US5780335A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method of forming a buried-sidewall-strap two transistor one capacitor trench cell
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1996-04-26
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Granted: 1998-07-14
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Expires: 2016-04-26
Abstract
Abstract A two transistor one capacitor DRAM cell configured with respect to a bit line pair and a single word line in which the gates of the two transistors are connected to the single word line and one of the source/drains of each transistor is connected to a respective electrode of the capacitor and the other of the source/drains of the transistors is connected to a respective bit line of a complementary bit line pair. The storage capacitor is a three dimensional structure with both electrodes being electrically well isolated from electrodes of all other cell storage capacitors. A stacked in trench cell fabrication design is disclosed having a buried strap for connecting the outer electrode to a diffusion region of one transistor and a surface strap for connecting the inner electrode to a diffusion region of the second access transistor.
Inventors
- 👤 Walter Harvey Henkels
- 👤 Wei Hwang
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-29 11:19
CPC Classifications
H; H10; H10B; H10B12/00
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 19
Claim 1
Independent Claim
192 words
A method of forming a two transistor one capacitor dynamic random access memory cell comprising: forming a first trench in a semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type; forming a first insulating layer on each sidewall of said trench; depositing a layer of conductive material of a second conductivity type on said first insulating layer to form an outer electrode of said capacitor; forming a second insulating layer on said outer electrode; filling a portion of said trench which is above said second insulating layer with conductive material of said second conductivity type to form an inner electrode of said capacitor; forming source, drain and gate regions of a first field effect transistor on said substrate; forming source, drain and gate regions of a second field effect transistor on said substrate; forming a second trench in said substrate adjacent said first trench and forming a first contact in said second trench for electrically connecting the source or drain region of said first field effect transistor to said outer electrode; and forming a second contact for electrically connecting the source or drain region of said second field effect transistor to said inner electrode.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
192 words
A method of forming a two transistor one capacitor dynamic random access memory cell comprising: forming a first trench in a semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type; forming a first insulating layer on each sidewall of said trench; depositing a layer of conductive material of a second conductivity type on said first insulating layer to form an outer electrode of said capacitor; forming a second insulating layer on said outer electrode; filling a portion of said trench which is above said second insulating layer with conductive material of said second conductivity type to form an inner electrode of said capacitor; forming source, drain and gate regions of a first field effect transistor on said substrate; forming source, drain and gate regions of a second field effect transistor on said substrate; forming a second trench in said substrate adjacent said first trench and forming a first contact in said second trench for electrically connecting the source or drain region of said first field effect transistor to said outer electrode; and forming a second contact for electrically connecting the source or drain region of said second field effect transistor to said inner electrode.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the step of forming a trench in the substrate comprises forming a deep trench.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
60 words
The method of claim 2 wherein the step of forming said second trench and said first contact includes forming a shallow trench adjacent the deep trench; forming an insulating layer on each side wall of said shallow trench; forming a layer of conductive material in said shallow trench in which a portion of said conductive material contacts said outer electrode.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
74 words
The method of claim 3 wherein the step of forming the layer of conductive material in said shallow trench includes: filling said shallow trench with said conductive material; reusing said conductive material to form a bottom layer; forming an insulating collar on sidewalls of said shallow trench; removing the collar on the sidewall abutting the outer electrode; re-filling said shallow trench with said conductive material such that said conductive material contacts said outer electrode.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the step of forming said second contact includes forming a surface strap of conductive material which bridges over said outer electrode at the surface of said substrate.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
47 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the step of forming said second contact includes forming an insulating collar surrounding an upper portion of said inner electrode and depositing a surface layer of conductive material connecting said upper portions to the source or drain of said second transistor.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 1 wherein said conductive material is one of polysilicon or amorphous silicon.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method of claim 1 wherein said first and second insulating layers are oxide.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 1 wherein said first insulating layer is oxide and second insulating layer is a composite layer of oxide and nitride.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
81 words
The method of claim 3 wherein the step of forming said shallow trench includes forming one portion of the sidewall of said shallow trench contiguous with said outer electrode and a second portion of the sidewall of said shallow trench contiguous with the source or drain region of said first field effect transistor and filling said shallow trench with conductive material to provide a direct connection between said outer electrode and said source or drain of said first field effect transistor.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 1 wherein said conductive material is one of polysilicon or amorphous silicon.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
286 words
A method of forming a two-transistor, one-capacitor dynamic random access memory cell comprising: forming a first trench in a semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type; forming a first insulating layer on each sidewall of said trench; depositing a layer of conductive material of a second conductivity type on said first insulating layer to form an outer electrode of said capacitor; forming a second insulating layer on said outer electrode; filling a portion of said trench which is above said second insulating layer with conductive material of said second conductivity type to form an inner electrode of said capacitor; forming a gate region of a first field effect transistor on said substrate, and a gate region of a second field effect transistor on said substrate, said gate regions being part of a conductor forming a single word line connection between the gate region of said first transistor and the gate region of said second transistor; forming source and drain regions of said first field effect transistor on said substrate; forming source and drain regions of said second field effect transistor on said substrate; forming a first contact for electrically connecting the source or drain region of said first field effect transistor to said outer electrode; forming a second contact for electrically connecting the source or drain region of said second field effect transistor to said inner electrode; and forming a complementary pair of first and second conductive bit lines, said first bit line contacting that source or drain region of said first transistor not contacted by said outer electrode of said capacitor, and said second bit line contacting that source or drain region of said second transistor not contacted by said inner electrode of said capacitor.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
286 words
A method of forming a two-transistor, one-capacitor dynamic random access memory cell comprising: forming a first trench in a semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type; forming a first insulating layer on each sidewall of said trench; depositing a layer of conductive material of a second conductivity type on said first insulating layer to form an outer electrode of said capacitor; forming a second insulating layer on said outer electrode; filling a portion of said trench which is above said second insulating layer with conductive material of said second conductivity type to form an inner electrode of said capacitor; forming a gate region of a first field effect transistor on said substrate, and a gate region of a second field effect transistor on said substrate, said gate regions being part of a conductor forming a single word line connection between the gate region of said first transistor and the gate region of said second transistor; forming source and drain regions of said first field effect transistor on said substrate; forming source and drain regions of said second field effect transistor on said substrate; forming a first contact for electrically connecting the source or drain region of said first field effect transistor to said outer electrode; forming a second contact for electrically connecting the source or drain region of said second field effect transistor to said inner electrode; and forming a complementary pair of first and second conductive bit lines, said first bit line contacting that source or drain region of said first transistor not contacted by said outer electrode of said capacitor, and said second bit line contacting that source or drain region of said second transistor not contacted by said inner electrode of said capacitor.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
60 words
The method of claim 12 wherein the step of forming said first contact includes the steps of: forming a shallow trench adjacent the deep trench; forming an insulating layer on each side wall of said shallow trench; and forming a layer of conductive material in said shallow trench in which a portion of said conductive material contacts said outer electrode.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
78 words
The method of claim 13 wherein the step of forming the layer of conductive material in said shallow trench includes the steps of: filling said shallow trench with said conductive material; reusing said conductive material to form a bottom layer; forming an insulating collar on sidewalls of said shallow trench; removing the collar on the sidewall abutting the outer electrode; and re-filling said shallow trench with said conductive material such that said conductive material contacts said outer electrode.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
47 words
The method of claim 12 wherein the step of forming said second contact includes forming an insulating collar surrounding an upper portion of said inner electrode and depositing a surface layer of conductive material connecting said upper portion to the source or drain of said second transistor.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
54 words
A method of forming a dynamic random access memory device as set forth in claim 12, further comprising: forming a plurality of the memory cells of claim 12 in said substrate; forming a plurality of said complementary pairs of bit lines and a plurality of said word lines on said substrate in an array.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
90 words
The method of claim 16 including the steps of: forming said bit lines and word lines in a matrix of N bit lines and M word lines arranged in columns and rows on said substrate, said plurality of bit lines in said matrix including a first bit line, an Nth bit line and N-2 intermediate bit lines; connecting each of said intermediate bit lines to at least two field effect transistors, each of said at least two transistors being from a memory cell connected between a different bit line pair.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US5571743A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2001-07-13 | 2002-01-12 | 2002-07-14 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2005-07-13 | 2006-01-12 | 2006-07-14 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2009-07-13 | 2010-01-12 | 2010-07-14 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |