Drawings
FIGS. 1-7 are schematic top view and cross-sectional views illustrating a method of forming an SRAM cell array according to an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 8 is a top view and a cross-sectional view of a method of forming an SRAM cell array according to another embodiment of the invention.
Description of the main elements
10: hard mask layer
12: oxide layer
14: nitride layer
20. 30: mask and method for manufacturing the same
22. 32: organic dielectric layer
24. 34: silicon-containing hard mask bottom antireflective layer
26. 36: photoresist and method for producing the same
40: insulation structure
110: substrate
110': bulk substrate
112. 112a, 112b, 112c, 112 d: fin structure
112e, 112f, 112g, 112h1, 112h2, 112i1, 112i2, 112j1, 112j 2: active fin structure
112k, 112k ', 112l ', 112m ', 112n ', 112o ': sacrificial fin structure
112a ', 112 b', 112c ', 112 d': the remaining part
120: polysilicon grid
130: interconnect metal
140: contact plug
A: SRAM cell area
C1: cutting the first fin-shaped structure
C2: second fin shaped structure cutting
E: tail end of the tube
P, P1, P2, P3, P4: distance between each other
P1: etching process
PD1, PD 2: step-down transistor
PG1, PG 2: channel transistor
PU1, PU 2: boost transistor
U1: (1,1,1) type SRAM cell
U2: (1,2,2) type SRAM cell
w: width of
θ: angle of rotation
Detailed Description
Fig. 1-7 are schematic top and cross-sectional views illustrating a method of forming an sram cell array according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown in fig. 1-2, a plurality of fin structures 112 are patterned on a substrate 110. As shown in fig. 1, a bulk substrate 110 'is provided, a hard mask layer 10 is formed thereon and patterned to define the locations of the fin structures 112 to be correspondingly formed in the underlying bulk substrate 110'. In the present embodiment, the hard mask layer 10 may be a stacked structure of an oxide layer 12 and a nitride layer 14 from bottom to top, but the invention is not limited thereto. Next, as shown in fig. 2, an etching process P1 is performed to form fin structures 112 in the bulk substrate 110'. Thus, the fin structure 112 is completed on the substrate 110. In one embodiment, the hard mask layer 10 is removed after the fin structure 112 is formed, and a tri-gate field effect transistor (tri-gate MOSFET) is formed in a subsequent fabrication process. As such, fin structure 112 is referred to as a tri-gate field effect transistor (tri-gate MOSFET) because it has three direct contacts (including two contact sides and one contact top) with a subsequently formed dielectric layer. Compared with a planar field effect transistor, the tri-gate field effect transistor has a wider carrier channel width under the same gate length by using the three direct contact surfaces as a channel for carrier circulation, so that double drain driving current can be obtained under the same driving voltage. In another embodiment, the hard mask layer 10 may be remained, and another multi-gate MOSFET (Fin field effect transistor) Fin field effect transistor (Fin FET) having a Fin structure may be formed in a subsequent process. In the finfet, there are only two sides of contact between the fin structure 112 and the dielectric layer to be formed later, due to the remaining hard mask layer 10.
In addition, as mentioned above, the present invention can also be applied to other types of semiconductor substrates, for example, in another embodiment, a silicon-on-insulator substrate (not shown) is provided, and the single crystal silicon layer on the silicon-on-insulator substrate (not shown) is etched by an etching and photolithography method to stop at the oxide layer, thereby completing the fabrication of the fin structure on the silicon-on-insulator substrate. In addition, although the number of the fin structures 112 is 15 in the present embodiment for simplicity and clarity of disclosure, the number of the fin structures 112 that can be used in the present invention may be other numbers that can form an sram cell array.
As shown in fig. 3-6, the fin structures 112 are cut to form the desired layout of the sram cell array. The method of trimming the fin structure 112 and the layout of the sram cell array depend on the desired fabrication process requirements and device requirements. In the present embodiment, the method for cutting the fin structures 112 includes a first fin structure cutting C1 and a second fin structure cutting C2, wherein fig. 3 to 4 illustrate the first fin structure cutting C1 method of the present embodiment, and fig. 5 to 6 illustrate the second fin structure cutting C2 method of the present embodiment. The method of forming the fin structure 112 may include forming the fin structure by a Sidewall Image Transfer (SIT) technique, and the first fin structure trim C1 or/and the second fin structure trim C2 may be combined with a Sidewall Image Transfer (SIT) technique. That is, the first fin structure trim C1 and/or the second fin structure trim C2 may be steps in a Sidewall Image Transfer (SIT) technique, such that the first fin structure trim C1 and/or the second fin structure trim C2 may include a combination of cut-out to define and Transfer images to the substrate 110 to form sidewalls of the fin structures 112.
In detail, as shown in fig. 3, a mask 20 is sequentially covered and patterned to cover portions of the fin structures 112 that are not to be removed and expose portions of the fin structures 112 to be removed. In the present embodiment, the overlying mask 20 is an Organic Dielectric Layer (ODL) 22, a Silicon-containing hard mask Bottom anti-reflection layer (SHB) 24 and a photoresist 26 stacked from Bottom to top. The mask 20 completely exposes a fin structure 112a and a fin structure 112b at both ends, and exposes only the tail end E of the fin structure 112 between the fin structure 112a and the fin structure 112b, so that the problems of fin structure connection and line-end shortening (line-end shortening) in the Sidewall Image Transfer (SIT) technology can be solved. Next, a first fin trimming C1 is performed to completely remove the exposed fin structures 112a and 112b and the tail end E of the fin structure 112 between the fin structures 112a and 112b, as shown in fig. 4, the dashed line is the trimming range of the first fin trimming C1. After cutting, the remaining portions 112a '/112 b' of the fin structures 112a and 112b may remain, and the tail end E of the fin structure 112 between the fin structures 112a and 112b also remains (not shown), wherein the remaining portions 112a '/112 b' protrude from the substrate 110 between the fin structures 112. The first fin cut C1 may be a multi-directional cut, or only a first directional cut. In the present embodiment, the first fin structure cut C1 is cut in the y direction, and an x direction cut is selectively added to remove the fin structures 112a and 112b, but the invention is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the first fin cut C1 may be cut only in the y-direction, leaving the fins 112a and 112 b. After the first fin cut C1 is performed, the photoresist 26, the silicon-containing hardmask bottom anti-reflective layer 24, and the organic dielectric layer 22 are removed.
Next, a second fin cut C2 is performed. As shown in fig. 5, a mask 30 is sequentially covered and patterned to cover portions of the fin structures 112 that are not to be removed and to expose portions of the fin structures 112 to be removed. In the present embodiment, the overlying Mask 30 is an Organic Dielectric Layer (ODL) 32, a silicon-containing Hard Mask bottom antireflective layer (SHB) 34 and a photoresist 36 stacked from bottom to top. The mask 30 completely exposes a fin structure 112c and a fin structure 112d at the edge. Next, a second fin trimming C2 is performed to remove the exposed fin structures 112C and 112d, and the dashed line portion is a trimming range of the second fin trimming C2 as shown in fig. 6. After cutting, the fin structures 112c and 112d may still have the remaining portions 112c '/112 d', wherein the remaining portions 112c '/112 d' also protrude from the substrate 110 between the fin structures 112. In the present embodiment, the second fin structure cut C2 is cut along a second direction, i.e. the x-direction, which is the second direction perpendicular to the second fin structure cut C2 in the first direction of the first fin structure cut C1, but the invention is not limited thereto. After the second fin cut C2 is performed, the photoresist 36, the silicon-containing hardmask bottom antireflective layer 34, and the organic dielectric layer 32 may be removed. In the present embodiment, the hard mask layer 10 is removed by spin-on.
Two embodiments are presented below to form two sram cell arrays, respectively. Fig. 7 shows a (1,1,1) sram cell array in which each pass transistor (PG FinFET) shares a single active fin structure with a corresponding pull-down transistor (PD FinFET). Fig. 8 shows another (1,2,2) sram cell array, in which each pass transistor (PG FinFET) shares two active fin structures with a corresponding pull-down transistor (PD FinFET). In addition, the invention can also be applied to other types of static random access memory cell arrays or other devices with fin structures.
Next, after the second fin trimming C2 step of fig. 6 is completed, a portion of the fin structure 112 is removed to form a fin structure layout for straddling the transistor group of the sram cell array, as shown in fig. 7. Further, as shown in fig. 6, the fin structure 112 may include a plurality of active fin structures 112e/112f/112g/112h/112i/112j and a plurality of sacrificial fin structures 112k '/112 l'/112 m '/112 n'/112 o ', and at least a portion of the sacrificial fin structures 112 k'/112 l '/112 m'/112 n '/112 o' are removed to obtain a desired fin structure layout and form the same shaped fin structure. In detail, in the present embodiment, after removing portions of the sacrificial fin structures 112k '/112 l '/112 m '/112 n '/112 o ', five sacrificial fin structures 112k/112l/112m/112n/112o are formed, wherein the sacrificial fin structures 112k/112l/112m/112n/112o protrude from the substrate 110 between the fin structures 112, as shown in the left diagram of fig. 7, but the invention is not limited thereto. Thus, the distribution of the active fins 112e/112f/112g/112h forms one of the (1,1,1) SRAM cells U1 shown in the right diagram of FIG. 7. Furthermore, the active fin structures 112i/112j are respectively located on two sides of the (1,1,1) sram cell U1, and the two active fin structures 112i/112j can be respectively used as active fin structures in other sram cells. Five sacrificial fin structures 112k/112l/112m/112n/112o are located between each active fin structure 112e/112f/112g/112h/112i/112j, respectively. In the present embodiment, sacrificial fin structures 112k/112l/112m/112n/112o are respectively disposed between active fin structures 112e/112f/112g/112h/112i/112j according to the pitch of active fin structures 112e/112f/112g/112h/112i/112j, so that the pitches of the fin structures 112 are the same as each other and as the pitches of the fin structures in other regions, but the invention is not limited thereto. For example, since the pitch of the active fin structures in the logic region is generally smaller than the pitch of the active fin structures in sram cell U1, the present invention adds sacrificial fin structures 112k/112l/112m/112n/112o between the active fin structures 112e/112f/112g/112h/112i/112j in sram cell U1 to make the pitch of the fin structures 112 in sram cell U1 equal to or similar to the pitch of the active fin structures in the logic region.
Therefore, the present invention adds at least one sacrificial fin structure between the active fin structures to make the fin structures in the same area or different areas have similar spacing, even the same spacing, and further make the formed fin structures have similar width, profile or shape, thereby improving the performance of manufacturing process stability and device reliability. Because, when the width of the fin structure is different, the performance of the formed sram is affected; when the shape of the fin-shaped structure is different, the stability of the manufacturing process is affected. Furthermore, a maximum pitch in each fin structure is less than twice a minimum pitch in each fin structure (otherwise, a sacrificial fin structure may be added between the maximum pitches). Furthermore, the illustration of the embodiment shows only SRAM cell area A, and SRAM cell U1 is located in SRAM cell area A, but substrate 110 may further include a logic area, the pitch of each fin structure 112 in sram cell region a is preferably less than twice the pitch of the fin structures in the logic region (otherwise, when the pitch of each fin structure 112 in sram cell region a is greater than or equal to twice the pitch of the fin structures in the logic region, at least one additional sacrificial fin structure may be added between the pitches of fin structures 112) so that the width, shape, and profile of fin structures 112 in sram cell region U1 are the same as, or approximately the same as, the width, shape, and profile of the fin structures in the logic region.
The (1,1,1) -type sram cell U1 includes a two-step-up transistor (PU FinFET) PU1, a two-channel transistor (PG FinFET) PG1, and a two-step-down transistor (PD FinFET) PD 1. In the (1,1,1) sram cell U1, each pass transistor PG1 shares a single active fin structure 112h/112g with a corresponding buck transistor PD1, and a single sacrificial fin structure 112k is disposed between two active fin structures 112e/112f spanned by two adjacent boost transistors PU 1. In a preferred embodiment, the pitch P between the fins 112 is equal. Similarly, each pass transistor PG1 has a sacrificial fin structure 112l/112m between the single active fin structure 112h/112g shared by the corresponding buck transistor PD1 and the active fin structure 112f/112e spanned by the two boost transistors PU1 closest to the single active fin structure 112h/112 g; sacrificial fin structures 112o/112n are disposed between the shared active fin structures in two adjacent memory cells, i.e., between active fin structures 112h/112j and between active fin structures 112g/112i, respectively.
It is emphasized that the pitch P between the fins 112 directly affects the width w and shape of the formed fins 112. Specifically, when the pitch P between the fin structures 112 is larger, the gradient of the cross-sectional profile of the formed fin structure 112 is larger, i.e., the angle θ is larger; as the pitch P between the fin structures 112 is smaller, the gradient of the cross-sectional profile of the formed fin structure 112 is steeper, i.e., the angle θ is smaller. Therefore, when the pitch P between the fin structures 112 is different, the width and the profile gradient of each fin structure 112 are different. When the width and cross-sectional profile of each fin structure 112 are not uniform, the performance, such as the stability of the fabrication process and the reliability of the formed device, may be degraded. In the present embodiment, the sacrificial fin structures 112k/112l/112m/112n/112o are added between the active fin structures 112e/112f/112g/112h/112i/112j to adjust the pitch P between the fin structures 112, so that the pitch P of each fin structure 112 is as same as the pitch of the fin structures in other regions (e.g., logic regions) as possible. In the present embodiment, only a single sacrificial fin structure 112k/112l/112m/112n/112o is added between the active fin structures 112e/112f/112g/112h/112i/112j, but the invention is not limited thereto. The present invention may also selectively supplement the sacrificial fin structures 112k/112l/112m/112n/112o between the active fin structures 112e/112f/112g/112h/112i/112j, or supplement two or more sacrificial fin structures 112k/112l/112m/112n/112o between two adjacent active fin structures 112e/112f/112g/112h/112i/112j, depending on the pitch P between the fin structures 112 and the pitch between the fin structures in other regions.
Further, the (1,1,1) sram cell U1 may further include a cross fin 112 with a polysilicon gate 120, interconnect metal 130 connecting the transistors including pass transistor PG1, buck transistor PD1, and boost transistor PU1, and contact plug 140 physically connecting the polysilicon gate 120 and interconnect metal 130. The structure and operation of the (1,1,1) type sram cell U1 are well known in the art and therefore will not be described in detail.
In addition, the present invention is also applicable to a (1,2,2) type SRAM cell array, as shown in FIG. 8. The difference between SRAM cell U2 of type (1,2,2) and SRAM cell U1 of type (1,1,1) is that: the active fin structure 112h in the (1,1,1) sram cell U1 is replaced by two active fin structures 112h1/112h2, and a pass transistor (PG FinFET) PG2 and a corresponding pull-down transistor (PD FinFET) PD2 in the (1,2,2) sram cell U2 share the two active fin structures 112h1/112h 2; the active fin structure 112g of the (1,1,1) sram cell U1 is replaced by two active fin structures 112g1/112g2, and the other pass transistor (PG FinFET) PG2 of the (1,2,2) sram cell U2 shares the two active fin structures 112g1/112g2 with the corresponding one pull-down transistor (PD FinFET) PD 2. The active fin structure 112i on the side of the (1,1,1) sram cell U1 is replaced by two active fin structures 112i1/112i2, and the active fin structure 112j on the side of the (1,1,1) sram cell U1 is replaced by two active fin structures 112j1/112j 2. A single sacrificial fin 112k is still disposed between two active fins 112e/112f spanned by two adjacent boost transistors PU 2.
Since the pitch P1 between the two active fin structures 112h1/112h2, the pitch P2 between the two active fin structures 112i1/112i2, and the pitch P3 between the two active fin structures 112j1/112j2 are smaller than the pitch P4 between the other fin structures 112, the sacrificial fin structures 112k/112l/112m/112n/112o are disposed between the other fin structures 112 except that no sacrificial fin structure is disposed between the two active fin structures 112h1/112h2, between the two active fin structures 112i1/112i2, and between the two active fin structures 112j1/112j 2. Therefore, the pitch between the fin structures 112 can be adjusted in the present embodiment, so that the pitch of the fin structures 112 is as same as possible. In this way, the fin structures 112 formed have the same width and shape, thereby improving the reliability of the manufacturing process and further improving the performance of the sram.
In addition, after forming the active fin structures 112e/112f/112g (112g1/112g2)/112h (112h1/112h2)/112i (112i1/112i2)/112j (112j1/112j2) and the sacrificial fin structures 112k/112l/112m/112n/112o, an insulating structure 40 may be formed between the active fin structures 112e/112f/112g (112g1/112g2)/112h (112h1/112h2)/112i (112i1/112i2)/112j (112j1/112j2), wherein the active fin structures 112e/112f/112g (112g1/112g2)/112h (112h1/112h 2)/1/112 i2)/112j 1/2) protrude from the insulating structure 40, but insulating structure 40 covers all of sacrificial fin structures 112k/112l/112m/112n/112 o.
In summary, the present invention provides a sram cell array and a method for forming the same, wherein a plurality of fin structures are formed on a substrate by patterning, wherein the fin structures may include a plurality of active fin structures and a plurality of sacrificial fin structures, and then at least a portion of the sacrificial fin structures are removed, such that the sacrificial fin structures are added to a desired active fin structure layout, such that the pitch between the fin structures is the same or nearly the same, such that the width and shape of the fin structures are the same. The fin-shaped structures with the same width and shape formed by the invention can promote the stability of the manufacturing process and the reliability of the device.
In detail, each sram in the sram cell array formed in the present invention includes two step-up transistors, two channel transistors, and two step-down transistors. Each pass transistor (PG FinFET) and a corresponding buck transistor (PD FinFET) share at least one active fin structure, for example, the present invention can form a (1,1,1) type sram cell array in which each pass transistor and a corresponding buck transistor share only a single active fin structure, or the present invention can form a (1,2,2) type sram cell array in which each pass transistor and a corresponding buck transistor share only two active fin structures. It is emphasized that the present invention provides at least one sacrificial fin structure between two active fin structures across which two adjacent boost transistors in a sram cell straddle, such that the spacing between the two active fin structures (which typically have a larger pitch) may be similar to the spacing between other active fin structures in the sram cell, or the spacing between fin structures in other regions (e.g., logic regions). With the method of the present invention, a maximum pitch in each fin structure is less than twice a minimum pitch in each fin structure (otherwise, a sacrificial fin structure may be added between the maximum pitches).
The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and all equivalent changes and modifications made in the claims of the present invention should be covered by the present invention.