Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 12
Claim 1
Independent Claim
316 words
A method for forming an integrated circuit comprising a bipolar transistor and an insulated gate transistor, said method comprising the steps of: forming an integrated structure comprising a collector region of a first conductivity type for the bipolar transistor, a base region of a second conductivity type opposite the first conductivity type for the bipolar transistor, a region R1 for the insulated gate transistor, and a gate insulation over and in contact with the region R1 and the base region, the gate insulation having a uniform thickness over the region R1 and the base region; forming an opening in the gate insulation over the base region; forming a semiconductor layer over the region R1 and the base region, the semiconductor layer comprising an emitter contact region of the first conductivity type, the emitter contact region overlying and contacting the base region in the opening and extending beyond edges of the opening over the gate insulation, the emitter contact region having sidewalls over the gate insulation over the base region, the semiconductor layer comprising a gate region overlying the gate insulation and the region R1 and having sidewalls over the region R1; forming a first insulation over the semiconductor layer and over the region R1 and the base region; and etching simultaneously the first insulation and the gate insulation anisotropically to form spacers on the sidewalls of the emitter contact region and the gate region so as to remove the gate insulation adjacent the spacers and thus completely expose all that portion P1 of the region R1 and the base region which is not covered by the emitter contact region, the gate region and the spacers, wherein immediately before the etching step the gate insulation and the first insulation have a uniform thickness over the entire portion P1 so that an overetch required in the etching step is uniform over the base region and the region R1.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
316 words
A method for forming an integrated circuit comprising a bipolar transistor and an insulated gate transistor, said method comprising the steps of: forming an integrated structure comprising a collector region of a first conductivity type for the bipolar transistor, a base region of a second conductivity type opposite the first conductivity type for the bipolar transistor, a region R1 for the insulated gate transistor, and a gate insulation over and in contact with the region R1 and the base region, the gate insulation having a uniform thickness over the region R1 and the base region; forming an opening in the gate insulation over the base region; forming a semiconductor layer over the region R1 and the base region, the semiconductor layer comprising an emitter contact region of the first conductivity type, the emitter contact region overlying and contacting the base region in the opening and extending beyond edges of the opening over the gate insulation, the emitter contact region having sidewalls over the gate insulation over the base region, the semiconductor layer comprising a gate region overlying the gate insulation and the region R1 and having sidewalls over the region R1; forming a first insulation over the semiconductor layer and over the region R1 and the base region; and etching simultaneously the first insulation and the gate insulation anisotropically to form spacers on the sidewalls of the emitter contact region and the gate region so as to remove the gate insulation adjacent the spacers and thus completely expose all that portion P1 of the region R1 and the base region which is not covered by the emitter contact region, the gate region and the spacers, wherein immediately before the etching step the gate insulation and the first insulation have a uniform thickness over the entire portion P1 so that an overetch required in the etching step is uniform over the base region and the region R1.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
68 words
The method of claim 1, wherein the step of forming the integrated structure comprises the steps of: forming the collector region and the region R1; forming the gate insulation over and in contact with the region R1 and the collector region; and introducing a dopant of the second conductivity type opposite the first conductivity type through the gate insulation to form the base region for the bipolar transistor.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
46 words
The method of claim 2 wherein the step of introducing a dopant of the second conductivity type comprises the step of introducing the dopant of the second conductivity type into the collector region to convert a portion of the collector region to the second conductivity type.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 3 further comprising diffusing a dopant of the first conductivity type from the emitter contact region into the base region to convert a portion of the base region to the first conductivity type.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
55 words
The method of claim 2 further comprising the step of introducing a lightly-doped-drain dopant of the second conductivity type simultaneously into the region R1 and an extrinsic portion of the base region to form a lightly doped drain structure for the insulated gate transistor and to reduce an extrinsic base resistance of the bipolar transistor.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
74 words
The method of claim 2 wherein the step of forming the semiconductor layer comprises forming a layer L1 of material over the gate insulation layer, and wherein the step of introducing the dopant of the second conductivity type to form the base region comprises the step of introducing the dopant of the second conductivity type through the gate insulation layer and the layer L1, the layer L1 serving to make the base region shallower.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
59 words
The method of claim 6 further comprising, before the step of forming the opening, the step of forming an opening in the layer L1 to expose the gate insulation, wherein the step of forming an opening in the gate insulation comprises the step of etching the gate insulation by a wet etch through the opening in the layer L1.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
59 words
The method of claim 7 wherein the step of forming the semiconductor layer further comprises forming a semiconductor layer L2 over the layer L1, over the opening in the gate insulation and over the region R1, the layers L1 and L2 each comprising a portion of the gate region, the layer L2 contacting the base region in the opening.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the opening forming step comprises a wet etch of the gate insulation.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the step of forming the first insulation comprises depositing silicon dioxide by chemical vapor deposition.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
87 words
The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of: depositing a metal-containing material over the region R1 and the base region, over the semiconductor layer and over the spacers; reacting the metal-containing material with portions of the region R1 and the base region which portions contact the metal-containing material, so as to form a non-semiconductor conductive material which contacts the entire portion P1 of the region R1 and the base region and which is self-aligned to the spacers; and removing unreacted metal-containing material off the spacers.