This invention relates to the field of semiconductor manufacture and, more particularly, to a method for inhibiting hemispherical grain silicon (HSG) growth on selected locations of a container capacitor storage plate.
During the manufacture of semiconductor devices which comprise memory elements, such as dynamic random access memories (DRAMs), static random access memories (SRAMs), and some microprocessors, container capacitors are commonly formed. Container capacitors are well known to allow an increased stored charge over planar capacitors by increasing the surface area on which the charge may be stored. To further increase the surface area on which the charge may be stored, polysilicon storage nodes are commonly converted to hemispherical silicon grain (HSG) polysilicon. This material has a roughened surface compared with non-HSG polysilicon and, therefore, an increased surface area on which a charge may be stored.
The
As depicted in
Next, the BPSG 32 is partially etched with an etch selective to polysilicon (i.e. an etch which minimally etches or, preferably, doesn't etch polysilicon) to result in the structure of
After etching the BPSG, a process is performed which converts the smooth polysilicon to HSG polysilicon storage plates 70 as depicted in
After performing the conversion of the smooth polysilicon to HSG polysilicon, a cell dielectric layer 80, for example a layer of high-quality cell nitride, a polysilicon container capacitor top plate 82, and a planar oxide layer such as BPSG 84 are formed according to means known in the art to result in the
One problem which may result during the process described above is flaking of the HSG polysilicon from the storage node 70 as depicted in
Another problem which may occur with the process described above results from the very close lateral spacing between adjacent storage plates. As a design goal of semiconductor engineers is to form as many storage capacitors per unit area as possible, and there are typically several million storage capacitors on each memory chip, even a small decrease in spacing between features can allow for the formation of many more features in the same area. Thus the capacitors are formed as close together as wafer processing will allow. As the roughened polysilicon grains grow, grains from two adjacent plates can form a bridge 92 between the two plates and thus short them together to result in a malfunctioning device.
A method used to form roughened polysilicon container capacitor storage plates which reduces or eliminates the problems described above, and a structure resulting therefrom, would be desirable.
The present invention provides a new method which, among other advantages, reduces problems associated with the manufacture of semiconductor devices, particularly problems resulting during the formation of hemispherical silicon grain (HSG) polysilicon container capacitor storage plates. In accordance with one embodiment of the invention a container capacitor layer is formed, for example from polysilicon, which comprises a first region defining a recess and a second region defining an opening to the recess. The first and second regions are formed having a smooth texture. Next, an inhibitor layer is formed over the second region of the container capacitor layer while a majority of the first region of the container capacitor layer remains free from the inhibitor layer. With the inhibitor layer extending over the second region of the container capacitor layer, at least a portion of the first region is converted to have a second texture which is rougher than the first texture, for example a conversion to HSG polysilicon. Subsequent to this conversion, the second region still has the first, smoother texture. Finally, the conversion inhibitor layer may be removed and is therefore a sacrificial layer, or more preferably it may be left in place, and wafer processing continues to complete the semiconductor device.
Using this process, the highest defect source for HSG flaking is removed, which results in decreased device defects. Various embodiments of the invention are described.
Advantages will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description read in conjunction with the appended claims and the drawings attached hereto.
It should be emphasized that the drawings herein may not be to exact scale and are schematic representations. The drawings are not intended to portray the specific parameters, materials, particular uses, or the structural details of the invention, which can be determined by one of skill in the art by examination of the information herein.
Various embodiments of the invention provide a hemispherical silicon grain (HSG) polysilicon inhibitor layer over selected locations of the smooth polysilicon to inhibit HSG growth in those locations during HSG conversions of other locations of the smooth polysilicon. The processes described herein may reduce the likelihood of HSG polysilicon flaking from the container capacitor bottom plate, thereby reducing defects resulting from this flaking. Various inventive processes described herein may also reduce the likelihood of bridging of the HSG polysilicon between adjacent container capacitor storage plates.
A first embodiment of the invention is depicted by
In one embodiment of the invention, the smooth polysilicon layer is formed in a continuous layer but is more heavily doped, for example with phosphorous, as it is initially formed. As the thickness increases during its formation, less dopant is integrated into the layer. This ensures an adequate electrical connection between pad 28 and the bottom plate 40. The portion of the layer formed first, which has the heaviest doping, may be doped to between about 1 E18 atoms/cm3 to about 1 E21 atoms/cm3. The portion of the layer formed last will, typically, remain undoped or may be only minimally doped. The layer is formed as a continuously thick layer, but comprises a decreasing gradient of doping from the bottom to the top of the layer. Having little or no doping at the top of the smooth polysilicon layer provides a resulting HSG layer which is of higher quality than an HSG layer which is formed from a doped smooth polysilicon layer. A conductive layer of conductively-doped polycrystalline silicon 40 between about 50 Å and about 150 Å may be formed using plasma enhance chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) techniques. For example, silane gas (SiH4) is introduced as a silicon source into a deposition chamber at a flow rate of between about 400 sccm and about 600 sccm along with phosphine (PH3) at a flow rate of between about 5 sccm and about 15 sccm at a temperature of between about 500° C. and about 600° C. for a duration of between about 2.5 minutes and about 15 minutes. Using this process the preferred material is formed at a rate of between about 10 Å/min to about 20 Å/min. As the layer forms the PH3 flow rate may be decreased to 0 sccm over a period of about 10 seconds as the layer approaches about half its final thickness. This forms a layer 40 as depicted in
Next, a layer of protective material 42, for example photoresist, is provided. Photoresist is typically spun on, and in this embodiment a target thickness of between about 1,000 Å and about 60KÅ is formed according to means known in the art from the description herein. This layer fills the recesses defined by the polysilicon layer 40. The
The
After forming the
Other materials which may function for the inhibitor layer include TEOS, BPSG, and phosphosilicate glass (PSG), generally having a target thickness of between about 50 Å and about 500 Å, any of which can be formed by one of ordinary skill in the art from the information herein.
While it is preferable that these materials form only at the locations depicted by structures 110 in
After forming the
It has been found that the majority of the flaking of the HSG polysilicon from the bottom plate occurs at the top region of the feature, and more particularly at the interface between the highly doped portion and the portion which has little or no doping. The inhibitor layer 110 reduces HSG conversion and, more preferably, prevents HSG conversion, at these high-defect locations. Thus, the majority of the flaking can be prevented by leaving this portion of the bottom plate as smooth polysilicon. This will decrease the capacitance between the bottom plate and the completed top plate, but as the converted to unconverted polysilicon remains high, for example greater than about 98% with the embodiment described above, capacitance only decreases minimally.
After converting the smooth polysilicon to HSG polysilicon as depicted in
Subsequently, a cell dielectric layer 130, for example cell nitride, and a capacitor top plate layer 132 are formed. Wafer processing continues according to means known in the art.
This first embodiment provides a device having the top plate formed on both the inside and outside of the bottom plate layer, also called a “double-sided container capacitor,” which has less flaking and therefore reduced defects resulting from the flaking.
FIGS. 12 and 17–19 depict a second embodiment of the invention to form a double-sided container capacitor structure. In this embodiment the structure of
After etching the BPSG, the photoresist is removed and the inhibitor layer 110 is formed. Removal of the resist and formation of the inhibitor may be performed using the processes previously described, thereby resulting the in structure of
Next, the polysilicon bottom plate is converted to HSG polysilicon, for example according to the process previously described, to result in the bottom plate structure 150 of
FIGS. 12 and 20–22 depict an embodiment of the inventive process for forming a single-sided container capacitor. In this embodiment, the structure of
Subsequently, the polysilicon bottom plate is converted to HSG polysilicon 180 as depicted in
It is contemplated that semiconductor device comprising the invention may be attached along with other devices to a printed circuit board, for example to a computer motherboard or as a part of a memory module used in a personal computer, a minicomputer, or a mainframe. The inventive device may further be useful in other electronic devices related to telecommunications, the automobile industry, semiconductor test and manufacturing equipment, consumer electronics, or virtually any piece of consumer or industrial electronic equipment.
While this invention has been described with reference to illustrative embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the illustrative embodiments, as well as additional embodiments of the invention, will be apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reference to this description. It is therefore contemplated that the appended claims will cover any such modifications or embodiments as fall within the true scope of the invention.
This is a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/085,689 filed Feb. 27, 2002 and issued Sep. 9, 2003 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,617,222.
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6121084 | Coursey | Sep 2000 | A |
6133109 | Nam | Oct 2000 | A |
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6287935 | Coursey | Sep 2001 | B1 |
6403442 | Reinberg | Jun 2002 | B1 |
6404005 | DeBoer et al. | Jun 2002 | B1 |
6538274 | Zheng et al. | Mar 2003 | B1 |
6617222 | Coursey | Sep 2003 | B1 |
6693320 | DeBoer et al. | Feb 2004 | B1 |
6781183 | Cho et al. | Aug 2004 | B1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20050181574 A1 | Aug 2005 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 10085689 | Feb 2002 | US |
Child | 10658867 | US |