US5840607A
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Method of forming undoped/in-situ doped/undoped polysilicon sandwich for floating gate application
Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co TSMC Ltd
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Filing: 1996-10-11
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Granted: 1998-11-24
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Expires: 2016-10-11
Abstract
Abstract The present invention provides a method for forming a transistor having a stacked gate electrode structure with two gates; a lower floating gate and an upper control gate. The floating gate is formed of three polysilicon layers-undoped/doped/undoped polysilicon layers. A substrate is provided having a tunnel oxide layer 20. Then sequentially a first undoped, first doped, and second undoped polysilicon layers 22,24,26 are formed over the tunnel oxide layer thereby forming a lower floating gate layer 22, 24, 26. An intergate dielectric layer 28,30,32 is then formed over the second undoped polysilicon layer 26. Next, an upper control gate 36 and a cap oxide layer are formed over the intergate dielectric layer 28,30,32. The stacked two gate electrode structure is formed by patterning the above mentioned layers. Then spaced source and drain regions 44 are formed on opposite sides of the stacked gate structure thereby completing the transistor.
Inventors
- 👤 Jun-Ker Yeh
- 👤 Long-Sheng Yeou
- 👤 Kuo-Sheng Chuang
- 👤 Siu-han Liao
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-29 20:11
CPC Classifications
H; H10; H10D; H10D30/00; H10D30/01; H10D30/021; H10D30/0411; H10D30/60; H10D30/68; H10D30/6891; H10D64/00; H10D64/60; H10D64/66; H10D64/68; H10D64/681
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 22
Claim 1
Independent Claim
132 words
A method for forming a transistor having a floating gate comprised of an undoped/in-situ doped/undoped polysilicon sandwich on a substrate, the method comprising: a) forming a tunnel oxide layer on said substrate; b) forming a floating gate layer over said tunnel oxide layer by sequentially forming a first undoped polysilicon layer, a first doped polysilicon layer and a second undoped polysilicon layer; c) forming an intergate dielectric layer over said floating gate layer; d) forming a control gate over said intergate dielectric layer; e) forming a cap oxide layer over said control gate; f) patterning said cap oxide layer, said control gate said intergate dielectric layer said second undoped polysilicon layer said first doped polysilicon layer said first undoped polysilicon layer and said tunnel oxide layer thereby forming a stacked gate structure.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
132 words
A method for forming a transistor having a floating gate comprised of an undoped/in-situ doped/undoped polysilicon sandwich on a substrate, the method comprising: a) forming a tunnel oxide layer on said substrate; b) forming a floating gate layer over said tunnel oxide layer by sequentially forming a first undoped polysilicon layer, a first doped polysilicon layer and a second undoped polysilicon layer; c) forming an intergate dielectric layer over said floating gate layer; d) forming a control gate over said intergate dielectric layer; e) forming a cap oxide layer over said control gate; f) patterning said cap oxide layer, said control gate said intergate dielectric layer said second undoped polysilicon layer said first doped polysilicon layer said first undoped polysilicon layer and said tunnel oxide layer thereby forming a stacked gate structure.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
67 words
The method of claim 1 wherein said intergate dielectric layer is formed by sequentially forming a first oxide layer, a nitride layer and a second oxide layer, and said first oxide layer is formed using a wet thermal oxidation process at a temperature in a range of between about 900° and 1000° C. and has a thickness in a range of between about 50 and 80 Å.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
62 words
The method of claim 2 wherein said nitride layer is formed using a low pressure chemical vapor deposition process with dichlorosilane and ammonia at a temperature in a range of between about 650° and 750° C. and a pressure in the range of between about 0.25 and 2.0 mTorr and a thickness in the range of between about 110 and 130 Å.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
47 words
The method of claim 2 wherein said second oxide layer is deposited using a wet oxidation process at a temperature in a range of between about 800° and 900° C. and a thickness in a range of between about 30 and 50 Å over said nitride layer.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 1 wherein said control gate is formed by sequentially forming a control gate doped polysilicon layer and a control gate tungsten silicide layer over said intergate dielectric layer.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
66 words
The method of claim 5 wherein said control gate doped polysilicon layer is formed by depositing a polysilicon layer by pyrolyzing silane at a temperature in a range of between about 620° and 640° C., and doping said control gate doped polysilicon layer using POCl 3 diffusion and said control gate doped polysilicon layer has thickness in the range of between about 1500 and 2000 Å.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 5 wherein said control gate tungsten silicide layer has a thickness in a range of between about 1500 and 2000 Å.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
60 words
The method of claim 1 wherein said first undoped polysilicon layer is formed by using SiH 4 and N 2 at a temperature in a range of between about 540° and 600° C., at a pressure in a range of between about 500 and 800 mtorr and has a thickness in a range of between about 100 and 200 Å.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
65 words
The method of claim 1 wherein said first doped polysilicon layer is formed by using an in-situ doping process using silane and PH 3 reactants at a temperature in a range of between about 540° and 600° C., at a pressure in a range of between about 500 and 800 mtorr, and has a thickness in a range of between about 900 and 1100 Å.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
56 words
The method of claim 1 wherein said second undoped polysilicon layer is formed by using dichlorosilane at a temperature in a range of between about 540° and 600° C., at a pressure in a range of between about 500 and 800 mtorr and has a thickness in a range of between about 200 and 300 Å.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
185 words
A method for forming a transistor having an undoped/doped/undoped polysilicon sandwich floating gate on a substrate comprising: a) forming a tunnel oxide layer on said substrate; b) sequentially forming a first undoped polysilicon layer, a first doped polysilicon layer and a second undoped polysilicon layer thereby forming a floating gate layer; c) sequentially forming a first oxide layer, a nitride layer, a second oxide layer over said second undoped polysilicon layer thereby forming an intergate dielectric layer; d) sequentially forming a control gate doped polysilicon layer and a control gate tungsten silicide layer over said second oxide layer thereby forming a control gate layer; e) forming a cap oxide layer over said tungsten silicide layer; f) patterning said cap oxide layer, said tungsten silicide layer, said control gate doped polysilicon layer, said second oxide layer, said nitride layer, said first oxide layer, said second undoped polysilicon layer, said first doped polysilicon layer, said first undoped polysilicon layer, and said tunnel oxide layer thereby forming a stacked gate; g) forming spaced source and drain regions on opposite sides of said stacked gate thereby forming said transistor.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
185 words
A method for forming a transistor having an undoped/doped/undoped polysilicon sandwich floating gate on a substrate comprising: a) forming a tunnel oxide layer on said substrate; b) sequentially forming a first undoped polysilicon layer, a first doped polysilicon layer and a second undoped polysilicon layer thereby forming a floating gate layer; c) sequentially forming a first oxide layer, a nitride layer, a second oxide layer over said second undoped polysilicon layer thereby forming an intergate dielectric layer; d) sequentially forming a control gate doped polysilicon layer and a control gate tungsten silicide layer over said second oxide layer thereby forming a control gate layer; e) forming a cap oxide layer over said tungsten silicide layer; f) patterning said cap oxide layer, said tungsten silicide layer, said control gate doped polysilicon layer, said second oxide layer, said nitride layer, said first oxide layer, said second undoped polysilicon layer, said first doped polysilicon layer, said first undoped polysilicon layer, and said tunnel oxide layer thereby forming a stacked gate; g) forming spaced source and drain regions on opposite sides of said stacked gate thereby forming said transistor.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
68 words
The method of claim 11 wherein said first doped polysilicon layer is formed by using an in-situ doping process using silane (SiH 4 ) and PH 3 reactants at a temperature in a range of between about 540° and 600° C., at a pressure in a range of between about 500 and 800 mtorr, and has a thickness in a range of between about 900 and 1100 Å.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
56 words
The method of claim 11 wherein said second undoped polysilicon layer is formed by using dichlorosilane at a temperature in a range of between about 540° and 600° C., at a pressure in a range of between about 500 and 800 mtorr and has a thickness in a range of between about 200 and 300 Å.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
45 words
The method of claim 11 wherein said first oxide layer is formed using a wet thermal oxide process at a temperature in a range of between about 900° and 1000° C. and has a thickness in a range of between about 50 and 80 Å.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
62 words
The method of claim 11 wherein said nitride layer is formed using a low pressure chemical vapor deposition process with dichlorosilane and ammonia at a temperature in a range of between about 650° and 750° C. and a pressure in the range of between about 0.25 and 2.0 mTorr and a thickness in the range of between about 110 and 130 Å.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
46 words
The method of claim 11 wherein said second oxide layer is deposited using wet oxidation process at a temperature in a range of between about 800° and 900° C. and a thickness in the range of between about 30 and 50 Å over said nitride layer.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
62 words
The method of claim 11 wherein said control gate doped polysilicon layer is formed by depositing a polysilicon layer by pyrolyzing silane at a temperature in a range of between about 620° and 640° C., and doping said control gate doped polysilicon layer using a POCl 3 diffusion and having a thickness in the range of between about 1500 and 2000 Å.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 11 wherein said control gate tungsten silicide layer has a thickness in a range of between about 1500 and 2000 Å.
Claim 21
Independent Claim
244 words
A method for forming a transistor having an undoped/doped/undoped polysilicon sandwich floating gate on a substrate comprising: a) forming a tunnel oxide layer on said substrate; b) sequentially forming a first undoped polysilicon layer, a first doped polysilicon layer and a second undoped polysilicon layer thereby forming a floating gate layer; said first undoped polysilicon layer is formed by using SiH 4 and N 2 at a temperature in a range of between about 540° and 600° C., at a pressure in a range of between about 500 and 800 mtorr and said first undoped polysilicon layer has a thickness in a range of between about 100 and 200 Å; c) sequentially forming a first oxide layer, a nitride layer, a second oxide layer over said second undoped polysilicon layer thereby forming an intergate dielectric layer; d) sequentially forming a control gate doped polysilicon layer and a control gate tungsten silicide layer over said second oxide layer thereby forming a control gate layer; e) forming a cap oxide layer over said tungsten silicide layer; f) patterning said cap oxide layer, said tungsten silicide layer, said control gate doped polysilicon layer, said second oxide layer, said nitride layer, said first oxide layer, said second undoped polysilicon layer, said first doped polysilicon layer, said first undoped polysilicon layer, and said tunnel oxide layer thereby forming a stacked gate; g) forming spaced source and drain regions on opposite sides of said stacked gate thereby forming said transistor.
Claim 22
Independent Claim
244 words
A method for forming a transistor having an undoped/doped/undoped polysilicon sandwich floating gate on a substrate comprising: a) forming a tunnel oxide layer on said substrate; b) sequentially forming a first undoped polysilicon layer, a first doped polysilicon layer and a second undoped polysilicon layer thereby forming a floating gate layer; said first undoped polysilicon layer is formed by using SiH 4 and N 2 at a temperature in a range of between about 540° and 600° C., at a pressure in a range of between about 500 and 800 mtorr and said first undoped polysilicon layer has a thickness in a range of between about 100 and 200 Å; c) sequentially forming a first oxide layer, a nitride layer, a second oxide layer over said second undoped polysilicon layer thereby forming an intergate dielectric layer; d) sequentially forming a control gate doped polysilicon layer and a control gate tungsten silicide layer over said second oxide layer thereby forming a control gate layer; e) forming a cap oxide layer over said tungsten silicide layer; f) patterning said cap oxide layer, said tungsten silicide layer, said control gate doped polysilicon layer, said second oxide layer, said nitride layer, said first oxide layer, said second undoped polysilicon layer, said first doped polysilicon layer, said first undoped polysilicon layer, and said tunnel oxide layer thereby forming a stacked gate; g) forming spaced source and drain regions on opposite sides of said stacked gate thereby forming said transistor.
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