Patent Application
20230163203
The present invention relates generally to the field of semiconductor device formation and more particularly to forming a field-effect transistor using a 2-dimensional material for a channel and a bi-layer metal for the source/drain.
Continued innovations in semiconductor process technologies are enabling higher integration densities and device scaling. As the semiconductor industry moves beyond the five nanometer technology node and beyond, planar and non-planar semiconductor device structures, such as field-effect transistors (FETs) must be scaled to smaller dimensions to provide increased device width per footprint area.
The development of ultra-thin 2-dimensional (2D) materials for use semiconductor devices provides an avenue for reduced device spacing and smaller device dimensions. 2D materials are an emerging class of nanostructured low-dimensional materials with a great potential in fabricating the next generation of miniaturized electronics and optoelectronics devices. An example is graphene which has attracted substantial attention and led to extensive study in physics, materials, nano-engineering, and optoelectronic applications due to its extraordinary electrical properties such as high carrier mobility, broad absorption spectrum, and fast response time. However, a lack of a bandgap hinders its potential for electronic device applications leading to a great motivation in exploring other 2D layered materials. Among them, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) such as MoS2 and WS2 have received considerable attention due to their exceptional properties including a direct bandgap in the visible range, large absorption coefficient, large exciton binding energy, and sensitivity to interlayer interactions.
Embodiments of the present invention disclose a field-effect transistor device formed with a two-dimensional material that includes a channel composed of a two-dimensional material on a substrate. The field-effect transistor device includes a high-k gate dielectric on the channel and extending under a sidewall spacer and around the sidewall spacer. The field-effect transistor has a metal gate inside the high-k gate dielectric and over the channel. Embodiments of the present invention disclose the field-effect transistor device with a source/drain on a portion of the two-dimensional material and abutting the sidewall spacer. Embodiments of the present invention provide a bi-layer metal for the source/drain.
Embodiments of the present invention disclose a second field-effect transistor device formed with a two-dimensional material for a channel. The channel is composed of a a thinner portion of the two-dimensional material on a substrate. A high-k gate dielectric material is on the channel and on a vertical portion of the two-dimensional material. The second field-effect transistor includes the metal gate on the high-k gate dielectric material above the channel. A source/drain is on a thicker portion of the two-dimensional material on the substrate. The source/drain abuts a bottom portion of a sidewall spacer. Embodiments of the present invention disclose that the source/drain is composed of a bi-layer metal. The vertical portion of the two-dimensional material is a thinner portion of the two-dimensional material that on a bottom portion of the sidewall spacer.
Embodiments of the present invention provide a method of forming a field-effect transistor channel with a two-dimensional material for a channel by depositing a layer of a two-dimensional material over a substrate with a non-conductive surface. The method includes depositing a layer of a first metal material over the two-dimensional material and depositing a layer of a second metal that is covered by a hardmask material over the first metal. The method includes removing a portion of the hardmask and a portion of the second metal. A sidewall spacer is formed on the second metal and the hardmask. The method includes removing exposed portions of the first metal and a portion of the first metal under the sidewall spacer and depositing a high-k gate dielectric material over exposed surfaces of the two-dimensional material, the sidewall spacer, and the hardmask. Furthermore, the method includes forming a metal gate inside the high-k dielectric material.
The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of various embodiments of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Embodiments of the present invention recognize that use nanosheet stacks is increasingly prevalent for device architecture and formation for continuing complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) devices. Embodiments of the present invention recognize that using nanosheet stacks is a primary driver in extending CMOS device scaling, however the use of nanosheet stacks for CMOS device scaling appears to be limited for extension beyond 40 nm gate pitch because of gate-to-gate pinch off that can commonly occur during inner spacer formation.
Embodiments of the present invention recognize that current CMOS device formation using nanosheet stacks with typical nanosheet silicon sheets for device channels (e.g., approximately five nm thick) limits gate pitch to the 40 nm range due to the short channel effect limitation of devices formed with current nanosheet stacks. Additionally, using current nanosheet stacks for devices prevents reducing the silicon channel thickness below current thicknesses of about 5 nm to improve electrostatic device control since quantum confinement effects begin to degrade device performance. Embodiments of the present invention recognize that providing a thinner channel to improve electrostatic control without initiating quantum confinement effects is desirable.
Embodiments of the present invention recognize that the use of two-dimensional (2D) materials to provide thinner channels is being explored. One of the main challenges for the use of 2D materials in transistor devices is high parasitic resistance occurring with the use of very thin 2D materials. 2D materials are a class of nanomaterials defined by their property of being merely one or several atoms thick. Examples of 2D material include but are not limited to graphene, a single-atom-thick hexagonal or honeycomb-arranged sheet of carbon atoms, silicene, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), boron, and germanene. Embodiments of the present invention recognize that the source/drain contact resistance is one source of the additional parasitic resistance occurring in devices formed with 2D materials.
Embodiments of the present invention provide a bi-layer metal for the source/drain of a field-effect transistor (FET) formed with a 2D material as a device channel. The field-effect device with the bi-layer metal source/drain reduces device parasitic resistance. Embodiments of the present invention provide a bi-layer metal source/drain that uses a first metal layer in contact with the 2D material that provides a lower contact resistance to the 2D metal than the second metal layer that is over the first metal in the bi-layer metal. The second metal is a low bulk resistivity metal. The combination of the first metal layer and the second metal layer in the bi-layer metal of the source/drain reduces the parasitic resistance and improves the functionality of the FET device formed with the 2D material as compared to previously disclosed FET devices formed using a 2D material.
Additionally, embodiments of the present invention disclose a semiconductor structure for the FET device formed with a channel composed of a 2D material where a high-k gate dielectric material extends under the sidewall spacer abutting high-k gate dielectric material surrounding the metal gate. The extension of the high-k gate dielectric material under the sidewall spacer provides better electrical coupling between the metal gate and the 2D material under the high-k gate dielectric material extension. The 2D material that is under the high-k gate dielectric extension is a portion of the 2D material layer that is in direct contact with the portion of the 2D material that is the channel of the FET device. In this way, the high-k gate dielectric extension under the sidewall spacer generates additional carriers in the 2D material under the high-k gate dielectric extension to improve FET device performance.
Embodiments of the present invention also provide a second FET device where the 2D material in the channel is a very thin layer of the 2D material to improve FET device electrostatics. The second FET device also includes a thicker 2D material under the source/drain to reduce external device electrical resistance.
Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method of forming a FET device with a 2D material channel and a bi-layer metal source/drain with a high-k gate dielectric extension that is under the sidewall spacer. The method includes depositing a very thin layer of a 2D material over a substrate with a non-conductive surface. The method includes depositing a layer of a first metal over the 2D material and depositing a layer of a second metal over the first metal, where the second metal is five to fifteen times thicker than the first metal. A hardmask is deposited over the second metal and a mask is deposited and patterned on the hardmask. The method includes removing a portion of the hardmask and the second metal and then, forming a sidewall spacer on the vertical sides of the remaining hardmask and second metal. A wet etch process, such as a sulfuric acid etch removes exposed portions of the first metal and laterally etches a portion of the first metal that extends under the sidewall spacer. The method includes conformally depositing a layer of high-k gate dielectric material over the exposed surfaces of the hardmask, the spacer, and the 2D material. Using a conformal deposition process, such as atomic layer deposition, the high-k gate dielectric material deposits in the undercut of the first metal that is below the sidewall spacer. The high-k gate dielectric material fills the undercut region forming an extension or high-k gate dielectric foot under the sidewall spacer. The method includes depositing a metal gate material and performing a planarization or polishing operation to form the metal gate on the high-k gate dielectric material above the 2D material channel of the FET device.
The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of exemplary embodiments of the invention as defined by the claims and their equivalents. The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration but are not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain the principles of the one or more embodiment, the practical application or technical improvement over technologies found in the industry, or to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Some of the process steps, depicted, can be combined as an integrated process step. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.
The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the bibliographical meanings but are merely used to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the invention. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention is provided for illustration only and not for the purpose of limiting the invention as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a component surface” includes reference to one or more of such surfaces unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
For purposes of the description hereinafter, terms such as “upper”, “lower”, “right”, “left”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, “top”, “bottom”, and derivatives thereof shall relate to the disclosed structures and methods, as oriented in the drawing figures. Terms such as “above”, “overlying”, “atop”, “on top”, “positioned on” or “positioned atop” mean that a first element, such as a first structure, is present on a second element, such as a second structure, wherein intervening elements, such as an interface structure may be present between the first element and the second element. The term “direct contact” means that a first element, such as a first structure, and a second element, such as a second structure, are connected without any intermediary conducting, insulating, or semiconductor layers at the interface of the two elements.
In the interest of not obscuring the presentation of embodiments of the present invention, in the following detailed description, some processing steps or operations that are known in the art may have been combined for presentation and illustration purposes and in some instances may have not been described in detail. In other instances, some processing steps or operations that are known in the art may not be described at all. It should be understood that the following description is rather focused on the distinctive features or elements of various embodiments of the present invention.
Detailed embodiments of the claimed structures and methods are disclosed herein. The method steps described below do not form a complete process flow for manufacturing integrated circuits on semiconductor chips. The present embodiments can be practiced in conjunction with the integrated circuit fabrication techniques for semiconductor chips and devices currently used in the art, and only so much of the commonly practiced process steps are included as are necessary for an understanding of the described embodiments. The figures represent cross-section portions of a semiconductor chip or a substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer during fabrication, and are not drawn to scale, but instead are drawn to illustrate the features of the described embodiments. Specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the methods and structures of the present disclosure. In the description, details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the presented embodiments.
References in the specification to “one embodiment”, “other embodiment”, “another embodiment”, “an embodiment,” etc., indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is understood that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described. It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. can be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another element. Thus, the first element discussed below could be termed a second element without departing from the scope of the present concept.
Deposition processes for the metal materials and sacrificial material include, e.g., chemical vapor deposition (CVD), physical vapor deposition (PVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), or gas cluster ion beam (GCIB) deposition. CVD is a deposition process in which a deposited species is formed as a result of a chemical reaction between gaseous reactants at greater than room temperature (e.g., from about 25 C to about 900 C.). The solid product of the reaction is deposited on the surface on which a film, coating, or layer of the solid product is to be formed. Variations of CVD processes include, but are not limited to, atmospheric pressure CVD (APCVD), low-pressure CVD (LPCVD), plasma Enhanced CVD (PECVD), and metal-organic CVD (MOCVD) and combinations thereof may also be employed. In alternative embodiments that use PVD, a sputtering apparatus may include direct-current diode systems, radio frequency sputtering, magnetron sputtering, or ionized metal plasma sputtering. In alternative embodiments that use ALD, chemical precursors react with the surface of a material one at a time to deposit a thin film on the surface. In alternative embodiments that use gas cluster ion beams (GCIB) deposition, the high-pressure gas is allowed to expand in a vacuum, subsequently condensing into clusters. The clusters can be ionized and directed onto a surface, providing a highly anisotropic deposition.
Selectively etching as used herein includes but is not limited to patterning using one of lithography, photolithography, an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography process, or any other known semiconductor patterning process followed by one or more the etching processes. Various materials are referred to herein as being removed or “etched” where etching generally refers to one or more processes implementing the removal of one or more materials while leaving other protected areas of the materials that are masked during the lithography processes unaffected. Some examples of etching processes include but are not limited to the following processes, such as a dry etching process using a reactive ion etch (RIE) or ion beam etch (IBE), a wet chemical etch process, or a combination of these etching processes. A dry etch may be performed using a plasma. Ion milling, sputter etching, or reactive ion etching (RIE) bombards the wafer with energetic ions of noble gases that approach the wafer approximately from one direction, and therefore, these processes are an anisotropic or a directional etching process.
Reference is now made to the figures. The figures provide a schematic cross-sectional illustration of semiconductor devices at intermediate stages of fabrication, according to one or more embodiments of the invention. The device provides schematic representations of the devices of the invention and they are not to be considered accurate or limiting with regards to device element scale.
2D material 2 can be any 2D semiconductor material currently used or under development for use as channels in FET devices. Using a 2D material for a FET channel provides a thinner channel than can be provided with a silicon-based material channel. Using the thinner channel provided by 2D material 2 can improve gate pitch between adjacent FET devices. For example, 2D material 2 can be a transition metal dichalcogenide material, where the transition metals are from group VI, V and VI in the Periodic Table of Elements, and a di-chalcogen can be two molecules of a chalcogen material such as sulfur, selenium, or tellurium but 2D material 2 is not limited to these materials. 2D material 2 can be one of MoSe2, MoTe2, WS2, and WSe2 but may be composed of a different 2D material in other embodiments. A very thin layer of 2D material 2 can be deposited, for example, using ALD but is not limited to this deposition process. The thickness of 2D material 2 can range between 0.7 nm and 3 nm but is not limited to these thicknesses. In various embodiments, As depicted, 2D material 2 resides on substrate 1.
First metal 3 resides on 2D material 2. First metal 3 can be a metal material with a low electrical contact resistivity with 2D material 2. For example, first metal 3 has a lower electrical contact resistivity with 2D material 2 than second metal. In various embodiments, first metal 3 is bismuth (Bi) but is not limited to this metal material. First metal 3 may be deposited, for example by ALD. The thickness of first metal 3 can be approximately 3 nm but may be thinner or thicker in other examples. In some embodiments, the thickness of first metal 3 should be less than or equal to two times of the thickness of the high-k gate dielectric. First metal 3 needs to provide a thin enough layer to allow the pinch-off of the high-k gate electrode deposited later in
Second metal 4 is a metal material with a low bulk resistivity. Second metal 4 will form a portion of the source/drain contacts for the FET device. For example, second metal 4 can be tungsten which may include a liner material (e.g., titanium nitride) but second metal 4 may be another metal material with a low bulk resistivity that is compatible with semiconductor processing and FET operation and applications. Second metal 4 and first metal 3 can form a bi-layer metal structure for the source/drain of the FET device. Second metal 4 can be thicker than first metal 3 and can have a thickness ranging from 15 nm to 50 nm but is not limited to these thicknesses. Second metal 4 may be deposited by one of PVD, CVD, or ALD, for example.
HM 5 resides on second metal 4. HM 5 can be any hardmask material, such as but not limited to SiN. HM 5 can be deposited by any known hardmask deposition methods, such as CVD, PVD, etc.
Using an anisotropic etching process, such as RIE, a portion of HM 5 and second metal 4 is removed above first metal 3. First metal 3 serves as a buffer protecting 2D material 2 during the etching process. The portion of HM 5 and second metal 4 are removed above what will become the channel area in 2D material 2 after later processing steps.
In various embodiments, spacer 33 is a sidewall spacer deposited using a conformal deposition process, such as ALD or CVD. Spacer 33 can be composed of any known sidewall spacer materials used in FET devices. For example, spacer 33 may be composed of a dielectric material. Some examples of the spacer material include, but are not limited to, silicon nitride (SiN), silicon carbide (SiC), silicon oxynitride (SiON), carbon-doped silicon oxide (SiOC), fluorine-doped silicon oxide (SiO:F), silicon-carbon-nitride (SiCN), boron nitride (BN), silicon boron nitride (SiBN), silicoboron carbonitride (SiBCN), silicon oxycabonitride (SiOCN), silicon oxide, and combinations thereof. The dielectric material can be a low-k material having a dielectric constant less than about 7, and preferably, less than about 5. Spacers 33 can be formed by any suitable techniques such as deposition followed by directional etch. Deposition may include but is not limited to, atomic layer deposition (ALD), chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Directional etch may include but is not limited to, reactive ion etch (RIE).
Spacer 33 can be deposited with a horizontal width that is approximately 5 nm. In some examples, the horizontal width of spacer 33 on the sidewalls of second metal 4 and HM 5 can thinner or thicker. Using known spacer formation processes, the portions of spacer 33 on exposed horizontal surfaces of first metal 3 and HM 5 can be removed by RIE to a sidewall spacer for spacer 33.
The semiconductor structure depicted in
The remaining portions of first metal 3 and second metal 4 form the source and the drain for the FET device. Using a bi-layer metal structure for the FET device source/drain regions where first metal 3 provides a lower contact resistivity with 2D material 2 and the second metal of the bi-layer metal is a metal with a low bulk resistivity reduces the parasitic resistance of the FET device using a 2D-channel material. For example, second metal 4 has a lower bulk resistivity than first metal 3.
A layer of sacrificial material 113 is deposited over 2D material 112, for example using PVD, CVD, or ALD. The thickness of sacrificial material 113 may be 3 nm to 10 nm. Sacrificial material 113 can be a metal nitride, such as TiN or another sacrificial material that can protect the bottom portion or corners of 2D material 112 when a top portion of 2D material 112 is removed along spacer 95 (e.g., prevents potential shorting of 2D material 112 with contacts or metal layers formed after and the FET device during back end of the line processes).
High-k gate dielectric 151 can any of the high-k materials previously discussed with respect to
The remaining portions of 2D material 72 form a thicker layer of the 2D material in the source/drain region and in the gate extension region under spacer 95 to reduce external electrical resistance. The thinner layer of 2D material 112 in the channel region of the FET device is under high-k gate dielectric 151 and metal gate 152. The thinner 2D material for the channel improves the electrostatics of the FET device formed with 2D materials.
The methods described herein can be used in the fabrication of integrated circuit chips or semiconductor chips. The resulting semiconductor chips can be distributed by the fabricator in raw wafer form (that is, as a single wafer that has multiple unpackaged chips), as a bare die, or in a packaged form. In the latter case, the semiconductor chip is mounted in a single chip package (such as a plastic carrier, with leads that are affixed to a motherboard or other higher-level carrier) or in a multichip package (such as a ceramic carrier that has either or both of surface interconnections or buried interconnections). In any case, the semiconductor chip is then integrated with other semiconductor chips, discrete circuit elements, and/or other signal processing devices as part of either (a) an intermediate product, such as a motherboard, or (b) an end product. The end product can be any product that includes semiconductor chips, ranging from toys and other low-end applications to advanced computer products having a display, memory, a keyboard or other input device, and a central processor.
