Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 13
Claim 1
Independent Claim
173 words
A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, the method comprising sequentially: forming a structure comprising: a silicon-containing substrate; source/drain regions in the substrate with a channel region therebetween; a gate dielectric layer on the substrate over the channel region; a silicon-containing gate electrode, having an upper surface and side surfaces, on the gate dielectric layer; and a dielectric sidewall spacer formed directly on each side surface of the silicon-containing gate electrode, leaving a portion of each source/drain region exposed; selectively depositing a metal layer on the exposed portions of the source/drain regions and directly on the upper surface of the silicon-containing gate electrode with substantially no metal depositing on the dielectric sidewall spacers; forming a barrier layer within and dividing the metal layer into a lower metal portion below and an upper metal portion above the barrier layer; and heating to react the lower metal portion of each metal layer to form a metal silicide layer on the exposed portions of the source/drain regions and on the upper surface of the gate electrode.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
173 words
A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, the method comprising sequentially: forming a structure comprising: a silicon-containing substrate; source/drain regions in the substrate with a channel region therebetween; a gate dielectric layer on the substrate over the channel region; a silicon-containing gate electrode, having an upper surface and side surfaces, on the gate dielectric layer; and a dielectric sidewall spacer formed directly on each side surface of the silicon-containing gate electrode, leaving a portion of each source/drain region exposed; selectively depositing a metal layer on the exposed portions of the source/drain regions and directly on the upper surface of the silicon-containing gate electrode with substantially no metal depositing on the dielectric sidewall spacers; forming a barrier layer within and dividing the metal layer into a lower metal portion below and an upper metal portion above the barrier layer; and heating to react the lower metal portion of each metal layer to form a metal silicide layer on the exposed portions of the source/drain regions and on the upper surface of the gate electrode.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method according to claim 1 , wherein the barrier layer prevents reaction of the upper metal portion with underlying silicon during heating.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method according to claim 1 , comprising ion implanting and annealing to form the barrier layer.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method according to claim 3 , comprising selectively depositing a metal layer comprising nickel, wherein the metal silicide layer comprises nickel silicide.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method according to claim 4 , comprising ion implanting nitrogen to form a barrier layer comprising nickel nitride, ion implanting boron to form a barrier layer comprising nickel boride or ion implanting carbon to form a barrier layer comprising nickel carbide.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method according to claim 5 , comprising ion implanting nitrogen to form a barrier layer comprising nickel nitride.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method according to claim 6 , comprising ion implanting nitrogen at an implantation dosage of about 1×10 15 atoms cm −2 to about 1×10 17 atoms cm −2 and at an implantation energy of about 10 KeV to about 100 KeV.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method according to claim 7 , comprising annealing at a temperature of about 200° C. to about 700° C. to form the nickel nitride barrier layer.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method according to claim 6 , comprising heating at a temperature of about 350° C. to about 750° C. to form the nickel silicide layer.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
54 words
The method according to claim 1 , wherein; the lower metal portion has a thickness of about 5 Å to about 100 Å; the barrier metal layer has a thickness of about 20 Å to about 300 Å; and the upper metal portion has a thickness of about 500 Å to about 1500 Å.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method according to claim 3 , comprising simultaneously annealing to form the barrier layer and heating to form the metal silicide layer.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method according to claim 5 , comprising ion implanting boron to form a barrier layer comprising nickel boride or ion implanting carbon to form a barrier layer comprising nickel carbide.