Semiconductor device

• US 9,865,742 B2
• Filed: 12/28/2012
• Issued: 01/09/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/09/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Yamazaki, Shunpei, Koyama, Jun, Takahashi, Masahiro, Kishida, Hideyuki, Miyanaga, Akiharu, Nakamura, Yasuo, Sugao, Junpei, Uochi, Hideki
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Khiem D
• Application Number:
  US13/729,322
• Publication Number:
  US 20130113044A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,838 Days
• Field of Search: 257E51005, 438149-151
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/1214 comprising a plurality of TFTs formed on a non-semiconducting substrate, e.g. driving circuits for AMLCDs
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/1225 with semiconductor materials not belonging to the group IV of the periodic table, e.g. InGaZnO
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/124 with a particular composition, shape or layout of the wiring layers specially adapted to the circuit arrangement, e.g. scanning lines in LCD pixel circuits wiring structures per se H01L23/52
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/1255 integrated with passive devices, e.g. auxiliary capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/1288 employing particular masking sequences or specially adapted masks, e.g. half-tone mask
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/45 Ohmic electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/4908 for thin film semiconductor, e.g. gate of TFT
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/66969 of devices having semiconductor bodies not comprising group 14 or group 13/15 materials comprising selenium or tellurium in uncombined form other than as impurities in semiconductor bodies of other materials, comprising cuprous oxide or cuprous iodide H01L21/02365
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/78606 with supplementary region or layer in the thin film or in the insulated bulk substrate supporting it for controlling or increasing the safety of the device H01L29/78642, H01L29/78645 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/78669 with inverted-type structure, e.g. with bottom gate
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/78678 with inverted-type structure, e.g. with bottom gate
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/7869 having a semiconductor body comprising an oxide semiconductor material, e.g. zinc oxide, copper aluminium oxide, cadmium stannate

Abstract

It is an object to provide a semiconductor device typified by a display device having a favorable display quality, in which parasitic resistance generated in a connection portion between a semiconductor layer and an electrode is suppressed and an adverse effect such as voltage drop, a defect in signal wiring to a pixel, a defect in grayscale, and the like due to wiring resistance are prevented. In order to achieve the above object, a semiconductor device according to the present invention may have a structure where a wiring with low resistance is connected to a thin film transistor in which a source electrode and a drain electrode that include metal with high oxygen affinity are connected to an oxide semiconductor layer with a suppressed impurity concentration. In addition, the thin film transistor including the oxide semiconductor may be surrounded by insulating films to be sealed.

Claims

1. A semiconductor device comprising:

a pixel portion; and

a terminal portion comprising;

a first insulating layer, the first insulating layer comprising silicon and nitrogen;

a second insulating layer over the first insulating layer, the second insulating layer comprising silicon and oxygen;

a conductive layer over the second insulating layer; and

a transparent conductive layer over the conductive layer;

wherein the conductive layer is electrically connected to the transparent conductive layer,

wherein the conductive layer comprises a same metal element as a metal element comprised in source and drain electrodes of a transistor,

wherein the terminal portion is located outside the pixel portion, and

wherein end portions of the first insulating layer and the second insulating layer are tapered and substantially aligned with each other.

2. The terminal portion according to claim 1, further comprising:

a third insulating layer over the conductive layer, the third insulating layer comprising silicon and oxygen; and

a fourth insulating layer over the third insulating layer, the fourth insulating layer comprising silicon and nitrogen.

3. The terminal portion according to claim 1, wherein the transistor comprises an oxide semiconductor layer including a channel region, the oxide semiconductor layer comprising indium, gallium, and zinc.

4. The terminal portion according to claim 1, wherein each of the source and drain electrodes comprises copper.

5. The terminal portion according to claim 1, wherein each of the source and drain electrodes comprises:

a first layer, the first layer comprising a metal element having a higher melting point than copper, and

a second layer over the first layer, the second layer comprising copper.

6. A semiconductor device comprising:

a terminal portion, wherein the terminal portion comprises;

a first insulating layer, the first insulating layer comprising silicon and nitrogen;

a second insulating layer over the first insulating layer, the second insulating layer comprising silicon and oxygen;

a conductive layer over the second insulating layer;

a transparent conductive layer over the conductive layer, wherein the conductive layer is electrically connected to the transparent conductive layer; and

a pixel portion comprising a transistor, wherein the transistor comprises;

a third insulating layer, the third insulating layer comprising silicon and nitrogen;

a fourth insulating layer over the third insulating layer, the fourth insulating layer comprising silicon and oxygen;

an oxide semiconductor layer including a channel region over the fourth insulating layer;

a source electrode electrically connected to the oxide semiconductor layer;

a drain electrode electrically connected to the oxide semiconductor layer; and

a fifth insulating layer over the oxide semiconductor layer, the fifth insulating layer comprising silicon and oxygen,

wherein the conductive layer comprises a same metal element as a metal element comprised in the source and drain electrodes,

wherein the terminal portion is located outside the pixel portion, and

wherein end portions of the first insulating layer and the second insulating layer are tapered and substantially aligned with each other.

7. The semiconductor device according to claim 6, further comprising:

a sixth insulating layer over the conductive layer, the sixth insulating layer comprising silicon and oxygen; and

a seventh insulating layer over the sixth insulating layer, the seventh insulating layer comprising silicon and nitrogen.

8. The semiconductor device according to claim 6, wherein the oxide semiconductor layer comprises indium, gallium, and zinc.

9. The semiconductor device according to claim 6, wherein each of the source electrode and the drain electrode comprises copper.

10. The semiconductor device according to claim 6, wherein each of the source electrode and the drain electrode comprises:

a first layer over the oxide semiconductor layer, the first layer comprising a metal element having a higher melting point than copper, and

a second layer over the first layer, the second layer comprising copper.

11. The semiconductor device according to claim 6, further comprising:

a region between the oxide semiconductor layer and one of the source electrode and the drain electrode, the region comprising a titanium oxide having oxygen vacancy.

12. The semiconductor device according to claim 6, wherein a thickness of the region is greater than or equal to 0.1 nm and less than or equal to 10 nm.