Nano vacuum tube
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorHsien-Yu Chang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A semiconductor device includes a tube-like structure comprising a plurality of dielectric layers and conductor layers that are disposed on top of one another; a conductor tip integrally formed with a cap conductor layer that is disposed on a top surface of the tube-like structure, wherein the conductor tip extends to a central hole of the tube-like structure; and at least one photodetector formed within a bottom portion of the tube-like structure.
Claims20
A method of forming a semiconductor device, comprising:
- providing a substrate overlaid by a first sacrificial layer;
- forming one or more photodetectors in a bottom dielectric layer that is disposed over the first sacrificial layer;
- forming a first trench in a top conductor layer that is disposed on a plurality of intermediate dielectric and conductor layers over the bottom dielectric layer;
- forming a second trench coupled to the first trench, wherein the second trench extends through the plurality of intermediate dielectric and conductor layers and the bottom dielectric layer;
- and
- refilling the first and second trenches with a second sacrificial layer so as to form a concave cusp on a top surface of the second sacrificial layer.
A method of forming a semiconductor device, comprising:
- providing a substrate overlaid by a first sacrificial layer;
- forming a plurality of photodetectors in a bottom dielectric layer, wherein the bottom dielectric layer is disposed over the first sacrificial layer;
- forming a top conductor layer that is disposed on a plurality of intermediate dielectric and conductor layers over the bottom dielectric layer;
- forming a first trench in the top conductor layer;
- forming a second trench coupled to the first trench, wherein the second trench extends through the plurality of intermediate dielectric and conductor layers and the bottom dielectric layer;
- refilling the first and second trenches with a second sacrificial layer so as to form a concave cusp on a top surface of the second sacrificial layer;
- etching the second sacrificial layer to further extend the concave cusp;
- refilling the concave cusp with a cap conductor layer so as to form a conductor tip in the concave cusp;
- removing the substrate;
- and
- removing the first and second sacrificial layers to expose the second trench and part of the first trench so as to cause the conductor tip to be in the second trench.
A method of forming a semiconductor device, comprising:
- providing a substrate overlaid by a first sacrificial layer;
- forming one or more photodetectors in a bottom dielectric layer that is disposed over the first sacrificial layer, wherein the forming one or more photodetectors comprises:
- forming a semiconductor layer over the first sacrificial layer;
- doping a lower portion of the semiconductor layer with a first type of dopants;
- doping an upper portion of the semiconductor layer with a second type of dopants;
- and
- patterning the semiconductor layer to form the one or more photodetectors;
- forming a first trench in a top conductor layer that is disposed on a plurality of intermediate dielectric and conductor layers over the bottom dielectric layer;
- forming a second trench coupled to the first trench, wherein the second trench extends through the plurality of intermediate dielectric and conductor layers and the bottom dielectric layer;
- refilling the first and second trenches with a second sacrificial layer so as to form a concave cusp on a top surface of the second sacrificial layer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.