US6137128A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Self-isolated and self-aligned 4F-square vertical fet-trench dram cells
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1998-06-09
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Granted: 2000-10-24
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Expires: 2018-06-09
Abstract
Abstract A densely packed array of vertical semiconductor devices, having pillars, deep trench capacitors, vertical transistors, and methods of making thereof are disclosed. The pillars act as transistor channels, and may be formed utilizing the application of hybrid resist over a block of semiconductor material. Drain doped regions are formed on the top of each pillar. The source doped regions and the plate doped regions are self-aligned and are created by diffusion in the trenches surrounding the pillars. The array has columns of bitlines and rows of wordlines. The capacitors are formed by isolating n + polysilicon in trenches separating said pillars. The array is suitable for GBit DRAM applications because the deep trench capacitors do not increase array area. The array may have an open bitline architecture, where the plate region is common to all the storage nodes or a folded architecture with two wordlines that pass through each cell having stacked transistors, where one wordline is active and the other is passing for each cell.
Inventors
- 👤 Steven John Holmes
- 👤 Howard Leo Kalter
- 👤 Sandip Tiwari
- 👤 Jeffrey John Welser
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-29 14:22
CPC Classifications
H; H10; H10B; H10B12/00; H10B12/01; H10B12/02; H10B12/03; H10B12/038; H10B12/0383; H10D; H10D1/00; H10D1/60; H10D1/62; H10D1/66; H10D1/665; H10B12/0387; H10B12/30; H10B12/34
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 14
Claim 1
Independent Claim
124 words
A DRAM device comprising a substrate, said substrate including an array of cells having trenches that are isolated by pillars that extend upward, said pillars having a drain region therein, and said pillars and trenches being arranged in rows and columns; a trench capacitor formed in a bottom region of each trench, said trench capacitor comprising at least an insulating layer lining said bottom region of said trench, and a conductive material formed in said trench on said insulating layer; and a transistor formed in an upper region of said trenches, said transistor being formed on top of a collar region, said collar region separating said upper and bottom regions of said trench, and a source region about said pillars adjacent to said transistor.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
124 words
A DRAM device comprising a substrate, said substrate including an array of cells having trenches that are isolated by pillars that extend upward, said pillars having a drain region therein, and said pillars and trenches being arranged in rows and columns; a trench capacitor formed in a bottom region of each trench, said trench capacitor comprising at least an insulating layer lining said bottom region of said trench, and a conductive material formed in said trench on said insulating layer; and a transistor formed in an upper region of said trenches, said transistor being formed on top of a collar region, said collar region separating said upper and bottom regions of said trench, and a source region about said pillars adjacent to said transistor.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
21 words
The DRAM device of claim 1 further comprising plate electrodes formed within said substrate about said bottom region of said trench.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
21 words
The DRAM device of claim 2 wherein said plate electrodes of adjacent trenches are interconnected to form a common plate electrode.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
27 words
The DRAM device of claim 1 wherein said transistor includes a gate region, a dielectric layer about said gate region and gate electrodes about said dielectric layer.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
21 words
The DRAM device of claim 4 wherein said gate regions along said rows are continuous to form wordlines of said cells.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
18 words
The DRAM device of claim 4 wherein said gate regions are common along pillars arranged in said rows.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
141 words
A DRAM device comprising a substrate, said substrate including an array of cells having trenches that are isolated by pillars that extend upward, said pillars having a drain region therein, and said pillars and trenches being arranged in rows and columns, wherein each trench includes two closely spaced areas for forming trench capacitors therein, said closely spaced areas being separated by a recessed central trench wall; trench capacitors formed in a bottom region of each closely spaced area, said trench capacitors comprising at least an insulating layer lining said bottom region of said trench, and a conductive material formed in said trench on said insulating layer; and a transistor formed in said trench above said recessed central trench wall, wherein said capacitors in each trench are coupled by said transistor, and a source region about said pillars adjacent to said transistor.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
141 words
A DRAM device comprising a substrate, said substrate including an array of cells having trenches that are isolated by pillars that extend upward, said pillars having a drain region therein, and said pillars and trenches being arranged in rows and columns, wherein each trench includes two closely spaced areas for forming trench capacitors therein, said closely spaced areas being separated by a recessed central trench wall; trench capacitors formed in a bottom region of each closely spaced area, said trench capacitors comprising at least an insulating layer lining said bottom region of said trench, and a conductive material formed in said trench on said insulating layer; and a transistor formed in said trench above said recessed central trench wall, wherein said capacitors in each trench are coupled by said transistor, and a source region about said pillars adjacent to said transistor.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
21 words
The DRAM device of claim 7 further comprising plate electrodes formed within said substrate about said bottom region of said trench.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
21 words
The DRAM device of claim 8 wherein said plate electrodes of adjacent trenches are interconnected to form a common plate electrode.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
27 words
The DRAM device of claim 7 wherein said transistor includes a gate region, a dielectric layer about said gate region and gate electrodes about said dielectric layer.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
21 words
The DRAM device of claim 10 wherein said gate regions along said rows are continuous to form wordlines of said cells.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
18 words
The DRAM device of claim 10 wherein said gate regions are common along pillars arranged in said rows.
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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) | 2003-10-24 | 2004-04-24 | 2004-10-24 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2007-10-24 | 2008-04-24 | 2008-10-24 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2011-10-24 | 2012-04-24 | 2012-10-24 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |