconductor substrate. A conformal material layer is deposited overlying the first set of fins and the second set of fins and the semiconductor substrate. A first trench and a second trench are etched in the conformal material layer such that the first trench exposes surfaces of the first set of fins and the second trench exposes surfaces of the second set of fins. A first gate dielectric layer is deposited in the second trench to a first thickness and a second gate dielectric layer is deposited in the first trench to a second thickness, where the first thickness and the second thickness are not equal. A conductive gate is formed overlying the first gate dielectric layer and overlying the second gate dielectric layer. The conformal material layer is removed and spacers are formed on the sidewalls of the conductive gates.
In accordance with a further embodiment, a method of fabricating an integrated circuit includes providing a semiconductor substrate with a plurality of fins supported thereon. An insulation is formed between the plurality of fins and a conformal material layer is spin-coated overlying the insulation and the plurality of fins. A plurality of trenches is etched into the conformal material layer and the insulation such that the plurality of trenches exposes surfaces of the plurality of fins and the semiconductor substrate. A gate dielectric layer is formed within the trenches and a barrier metal layer is deposited overlying the gate dielectric layer. A work function layer is formed overlying the gate dielectric layer and a conductive gate is deposited overlying the work function layer. The gate dielectric layer, the barrier metal layer, the work function layer, and the conductive gate are recessed within the trench and an insulating cap is formed overlying the conductive gate and within the trench. The conformal material layer is removed and spacers are formed on the sidewalls of the conductive gate structure.
The various embodiments will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the following drawing figures, wherein like numerals denote like elements, and wherein:
The following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the various embodiments or the application and uses thereof. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any theory presented in the preceding background or the following detailed description.
Various embodiments of a method for fabricating integrated circuits with reduced replacement metal gate height variability are provided. The method eliminates the need to utilize numerous CMP processing steps to drive planarization and, thus, reduces surface variance and unwanted gate height variability. In this regard, the method reduces the cost of the overall device manufacturing. In addition, the method places the RMG development before spacer formation thus allowing device conception to be built around a gate reference framework (pseudo-gate first approach) rather than a dummy gate reference framework. Further, while conventional methods create stand-alone gate features, the method contemplated herein utilizes trenches for forming the RMGs. Patterning of trench features feasibly reduces the effective aspect ratio of tight pitch patterns/structures, thus simplifying corresponding schemes to enable consistent and reproducible outputs. Trench patterning also can have an overall positive effect, making pertinent lithography processing more reliable to complete pattern transfer sequences (line resist vs. space resist lithography scheme).
A method for fabricating an integrated circuit (IC) 100 with reduced replacement metal gate height variability is illustrated in
The fins 112 are supported by a bulk semiconductor substrate 114 that is formed of a semiconductor material. In an exemplary embodiment, the bulk semiconductor substrate 114 is a bulk silicon substrate and the semiconductor material includes silicon. For example, the bulk silicon substrate can be formed from relatively pure silicon, silicon admixed with germanium or carbon, or silicon admixed with some other semiconductor material(s) commonly used in the fabrication of integrated circuits. Alternatively, the semiconductor material of the bulk semiconductor substrate 114 can be germanium, gallium arsenide, or the like. The semiconductor material need not be doped, although it may be very lightly doped as either N-type or P-type, without impacting the manufacturing process described herein. Alternatively the fins 112 can be supported by a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer disposed on a support substrate. The SOI wafer includes a silicon oxide layer and a silicon-containing material layer overlying the silicon oxide layer. The fin structures are formed from the semiconductor material.
An insulator 120 overlies the semiconductor substrate 114 between the fins to electrically isolate the fins 112. As used herein, the term “overlie” means to lie directly on or to lie over such that an intervening material lies there between. For example, insulator 120 may lie directly on semiconductor substrate 114 or may overlie the semiconductor substrate such that a dielectric layer or other layer lies between the insulator 120 and the semiconductor substrate 114. The insulator 120 is, for example, a silicon oxide layer.
A conformal material layer 121 is formed overlying the insulator 120 and the fins 112. The conformal layer is of any material that has an etch selectivity to the semiconductor substrate and to a masking material used to etch the conformal material, as discussed in more detail below, and forms a highly conformal, highly planarized layer when deposited, such as by spin coating. In one embodiment, the conformal material layer 121 has a surface variability of no greater than 3 nm across the surface of the conformal material layer. In another embodiment, the conformal material layer 121 has a surface variability of less than 3 nm across the surface of the conformal material layer. An example of a suitable conformal material includes, but is not limited to DUO™ 248 available from Honeywell International, Inc. of Morristown, N.J. The conformal material layer 121 is formed overlying the insulator 120 and fins 112 by spin coating, roller coating, spraying, and the like. The conformal material layer may be deposited to a height suitable to accommodate a height of a metal gate. In an embodiment, the conformal material layer 121 is deposited to a thickness in the range of from about 50 nm to about 150 nm. In an optional embodiment, a protective layer 125 is formed overlying the fins before formation of the conformal material layer 121. The protective layer 125 serves to prevent fin erosion, which also becomes the area of the active channel, during trench patterning discussed below. The protective layer 125 includes a material that has an etch rate that is faster than an etch rate of the semiconductor material of the fins 112, such as, for example, silicon oxide. In one embodiment, the protective layer has a thickness in the range of from about 3 nm to about 15 nm.
Referring to
In one embodiment, a gate dielectric material 132 is deposited within the trenches. The gate dielectric material 132 is a deposited insulator such as a silicon oxide, silicon nitride, any kind of high-dielectric constant (high-k) material, such as hafnium oxides, or the like. Deposited insulators can be deposited, for example, by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD), or plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). In an alternative embodiment, as illustrated in
Referring to
In an embodiment, as illustrated in
Next, referring to
Fabrication of the FinFET semiconductor devices may thereafter continue with further processing steps that can be performed to complete the fabrication the device, as are well-known in the art. Further steps conventionally include, for example, the formation of source and drain regions in the fins adjacent the metal gates, the formation of contacts (formed by depositing a photoresist material layer over an insulating layer, lithographic patterning, etching to form contact voids, and depositing a conductive material in the voids to form the contacts), and the formation of one or more patterned conductive layers across the device above the insulating layer, among many others. The subject matter disclosed herein is not intended to exclude any subsequent processing steps to form and test the completed FinFET semiconductor device as are known in the art. Furthermore, with respect to any of the process steps described above, one or more heat treating and/or annealing procedures can be employed after the deposition of a layer, as is commonly known in the art.
Accordingly, methods for fabricating integrated circuits with reduced replacement metal gate height variability are provided. The methods achieve gate height control by eliminating numerous CMP processing steps to drive planarization and, thus, can reduce surface variability up to 50 to 60%. In this regard, the methods reduce the cost of the overall device manufacturing. In addition, while conventional methods create stand-alone dummy gate features, the methods contemplated herein utilize trenches for forming the RMGs. Patterning of trench features reduces the effective aspect ratio of tight pitch patterns/structures, thus simplifying corresponding schemes to enable consistent and reproducible results. Trench patterning also can have an overall positive effect, making pertinent lithography processing more reliable to complete pattern transfer sequence (line resist vs. space resist lithography scheme). The methods contemplated herein thus will enable a more reliable patterning scheme to drive advanced semiconductor manufacturing on to the latest technology nodes (14 nm, 10 nm and beyond).
While at least one exemplary embodiment has been presented in the foregoing detailed description of the invention, it should be appreciated that a vast number of variations exist. It should also be appreciated that the exemplary embodiment or exemplary embodiments are only examples, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the foregoing detailed description will provide those skilled in the art with a convenient road map for implementing an exemplary embodiment of the invention. It being understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements described in an exemplary embodiment without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.