# US 12,113,052 B2 · Memory devices and electronic systems

> Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt

- Number: US 12,113,052 B2
- Document ID: US12113052B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 18/491,678
- Filed: 2023-10-20
- Published: 2024-02-08
- Granted: 2024-10-08
- Earliest claimed: 2021-06-10
- Assignees: Micron Technology, Inc.
- Applicants: Micron Technology, Inc.
- Inventors: Fatma Arzum Simsek-Ege
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12113052B2

## CPC

- H10W 90/00: Package configurations
- H10B 12/03: {Making the capacitor or connections thereto}
- H10B 12/05: {Making the transistor}
- H10D 1/714: {having horizontal extensions}
- H10W 20/43: Layouts of interconnections
- H10W 20/4421: {the principal metal being copper}
- H10W 80/00: Direct bonding of chips, wafers or substrates
- H10B 12/50: {Peripheral circuit region structures}
- H10D 88/00: Three-dimensional [3D] integrated devices
- H10W 80/327: {characterised by the direct bonding of insulating parts, e.g. of silicon oxide layers}
- H10W 90/297: {characterised by the through-semiconductor vias [TSVs] in the stacked chips}
- H10W 90/792: {between multiple chips}
- H10W: GENERIC PACKAGES, INTERCONNECTIONS, CONNECTORS OR OTHER CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H10B: ELECTRONIC MEMORY DEVICES
- H10D: INORGANIC ELECTRIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES

## Abstract

A microelectronic device comprises a first microelectronic device structure and a second microelectronic device structure attached to the first microelectronic device structure. The first microelectronic device structure comprises a memory array region comprising a stack structure comprising levels of conductive structures vertically alternating with levels of insulative structures, and staircase structures at lateral ends of the stack structure. The memory array region further comprises vertical stacks of memory cells, at least one of the vertical stacks of memory cells comprising stacked capacitor structures, each stacked capacitor structure comprising capacitor structures vertically spaced from each other by at least a level of the levels of insulative structures, transistor structures, each transistor structure operably coupled to a capacitor structure and to one of the conductive structures of the levels of conductive structures, and a conductive pillar structure vertically extending through the transistor structures.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A 3D dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) device, comprising:
an array structure comprising:
a stack structure including levels of DRAM cells vertically stacked relative to one another,
the DRAM cells of each of the levels comprising:
access devices respectively comprising:
source material;
drain material;
channel material horizontally interposed between the source material and the drain material in a first direction; and
gate electrode material vertically overlying the channel material and horizontally extending in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction; and
capacitors horizontally neighboring the access devices in the first direction, the capacitors respectively vertically overlapping and coupled to the drain material of one of the access devices; and
conductive pillars vertically extending completely through the levels of DRAM cells, the conductive pillars coupled to the source material of respective ones of the access devices of the DRAM cells within the levels of DRAM cells; and
a control circuitry structure vertically overlying and directly bonded to the array structure, the control circuitry structure comprising control logic circuitry configured to effectuate control operations for the levels of DRAM cells.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The 3D DRAM device of claim 1, wherein the control circuitry structure is directly bonded to the array structure through oxide-to-oxide bonds.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The 3D DRAM device of claim 1, wherein the array structure further comprises global conductive structures vertically overlying the stack structure and respectively coupled to a group of the conductive pillars.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The 3D DRAM device of claim 3, further comprising:
conductive back-end-of-line (BEOL) structures vertically overlying the control circuitry structure; and
conductive contact structures vertically extending through the control circuitry structure and into the array structure, some of the conductive contact structures coupling some of the conductive BEOL structures to some of the global conductive structures.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The 3D DRAM device of claim 4, wherein:
the control logic circuitry of the control circuitry structure includes sense amplifier circuitry horizontally overlapping the DRAM cells of the array structure; and
the some of the conductive BEOL structures are coupled to the sense amplifier circuitry of the control logic circuitry.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The 3D DRAM device of claim 5, wherein the array structure further comprises additional conductive contact structures individually vertically extending to and in contact with the gate electrode material for the access devices of a respective one of the levels of DRAM cells.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The 3D DRAM device of claim 6, wherein:
some other of the conductive contact structures couple some other of the conductive BEOL structures to the additional conductive contact structures;
the control logic circuitry of the control circuitry structure further includes sub-word line driver circuitry horizontally offset from the sense amplifier circuitry in each of the first direction and the second direction; and
the some other of the conductive BEOL structures are coupled to the sub-word line driver circuitry of the control logic circuitry.

### Claim 8 (depends on 6)

The 3D DRAM device of claim 6, wherein:
some of the additional conductive contact structures land on steps of a staircase structure at a first end of the stack structure; and
some other of the additional conductive contact structures land on additional steps of an additional staircase structure at a second end of the stack structure opposing the first end of the stack structure.

### Claim 9 (depends on 6)

The 3D DRAM device of claim 6, wherein one of the additional conductive contact structures horizontally neighboring an additional one of the additional conductive contact structures in the second direction is horizontally offset from the additional one of the additional conductive contact structures in the first direction.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The 3D DRAM device of claim 1, further comprising:
a conductive plate structure vertically extending through the stack structure and horizontally extending in the second direction, the conductive plate structure coupled to the source material of the access devices of the DRAM cells of the levels of DRAM cells; and
an additional conductive plate structure vertically extending through the stack structure and horizontally extending in the second direction, the additional conductive plate structure coupled to the capacitors of the DRAM cells of the levels of DRAM cells.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The 3D DRAM device of claim 1, wherein gate electrodes of transistors of the control logic circuitry of the control circuitry structure are positioned relatively more vertically proximate to the stack structure of the array structure than are source and drain regions of the transistors.

### Claim 12

A memory device, comprising:
a first structure comprising:
an array region comprising:
levels of volatile memory cells vertically stacked relative to one another, the volatile memory cells of each of the levels comprising:
access devices; and
storage node devices coupled to the access devices, each of the storage node devices vertically overlapping and horizontally neighboring a respective one of the access devices; and
conductive pillars vertically extending completely through the levels of volatile memory cells, the conductive pillars coupled to the access devices of the volatile memory cells within the levels of volatile memory cells; and
a conductive contact region horizontally neighboring the array region and comprising:
a staircase structure having steps at the levels of volatile memory cells; and
conductive contact structures in contact with at least some of the steps of the staircase structure; and
a second structure attached to the first structure through oxide-to-oxide bonding, the second structure comprising:
a sense amplifier region horizontally overlapping the array region of the first structure and comprising sense amplifier circuitry coupled to the conductive pillars within the array region of the first structure; and
a sub-word line driver region horizontally offset from the sense amplifier region and comprising sub-word line driver circuitry coupled to the conductive contact structures within the conductive contact region of the first structure.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The memory device of claim 12, wherein the second structure further comprises a conductive contact exit region horizontally overlapping the conductive contact region of the first structure and comprising interconnect structures coupled to the conductive contact structures of the conductive contact region of the first structure and the sub-word line driver circuitry of the sub-word line driver region of the second structure.

### Claim 14 (depends on 12)

The memory device of claim 12, wherein the second structure further comprises an additional region horizontally neighboring the sense amplifier region in a first direction and the sub-word line driver region in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, the additional region comprising one or more of voltage pump circuitry, delay-locked loop (DLL) circuitry, drain supply voltage (Vdd) regulator circuitry, chip/deck control circuitry, and block switch circuitry.

### Claim 15 (depends on 12)

The memory device of claim 12, wherein:
array region of the first structure further comprises a conductive routing structure coupled to a group of the conductive pillars;
the first structure further comprises a socket region horizontally neighboring the array region and including a deep conductive contact structure vertically underlying and in contact with the conductive routing structure, the deep conductive contact structure vertically extending through a majority of the first structure; and
the second structure further comprises an additional socket region horizontally overlapping the socket region of the first structure and comprising an additional conductive contact structure vertically overlying and in contact with the conductive routing structure, the additional conductive contact structure vertically extending through a majority of the second structure.

### Claim 16 (depends on 12)

The memory device of claim 12, further comprising conductive back-end-of-line (BEOL) structures vertically overlying the second structure, some of the conductive BEOL structures coupling the sense amplifier circuitry of the second structure to the conductive pillars of the first structure, and some other of the conductive BEOL structures coupling the sub-word line driver circuitry of the second structure to the conductive contact structures of the first structure.

### Claim 17 (depends on 12)

The memory device of claim 12, wherein the access devices of the volatile memory cells of the levels of volatile memory cells respectively comprise:
source material in contact with a respective one of the conductive pillars;
drain material in contact with a respective one of the storage node devices;
channel material horizontally interposed between the source material and the drain material in a first direction;
a gate electrode vertically overlying the channel material and horizontally extending in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction; and
gate dielectric material vertically interposed between the gate electrode and the channel material.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The memory device of claim 17, wherein the storage node devices of the volatile memory cells of the levels of volatile memory cells comprise capacitors respectively including two electrode structures and dielectric material horizontally interposed between the two electrode structures.

### Claim 19 (depends on 12)

The memory device of claim 12, wherein the volatile memory cells comprise dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) cells.

### Claim 20

An electronic system, comprising:
a processor device operably coupled to an input device and an output device; and
a 3D dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) device operably coupled to the processor device and comprising:
an array structure comprising:
levels of DRAM cells vertically stacked relative to one another, the DRAM cells of each of the levels comprising:
access transistors respectively comprising a source region, a drain region, a channel region interposed between the source region and the drain region in a first horizontal direction, gate electrode overlying the channel region and extending in a second horizontal direction orthogonal to the first horizontal direction; and
capacitors neighboring the access transistors in the first horizontal direction, the capacitors respectively vertically overlapping and coupled to the drain region of one of the access transistors; and
conductive digit line structures vertically extending completely through the levels of DRAM cells, the conductive digit line structures coupled to the source region of respective ones of the access transistors of the DRAM cells within the levels of DRAM cells; and
a control circuitry structure attached to the array structure through oxide-to-oxide bonding and comprising sense amplifier circuitry vertically overlying, horizontally overlapping, and coupled to the conductive digit line structures.