# US 2018/0323303 A1 · Semiconductor device and method of forming the same

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- Number: US 2018/0323303 A1
- Document ID: US20180323303A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 16/024,291
- Filed: 2018-06-29
- Published: 2018-11-08
- Earliest claimed: 2017-04-26
- Assignees: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
- Applicants: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
- Inventors: Li-Jung LIU; Chun-Sheng LIANG; Shu-Hui WANG
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20180323303A1

## CPC

- H10P 14/43: Chemical deposition, e.g. chemical vapour deposition [CVD]
- H10D 30/024: {of fin field-effect transistors [FinFET]}
- H10D 30/62: Fin field-effect transistors [FinFET]
- H10D 64/017: {using dummy gates in processes wherein at least parts of the final gates are self-aligned to the dummy gates, i.e. replacement gate processes}
- H10D 64/518: {characterised by their lengths or sectional shapes}
- H10D 64/667: {the conductor comprising a layer of alloy material, compound material or organic material contacting the insulator, e.g. TiN workfunction layers (having lateral variation H10D64/671)}
- H10D 64/669: {the conductor further comprising additional layers of alloy material, compound material or organic material, e.g. TaN/TiAlN}
- H10D 30/797: {being in source or drain regions, e.g. SiGe source or drain}
- H10D 62/822: comprising only Group IV materials heterojunctions, e.g. Si/Ge heterojunctions
- H10P: GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H10D: INORGANIC ELECTRIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES

## Abstract

A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate, a filling conductor, an N-work function conductor layer and a gate dielectric layer. The filling conductor is over the semiconductor substrate. The N-work function conductor layer wraps around the filling conductor. The N-work function conductor layer comprises chlorine. The gate dielectric layer is between the N-work function conductor layer and the semiconductor.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A semiconductor device, comprising:
a semiconductor substrate;
a filling conductor over the semiconductor substrate;
an N-work function conductor layer wrapping around the filling conductor, wherein the N-work function conductor layer comprises chlorine; and
a gate dielectric layer between the N-work function conductor layer and the semiconductor substrate.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein the filling conductor and the N-work function conductor layer comprise different metals.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor device of claim 1, further comprising:
a titanium nitride layer wrapping around the N-work function conductor layer, wherein the titanium nitride layer comprises carbon.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The semiconductor device of claim 3, wherein a thickness of the titanium nitride layer is less than a thickness of the gate dielectric layer.

### Claim 5 (depends on 3)

The semiconductor device of claim 3, wherein the N-work function conductor layer is conformal to the titanium nitride layer.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein a thickness of the N-work function conductor layer is less than a thickness of the gate dielectric layer.

### Claim 7

A semiconductor device, comprising:
a semiconductor substrate;
a gate dielectric layer over the semiconductor substrate;
a titanium nitride layer over the gate dielectric layer;
a chlorine-containing conductor layer over and conformal to the titanium nitride layer, the chlorine-containing conductor layer comprising an N-work function metal; and
a filling conductor over the chlorine-containing conductor layer.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The semiconductor device of claim 7, wherein an interface between the filling conductor and the chlorine-containing conductor layer has a sloped portion.

### Claim 9 (depends on 7)

The semiconductor device of claim 7, wherein an interface between the titanium nitride layer and the chlorine-containing conductor layer has a sloped portion.

### Claim 10 (depends on 7)

The semiconductor device of claim 7, wherein a middle portion of the filling conductor is narrower than a top portion of the filling conductor.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The semiconductor device of claim 10, wherein the middle portion of the filling conductor is narrower than a bottom portion of the filling conductor.

### Claim 12 (depends on 7)

The semiconductor device of claim 7, wherein a middle portion of the filling conductor is wider than a top portion of the filling conductor.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The semiconductor device of claim 12, wherein the middle portion of the filling conductor is wider than a bottom portion of the filling conductor.

### Claim 14 (depends on 7)

The semiconductor device of claim 7, wherein the titanium nitride layer comprises carbon.

### Claim 15

A method, comprising:
forming a dummy gate structure over a semiconductor substrate;
etching the dummy gate structure to form a gate trench;
forming a gate dielectric layer over a bottom surface and a sidewall of the gate trench;
depositing a chlorine-containing N-work function conductor layer over the gate dielectric layer; and
depositing a filling conductor over the chlorine-containing N-work function conductor layer.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15, wherein the chlorine-containing N-work function conductor layer is deposited using a chloride precursor.

### Claim 17 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15, further comprising:
depositing a titanium nitride layer over the gate dielectric layer prior to depositing the chlorine-containing N-work function conductor layer.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The method of claim 17, wherein the titanium nitride layer is deposited with a carbon-containing plasma such that the titanium nitride layer comprises carbon.

### Claim 19 (depends on 17)

The method of claim 17, wherein depositing the titanium nitride layer is performed such that the titanium nitride layer is thinner than the gate dielectric layer.

### Claim 20 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15, wherein depositing the chlorine-containing N-work function conductor layer is performed such that the chlorine-containing N-work function conductor layer is thinner than the gate dielectric layer.