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US5387533A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Method of making dynamic random access memory

Assignee: SK Hynix Inc
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Filing: 1993-08-20
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Granted: 1995-02-07
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Expires: 2013-08-20
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Abstract

Abstract A DRAM having a dual cell plate structure and a method of making this DRAM are provided. The DRAM is made by forming two field insulation films with a constant interval on a semiconductor substrate and forming word lines uniformly spaced from each other along with the associated bit lines. The specific structure and method for this DRAM reduces the parasitic capacitance between the bit lines and the word lines so that the fabrication of the DRAM may be easily performed.

Inventors

  • 👤 Hong S. Kim

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-31 06:53
CPC Classifications
H; H10; H10B; H10B12/00; H10B12/01; H10B12/02; H10B12/03; H10B12/033; H10B12/0335; H10B12/30; H10B12/31; H10B12/48; H10B12/482; H10B12/485; H10D; H10D1/00; H10D1/60; H10D1/68; H10D1/692; H10D1/711; H10D1/716; H10D1/01; H10D1/041; H10D1/042; H10D1/043

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 17
Claim 1
Independent Claim 753 words
A method of making a DRAM comprising the steps of: (a) forming first and second field insulation films with a constant interval on a top surface of a semiconductor substrate, to define an active region; (b) forming word lines uniformly spaced from each other respectively on said first and second field insulation films and said active region, wherein each word line includes side wall insulation films at side walls thereof; (c) forming a third insulation film for a capacitor contact by exposing a third insulation pattern on said top surface and then removing portions formed between the word lines of the active region and the word lines of said first and second field insulation films, of said third insulation film, to form capacitor contact holes; (d) implanting an impurity on the semiconductor substrate through the capacitor contact holes, to form impurity regions in the surface of the semiconductor substrate; (e) forming a first conductor of a predetermined thickness for a plug by exposing a first conductor pattern on said top surface and then etching-back the first conductor for said plug until said third insulation film for the capacitor contact is exposed, thereby forming plug conductors on the surface of said third insulation film for the capacitor contact and in the capacitor contact holes and planarizing the entirety of said top surface; (f) forming a fourth insulation film for a buffer layer by exposing a fourth insulation pattern on said top surface and removing a portion formed between two word lines of the active region, of said fourth insulation film for the buffer layer, the remaining third insulation film for the capacitor contact and the plug conductors, to form a bit line contact; (g) forming a second conductor for a bit line contact hole and a fifth insulation film for bit line definition, in this order, by exposing a second conductor pattern and a fifth insulation pattern on said top surface so that the bit line contact hole is filled by said second conductor and said fifth insulation film, wherein the second conductor for the bit line contact hole and the fifth insulation film for bit line definition have planarizing surfaces, respectively; (h) covering a first etch mask having a width wider than a width of the bit line contact on the upper portion of the bit line contact hole, of the surface of the fifth insulation film for the bit line definition, and then etching the fifth insulation film for bit line definition, the second conductor for the bit line and the fourth insulation film for the buffer layer to form a bit line; (i) removing said first etch mask and then forming a sixth insulation film for bit line insulation, and forming a third conductor for a plate node having a planarizing surface and a seventh insulation film for capacitor definition, in this order, by exposing a sixth insulation pattern, a third conductor pattern and a seventh insulation pattern on said top surface; (j) forming a second etch mask having a width that is the same as a width of the first etch mask at an upper part of the bit line, of the surface of the seventh insulation film for capacitor definition, and then etching the third conductor for the plate node and the seventh insulation film for capacitor definition; (k) forming a first dielectric film for capacitor dielectric and a fourth conductor for the storage node, in this order, by exposing a first dielectric pattern and a fourth conductor pattern on said top surface and then etching said first dielectric film and said fourth conductor together with the sixth insulation film for bit line insulation so that portions formed at the side walls of the remaining third conductor for the plate node and the seventh insulation film for capacitor definition merely remain; (l) forming a fifth conductor for the storage node by exposing a fifth conductor pattern on said top surface and then patterning said fifth conductor to merely remove a portion formed at the surface of the remaining seventh insulation film for capacitor definition and thus complete the storage node; (m) forming a second dielectric film for a capacitor dielectric by exposing a second dielectric film pattern on said top surface and then removing the remaining seventh insulation film for capacitor definition and the second dielectric film formed on the seventh insulation film to complete a capacitor dielectric; and (n) forming a sixth conductor by exposing a sixth conductor pattern on said top surface to complete the plate node.
Claim 2
Independent Claim 753 words
A method of making a DRAM comprising the steps of: (a) forming first and second field insulation films with a constant interval on a top surface of a semiconductor substrate, to define an active region; (b) forming word lines uniformly spaced from each other respectively on said first and second field insulation films and said active region, wherein each word line includes side wall insulation films at side walls thereof; (c) forming a third insulation film for a capacitor contact by exposing a third insulation pattern on said top surface and then removing portions formed between the word lines of the active region and the word lines of said first and second field insulation films, of said third insulation film, to form capacitor contact holes; (d) implanting an impurity on the semiconductor substrate through the capacitor contact holes, to form impurity regions in the surface of the semiconductor substrate; (e) forming a first conductor of a predetermined thickness for a plug by exposing a first conductor pattern on said top surface and then etching-back the first conductor for said plug until said third insulation film for the capacitor contact is exposed, thereby forming plug conductors on the surface of said third insulation film for the capacitor contact and in the capacitor contact holes and planarizing the entirety of said top surface; (f) forming a fourth insulation film for a buffer layer by exposing a fourth insulation pattern on said top surface and removing a portion formed between two word lines of the active region, of said fourth insulation film for the buffer layer, the remaining third insulation film for the capacitor contact and the plug conductors, to form a bit line contact; (g) forming a second conductor for a bit line contact hole and a fifth insulation film for bit line definition, in this order, by exposing a second conductor pattern and a fifth insulation pattern on said top surface so that the bit line contact hole is filled by said second conductor and said fifth insulation film, wherein the second conductor for the bit line contact hole and the fifth insulation film for bit line definition have planarizing surfaces, respectively; (h) covering a first etch mask having a width wider than a width of the bit line contact on the upper portion of the bit line contact hole, of the surface of the fifth insulation film for the bit line definition, and then etching the fifth insulation film for bit line definition, the second conductor for the bit line and the fourth insulation film for the buffer layer to form a bit line; (i) removing said first etch mask and then forming a sixth insulation film for bit line insulation, and forming a third conductor for a plate node having a planarizing surface and a seventh insulation film for capacitor definition, in this order, by exposing a sixth insulation pattern, a third conductor pattern and a seventh insulation pattern on said top surface; (j) forming a second etch mask having a width that is the same as a width of the first etch mask at an upper part of the bit line, of the surface of the seventh insulation film for capacitor definition, and then etching the third conductor for the plate node and the seventh insulation film for capacitor definition; (k) forming a first dielectric film for capacitor dielectric and a fourth conductor for the storage node, in this order, by exposing a first dielectric pattern and a fourth conductor pattern on said top surface and then etching said first dielectric film and said fourth conductor together with the sixth insulation film for bit line insulation so that portions formed at the side walls of the remaining third conductor for the plate node and the seventh insulation film for capacitor definition merely remain; (l) forming a fifth conductor for the storage node by exposing a fifth conductor pattern on said top surface and then patterning said fifth conductor to merely remove a portion formed at the surface of the remaining seventh insulation film for capacitor definition and thus complete the storage node; (m) forming a second dielectric film for a capacitor dielectric by exposing a second dielectric film pattern on said top surface and then removing the remaining seventh insulation film for capacitor definition and the second dielectric film formed on the seventh insulation film to complete a capacitor dielectric; and (n) forming a sixth conductor by exposing a sixth conductor pattern on said top surface to complete the plate node.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 20 words
A method of making a DRAM in accordance with claim 1, wherein a material of the semiconductor substrate comprises silicon.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 23 words
A method of making a DRAM in accordance with claim 1, wherein the field insulation film comprises an oxide formed by LOCOS process.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 125 words
A method of making a DRAM in accordance with claim 1, wherein said step (b) of forming the word line comprises the steps of: forming a gate insulation film, a gate electrode conductor and a gate cap insulation film, in this order, on the first and second field insulation films and the active regions; patterning the gate insulation film, the gate electrode conductor and the gate cap insulation film, thereby forming said word lines uniformly spaced from each other, respectively, on the active region and the first and second field insulation films; forming an insulation film by exposing an insulation pattern on said top surface; and etching the insulation film, thereby forming said side wall insulation films at the side walls of the word lines.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 25 words
A method of making a DRAM in accordance with claim 4, wherein the gate insulation film comprises a thermal oxide grown by a thermal method.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 27 words
A method of making a DRAM in accordance with claim 4, wherein the gate electrode conductor and the gate cap insulation film are deposited by CVD method.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 22 words
A method of making a DRAM in accordance with claim 4, wherein the side wall insulation films are formed by RIE method.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 24 words
A method of making a DRAM in accordance with claim 4, wherein the gate electrode conductor comprises polysilicon doped with an impurity or metal.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 47 words
A method of making a DRAM in accordance with claim 1, wherein the third insulation film for the capacitor contact, the fourth insulation film for the buffer, the fifth insulation film for bit line definition and the seventh insulation film for capacitor definition comprise nitride or oxide.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 41 words
A method of making a DRAM in accordance with claim 1, wherein the insulation film for capacitor contact, the insulation film for buffer, the insulation film for bit line definition and the insulation film for capacitor definition are nitride or oxide.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 46 words
A method of making a DRAM in accordance with claim 1, wherein the first conductor for the plug, the second conductor for the bit line, the conductor for storage node and the third conductor for the plate node comprise metal or polysilicon doped with an impurity.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 32 words
A method of making a DRAM in accordance with claim 1, wherein the capacitor dielectric is a stack structure of an insulation film comprising thin insulation films including oxide-nitride, nitride-oxide and oxide-nitride-oxide.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 88 words
A method of making a DRAM in accordance with claim 1, wherein said step(f) of forming the bit line contact comprises the steps of: removing a portion of the third insulation film formed between two of the word lines of the active region by a dry etch method; and wet etching the first conductor for the plug and the remaining third insulation film for the capacitor contact using the remaining fourth insulation film for the buffer layer as an etch mask, thereby completely forming the bit line contact.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 40 words
A method of making a DRAM in accordance with claim 1, wherein the second dielectric film for capacitor dielectric, the fourth conductor for the storage node and the sixth insulation film for bit line insulation are etched by RIE method.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 44 words
A method of making a DRAM in accordance with claim 1, wherein the side wall insulation films formed at the side walls of the word lines have an etch selectively different from the etch selectivity of the fourth insulation film for the capacitor contact.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim 30 words
A method of making a DRAM in accordance with claim 1, wherein conductors, dielectric films and insulation films except for the field insulation films are all deposited by CVD method.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US5118640A Cited
US5174858A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1998-02-06 1998-08-08 1999-02-07 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 2002-02-06 2002-08-08 2003-02-07 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2006-02-06 2006-08-08 2007-02-07 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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