Fabrication of field-effect transistor with vertical body-material dopant profile tailored to alleviate punchthrough and reduce current leakage

• US 8,129,262 B1
• Filed: 10/27/2009
• Issued: 03/06/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: National Semiconductor Corporation (Texas Instruments, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: National Semiconductor Corporation (Texas Instruments, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bulucea, Constantin, Wang, Fu-Cheng, Chaparala, Prasad
• Primary Examiner(s): Coleman, William D
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kim, Su
• Application Number:
  US12/607,041
• Time in Patent Office: 861 Days
• Field of Search: 438/163, 438/217, 438/251, 438/252, 438/276, 438/289, 438/291, 438/301, 438/305, 438/306, 438/510, 438/514, 438/527, 438/542, 438/546, 438/548, 257/101, 257/221, 257/269, 257/285, 257/463, 257/E29.012, 257/E29.055, 257/E29.278
• US Class Current: 438/546
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/823807 with a particular manufacturing method of the channel structures, e.g. channel implants, halo or pocket implants, or channel materials
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/823814 with a particular manufacturing method of the source or drain structures, e.g. specific source or drain implants or silicided source or drain structures or raised source or drain structures
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/105 with vertical doping variation H01L29/7827 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/1083 with an inactive supplementary region, e.g. for preventing punch-through, improving capacity effect or leakage current

Abstract

Fabrication of an insulated-gate field-effect transistor (110) entails separately introducing three body-material dopants, typically through an opening in a mask, into body material (50) of a semiconductor body so as to reach respective maximum dopant concentrations at three different vertical locations in the body material. A gate electrode (74) is subsequently defined after which a pair of source/drain zones (60 and 62), each having a main portion (60M or 80M) and a more lightly doped lateral extension (60E or 62E), are formed in the semiconductor body. An anneal is performed during or subsequent to introduction of semiconductor dopant that defines the source/drain zones. The body material is typically provided with at least one more heavily doped halo pocket portion (100 and 102) along the source/drain zones. The vertical dopant profile resulting from the body-material dopants alleviates punchthrough and reduces current leakage.

Claims

1. A method of fabricating a field-effect transistor from a semiconductor body having body material of a first conductivity type, the method comprising:

separately introducing first, second, and third body-material semiconductor dopants of the first conductivity type into the body material such that the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type reach respective maximum dopant concentrations at respective materially different first, second, and third locations in the body material;

subsequently defining a gate electrode above, and vertically separated by gate dielectric material from, a portion of the body material intended to be a channel zone for the transistor;

subsequently introducing semiconductor dopant of a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type into the semiconductor body to form a pair of source/drain zones of the second conductivity type laterally separated by the channel zone such that, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, (a) the semiconductor body has an upper surface to which the channel and source/drain zones extend, (b) each source/drain zone comprises a main source/drain portion and a more lightly doped source/drain lateral extension laterally continuous with the main source/drain portion, (c) the channel zone is terminated by the lateral extensions along the body'"'"'s upper surface, (d) the location of the maximum concentration of each of the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type extends continuously laterally so as to underlie at least part of each source/drain zone below the body'"'"'s upper surface, (e) the body material has a net dopant concentration that reaches three vertically separate local subsurface maxima along an imaginary line that extends generally perpendicular to the body'"'"'s upper surface through the channel zone and into underlying matter of the body material, and (f) the three local subsurface maxima in the net dopant concentration of the body material respectively largely occur along the locations of the maximum concentrations of the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type; and

, during or/and subsequent to the act of introducing the dopant of the second conductivity type,

annealing the semiconductor body by an annealing procedure comprising subjecting the semiconductor body to an annealing temperature of at least 540°

C.

2. A method as in claim 1 wherein, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, the net dopant concentration of the body material decreases in moving both upward and downward away from the location of the maximum concentration of each of the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type.

3. A method as in claim 1 wherein the location of the maximum concentration of each of the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type underlies substantially all of each source/drain zone.

4. A method as in claim 1 wherein the act of separately introducing the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type comprises ion implanting those three dopants.

5. A method as in claim 1 wherein the act of separately introducing the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type comprises:

ion implanting the first dopant such that, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, the maximum concentration of the first dopant beneath the gate electrode occurs 0.1-0.4 μ

m below the body'"'"'s upper surface;

ion implanting the second dopant such that, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, the maximum concentration of the second dopant beneath the gate electrode occurs 0.3-0.5 μ

m below the body'"'"'s upper surface and also deeper below the body'"'"'s upper surface than the maximum concentration of the first dopant; and

ion implanting the third dopant such that, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, the maximum concentration of the third dopant beneath the gate electrode occurs 0.4-0.7 μ

m below the body'"'"'s upper surface and also deeper below the body'"'"'s upper surface than the maximum concentration of the second dopant.

6. A method as in claim 1 wherein the act of separately introducing the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type entails introducing those three dopants into the body material through the then-existent upper surface of the semiconductor body.

7. A method as in claim 6 wherein the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type are introduced into the body material through an opening in a mask provided over the then-existent upper surface of the semiconductor body.

8. A method as in claim 1 further including, subsequent to the act of defining the gate electrode, introducing fourth semiconductor dopant of the first conductivity type into at least the intended channel-zone portion of the body material such that, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, the fourth dopant of the first conductivity type has a dopant concentration which, in the channel zone along the body'"'"'s upper surface, longitudinally reaches a local surface minimum at a location between the source/drain zones.

9. A method as in claim 8 wherein, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, the concentration of the fourth dopant of the first conductivity type increases in moving along the body'"'"'s upper surface from the location of the local surface minimum toward each source/drain zone.

10. A method as in claim 9 wherein, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, the local surface minimum in the body material'"'"'s net dopant concentration occurs approximately at a single point along an imaginary line extending longitudinally between the source/drain zones along the body'"'"'s upper surface.

11. A method as in claim 9 wherein, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, the body material'"'"'s net dopant concentration is approximately constant at the local surface minimum along a non-zero portion of an imaginary line extending longitudinally between the source/drain zones along the body'"'"'s upper surface.

12. A method as in claim 8 wherein, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, the concentration of the fourth dopant of the first conductivity type increases in moving along the body'"'"'s upper surface from the location of the local surface minimum toward only one of the source/drain zones.

13. A method as in claim 1 wherein the act of introducing the dopant of the second conductivity type comprises:

introducing first semiconductor dopant of the second conductivity type through an opening in a first mask, through the body'"'"'s then-existent upper surface, and into a pair of laterally separated primary segments of the semiconductor body using the first mask, the gate electrode, and any material along the gate electrode as a dopant-blocking shield;

providing spacer material to the transverse sides of the gate electrode; and

introducing second semiconductor dopant of the second conductivity type through an opening in a second mask, through the body'"'"'s then-existent upper surface, and into a pair of laterally separated further segments of the semiconductor body using the second mask, the gate electrode, and the spacer material as a dopant-blocking shield.

14. A method as in claim 13 further including introducing fourth semiconductor dopant of the first conductivity type through the opening in the first mask into at least the intended channel-zone portion of the body material using the first mask, the gate electrode, and any material along the gate electrode as a dopant-blocking shield such that, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, the fourth dopant of the first conductivity type has a dopant concentration which, in the channel zone along the body'"'"'s upper surface, longitudinally reaches a local surface minimum at a location between the source/drain zones.

15. A method as in claim 14 wherein the act of introducing the fourth dopant of the first conductivity type comprises implanting ions of a species of the fourth dopant of the first conductivity type at an average tilt angle of at least 15°

relative to a direction generally perpendicular to the body'"'"'s then-existent upper surface.

31. A method as in claim 1 wherein the annealing temperature is at least 1000°

C.

32. A method as in claim 31 wherein the annealing procedure entails subjecting the semiconductor body to the annealing temperature for an annealing time of up to 20 seconds.

33. A method as in claim 32 wherein the annealing time is at least 5 seconds.

34. A method as in claim 1 further including, subsequent to the act of separately introducing the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type and prior to the act of defining the gate electrode, initially annealing the semiconductor body by an initial annealing procedure comprising subjecting the semiconductor body to an initial annealing temperature of at least 1000°

C.

35. A method as in claim 34 wherein the initial annealing procedure entails subjecting the semiconductor body to the initial annealing temperature for an initial annealing time of up to 20 seconds.

16. A method of fabricating a field-effect transistor from a semiconductor body having body material of a first conductivity type, the method comprising:

separately introducing first, second, and third body-material semiconductor dopants of the first conductivity type into the body material such that the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type reach respective maximum dopant concentrations at respective materially different first, second, and third locations in the body material;

subsequently defining a gate electrode above, and vertically separated by gate dielectric material from, a portion of the body material intended to be a channel zone for the transistor;

subsequently introducing semiconductor dopant of a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type into the semiconductor body to form a pair of source/drain zones of the second conductivity type laterally separated by the channel zone such that, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, (a) the semiconductor body has an upper surface to which the channel and source/drain zones extend, (b) each source/drain zone comprises a main source/drain portion and a more lightly doped source/drain lateral extension laterally continuous with the main source/drain portion, (c) the channel zone is terminated by the lateral extensions along the body'"'"'s upper surface, (d) a channel surface depletion region extends along the body'"'"'s upper surface into the channel zone so as to reach a maximum thickness at a location in the channel zone, (e) the location of the maximum concentration of each of the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type occurs below the location of the channel surface depletion region at its maximum thickness, (f) each of the two deepest ones of the locations of the maximum concentrations of the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type extends continuously laterally so as to underlie at least part of each source/drain zone, (g) the body material has a net dopant concentration that reaches three vertically separate local subsurface maxima along an imaginary line that extends generally perpendicular to the body'"'"'s upper surface through the channel zone and into underlying matter of the body material, and (h) the three local subsurface maxima in the net dopant concentration of the body material respectively largely occur along the locations of the maximum concentrations of the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type; and

, and, during or/and subsequent to the act of introducing the dopant of the second conductivity type,

annealing the semiconductor body by an annealing procedure comprising subjecting the semiconductor body to an annealing temperature of at least 540°

C.

17. A method as in claim 16 wherein, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, the net dopant concentration of the body material decreases in moving both upward and downward away from the location of the maximum concentration of each of the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type.

18. A method as in claim 16 wherein, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, each of the two deepest locations of the maximum concentrations of the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type underlies substantially all of each source/drain zone.

19. A method as in claim 16 wherein, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, the shallowest one of the locations of the maximum concentrations of the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type also underlies at least part of each source/drain zone.

20. A method as in claim 19 wherein, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, the shallowest location of the maximum concentrations of the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type underlies substantially all of each source/drain zone.

21. A method as in claim 16 wherein the act of separately introducing the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type comprises ion implanting those three dopants.

22. A method as in claim 16 wherein the act of separately introducing the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type comprises:

ion implanting the first dopant such that, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, the maximum concentration of the first dopant beneath the gate electrode occurs 0.1-0.4 μ

m below the body'"'"'s upper surface;

ion implanting the second dopant such that, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, the maximum concentration of the second dopant beneath the gate electrode occurs 0.3-0.5 μ

m below the body'"'"'s upper surface and also deeper below the body'"'"'s upper surface than the maximum concentration of the first dopant;

ion implanting the third dopant such that, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, the maximum concentration of the third dopant beneath the gate electrode occurs 0.4-0.7 μ

m below the body'"'"'s upper surface and also deeper below the body'"'"'s upper surface than the maximum concentration of the second dopant.

23. A method as in claim 16 wherein the act of separately introducing the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type entails introducing those three dopants into the body material through the then-existent upper surface of the semiconductor body.

24. A method as in claim 23 wherein the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type are introduced into the body material through an opening in a mask provided over the then-existent upper surface of the semiconductor body.

25. A method as in claim 16 further including, subsequent to the act of defining the gate electrode, introducing fourth semiconductor dopant of the first conductivity type into at least the intended channel-zone portion of the body material such that, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, the fourth dopant of the first conductivity type has a dopant concentration which, in the channel zone along the body'"'"'s upper surface, longitudinally reaches a local surface minimum at a location between the source/drain zones.

26. A method as in claim 25 wherein, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, the concentration of the fourth dopant of the first conductivity type increases in moving along the body'"'"'s upper surface from the location of the local surface minimum toward each source/drain zone.

27. A method as in claim 25 wherein, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, the concentration of the fourth dopant of the first conductivity type increases in moving along the body'"'"'s upper surface from the location of the local surface minimum toward only one of the source/drain zones.

28. A method as in claim 16 wherein the act of introducing the dopant of the second conductivity type comprises:

introducing first semiconductor dopant of the second conductivity type through an opening in a first mask, through the body'"'"'s then-existent upper surface, and into a pair of laterally separated primary segments of the semiconductor body using the first mask, the gate electrode, and any material along the gate electrode as a dopant-blocking shield;

providing spacer material to the transverse sides of the gate electrode; and

introducing second semiconductor dopant of the second conductivity type through an opening in a second mask, through the body'"'"'s then-existent upper surface, and into a pair of laterally separated further segments of the semiconductor body using the second mask, the gate electrode, and the spacer material as a dopant-blocking shield.

29. A method as in claim 28 further including introducing fourth semiconductor dopant of the first conductivity type through the opening in the first mask into at least the intended channel-zone portion of the body material using the first mask, the gate electrode, and any material along the gate electrode as a dopant-blocking shield such that, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, the fourth dopant of the first conductivity type has a dopant concentration which, in the channel zone along the body'"'"'s upper surface, longitudinally reaches a local surface minimum at a location between the source/drain zones.

30. A method as in claim 29 wherein the act of introducing the fourth dopant of the first conductivity type comprises implanting ions of a species of the fourth dopant of the first conductivity type at an average tilt angle of at least 15°

relative to a direction generally perpendicular to the body'"'"'s then-existent upper surface.

36. A method as in claim 16 wherein the annealing temperature is at least 1000°

C.

37. A method as in claim 36 wherein the annealing procedure entails subjecting the semiconductor body to the annealing temperature for an annealing time of up to 20 seconds.

38. A method as in claim 37 wherein the annealing time is at least 5 seconds.

39. A method as in claim 16 further including, subsequent to the act of separately introducing the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type and prior to the act of defining the gate electrode, initially annealing the semiconductor body by an initial annealing procedure comprising subjecting the semiconductor body to an initial annealing temperature of at least 1000°

C.

40. A method as in claim 39 wherein the initial annealing procedure entails subjecting the semiconductor body to the initial annealing temperature for an initial annealing time of up to 20 seconds.

41. A method of fabricating a field-effect transistor from a semiconductor body having body material of a first conductivity type, the method comprising:

separately introducing first, second, and third body-material semiconductor dopants of the first conductivity type into the body material such that the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type reach respective maximum dopant concentrations at respective materially different first, second, and third locations in the body material;

subsequently defining a gate electrode above, and vertically separated by gate dielectric material from, a portion of the body material intended to be a channel zone for the transistor; and

subsequently introducing (i) semiconductor dopant of a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type into the semiconductor body to form a pair of source/drain zones of the second conductivity type laterally separated by the channel zone and (ii) fourth semiconductor dopant of the first conductivity type into at least the intended channel-zone portion of the body material such that, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, (a) the semiconductor body has an upper surface to which the channel and source/drain zones extend, (b) each source/drain zone comprises a main source/drain portion and a more lightly doped source/drain lateral extension laterally continuous with the main source/drain portion, (c) the channel zone is terminated by the lateral extensions along the body'"'"'s upper surface, (d) the location of the maximum concentration of each of the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type extends continuously laterally so as to underlie at least part of each source/drain zone below the body'"'"'s upper surface, (e) the body material has a net dopant concentration that reaches three vertically separate local subsurface maxima along an imaginary line that extends generally perpendicular to the body'"'"'s upper surface through the channel zone and into underlying matter of the body material, (f) the three local subsurface maxima in the net dopant concentration of the body material respectively largely occur along the locations of the maximum concentrations of the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type, and (g) the fourth dopant of the first conductivity type has a dopant concentration which, in the channel zone along the body'"'"'s upper surface, longitudinally reaches a local surface minimum at a location between the source/drain zones.

42. A method as in claim 41 wherein the location of the maximum concentration of each of the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type underlies substantially all of each source/drain zone.

43. A method as in claim 41 wherein the act of separately introducing the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type comprises ion implanting those three dopants.

44. A method as in claim 41 wherein, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, the concentration of the fourth dopant of the first conductivity type increases in moving along the body'"'"'s upper surface from the location of the local surface minimum toward each source/drain zone.

45. A method as in claim 44 wherein, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, the local surface minimum in the body material'"'"'s net dopant concentration occurs approximately at a single point along an imaginary line extending longitudinally between the source/drain zones along the body'"'"'s upper surface.

46. A method as in claim 44 wherein, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, the body material'"'"'s net dopant concentration is approximately constant at the local surface minimum along a non-zero portion of an imaginary line extending longitudinally between the source/drain zones along the body'"'"'s upper surface.

47. A method as in claim 41 wherein, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, the concentration of the fourth dopant of the first conductivity type increases in moving along the body'"'"'s upper surface from the location of the local surface minimum toward only one of the source/drain zones.

48. A method as in claim 41 wherein the introduction of the dopant of the second conductivity type comprises:

introducing first semiconductor dopant of the second conductivity type through an opening in a first mask, through the body'"'"'s then-existent upper surface, and into a pair of laterally separated primary segments of the semiconductor body using the first mask, the gate electrode, and any material along the gate electrode as a dopant-blocking shield;

providing spacer material to the transverse sides of the gate electrode; and

introducing second semiconductor dopant of the second conductivity type through an opening in a second mask, through the body'"'"'s then-existent upper surface, and into a pair of laterally separated further segments of the semiconductor body using the second mask, the gate electrode, and the spacer material as a dopant-blocking shield.

49. A method as in claim 48 wherein the introduction of the fourth dopant of the first conductivity type entails introducing that dopant through the opening in the first mask into at least the intended channel-zone portion of the body material using the first mask, the gate electrode, and any material along the gate electrode as a dopant-blocking shield.

50. A method as in claim 49 wherein the act of introducing the fourth dopant of the first conductivity type comprises implanting ions of a species of the fourth dopant of the first conductivity type at an average tilt angle of at least 15°

relative to a direction generally perpendicular to the body'"'"'s then-existent upper surface.

51. A method of fabricating a field-effect transistor from a semiconductor body having body material of a first conductivity type, the method comprising:

separately introducing first, second, and third body-material semiconductor dopants of the first conductivity type into the body material such that the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type reach respective maximum dopant concentrations at respective materially different first, second, and third locations in the body material;

subsequently defining a gate electrode above, and vertically separated by gate dielectric material from, a portion of the body material intended to be a channel zone for the transistor; and

subsequently introducing (i) semiconductor dopant of a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type into the semiconductor body to form a pair of source/drain zones of the second conductivity type laterally separated by the channel zone and (ii) fourth semiconductor dopant of the first conductivity type into at least the intended channel-zone portion of the body material such that, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, (a) the semiconductor body has an upper surface to which the channel and source/drain zones extend, (b) each source/drain zone comprises a main source/drain portion and a more lightly doped source/drain lateral extension laterally continuous with the main source/drain portion, (c) the channel zone is terminated by the lateral extensions along the body'"'"'s upper surface, (d) a channel surface depletion region extends along the body'"'"'s upper surface into the channel zone so as to reach a maximum thickness at a location in the channel zone, (e) the location of the maximum concentration of each of the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type occurs below the location of the channel surface depletion region at its maximum thickness, (f) each of the two deepest ones of the locations of the maximum concentrations of the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type extends continuously laterally so as to underlie at least part of each source/drain zone, (g) the body material has a net dopant concentration that reaches three vertically separate local subsurface maxima along an imaginary line that extends generally perpendicular to the body'"'"'s upper surface through the channel zone and into underlying matter of the body material, (h) the three local subsurface maxima in the net dopant concentration of the body material respectively largely occur along the locations of the maximum concentrations of the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type, and (i) the fourth dopant of the first conductivity type has a dopant concentration which, in the channel zone along the body'"'"'s upper surface, longitudinally reaches a local surface minimum at a location between the source/drain zones.

52. A method as in claim 51 wherein, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, each of the two deepest locations of the maximum concentrations of the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type underlies substantially all of each source/drain zone.

53. A method as in claim 51 wherein the act of separately introducing the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type comprises ion implanting those three dopants.

54. A method as in claim 51 wherein, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, the concentration of the fourth dopant of the first conductivity type increases in moving along the body'"'"'s upper surface from the location of the local surface minimum toward each source/drain zone.

55. A method as in claim 54 wherein, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, the local surface minimum in the body material'"'"'s net dopant concentration occurs approximately at a single point along an imaginary line extending longitudinally between the source/drain zones along the body'"'"'s upper surface.

56. A method as in claim 54 wherein, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, the body material'"'"'s net dopant concentration is approximately constant at the local surface minimum along a non-zero portion of an imaginary line extending longitudinally between the source/drain zones along the body'"'"'s upper surface.

57. A method as in claim 51 wherein, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, the concentration of the fourth dopant of the first conductivity type increases in moving along the body'"'"'s upper surface from the location of the local surface minimum toward only one of the source/drain zones.

58. A method as in claim 51 wherein the act of introducing the dopant of the second conductivity type comprises:

introducing first semiconductor dopant of the second conductivity type through an opening in a first mask, through the body'"'"'s then-existent upper surface, and into a pair of laterally separated primary segments of the semiconductor body using the first mask, the gate electrode, and any material along the gate electrode as a dopant-blocking shield;

providing spacer material to the transverse sides of the gate electrode; and

introducing second semiconductor dopant of the second conductivity type through an opening in a second mask, through the body'"'"'s then-existent upper surface, and into a pair of laterally separated further segments of the semiconductor body using the second mask, the gate electrode, and the spacer material as a dopant-blocking shield.

59. A method as in claim 58 wherein the introduction of the fourth dopant of the first conductivity type entails introducing that dopant through the opening in the first mask into at least the intended channel-zone portion of the body material using the first mask, the gate electrode, and any material along the gate electrode as a dopant-blocking shield.

60. A method as in claim 59 wherein the act of introducing the fourth dopant of the first conductivity type comprises implanting ions of a species of the fourth dopant of the first conductivity type at an average tilt angle of at least 15°

relative to a direction generally perpendicular to the body'"'"'s then-existent upper surface.

61. A method of fabricating a field-effect transistor from a semiconductor body having body material of a first conductivity type, the method comprising:

separately introducing first, second, and third body-material semiconductor dopants of the first conductivity type into the body material through an opening in a mask provided over the semiconductor body such that the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type reach respective maximum dopant concentrations at respective materially different first, second, and third locations in the body material;

subsequently defining a gate electrode above, and vertically separated by gate dielectric material from, a portion of the body material intended to be a channel zone for the transistor; and

subsequently introducing semiconductor dopant of a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type into the semiconductor body to form a pair of source/drain zones of the second conductivity type laterally separated by the channel zone such that, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, (a) the semiconductor body has an upper surface to which the channel and source/drain zones extend, (b) each source/drain zone comprises a main source/drain portion and a more lightly doped source/drain lateral extension laterally continuous with the main source/drain portion, (c) the channel zone is terminated by the lateral extensions along the body'"'"'s upper surface, (d) the location of the maximum concentration of each of the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type extends continuously laterally so as to underlie at least part of each source/drain zone below the body'"'"'s upper surface, (e) the body material has a net dopant concentration that reaches three vertically separate local subsurface maxima along an imaginary line that extends generally perpendicular to the body'"'"'s upper surface through the channel zone and into underlying matter of the body material, and (f) the three local subsurface maxima in the net dopant concentration of the body material respectively largely occur along the locations of the maximum concentrations of the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type.

62. A method as in claim 61 wherein the location of the maximum concentration of each of the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type underlies substantially all of each source/drain zone.

63. A method as in claim 61 wherein the acts of introducing the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type comprise ion implanting those three dopants.

64. A method of fabricating a field-effect transistor from a semiconductor body having body material of a first conductivity type, the method comprising:

separately introducing first, second, and third body-material semiconductor dopants of the first conductivity type into the body material through an opening in a mask provided over the semiconductor body such that the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type reach respective maximum dopant concentrations at respective materially different first, second, and third locations in the body material;

subsequently defining a gate electrode above, and vertically separated by gate dielectric material from, a portion of the body material intended to be a channel zone for the transistor; and

subsequently introducing semiconductor dopant of a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type into the semiconductor body to form a pair of source/drain zones of the second conductivity type laterally separated by the channel zone such that, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, (a) the semiconductor body has an upper surface to which the channel and source/drain zones extend, (b) each source/drain zone comprises a main source/drain portion and a more lightly doped source/drain lateral extension laterally continuous with the main source/drain portion, (c) the channel zone is terminated by the lateral extensions along the body'"'"'s upper surface, (d) a channel surface depletion region extends along the body'"'"'s upper surface into the channel zone so as to reach a maximum thickness at a location in the channel zone, (e) the location of the maximum concentration of each of the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type occurs below the location of the channel surface depletion region at its maximum thickness, (f) each of the two deepest ones of the locations of the maximum concentrations of the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type extends continuously laterally so as to underlie at least part of each source/drain zone, (g) the body material has a net dopant concentration that reaches three vertically separate local subsurface maxima along an imaginary line that extends generally perpendicular to the body'"'"'s upper surface through the channel zone and into underlying matter of the body material, and (h) the three local subsurface maxima in the net dopant concentration of the body material respectively largely occur along the locations of the maximum concentrations of the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type.

65. A method as in claim 64 wherein, upon completion of fabrication of the transistor, each of the two deepest locations of the maximum concentrations of the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type underlies substantially all of each source/drain zone.

66. A method as in claim 64 wherein the acts of introducing the first, second, and third dopants of the first conductivity type comprise ion implanting those three dopants.