# US 12,604,479 B2 · Two transistor capacitorless memory cell with stacked thin-film transistors

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- Number: US 12,604,479 B2
- Document ID: US12604479B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/471,295
- Filed: 2021-09-10
- Published: 2023-03-16
- Granted: 2026-04-14
- Earliest claimed: 2021-09-10
- Assignees: Intel Corporation
- Applicants: Intel Corporation
- Inventors: Noriyuki Sato; Abhishek A. Sharma; Van H. Le; Hui Jae Yoo
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12604479B2

## CPC

- H10B 12/00: Dynamic random access memory [DRAM] devices
- H10B 51/30: characterised by the memory core region
- H10D 30/0415: {of FETs having ferroelectric gate insulators}
- H10D 30/701: {IGFETs having ferroelectric gate insulators, e.g. ferroelectric FETs}
- H10D 30/6755: {Oxide semiconductors, e.g. zinc oxide, copper aluminium oxide or cadmium stannate}
- H10B: ELECTRONIC MEMORY DEVICES
- H10D: INORGANIC ELECTRIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES

## Abstract

Described herein are memory cells that include two transistors stacked above one another above a support structure where neither one of the transistors is coupled to a capacitor and where at least one of the two transistors is a thin-film transistor. In such 2T capacitorless memory cells, a first transistor may be referred to a write transistor, and a second transistor may be a read transistor. The first transistor may be a three-terminal device having two S/D terminals and a gate terminal, while the second transistor may be a four-terminal device having two S/D terminals and two gate terminals.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An integrated circuit (IC) device, comprising:
a support structure; and
a memory cell over the support structure, the memory cell including a first transistor and a second transistor,
wherein:
a first channel material of the first transistor is in a first layer over the support structure,
a second channel material of the second transistor is in a second layer over the support structure, where the first layer is between the support structure and the second layer,
the second transistor includes:
a first gate stack, coupled to a portion of a first face of the second channel material of the second transistor, and
a second gate stack, coupled to a portion of a second face of the second channel material of the second transistor, where the second face is opposite the first face and is further away from the support structure than the second face,
each of the first transistor and the second transistor includes a source region and a drain region,
a first one of the source region and the drain region of the first transistor is coupled to the first gate stack of the second transistor,
a second one of the source region and the drain region of the first transistor is coupled to a write bit-line (WBL),
a first one of the source region and the drain region of the second transistor is coupled to a read bit-line (RBL), and
a second one of the source region and the drain region of the second transistor is coupled to a read word-line (RWL).

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The IC device according to claim 1, wherein each of the RBL and the RWL is further away from the support structure than the second channel material of the second transistor.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The IC device according to claim 1, wherein the second channel material of the second transistor is further away from the support structure than the WBL.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The IC device according to claim 1, wherein the WBL is further away from the support structure than the first channel material of the first transistor.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The IC device according to claim 1, wherein a gate stack of the first transistor is coupled to a write word-line (WWL).

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The IC device according to claim 5, wherein the first channel material of the first transistor is further away from the support structure than the WWL.

### Claim 7 (depends on 5)

The IC device according to claim 5, further comprising:
a layer comprising an etch-stop material between the gate stack of the first transistor and the WWL, and
a conductive via extending through the layer, where a first end of the conductive via is coupled to the WWL, and a second end of the conductive via is coupled to the gate stack of the first transistor.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The IC device according to claim 1, wherein neither the first one of the source region and the drain region of the first transistor nor the first gate stack of the second transistor is coupled to a capacitor.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The IC device according to claim 1, wherein at least one of a gate stack of the first transistor, the first gate stack of the second transistor, and the second gate stack of the second transistor includes a ferroelectric (FE) or an antiferroelectric (AFE) material.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The IC device according to claim 1, wherein:
the first channel material of the first transistor includes a thin-film semiconductor material, and
the second channel material of the second transistor includes a substantially single-crystalline semiconductor material.

### Claim 11

An integrated circuit (IC) device, comprising:
a support structure; and
a memory cell over the support structure, the memory cell including a first transistor and a second transistor,
wherein:
a first channel material of the first transistor is in a first layer over the support structure and includes a thin-film semiconductor material,
a second channel material of the second transistor is in a second layer over the support structure and includes a substantially single-crystalline semiconductor material,
the first layer is between the support structure and the second layer,
each of the first transistor and the second transistor includes a source region and a drain region,
a first one of the source region and the drain region of the first transistor is coupled to a gate stack of the second transistor,
a second one of the source region and the drain region of the first transistor is coupled to a first control line,
a first one of the source region and the drain region of the second transistor is coupled to a second control line, and
a second one of the source region and the drain region of the second transistor is coupled to a third control line.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The IC device according to claim 11, wherein neither the first transistor nor the second transistor is coupled to a capacitor.

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

The IC device according to claim 11, wherein the gate stack of the second transistor is a first gate stack of the second transistor and the second transistor further includes a second gate stack, wherein:
the first gate stack is coupled to a portion of a first face of the second channel material of the second transistor,
the second gate stack is coupled to a portion of a second face of the second channel material of the second transistor, and
the second face is opposite the first face and is further away from the support structure than the second face.

### Claim 14 (depends on 11)

The IC device according to claim 11, wherein:
the first control line is a write bit-line (WBL),
the second control line is a read bit-line (RBL), and
the third control line is a read word-line (RWL).

### Claim 15 (depends on 11)

The IC device according to claim 11, wherein the support structure is a substrate.

### Claim 16

An integrated circuit (IC) device, comprising:
a substrate; and
a memory cell over the substrate, the memory cell including a first transistor and a second transistor,
wherein:
the first transistor includes a first semiconductor material in a first layer over the substrate,
the second transistor includes a second semiconductor material in a second layer over the substrate,
the first layer is between the substrate and the second layer,
the second transistor is a dual-gate transistor,
each of the first transistor and the second transistor includes a source region and a drain region,
a first one of the source region and the drain region of the first transistor is coupled to a gate stack of the second transistor,
a second one of the source region and the drain region of the first transistor is coupled to a first control line,
a first one of the source region and the drain region of the second transistor is coupled to a second control line, and
a second one of the source region and the drain region of the second transistor is coupled to a third control line.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The IC device according to claim 16, wherein the gate stack of the second transistor is a first gate stack of the second transistor and the second transistor further includes a second gate stack, wherein:
the first gate stack is coupled to a portion of a first face of the second semiconductor material,
the second gate stack is coupled to a portion of a second face of the second semiconductor material, and,
the second face is opposite the first face and is further away from the substrate than the second face.

### Claim 18 (depends on 9)

The IC device according to claim 9, wherein:
each of the gate stack of the first transistor, the first gate stack of the second transistor, and the second gate stack of the second transistor further includes a gate dielectric material and a gate electrode material, and
for the at least one of the gate stack of the first transistor, the first gate stack of the second transistor, and the second gate stack of the second transistor that includes the FE or the AFE material, the FE or the AFE material is between the gate electrode material and the gate dielectric material.

### Claim 19 (depends on 18)

The IC device according to claim 18, wherein:
the at least one of the gate stack of the first transistor, the first gate stack of the second transistor, and the second gate stack of the second transistor that includes the FE or the AFE material further includes an intermediate layer that includes an electrically conductive material, and
the intermediate layer is between the FE or the AFE material and the gate dielectric material.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The IC device according to claim 19, wherein the electrically conductive material is a metal.