This application claims the benefit of Chinese Patent Application No. 202010743025.6, filed on Jul. 29, 2020, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The present invention generally relates to semiconductor technology, and more particularly to trench MOSFETs and methods of making trench MOSFETs.
A switched-mode power supply (SMPS), or a “switching” power supply, can include a power stage circuit and a control circuit. When there is an input voltage, the control circuit can consider internal parameters and external load changes, and may regulate the on/off times of the switch system in the power stage circuit. Switching power supplies have a wide variety of applications in modern electronics. For example, switching power supplies may include power switches (e.g., trench MOSFETs), and can be used to drive light-emitting diode (LED) loads.
Reference may now be made in detail to particular embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. While the invention may be described in conjunction with the preferred embodiments, it may be understood that they are not intended to limit the invention to these embodiments. On the contrary, the invention is intended to cover alternatives, modifications and equivalents that may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Furthermore, in the following detailed description of the present invention, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it may be readily apparent to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, processes, components, structures, and circuits have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the present invention.
Metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) have been widely used as power semiconductor devices, such as switches in power converters. In the traditional approach to making trench MOSFET devices, the body region, source region, and body contact region are formed first, then the interlayer dielectric layer on the semiconductor substrate is formed, and finally the interlayer dielectric layer and part of the semiconductor substrate are etched to form a conductive channel. In one example, in the process of ion implantation to form the body region, the source region, and the body contact region, there may be a problem of alignment deviation, which can affect process reliability. In addition, in the process of forming the conductive channel, an additional mask may be required, which can increase the complexity of the process.
Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, each part of the semiconductor device can be made of material(s) well known to one skilled person in the art. The semiconductor material can include for example group III-V semiconductor, such as GaAs, InP, GaN, and SiC, and group IV semiconductor, such as Si and Ge. A gate conductor may be made of any conductive material, such as metal, doped polysilicon, and a stack of metal and doped polysilicon, among others. For example, the gate conductor may be made of one selected from a group consisting of TaC, TiN, TaSiN, HfSiN, TiSiN, TiCN, TaAlC, TiAlN, TaN, PtSix, Ni3Si, Pt, Ru, W, and their combinations. A gate dielectric may be made of SiO2 or any material having dielectric constant larger than that of SiO2. For example, the gate dielectric may be made of one selected from a group consisting of oxides, nitrides, oxynitrides, silicates, aluminates, and titanates. Moreover, the gate dielectric can be made of those developed in the future, besides the above known materials.
In particular embodiments, a trench MOSFET can include: a semiconductor base having a first doping type; a trench extending from an upper surface of the semiconductor base to internal portion of the semiconductor base; an insulating layer and an electrode conductor located in the trench; a body region having a second doping type and extending from the upper surface of the semiconductor base to the inside thereof and adjacent to the trench; a source region having the first doping type and located in the body region, a first barrier layer located on the electrode conductor and the semiconductor base; and a contact hole in the semiconductor base on both sides of the first barrier layer, where the contact hole is formed by etching process using the first barrier layer as a mask.
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Epitaxial semiconductor layer 111 of the first doping type may be on a surface of semiconductor substrate 101 opposite to that of drain electrode 126 (e.g., the first surface of semiconductor substrate 101). For example, epitaxial semiconductor layer 111 can include silicon. Epitaxial semiconductor layer 111 may be a lightly doped layer relative to semiconductor substrate 101. A second surface of semiconductor substrate 101 can be thinned by a thinning process, and drain electrode 126 may be formed on the second surface of semiconductor substrate 101. In some embodiments, a buffer layer may also be provided between semiconductor substrate 101 and epitaxial semiconductor layer 111, and the doping type of the buffer layer can be the same as that of the semiconductor substrate, in order to reduce the instability of the interface between semiconductor substrate 101 and epitaxial semiconductor layer 111 due to defects of semiconductor substrate 101.
A trench can extend from the upper surface of epitaxial semiconductor layer 111 into its interior portion, and may end inside epitaxial semiconductor layer 111. An insulating layer and an electrode conductors can be filled in the trench. The insulating layer can include insulating layer 115, insulating layer 118, and gate dielectric layer 119. The electrode conductor can include conductors 116 and 117. For example, insulating layer 115 and conductor 116 can be formed in the lower portion of the trench, insulating layer 115 may be located on lower sidewall surfaces and a bottom surface of the trench, and insulating layer 115 can separate conductor 116 from epitaxial semiconductor layer 111. Insulating layer 118 can be formed on the top portion of conductor 116. Insulating layer 118 may be formed conformally with insulating layer 115. Gate dielectric layer 119 and conductor 117 can be formed in the upper portion of the trench, and gate dielectric layer 119 may be located on upper sidewall surfaces of the trench and separate conductor 117 from epitaxial semiconductor layer 111. Insulating layer 118 may separate conductor 116 and conductor 117. For example, insulating layer 115 may include an oxide or a nitride (e.g., silicon oxide, silicon nitride, etc.), insulating layer 118 may include an oxide (e.g., silicon oxide, etc.), and gate dielectric layer 119 can be an oxide layer formed by a thermal oxygen process. In addition, conductors 116 and 117 may each include polysilicon.
A first barrier layer can be located on the electrode conductor and the semiconductor base (e.g., epitaxial semiconductor layer 111). The first barrier layer can include interlayer dielectric layer 120 at least partially located above the trench and sidewall spacers 123 located on the sidewalls of interlayer dielectric layer 120. For example, interlayer dielectric layer 120 may be located on the electrode conductor. In this example, interlayer dielectric layer 120 can be located on an upper surface of conductor 117. Interlayer dielectric layer 120 can be used as a mask for the subsequent process of forming the body region and the source region, and a width of interlayer dielectric layer 120 may be set to match a width used as the mask. In this example, the width of interlayer dielectric layer 120 can be equal to a width of trench 112.
Sidewall spacers 123 can be located on the sidewalls of interlayer dielectric layer 120, a contact hole may be located in the semiconductor base on both sides of the sidewall spacers 123, and sidewall spacers 123 may be used as a mask for forming the contact hole. In this example, the contact hole may form a trapezoidal shape with a small bottom and a large top due to the etching process. However, the shape of the contact hole is not limited to this, and may also be a shape of equal width top and bottom, as long as the subsequent source electrode and body contact region can be contacted. Oxide layer 113 can be located between sidewall spacers 123 and the semiconductor base, and oxide layer 113 can protect the surface of the semiconductor base from damage during the subsequent ion implantation process. For example, interlayer dielectric layer 120 may be an oxide layer with a certain thickness, such as silicon oxide. Sidewall spacers 123 may be a nitride layer, e.g., silicon nitride.
Body region 121 of the second doping type may be formed in the upper region of epitaxial semiconductor layer 111 adjacent to the trench, where the junction depth of body region 121 does not exceed the depth of conductor 117 in the trench. Source region 122 of the first doping type can be formed in body region 121. Body contact region 124 of the second doping type may be formed in body region 121, the doping concentration of body contact region 124 is greater than the doping concentration of body region 121 to reduce subsequent ohmic contact resistance with the source electrode. Here, the second doping type is opposite to the first doping type, where the first doping type is one of N-type and P-type, and the second doping type is the other one of N-type and P-type. After body contact region 124 is formed, the source electrode 125 may be formed above interlayer dielectric layer 120 to connect to body contact region 124 and source region 122 via the contact hole. For example, source electrode 125 can be in contact with the upper surface of interlayer dielectric layer 120 and sidewall spacers 123, outer sidewall surfaces of sidewall spacers 123, source region 122, and body contact region 124.
In particular embodiments, a method of making a trench MOSFET can include: forming a trench extending from an upper surface of a semiconductor base to internal portion of the semiconductor base; forming an insulating layer and an electrode conductor in the trench; forming a patterned first barrier layer on an upper surface of the electrode conductor and an upper surface of the semiconductor base; etching part of the semiconductor base to form a contact hole using the patterned first barrier layer as a mask; and forming a body contact region in the semiconductor base through the contact hole using a self-aligned process, where the semiconductor base is of the first doping type, the body contact region is of the second doping type.
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Further, a second conductor (e.g., gate conductor 117) can fill up the trench covered with gate dielectric layer 119, such as by a low pressure chemical vapor deposition process. For example, the second conductor can include a first portion located inside the trench and a second portion located on the upper surface of patterned barrier layer 114. Then, the second portion of the second conductor on the upper surface of patterned barrier layer 114 may be removed by etching back or chemical mechanical planarization process, such that the second conductor is located inside the trench and the top surface of the second conductor is not higher than the opening of the trench. Alternatively, the conductor layer of gate conductor 117 may be selectively removed relative to patterned barrier layer 114, and the conductor layer can be etched back such that the top surface of conductor 117 is not higher than the upper surface of the epitaxial semiconductor layer. Insulating layer 118 may insulate conductor 116 and conductor 117, and insulating layer 118 may have a specific quality and thickness to support a potential difference that could exist between conductors 116 and 117. For example, the thickness range of insulating layer 118 may be selected 800Å-1500Å, and conductor 117 may include polysilicon.
The insulating layer filled in the trench can include insulating layer 115, insulating layer 118, and gate dielectric layer 119. The electrode conductor filled in the trench can include conductors 116 and 117. It should be noted that the method of filling the insulating layer and the electrode conductor in the trench is not limited to the method disclosed in this application, and those skilled in the art will recognize that other methods to form the second insulating layer can be employed in certain embodiments.
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In particular embodiments of the trench MOSFET and the manufacturing method thereof, the barrier layer used when forming the trench can be repeatedly used to form the interlayer dielectric layer of the trench MOSFET, and the interlayer dielectric layer may also be used as a mask in the step of forming the body region and the source region. Then, the barrier layer can be removed, and sidewall spacers may be formed on the sidewalls of the interlayer dielectric layer to serve as a mask in the step of forming the contact hole and the body contact region. In this way, the method of making a trench MOSFET may not only simplify the process, but also solve the problem of the alignment deviation of the gate-source contact, and also improve process consistency.
The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with modifications as are suited to particular use(s) contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto and their equivalents.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202010743025.6 | Jul 2020 | CN | national |