US6048765A
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Method of forming high density buried bit line flash EEPROM memory cell with a shallow trench floating gate
Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co TSMC Ltd
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Filing: 1998-06-03
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Granted: 2000-04-11
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Expires: 2018-06-03
Abstract
Abstract A method of fabricating buried bit line flash EEROM with shallow trench floating gate for suppressing the short channel effect is disclosed. The method comprises following steps: Firstly, a pad oxide layer and a n+ (such as phosphorus) doped oxide layer is successively formed on the silicon substrate. Then, a nitride layer is deposited on all surfaces as an antireflection coating layer. After coating a patterned mask on the nitride layer to define a plurality of buried bit line regions, a dry etch is used to etch the unmask region till the silicon substrate is slightly recessed to form shallow trenches. Subsequently, the photoresist is stripped, and an oxidation process to grow an oxynitride layer on resultant surface and form buried bit line using dopants in the oxide layer as a diffusion source. After refilling a plurality of trenches with n+ doped silicon layer, a planarization process such as CMP is done to form a plain surface using the nitride layer as an etching stopped layer. A stacked ONO layer is then deposited as an interpoly dielectric layer; Finally, another n+ doped polysilicon layer is formed and patterned to be word lines.
Inventors
- 👤 Shye-Lin Wu
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-31 02:09
CPC Classifications
H; H10; H10B; H10B41/00; H10B41/30; H10B69/00
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 20
Claim 1
Independent Claim
162 words
A method of fabricating buried bit line flash EEPROM with a trench floating gate on a silicon substrate comprising the steps of: forming a first dielectric layer on said silicon substrate; forming a second dielectric layer with a first conductivity type dopant on said first dielectric layer; forming an antireflection layer on said second dielectric layer; coating a patterned mask on said antireflection layer to define a plurality of buried bit line regions; forming a plurality trenches using said patterned mask as a mask; removing said patterned mask; performing an oxidation process to grow an oxynitride layer on said trenches and form buried bit line; forming a silicon layer to refill said plurality of trenches; performing a planarization process to said first silicon layer to form a plain surface using said antireflection layer as an etching stopping layer; forming a stacked ONO layer as an interpoly dielectric layer; and forming a polysilicon layer on said stacked ONO layer to define word lines.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
162 words
A method of fabricating buried bit line flash EEPROM with a trench floating gate on a silicon substrate comprising the steps of: forming a first dielectric layer on said silicon substrate; forming a second dielectric layer with a first conductivity type dopant on said first dielectric layer; forming an antireflection layer on said second dielectric layer; coating a patterned mask on said antireflection layer to define a plurality of buried bit line regions; forming a plurality trenches using said patterned mask as a mask; removing said patterned mask; performing an oxidation process to grow an oxynitride layer on said trenches and form buried bit line; forming a silicon layer to refill said plurality of trenches; performing a planarization process to said first silicon layer to form a plain surface using said antireflection layer as an etching stopping layer; forming a stacked ONO layer as an interpoly dielectric layer; and forming a polysilicon layer on said stacked ONO layer to define word lines.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 1 said first dielectric layer is a pad oxide with a thickness about 2-20 nm.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 1, wherein said step of forming a second dielectric layer is performed by a CVD process at a temperature of about 300-750° C.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 1, wherein said second dielectric layer is an oxide layers with a thickness of about 50-250 nm and contains phosphorus come up to concentrations of about 5×10 19 -5×10 21 /cm 3 .
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 1, wherein said antireflection layer is a nitride layer and being deposited by a LPCVD method to a thickness of about 10-50 nm at a temperature about 600-800° C.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method of claim 1, wherein said patterned mask is a patterned photoresist layer.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of claim 1, wherein said step of forming a plurality trenches comprises the steps of etching said antireflection layer, said second dielectric layer, and said first dielectric layer; and recessing said silicon substrate.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
49 words
The method of claim 7, wherein said step of recessing said antireflection layer, said second dielectric layer, said first dielectric layer is performed by a dry etching method using a plasma source selected from the group consisting of CF 4 /O 2 , SF 6 , CHF 3 .
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of claim 7, wherein said trench is about 50-600 nm in depth which is measured from the upper surface of said silicon substrate to the bottom of trench.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 7, wherein said step of recessing said silicon substrate is carried out by a dry etching method using bromine-based chemistries consisting of CF 3 Br and HBr/NF 3 .
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
41 words
The method of claim 1, wherein said oxynitride layer is formed to a thickness of about 5-30 nm at a temperature about 800-1150° C. in an ambient selected from the group consisting of N 2 O, NO, and a combination thereof.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of claim 1, wherein said silicon layer comprises amorphous silicon and polysilicon layer, and contains n-type dopants to concentrations of about 5×10 19 -5×10 21 /cm 3 .
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 1, wherein said step of performing thermal oxidation process is implemented at a temperature about 800-1150° C.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 1, wherein said step of forming buried bit line is using said first conductivity type dopants containing second dielectric layer as the diffusion source.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 1, wherein said steps of forming silicon layer is done at a temperature of about 450-650° C.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 1, wherein said step of performing a planarization process is done by a method comprising a CMP process.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
50 words
The method of claim 1, wherein said step of forming a stacked ONO layer as an interpoly dielectric layer is performed at temperatures of about 750-1100° C., said ONO with a second oxide layer over a nitride layer/first oxide layer to about 1-5 nm, 4-20 nm, and 1-5 nm, respectively.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method of claim 1, wherein said step of forming polysilicon layer is performed by a LPCVD method at a temperature of about 450-650° C., and with n-type doping concentrations of about 5×10 19 -5×10 21 /cm 3 .
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 12 and 18, wherein said n-type dopants is selected from the group consisting of arsenic containing dopants and phosphorus containing dopants.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2003-04-11 | 2003-10-11 | 2004-04-11 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2007-04-11 | 2007-10-11 | 2008-04-11 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2011-04-11 | 2011-10-11 | 2012-04-11 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |