Techniques for using material substitution processes to form replacement metal gate electrodes of semiconductor devices with self-aligned contacts
AssigneeGlobalfoundries Inc.
InventorChang Seo Park
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Generally, the present disclosure is directed to techniques for using material substitution processes to form replacement metal gate electrodes, and for forming self-aligned contacts to semiconductor devices made up of the same. One illustrative method disclosed herein includes removing at least a dummy gate electrode to define a gate cavity, forming a work-function material in said gate cavity, forming a semiconductor material above said work-function material, and performing a material substitution process on said semiconductor material to substitute a replacement material for at least a portion of said semiconductor material.
Claims27
A method, comprising:
- removing at least a dummy gate electrode to define a gate cavity;
- forming a work-function material in said gate cavity;
- forming a semiconductor material above said work-function material;
- and
- performing a material substitution process on said semiconductor material to substitute a replacement material for at least a portion of said semiconductor material.
A method, comprising:
- forming a gate structure above an active area of a transistor device, said gate structure comprising at least a dummy gate electrode and a dummy gate dielectric layer;
- forming a gate cavity in said gate structure by removing said dummy gate electrode and said dummy gate dielectric layer;
- and
- forming a replacement gate structure by forming a high-k dielectric material inside of said gate cavity and above a channel region of said transistor device, forming a work-function material above said high-k dielectric material, forming a semiconductor material above said work-function material, and performing a material substitution process on said semiconductor material to substitute a replacement metal gate electrode material for at least a portion of said semiconductor material formed inside of said gate cavity.
A method, comprising:
- forming a semiconductor device comprising a gate structure, said gate structure comprising a dummy gate electrode, a dummy gate dielectric layer;
- and sidewall spacers adjacent to sidewalls of said dummy gate electrode;
- selectively removing said dummy gate electrode and said dummy gate dielectric layer to form a gate cavity in said gate structure;
- forming a high-k dielectric material inside of said gate cavity, said high-k dielectric material having a dielectric constant of approximately 10 or higher;
- forming a work-function material inside of said gate cavity and above said high-k dielectric material;
- forming a semiconductor material above said work-function material to fill a remaining portion of said gate cavity, said semiconductor material comprising silicon;
- and
- performing a material substitution process on said semiconductor material to substitute a replacement gate electrode material for at least a portion of said semiconductor material formed in said gate cavity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.