# US 7,608,490 B2 · Semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 7,608,490 B2 - Document ID: US7608490B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 11/440,175 - Filed: 2006-05-25 - Published: 2006-12-07 - Granted: 2009-10-27 - Earliest claimed: 2005-06-02 - Assignees: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd. - Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki; Tetsuya Kakehata; Hideto Ohnuma; Masaharu Nagai; Mitsuaki Osame; Masayuki Sakakura; Shigeki Komori - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US7608490B2 ## CPC - H10P 14/2923: {being conductive materials, e.g. metallic silicides} - H10D 86/0229: {characterised by control of the annealing or irradiation parameters} - H10D 86/0231: {using masks, e.g. half-tone masks} - H10D 86/40: characterised by multiple TFTs - H10D 86/441: {Interconnections, e.g. scanning lines} - H10D 86/60: wherein the TFTs are in active matrices - H10P 14/2921: {being crystalline insulating materials} - H10P 14/2922: {being non-crystalline insulating materials, e.g. glass or polymers} - H10P 14/3238: {being insulating materials} - H10P 14/3248: {consisting of two layers} - H10P 14/3411: {Silicon, silicon germanium or germanium} - H10P 14/381: {Beam shaping, e.g. using a mask} - H10P 14/3814: {Continuous wave laser beam} - H10P 14/3816: {Pulsed laser beam} - H10P 14/382: {Scanning of a beam} - H10P 14/6309: {of silicon in uncombined form, i.e. pure silicon} - H10P 14/6316: {Formation by nitridation, e.g. nitridation of the substrate} - H10P 14/6319: {Formation by plasma treatments, e.g. plasma oxidation of the substrate} - H10P 14/6526: {introduced into an oxide material, e.g. changing SiO to SiON} - H10P 14/6532: {by exposure to a plasma} - H10D 86/0221: {comprising manufacture, treatment or patterning of TFT semiconductor bodies} - H10P: GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10 - H10D: INORGANIC ELECTRIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES ## Abstract To provide a semiconductor device having a circuit with high operating performance and high reliability, and improve the reliability of the semiconductor device, thereby improving the reliability of an electronic device having the same. The aforementioned object is achieved by combining a step of crystallizing a semiconductor layer by irradiation with continuous wave laser beams or pulsed laser beams with a repetition rate of 10 MHz or more, while scanning in one direction; a step of photolithography with the use of a photomask or a leticle including an auxiliary pattern which is formed of a diffraction grating pattern or a semi-transmissive film having a function of reducing the light intensity; and a step of performing oxidation, nitridation, or surface-modification to the surface of the semiconductor film, an insulating film, or a conductive film, with high-density plasma with a low electron temperature. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A manufacturing method of a semiconductor device, comprising: crystallizing a semiconductor layer with a laser selected from the group consisting of a continuous wave laser and a pulsed laser with a repetition rate of 10 MHz to 100 GHz; forming a first insulating layer on the semiconductor layer after crystallizing the semiconductor layer by oxidation treatment with the use of oxygen radicals produced by plasma with an electron temperature of 3 eV or less and an electron density of 1×1011 cm−3 or more; forming a first conductive layer over the first insulating layer; etching the first conductive layer by using a first mask pattern which is intentionally formed to have a portion with a nonuniform thickness and a second mask pattern which is formed to have a uniform thickness by using a photomask or a reticle including an auxiliary pattern having a function of reducing the light intensity; forming a second insulating layer over the first conductive layer after etching the first conductive layer; forming a second conductive layer over the second insulating layer; etching the second conductive layer; forming a third insulating layer over the second conductive layer after etching the second conductive layer; and etching the first insulating layer, the second insulating layer and the third insulating layer to form a contact hole reaching the semiconductor layer. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The manufacturing method of a semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary pattern is formed of a semi-transmissive film. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The manufacturing method of a semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary pattern is formed of a diffraction grating pattern. ### Claim 4 A manufacturing method of a semiconductor device, comprising: crystallizing a semiconductor layer with a laser selected from the group consisting of a continuous wave laser and a pulsed laser with a repetition rate of 10 MHz to 100 GHz; forming a first insulating layer on the semiconductor layer after crystallizing the semiconductor layer by nitridation treatment with the use of nitrogen radicals produced by plasma with an electron temperature of 3 eV or less and an electron density of 1×1011 cm−3 or more; forming a first conductive layer over the first insulating layer; etching the first conductive layer by using a first mask pattern which is intentionally formed to have a portion with a nonuniform thickness and a second mask pattern which is formed to have a uniform thickness by using a photomask or a reticle including an auxiliary pattern having a function of reducing the light intensity; forming a second insulating layer over the first conductive layer after etching the first conductive layer; forming a second conductive layer over the second insulating layer; etching the second conductive layer; forming a third insulating layer over the second conductive layer after etching the second conductive layer; and etching the first insulating layer, the second insulating layer and the third insulating layer to form a contact hole reaching the semiconductor layer. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The manufacturing method of a semiconductor device according to claim 4, wherein the auxiliary pattern is formed of a semi-transmissive film. ### Claim 6 (depends on 4) The manufacturing method of a semiconductor device according to claim 4, wherein the auxiliary pattern is formed of a diffraction grating pattern. ### Claim 7 A manufacturing method of a semiconductor device, comprising: crystallizing a semiconductor layer with a laser selected from the group consisting of a continuous wave laser and a pulsed laser with a repetition rate of 10 MHz to 100 GHz; forming a first insulating layer on the semiconductor layer after crystallizing the semiconductor layer by oxidation treatment with the use of oxygen radicals produced by plasma with an electron temperature of 3 eV or less and an electron density of 1×1011 cm−3 or more; forming a first conductive layer over the first insulating layer; etching the first conductive layer; forming a second insulating layer over the first conductive layer; forming a second conductive layer over the second insulating layer; etching the second conductive layer by using a first mask pattern which is intentionally formed to have a portion with a nonuniform thickness and a second mask pattern which is formed to have a uniform thickness by using a photomask or a reticle including an auxiliary pattern having a function of reducing the light intensity; forming a third insulating layer over the second conductive layer after etching the second conductive layer; and etching the first insulating layer, the second insulating layer and the third insulating layer to form a contact hole reaching the semiconductor layer. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The manufacturing method of a semiconductor device according to claim 7, wherein forming the first insulating layer and depositing the second insulating layer are continuously performed without exposure to air. ### Claim 9 (depends on 7) The manufacturing method of a semiconductor device according to claim 7, wherein the auxiliary pattern is formed of a semi-transmissive film. ### Claim 10 (depends on 7) The manufacturing method of a semiconductor device according to claim 7, wherein the auxiliary pattern is formed of a diffraction grating pattern. ### Claim 11 A manufacturing method of a semiconductor device, comprising: crystallizing a semiconductor layer with a laser selected from the group consisting of a continuous wave laser and a pulsed laser with a repetition rate of 10 MHz to 100 GHz; forming a first insulating layer on the semiconductor layer after crystallizing the semiconductor layer by nitridation treatment with the use of nitrogen radicals produced by plasma with an electron temperature of 3 eV or less and an electron density of 1×1011 cm−3 or more; forming a first conductive layer over the first insulating layer; etching the first conductive layer; forming a second insulating layer over the first conductive layer; forming a second conductive layer over the second insulating layer; etching the second conductive layer by using a first mask pattern which is intentionally formed to have a portion with a nonuniform thickness and a second mask pattern which is formed to have a uniform thickness by using a photomask or a reticle including an auxiliary pattern having a function of reducing the light intensity; forming a third insulating layer over the second conductive layer after etching the second conductive layer; and etching the first insulating layer, the second insulating layer and the third insulating layer to form a contact hole reaching the semiconductor layer. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The manufacturing method of a semiconductor device according to claim 11, wherein forming the first insulating layer and depositing the second insulating layer are continuously performed without exposure to air. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The manufacturing method of a semiconductor device according to claim 11, wherein the auxiliary pattern is formed of a semi-transmissive film. ### Claim 14 (depends on 11) The manufacturing method of a semiconductor device according to claim 11, wherein the auxiliary pattern is formed of a diffraction grating pattern.