1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a semiconductor device that includes field effect transistors having different threshold voltages on the same semiconductor substrate, and a method of manufacturing the semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In embedded DRAMs and other similar LSIs, a plurality of field effect transistors (FETs) having different threshold voltages are formed on the same semiconductor substrate.
One way to control the threshold voltage of an FET is to adjust the amount of impurities implanted in the FET' s channel region as disclosed in JP 06-222387 A, for example. However, when the threshold voltage is controlled solely by adjusting the channel impurity amount, the increased amount of impurities implanted in the channel region leads to impurity scattering, which causes a lowering in ON current and an increase in gate-induced drain leakage (GIDL) current. JP 06-222387 A therefore proposes a technology of lowering the threshold voltage of a P-channel FET by making a gate insulating film of the P-channel FET thinner than that of an N-channel FET.
JP 2007-281027 A discloses a technology of controlling the threshold voltage by adjusting the amount of impurities in an extension region of a FET that has a lightly doped drain (LDD) structure. This method, too, causes an increase in GIDL current because of the increased impurity amount in the extension region.
JP 2006-93670 A discloses a technology of raising the threshold voltage by allowing Hf, Zr, Al, La, or the like to be present at given concentration at the interface between a gate electrode and a gate insulating film. This method is supposed to be capable of reducing the impurity amount in the channel region.
As mentioned above, increasing the impurity amount in a channel region in order to control the threshold voltage of an FET gives rise to a problem in that impurity scattering causes a lowering in ON current and an increase in GIDL current. Similarly, increasing the impurity amount in an extension region of an FET that has an LDD structure causes the problem of increased GIDL current.
Applying the technology of JP 2006-93670 A to a semiconductor device that has a low-threshold voltage FET and a high-threshold voltage FET on the same substrate causes the following problem.
According to the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor device including, on the same semiconductor substrate: a first field effect transistor; and a second field effect transistor, which is higher in threshold voltage than the first field effect transistor, in which the first field effect transistor includes: a first gate insulating film formed on the semiconductor substrate; and a first gate electrode formed on the first gate insulating film, in which the first gate electrode contains at least one metal element selected from the group consisting of Hf, Zr, Al, La, Pr, Y, Ta, and W, in which the second field effect transistor includes: a second gate insulating film formed on the semiconductor substrate; and a second gate electrode formed on the second gate insulating film, in which the second gate insulating film and the second gate electrode contain the at least one metal element, and in which concentration of the at least one metal element at an interface between the second gate insulating film and the second gate electrode is higher than concentration of the at least one metal element at an interface between the first gate insulating film and the first gate electrode.
Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device in which a first field effect transistor and a second field effect transistor, which is higher in threshold voltage than the first field effect transistor, are formed on the same semiconductor substrate, the method including: forming a gate insulating film in a first field effect transistor forming region and a second field effect transistor forming region on the semiconductor substrate; forming a first electrode layer in the first field effect transistor forming region alone; forming in the first field effect transistor forming region and the second field effect transistor forming region a layer of at least one metal element selected from the group consisting of Hf, Zr, Al, La, Pr, Y, Ta, and W; forming a second electrode layer in the first field effect transistor forming region and the second field effect transistor forming region; and subjecting the semiconductor substrate to heat treatment.
In the structure described above, the second field effect transistor is higher in concentration of the at least one metal element such as Hf, Zr, Al, La, Pr, Y, Ta, or W at the gate insulating film-gate electrode interface than the first field effect transistor. The threshold voltage of the second field effect transistor which is higher than that of the first field effect transistor as well as the threshold voltage of the first field effect transistor can therefore be raised without increasing the channel dose.
According to the present invention, the semiconductor device that includes FETs having different threshold voltages on the same semiconductor substrate can reduce the channel dose of the high-threshold voltage FET, which gives the low-threshold voltage FET and the high-threshold voltage FET both high-performance characteristics.
In the accompanying drawings:
A preferred embodiment of the present invention is described below in detail with reference to the drawings. The drawings are described with identical components denoted by the same reference symbol, and a redundant description is omitted.
The semiconductor device 100 includes field effect transistors (FETs) 102 and 104 which are different from each other in threshold voltage on the same semiconductor substrate 106. The threshold voltage of the FET 104 is higher than that of the FET 102. In the following description, the FET 102 and the FET 104 are referred to as an LVT transistor and an HVT transistor, respectively. This embodiment shows an example in which the FETs 102 and 104 are both P-channel FETs.
The LVT transistor 102 includes a gate insulating film 114, which is formed on the semiconductor substrate 106, and a gate electrode 126, which is formed on the gate insulating film 114. The gate electrode 126 includes a lower electrode 116, which is formed on the gate insulating film 114, an upper electrode 120, which is formed above the lower electrode 116, and an Hf layer 118, which is interposed between the lower electrode 116 and the upper electrode 120. Hf is diffused into the lower electrode 116 and the upper electrode 120 through a heat treatment step, which is described later. As illustrated in
The Hf concentration profile of the gate electrode 126 is such that the Hf concentration decreases from the Hf concentration peak location, which is apart from the interface between the gate insulating film 114 and the gate electrode 126, toward the semiconductor substrate 106 and toward the top surface of the gate electrode 126 (
The HVT transistor 104 includes the gate insulating film 114 formed on the semiconductor substrate 106, and a gate electrode 121, which is formed on the gate insulating film 114. A HfSiO layer 119 is interposed between the gate insulating film 114 and the gate electrode 121. Hf is diffused into the gate insulating film 114 and the gate electrode 121 as well through the heat treatment step described later. As illustrated in
The Hf concentration profile of the gate insulating film 114 in the HVT transistor 104 is such that the Hf concentration decreases from the top surface of the gate insulating film 114 toward the semiconductor substrate 106. The Hf concentration profile of the gate electrode 121 is such that the Hf concentration decreases from the bottom surface of the gate electrode 121 toward the top surface of the gate electrode 121. The HVT transistor 104 is structured such that Hf in the gate insulating film 114 decreases toward the semiconductor substrate 106 and does not reach the semiconductor substrate 106 (
As illustrated in
When present between a gate insulating film and a gate electrode, Hf causes a rise in threshold voltage through Fermi pinning. The present invention improves both the characteristics of the LVT transistor and the HVT transistor by controlling the Hf concentration at the gate insulating film-gate electrode interfaces of the LVT transistor and the HVT transistor.
A method of manufacturing the semiconductor device according to the embodiment of the present invention is described next with reference to
First, as illustrated in
Next, a sacrificial oxide film 109 is formed on the surface of the silicon substrate 106 (
Subsequently, the silicon substrate 106 is doped with N-type impurities in an LVT transistor forming region 101 and an HVT transistor forming region 103 through ion implantation, to thereby form N wells 110 and 112. During the ion implantation, P-well forming regions (not shown) and other regions of the semiconductor substrate 106, in which N wells are not to be formed, are masked with resist or the like. Ion implantation conditions for the N wells 110 and 112 are set such that, for example, phosphorus is implanted at 150 keV and at 1E13 atoms/cm2 or more and 5E13 atoms/cm2 or less. Impurity ions of given conductivity type are further implanted in the N wells 110 and 112 from above the sacrificial oxide layer 109, to thereby form channel regions 111 and 113 near the surfaces of the N wells 110 and 112 (
Next, the channel impurities implanted in the N well 110 and the N well 112 are activated through heat treatment. The heat treatment is performed, for example, for about 10 seconds at a temperature of 1,000° C. The sacrificial oxide film 109 formed on the semiconductor substrate 106 is then removed. Specifically, the sacrificial oxide film 109 is etched away with the use of diluted hydrofluoric acid (for example, HF:H2O=1:10) and, thereafter, the semiconductor substrate 106 is cleaned with deionized water and dried by nitrogen blow or other drying measures.
A SiON film 114 is next formed as a gate oxide film on the surface of the semiconductor substrate 106 (
Next, a polysilicon layer is formed on the entire surface of the semiconductor substrate 106 and then removed from the HVT transistor forming region 103, to thereby form a first electrode layer 127 on a part of the SiON film 114 that is in the LVT transistor forming region 101 (
Next, a Hf layer 117 is adhered to the top surface of the first electrode layer 127 that is in the LVT transistor forming region 101 and to the top surface of the SiON film 114 that is in the HVT transistor forming region 103 (
On the Hf layer 117 in the LVT transistor forming region 101 and in the HVT transistor forming region 103, a polysilicon film is formed as the second electrode layer 128 (
Next, selective dry etching is performed on the second electrode layer 128, the Hf layer 117, the first electrode layer 127, and the SiON film 114 in the LVT transistor forming region 101, and on the second electrode layer 128, the Hf layer 117, and the SiON film 114 in the HVT transistor forming region 103, thereby shaping the processed layers into a gate electrode shape (
Subsequently, a SiN film (not shown) to serve as an offset spacer is formed on the side and top surfaces of a gate structure that includes the upper electrode 120, the Hf layer 117, the lower electrode 116, and the SiON film 114 in the LVT transistor forming region 101, and on the side and top surfaces of a gate structure that includes the gate electrode 121, the Hf layer 117, and the SiON film 114 in the HVT transistor forming region 103. The surfaces of the gate structures are thus covered. The thickness of the offset spacer (not shown) is, for example, 1 nm or more and 10 nm or less. Extension regions 123 are then formed which are shallow junction regions for improving the short channel characteristics of the transistors. The extension regions 123 are formed by selectively exposing only the regions 123 through photolithography and then performing ion implantation in which BF2 (in the case of P-channel MOSFETs) is implanted at 2.0 keV and 1E15 atoms/cm2.
A sidewall insulating film 122 is formed next in the LVT transistor forming region 101 and the HVT transistor forming region 103 on the semiconductor substrate 106 (
Next, the gate electrodes 126 and 121 and the sidewall insulating film 122 are used as a mask to dope a region 124 with P-type impurities such as boron (B) to thereby form an impurity diffusion region 124 (
Thereafter, heat treatment is performed in a non-oxidizing atmosphere to activate the impurities in the source region and the drain region. The heat treatment is performed preferably for 1 second or shorter at a temperature of 1,000° C. or higher and 1,100° C. or lower. In this heat treatment step, Hf is diffused from the Hf layer 117 into the upper electrode 120, the lower electrode 116, and the gate insulating film 114 in the LVT transistor forming region 101. Similarly, the heat treatment causes Hf to diffuse from the Hf layer 117 into the gate insulating film 114 and the gate electrode 121 in the HVT transistor forming region 103. With the progress of the diffusion, the Hf layer 117 in the HVT transistor forming region 103 reacts with Si and O that constitute the gate insulating film, and turns into the HfSiO layer 119. Through the process described above, the Hf concentration profiles illustrated in
In the semiconductor device manufacturing method described above, the Hf layer 117 in the HVT transistor forming region 103 is formed between the gate insulating film 114 and the gate electrode 121, whereas the Hf layer 117 in the LVT transistor forming region 101 is formed in a location apart from the interface between the gate insulating film 114 and the lower electrode 116. This makes the Hf concentration at the gate insulating film-gate electrode interface higher in the HVT transistor 104 than in the LVT transistor 102 (
Effects of this embodiment are described next.
In the semiconductor device 100, the Hf concentration at the interface between the gate insulating film 114 and the gate electrode 121 in the HVT transistor 104 is higher than the Hf concentration at the interface between the gate insulating film 114 and the gate electrode 126 in the LVT transistor 102. This allows the HVT transistor 104 to have a raised threshold voltage, and the impurity concentration in its channel region can therefore be reduced by an amount corresponding to the rise in threshold voltage. The impurity amount in the channel region of the LVT transistor 102 can be reduced as well because of Hf diffused so as to be present at the gate insulating film-gate electrode interface of the LVT transistor 102 in a small amount. Obtained as a result is a semiconductor device in which an LVT transistor and an HVT transistor on the same semiconductor substrate both have high-performance characteristics.
In addition, as schematically illustrated in
The presence of Hf elements at the interface between a gate insulating film that is made of SiON and a gate electrode that is made of polysilicon raises the threshold voltage of an FET. The mechanism is deduced to have a basis in the following principle. When Hf elements are present at the interface between a gate insulating film made of SiON and a gate electrode made of polysilicon, Hf bonds with Si in the polysilicon film at the interface, forming Hf—Si bonds on the surface of the gate electrode. Fermi level pinning occurs at the interface as a result. In the case of Hf, the Fermi level is formed at a point that is apart from the conduction band of Si by 0.3 eV. The pinning causes depletion in the gate electrode, thereby raising the threshold voltage of the FET.
In the structure of the present invention, the Hf content in the HfSiO layer 119 of the HVT transistor 104 of the semiconductor device 100 is larger than in JP 2006-93670 A. The HVT transistor of the present invention is therefore improved in effective gate insulating film dielectric constant compared to the transistor of JP 2006-93670 A.
The semiconductor device according to the present invention is not limited to the semiconductor device of the embodiment described above, and various modifications can be made. For instance, while the embodiment described above shows an example in which the transistors are P-channel MOSFETs, the structure of the present invention is also effective when the transistors are N-channel MOSFETs.
Depending on the design value of the threshold voltage, Hf in the LVT transistor 102 does not need to be diffused so far as the interface between the gate insulating film and the gate electrode if the amount of Hf layer adhered, the thickness of the lower electrode 116, and heat treatment conditions are adjusted.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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294520/2008 | Nov 2008 | JP | national |