TECHNIQUES FOR USING MATERIAL SUBSTITUTION PROCESSES TO FORM REPLACEMENT METAL GATE ELECTRODES OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES WITH SELF-ALIGNED CONTACTS
First Claim
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1. A method, comprising:
- removing at least a dummy gate electrode to define a gate cavity;
forming a work-function material in said gate cavity;
forming a semiconductor material above said work-function material; and
performing a material substitution process on said semiconductor material to substitute a replacement material for at least a portion of said semiconductor material.
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Abstract
Generally, the present disclosure is directed to techniques for using material substitution processes to form replacement metal gate electrodes, and for forming self-aligned contacts to semiconductor devices made up of the same. One illustrative method disclosed herein includes removing at least a dummy gate electrode to define a gate cavity, forming a work-function material in said gate cavity, forming a semiconductor material above said work-function material, and performing a material substitution process on said semiconductor material to substitute a replacement material for at least a portion of said semiconductor material.
15 Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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removing at least a dummy gate electrode to define a gate cavity; forming a work-function material in said gate cavity; forming a semiconductor material above said work-function material; and performing a material substitution process on said semiconductor material to substitute a replacement material for at least a portion of said semiconductor material. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method, comprising:
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forming a gate structure above an active area of a transistor device, said gate structure comprising at least a dummy gate electrode and a dummy gate dielectric layer; forming a gate cavity in said gate structure by removing said dummy gate electrode and said dummy gate dielectric layer; and forming a replacement gate structure by forming a high-k dielectric material inside of said gate cavity and above a channel region of said transistor device, forming a work-function material above said high-k dielectric material, forming a semiconductor material above said work-function material, and performing a material substitution process on said semiconductor material to substitute a replacement metal gate electrode material for at least a portion of said semiconductor material formed inside of said gate cavity. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method, comprising:
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forming a semiconductor device comprising a gate structure, said gate structure comprising a dummy gate electrode, a dummy gate dielectric layer; and
sidewall spacers adjacent to sidewalls of said dummy gate electrode;selectively removing said dummy gate electrode and said dummy gate dielectric layer to form a gate cavity in said gate structure; forming a high-k dielectric material inside of said gate cavity, said high-k dielectric material having a dielectric constant of approximately 10 or higher; forming a work-function material inside of said gate cavity and above said high-k dielectric material; forming a semiconductor material above said work-function material to fill a remaining portion of said gate cavity, said semiconductor material comprising silicon; and performing a material substitution process on said semiconductor material to substitute a replacement gate electrode material for at least a portion of said semiconductor material formed in said gate cavity. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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Specification