# US 9,437,739 B2 · Finfet seal ring

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- Number: US 9,437,739 B2
- Document ID: US9437739B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 14/199,216
- Filed: 2014-03-06
- Published: 2015-09-10
- Granted: 2016-09-06
- Earliest claimed: 2014-03-06
- Assignees: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
- Applicants: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, LTD
- Inventors: Tsung-Yuan Yu; Hsien-Wei Chen
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9437739B2

## CPC

- H10D 30/62: Fin field-effect transistors [FinFET]
- H10D 30/0243: {using dummy structures having essentially the same shapes as the semiconductor bodies, e.g. to provide stability}
- H10D 84/0151: {Manufacturing their isolation regions}
- H10D 84/0158: {the components including FinFETs}
- H10D 84/038: {using silicon technology, e.g. SiGe}
- H10D 84/834: {comprising FinFETs}
- H10D: INORGANIC ELECTRIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES

## Abstract

A semiconductor device includes a first front-end-of-line (FEOL) seal ring on a substrate, the seal ring comprising ring-shaped fin-like structures, integrated circuitry formed on the substrate, the integrated circuitry being circumscribed by the first seal ring, an isolation zone between the seal ring and the integrated circuitry, the isolation zone comprising a set of fin structures, each fin structure facing a same direction.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A semiconductor device comprising:
a first front-end-of-line (FEOL) seal ring on a substrate, the first FEOL seal ring comprising ring-shaped fin-like structures;
integrated circuitry formed on the substrate, the integrated circuitry being circumscribed by the first FEOL seal ring;
an isolation zone between the first FEOL seal ring and the integrated circuitry, the isolation zone comprising a set of fin structures, each fin structure facing a same direction;
wherein the first FEOL seal ring comprises an inner metal line and an outer metal line with a space between the inner metal line and outer metal line, the ring-shaped fin-like structures being within the space.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor device of claim 1, further comprising, a dummy gate structure formed over the fin structures.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The semiconductor device of claim 2, wherein the fin structures within the isolation zone are grouped into units.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The semiconductor device of claim 3, wherein each unit comprises at least one dummy gate structure formed on an edge of the fin structures.

### Claim 5 (depends on 2)

The semiconductor device of claim 2, wherein the dummy gate is formed on an end of the fin structures, the dummy gate structure extending past ends of the fin structures.

### Claim 6 (depends on 3)

The semiconductor device of claim 3, wherein the units are positioned in rows, adjacent rows being offset from each other.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor device of claim 1, further comprising dummy gate structures formed over the ring-shaped fin-like structures.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor device of claim 1, further comprising, dummy gate structures formed over the fin structures, the dummy gates running perpendicular to the fin structures.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor device of claim 1, further comprising, a second seal ring surrounding the first FEOL seal ring.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein a width of the fin structures is substantially similar to a width of the ring-shaped fin-like structures within the seal ring.

### Claim 11

An integrated circuit formed onto a semiconductor wafer, the integrated circuit comprising:
front-end-of-line (FEOL) circuitry formed onto the wafer;
a first seal ring circumscribing the FEOL circuitry, the seal ring comprising a plurality of concentric ring-shaped fin-like structures; and
an isolation zone between the first seal ring and the circuitry, the isolation zone comprising a plurality of fin structure units formed along an inner circumference of the first seal ring, each fin structure unit comprising:
a series of fin structures facing a same direction; and
at least one dummy gate formed over the fin structures;
wherein each of the fin structures from each of the fin structure units faces the same direction;
wherein the seal ring comprises an inner metal line and an outer metal line with a space between the inner metal line and outer metal line, the ring-shaped fin-like structures being within the space.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The semiconductor device of claim 11, further comprising:
dummy gate structures formed over the ring-shaped fin-like structures; and
a second seal ring surrounding the first seal ring, the second seal ring comprising concentric ring-shaped fin-like structures.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The semiconductor device of claim 12,
wherein a dimension of the fin-like structures is substantially similar to a dimension of the fin structures; and
wherein a dimension of the dummy gate structures within the seal ring is substantially similar to a dimension of the dummy gate structures within the isolation zone.

### Claim 14 (depends on 11)

The semiconductor device of claim 11, wherein the isolation zone is about 4 to 8 micrometers wide.

### Claim 15

A method for fabricating a semiconductor device, the method comprising:
forming integrated circuitry onto a semiconductor substrate;
forming a seal ring that circumscribes the integrated circuitry, the seal ring comprising a set of concentric ring-shaped fin-like structures;
forming a set of fin structures within an isolation zone between the inner circumference of the seal ring and the integrated circuitry, each of the fin structures facing a same direction; and
forming a number of dummy gates over the fin structures;
wherein the ring-shaped fin-like structures are between an outer metal line of the seal ring and an inner metal line of the seal ring.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15, further comprising, forming a second seal ring that circumscribes that first seal ring.

### Claim 17 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15, wherein the fin structures within the isolation zone are grouped into units.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The method of claim 17, wherein each unit comprises at least one dummy gate structure formed on an edge of the fin structures.

### Claim 19 (depends on 18)

The method of claim 18, further comprising, forming the dummy gate on an end of the fin structures, the dummy gate structure extending past ends of the fin structures.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The method of claim 19, wherein the units are positioned in rows, adjacent rows being offset from each other.