Semiconductor devices fabricated with different processing options

• US 7,759,705 B2
• Filed: 05/11/2007
• Issued: 07/20/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/08/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Liberty Patents LLC
• Original Assignee: Tier Logic, Inc.
• Inventors: Madurawe, Raminda Udaya
• Primary Examiner(s): LEE, HSIEN MING
• Application Number:
  US11/801,738
• Publication Number:
  US 20070210336A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,166 Days
• Field of Search: 326/36, 326/39, 326/41, 326/44, 326/47, 326/49, 257/209, 257/678, 257/618, 257/684, 257/691, 257/798
• US Class Current: 257/209
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2111/04 Constraint-based CAD
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/30 Circuit design
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/34 for reconfigurable circuits, e.g. field programmable gate arrays [FPGA] or programmable logic devices [PLD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/343 Logical level
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/347 Physical level, e.g. placement or routing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/394 Routing G06F30/396 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 16/0433 comprising cells containing a single floating gate transistor and one or more separate select transistors
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 17/16 using electrically-fusible links
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 19/17796 for physical disposition of blocks
• CPC Class Codes: H10B 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass

Abstract

A semiconductor device, wherein: a first fabricating option provides a plurality of user configurations to configure the device functionality; and a second fabricating option hard-wires a said functional configuration, the second option comprising a plurality of common masks and fewer processing steps compared to the first option.

Claims

1. A semiconductor device to provide a configurable functionality, the device fabricated with two different fabricating options comprising:

a first fabricating option wherein one or more logic transistors are fabricated utilizing a first set of masks and a first process sequence, and wherein a user configurable memory element to program said logic transistors is fabricated utilizing a second set of masks; and

a second fabricating option wherein the logic transistors are fabricated utilizing the first set of masks and the first process sequence, and a mask configurable memory element to program said logic transistors is fabricated utilizing a third set of masks, the third set having fewer masks than the second set.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the user configurable memory element and the mask configurable memory element identically program the logic transistors.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein utilizing the second set of masks requires a second process sequence, and wherein utilizing the third set of masks requires a third process sequence, the third process sequence having fewer processing steps than the second process sequence.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the first fabricating option comprises fabricating field programmable interconnects utilizing a fourth set of masks, and wherein the second fabricating option comprises fabricating mask programmable interconnects utilizing a fifth set of masks, the fourth and fifth sets having one or more common masks.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the first fabricating option comprises fabricating field programmable interconnects utilizing a fourth set of masks, and wherein the second fabricating option comprises fabricating mask programmable interconnects utilizing a fifth set of masks, the fourth and fifth sets differ by at least one mask.

6. The device of claim 4, wherein utilizing the fourth set of masks requires a fourth process sequence, and wherein utilizing the fifth set of masks requires a fifth process sequence, the fourth process sequence identical to the fifth process sequence.

7. The device of claim 5, wherein utilizing the fourth set of masks requires a fourth process sequence, and wherein utilizing the fifth set of masks requires a fifth process sequence, the fourth process sequences identical to the fifth process sequence.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the user configurable memory element is one of electrical-fuse links, laser-fuse links, antifuse capacitors, SRAM cells, DRAM cells, metal optional links, EPROM cells, EEPROM cells, Flash cells, Carbon nano-tubes, Electro-Chemical cells, Electro-Mechanical cells, Optical cells, Electro-Magnetic cells and Ferro-Electric cells.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein the mask configurable memory element is one of a metal connection and a metal disconnection.

10. A semiconductor device to provide a configurable functionality, the device fabricated with two different fabricating options comprised of:

a first fabricating option comprising;

masks and processing steps to fabricate transistors; and

a first process sequence to fabricate a user configurable memory element above the transistors; and

a second fabricating option comprising;

said masks and said processing steps to fabricate transistors; and

a second process sequence to fabricate a mask configurable memory element above the transistors, the second process sequence comprising fewer processing steps than the first process sequence.

11. The device of claim 10, wherein the user configurable memory element is one of electrical-fuse links, laser-fuse links, antifuse capacitors, SRAM cells, DRAM cells, metal optional links, EPROM cells, EEPROM cells, Flash cells, Carbon nano-tubes, Electro-Chemical cells, Electro-Mechanical cells, Optical cells, Electro-Magnetic cells and Ferro-Electric cells.

12. The device of claim 10, wherein the mask configurable memory element is one of a metal connection and a metal disconnection.

13. The device of claim 10, wherein the processing steps to fabricate transistors comprises a logic process sequence to construct transistors on a semiconductor substrate.

14. The device of claim 10, wherein the first process sequence utilizes a first set of masks, and the second process sequence utilizes a second set of masks, the second set comprising fewer masks than the first set.

15. The device of claim 10, wherein the first fabricating option comprises fabricating field programmable interconnects utilizing a third process sequence, and wherein the second fabricating option comprises fabricating mask programmable interconnects utilizing a fourth process sequence, the third and fourth process sequences having the same processing steps.

16. The device of claim 15, wherein the third process sequence utilizes a third set of masks and the fourth fabricating option utilizes a fourth set of masks, the fourth and third sets having at least one different mask.

17. The device of claim 16, wherein at least one mask in the second fabricating option differs from masks in the first fabricating option and provides wire connections coupled to a power bus or a ground bus to hard-wire a user memory pattern in the first fabricating option.

18. A method to make a semiconductor device, comprising:

providing a first fabricating option providing a plurality of user configurations to configure the device functionality to form a user configurable device; and

providing a second fabricating option to form a custom device that hard-masks a functional configuration, the second option comprising a plurality of common masks and fewer processing steps compared to first fabricating option.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the first fabricating option comprises fabricating a user configurable memory element.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the second fabricating option comprises fabricating a mask configurable memory element.