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US6528834B1 Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Container capacitor structure and method of formation thereof

Assignee: Micron Technology Inc
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Filing: 2000-08-31
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Granted: 2003-03-04
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Expires: 2020-08-31
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Abstract

Abstract Disclosed is a container capacitor structure and method of constructing it. An etch mask and etch are used to expose portions of an exterior surface of electrode ("bottom electrodes") of the container capacitor structure. The etch provides a recess between proximal pairs of container capacitor structures, which recess is available for forming additional capacitance. Accordingly, a capacitor dielectric and a top electrode are formed on and adjacent to, respectively, both an interior surface and portions of the exterior surface of the first electrode. Advantageously, surface area common to both the first electrode and second electrodes is increased over using only the interior surface, which provides additional capacitance without a decrease in spacing for clearing portions of the capacitor dielectric and the second electrode away from a contact hole location. Furthermore, such clearing of the capacitor dielectric and the second electrode portions may be done at an upper location of a substrate assembly in contrast to clearing at a bottom location of a contact via.

Inventors

  • 👤 D. Mark Durcan
  • 👤 Trung T. Doan
  • 👤 Roger R. Lee
  • 👤 Fernando Gonzalez

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-09 01:37
CPC Classifications
H; H10; H10D; H10D1/00; H10D1/01; H10D1/041; H10D1/042; H10B; H10B12/00; H10B12/01; H10B12/02; H10B12/03; H10B12/033; H10B12/30; H10B12/31; H10B12/318; H10B12/48; H10B12/485; H10D1/60; H10D1/68; H10D1/692; H10D1/694; H10D1/711; H10D1/716; H10B12/312; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S257/00; Y10S257/905

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim 112 words
A storage device environment comprising: a first capacitor electrode having a top, bottom and an exterior surface between the top and bottom; a dielectric material adjacent to the exterior surface of the first capacitor dielectric, the dielectric material has a stepped top surface with first and second elevations, wherein the first elevation is substantially equal to the top of the first capacitor electrode and the second elevation is below the first elevation; a capacitor dielectric contacting the first capacitor electrode, wherein the first capacitor electrode, the capacitor dielectric and the dielectric material meet at the first and second elevations along the exterior surface; and a second capacitor electrode contacting the capacitor dielectric.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 112 words
A storage device environment comprising: a first capacitor electrode having a top, bottom and an exterior surface between the top and bottom; a dielectric material adjacent to the exterior surface of the first capacitor dielectric, the dielectric material has a stepped top surface with first and second elevations, wherein the first elevation is substantially equal to the top of the first capacitor electrode and the second elevation is below the first elevation; a capacitor dielectric contacting the first capacitor electrode, wherein the first capacitor electrode, the capacitor dielectric and the dielectric material meet at the first and second elevations along the exterior surface; and a second capacitor electrode contacting the capacitor dielectric.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 35 words
The storage device environment of claim 1 further comprising a vertical contact region adjacent to the first capacitor electrode and located in an area where the dielectric material top surface is at the first elevation.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 20 words
The storage device environment of claim 1 wherein the dielectric material comprises either boro-phospho-silicate glass (BPSG) or phospho-silicate glass (PSG).
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 41 words
The storage device environment of claim 1 wherein the first capacitor electrode is cup-shaped and wherein the cup-shaped first capacitor electrode has a shape selected from circular, square, rectangular, trapezoidal, triangular, oval, or rhomboidal when viewed from a top down view.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 19 words
The storage device environment of claim 1 wherein the first capacitor electrode comprises an N-type hemispherical grain silicon (HSG).
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 20 words
The storage device environment of claim 1 wherein the first capacitor electrode comprises conductively formed polysilicon, ruthenium or ruthenium oxide.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 26 words
The storage device environment of claim 1 wherein the capacitor dielectric comprises either a nitride film, a tantalum oxide or an oxide-nitride-oxide (ONO) thin film dielectric.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 22 words
The storage device environment of claim 1 wherein the second capacitor electrode comprises one or more layer of one or more materials.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 19 words
The storage device environment of claim 8 wherein the second capacitor electrode comprises an N-type or P-type doped polysilicon.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 21 words
The storage device environment of claim 8 wherein the second capacitor electrode comprises either a platinum, ruthenium, or ruthenium oxide-like material.

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 2006-03-03 2006-09-02 2007-03-04 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 2010-03-03 2010-09-02 2011-03-04 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2014-03-03 2014-09-02 2015-03-04 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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