EP0388075A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Contacts for semiconductor devices
Assignee: STMicroelectronics lnc USA
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Filing: 1990-03-07
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2010-03-07
Abstract
Abstract A method for fabrication of metal to semiconductor contacts results in sloped sidewalls in contact regions. An oxide layer is deposited and etched back to form sidewall spacers. A glass layer is then deposited and heated to reflow. After reflow, an etch back of the glass layer results is sloped sidewalls at contact openings and over steps.
Inventors
- 👤 Fu-Tai Liou
- 👤 Yu-Pin Han
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-29 23:11
CPC Classifications
H; H10; H10D; H10D84/00; H10D84/80; H10D84/82; H10D84/83; H10D30/00; H10D30/01; H10D30/021; H10D30/0223; H10D30/0227; H10D30/60; H10D64/00; H10D64/20; H10D64/23; H10D64/251; H10D64/258; H10P; H10P76/00; H10P76/40; H10P95/00; H10W; H10W20/00; H10W20/01; H10W20/071; H10W20/081; H10W20/082; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S257/00; Y10S257/90
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 17
Claim 1
Independent Claim
55 words
A method for providing sloped sidewalls in an integrated circuit, comprising the steps of: forming an insulating layer over the integrated circuit; causing a portion of the insulating layer to flow into lower regions on the integrated circuit; and etching the insulating layer to form sloped regions alongside relatively steeper portions of the integrated circuit.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
55 words
A method for providing sloped sidewalls in an integrated circuit, comprising the steps of: forming an insulating layer over the integrated circuit; causing a portion of the insulating layer to flow into lower regions on the integrated circuit; and etching the insulating layer to form sloped regions alongside relatively steeper portions of the integrated circuit.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of Claim 1, wherein said etching step comprises performing an anisotropic plasma etch until horizontal surfaces of the insulating layer are removed.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of Claim 1, wherein said causing to flow step comprises heating the integrated circuit until the insulating layer becomes soft enough to partially flow from higher regions into lower regions on the integrated circuit.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of Claim 1, wherein said forming step comprises forming a glass layer over the integrated circuit using chemical vapor deposition.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method of Claim 4, further comprising the steps of: before said forming step, forming a lower layer of oxide over the integrated circuit; and etching the lower layer to form sidewall oxide spacers alongside relatively steep portions of the integrated circuit.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method of Claim 4, wherein the glass layer is PSG or BPSG.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of Claim 1, wherein said forming step comprises forming a conformal insulating layer over the integrated circuit.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
81 words
A method for providing sloped sidewalls in an integrated circuit, comprising the steps of: forming a first insulating layer over the integrated circuit; etching the first insultating layer to form sidewall regions alongside relatively steeply sloping portions of the integrated circuit; forming a second insulating layer over the integrated circuit; causing a portion of the second insulating layer to flow into lower regions on the integrated circuit; and etching the second insulating layer to form sloped regions alongside the sidewall regions.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
81 words
A method for providing sloped sidewalls in an integrated circuit, comprising the steps of: forming a first insulating layer over the integrated circuit; etching the first insultating layer to form sidewall regions alongside relatively steeply sloping portions of the integrated circuit; forming a second insulating layer over the integrated circuit; causing a portion of the second insulating layer to flow into lower regions on the integrated circuit; and etching the second insulating layer to form sloped regions alongside the sidewall regions.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of Claim 8, wherein said first and second etching steps comprise performing an anisotropic plasma etch of the first and second insulating layers, respectively, until all horizontal surfaces of such insulating layers are removed.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
47 words
The method of Claim 8, wherein the first insulating layer is a low temperature oxide deposited so as to conform to the shape of underlying surfaces and wherein the second insulating layer is a glass layer deposited so as to conform to the shape of underlying surfaces.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method of Claim 10, wherein the glass layer is PSG or BPSG.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
34 words
The method of Claim 10, wherein said causing step comprises heating the integrated circuit until the glass layer becomes soft enough to partially flow from higher regions to lower regions on the integrated circuit.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
73 words
A semiconductor integrated circuit, comprising: a plurality of conductive regions disposed above a relatively planar semiconductor surface, said conductive regions having relatively steeply sloped side surfaces; and a plurality of sloped insulating regions disposed near a junction between said conductive regions and said semiconductor surface, wherein said sloped regions extend along said conductive regions and said semiconductor surface to form a relatively shallowly sloping surface between said conductive regions and said semiconductor surface.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
73 words
A semiconductor integrated circuit, comprising: a plurality of conductive regions disposed above a relatively planar semiconductor surface, said conductive regions having relatively steeply sloped side surfaces; and a plurality of sloped insulating regions disposed near a junction between said conductive regions and said semiconductor surface, wherein said sloped regions extend along said conductive regions and said semiconductor surface to form a relatively shallowly sloping surface between said conductive regions and said semiconductor surface.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
51 words
The integrated circuit of Claim 13, further comprising: between each of said conductive regions and said sloped regions, an insulating sidewall region having a relatively steeply sloped side surface on a side away from said conductive region, wherein said sloped regions extend along said semiconductor surface and along said sidewall regions.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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