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US 7,678,690 B2Granted
Semiconductor device comprising a contact structure with increased etch selectivity
AssigneeAdvanced Micro Devices, Inc.
InventorsRalf Richter, Carsten Peters, Heike Salz, Matthias Schaller
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Abstract
By providing additional etch stop layers and/or etch protection layers, a corresponding etch process for forming contact openings for directly connecting polysilicon lines and active areas may be controlled in a highly reliable manner. Consequently, conductive line erosion and/or penetration into extension regions may be significantly reduced, thereby improving the reliability and performance of corresponding semiconductor devices.
Claims12
A method, comprising:
- forming an etch stop layer above a circuit element having a conductive line and an active semiconductor region, said etch stop layer covering an area that substantially corresponds to a contact opening to be formed to connect said conductive line and said active semiconductor region, wherein forming said etch stop layer comprises forming a mask layer for defining an opening above said circuit element, said opening having dimensions substantially corresponding to said contact opening, forming said etch stop layer in said opening and on said mask layer, and removing said mask layer;
- forming an interlayer dielectric material above said circuit element and said etch stop layer;
- forming said contact opening in said interlayer dielectric material by an etch process using said etch stop layer as an etch stop;
- and
- filling said contact opening with a conductive material.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.