# US 12,183,735 B2 · Semiconductor devices and methods of manufacture > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,183,735 B2 - Document ID: US12183735B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 18/356,541 - Filed: 2023-07-21 - Published: 2024-01-18 - Granted: 2024-12-31 - Earliest claimed: 2021-04-09 - Assignees: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd. - Applicants: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd. - Inventors: Ta-Chun Lin; Kuo-Hua Pan; Jhon Jhy Liaw - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12183735B2 ## CPC - H10D 84/834: {comprising FinFETs} - H10D 30/0243: {using dummy structures having essentially the same shapes as the semiconductor bodies, e.g. to provide stability} - H10D 30/6211: {having fin-shaped semiconductor bodies integral with the bulk semiconductor substrates} - H10D 62/115: {Dielectric isolations, e.g. air gaps} - H10D 84/013: {Manufacturing their source or drain regions, e.g. silicided source or drain regions} - H10D 84/0151: {Manufacturing their isolation regions} - H10D 84/0158: {the components including FinFETs} - H10D 84/038: {using silicon technology, e.g. SiGe} - H10D: INORGANIC ELECTRIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES ## Abstract Transistors of different types of electronic devices on the same semiconductor substrate are configured with different transistor attributes to increase the performance of the different types of electronic devices. Fin height, shallow source drain (SSD) height, source or drain width, and/or one or more other transistor attributes may be co-optimized for the different types of electronic devices by various semiconductor manufacturing processes such as etching, lithography, process loading, and/or masking, among other examples. This enables the performance of a plurality of types of electronic devices on the same semiconductor substrate to be increased. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method, comprising: forming a first plurality of fin structures for a first electronic device in a substrate; forming a second plurality of fin structures for a second electronic device in the substrate; forming a shallow trench isolation (STI) layer between fin structures of the first plurality of fin structures and fin structures of the second plurality of fin structures; etching a first portion of the STI layer such that the first plurality of fin structures have a first fin height between a top of the first plurality of fin structures and a top of the first portion of the STI layer between the fin structures of the first plurality of fin structures; and etching, after or before etching the first portion of the STI layer, a second portion of the STI layer such that the second plurality of fin structures have a second fin height, between a top of the second plurality of fin structures and a top of the second portion of the STI layer between the fin structures of the second plurality of fin structures, different than the first fin height. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein etching of the STI layer uses a photoresist layer. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the photoresist layer has a pattern to form the first plurality of fin structures and the second plurality of fin structures. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3, wherein the STI layer is etched based on the pattern of the photoresist layer to expose portions of the first plurality of fin structures and portions of the second plurality of fin structures. ### Claim 5 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, further comprising: forming the photoresist layer on the first plurality of fin structures and on the first portion of the STI layer; etching the second portion of the STI layer to an intermediate fin height after forming the photoresist layer; and removing the photoresist layer after etching the second portion of the STI layer, wherein, after removing the photoresist layer, the first portion of the STI layer is etched to the first fin height and the second portion of the STI layer is etched to the second fin height. ### Claim 6 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, further comprising: forming the photoresist layer on the first plurality of fin structures and on the first portion of the STI layer, wherein the second portion of the STI layer is etched to the second fin height after forming the photoresist layer; removing the photoresist layer after etching the second portion of the STI layer; and forming, after removing the photoresist layer, a second photoresist layer on the second plurality of fin structures and on the second portion of the STI layer, wherein the first portion of the STI layer is etched to the first fin height after forming the second photoresist layer. ### Claim 7 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, further comprising: forming the photoresist layer on the second plurality of fin structures and on the second portion of the STI layer, wherein the first portion of the STI layer is etched to the first fin height after forming the photoresist layer; removing the photoresist layer after etching the first portion of the STI layer; and forming, after removing the photoresist layer, a second photoresist layer on the first plurality of fin structures and on the first portion of the STI layer, wherein the second portion of the STI layer is etched to the second fin height after forming the second photoresist layer. ### Claim 8 A method, comprising: forming a first plurality of fin structures for a first electronic device in a first region of a substrate; forming a second plurality of fin structures for a second electronic device in a second region of the substrate; forming a shallow trench isolation (STI) layer between the first plurality of fin structures and between the second plurality of fin structures; forming a photoresist layer over the first plurality of fin structures and over first portions of the STI layer between the first plurality of fin structures; etching, in a first etch operation, second portions of the STI layer between the second plurality of fin structures to an intermediate fin height between top surfaces of the second plurality of fin structures and top surfaces of the second portions of the STI layer; removing the photoresist layer after the first etch operation; and etching, in a second etch operation after removing the photoresist layer, the first portions of the STI layer between the first plurality of fin structures and the second portions of the STI layer between the second plurality of fin structures. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, wherein, in the second etch operation, the second portions of the STI layer are further etched such that the intermediate fin height is increased to a second fin height between the top surfaces of the second plurality of fin structures and the top surfaces of the second portions of the STI layer. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the first portions of the STI layer are etched such that a first fin height between the top surfaces of the first plurality of fin structures and the top surfaces of the first portions of the STI layer is less than the second fin height. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein the first fin height being less than the second fin height provides greater power efficiency and lower capacitance for the first electronic device; and wherein the second fin height being greater than the first fin height provides lower channel resistance and higher drive current for the second electronic device. ### Claim 12 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein a ratio between the first fin height and the second fin height is in a range of approximately 3:8 to approximately 3:4. ### Claim 13 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, wherein the second electronic device comprises: a high performance computation (HPC) device, an input/output (I/O) device, or an analog device, and wherein the first electronic device comprises a system on chip (SoC) device. ### Claim 14 A method, comprising: forming, in a first etch operation, a first recess in a first fin structure of a first device included on a semiconductor substrate, wherein the first recess is formed to a first depth between a first plurality of dummy gate structures of the first device in the first etch operation; forming, in a second etch operation subsequent to the first etch operation: a second recess in a second fin structure of a second device included on the semiconductor substrate, wherein the first device and the second device are included in different regions of the semiconductor substrate, and wherein the second recess is formed to a second depth between a second plurality of dummy gate structures of the second device; and the first recess to have a third depth that is greater than the first depth, wherein the third depth is greater than the second depth; forming a first epitaxial region in the first recess for the first device; and forming a second epitaxial region in the second recess for the second device, wherein a first height of the first epitaxial region is greater than a second height of the second epitaxial region. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, wherein the first device comprises at least one of: a high performance computation (HPC) device, an input/output (I/O) device, or an analog device, and wherein the second device is a system on chip (SoC) device. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, wherein a ratio between the first depth and the third depth is in a range of approximately 1:9 to approximately 2:3. ### Claim 17 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, wherein the third depth being greater than the second depth enables the first epitaxial region to be formed to the first height that is greater than the second height of the second epitaxial region; wherein the first height being greater than the second height provides lower extension resistance, lower current crowding, and higher drive current for the first device than the second device; and wherein the second height being less than the first height provides increased power efficiency and increased transistor density for the second device than the first device. ### Claim 18 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, further comprising: forming the first recess to a first distance from the first plurality of dummy gate structures; and forming the second recess to a second distance from the second plurality of dummy gate structures, wherein the first distance is less than the second distance, wherein the first distance being less than the second distance provides at least one of lower current crowding, higher drive current, lower hot carrier injection, or lower junction leakage for the first device than the second device; and wherein the second distance being greater than the first distance provides lower subthreshold leakage and lower parasitic capacitance for the second device than the first device. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The method of claim 18, wherein a ratio between the second distance and the first distance is in a range of approximately 10:1 to approximately 5:4. ### Claim 20 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, further comprising: forming a first source or drain contact over the first epitaxial region for the first device; and forming a second source or drain contact over the second epitaxial region for the second device, wherein a width of the first source or drain contact is greater relative to a width of the second source or drain contact to provide lower contact resistance for the first device than the second device.