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US6608342B1 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: 2003-08-19
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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
  • 👤 Er-Xuan Ping

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-09 01:55
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: 14
Claim 1
Independent Claim 108 words
A capacitor within a substrate assembly, comprising: a first electrode having a container shape defining a planar top surface, the first electrode has interior and exterior surfaces; a dielectric layer formed over the interior and portions of the exterior surfaces of said first electrode; and a second electrode formed over said dielectric layer and extending from said container shape at at least two different levels within said substrate assembly, such that the second electrode is capacitively coupled a first portion of the exterior surface and is not capacitively coupled to a second portion of the exterior surface, wherein the second portion downwardly extends for the planar top surface.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 108 words
A capacitor within a substrate assembly, comprising: a first electrode having a container shape defining a planar top surface, the first electrode has interior and exterior surfaces; a dielectric layer formed over the interior and portions of the exterior surfaces of said first electrode; and a second electrode formed over said dielectric layer and extending from said container shape at at least two different levels within said substrate assembly, such that the second electrode is capacitively coupled a first portion of the exterior surface and is not capacitively coupled to a second portion of the exterior surface, wherein the second portion downwardly extends for the planar top surface.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 43 words
The capacitor in claim 1 , wherein said second electrode extends from said container shape at a first level and at a second level, and wherein said first level and said second level define a difference in height of at least 500 angstroms.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 24 words
The capacitor in claim 2 , wherein said first level and said second level define a difference in height of at least 1000 angstroms.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 24 words
The capacitor in claim 3 , wherein said first level and said second level define a difference in height of at least 2000 angstroms.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 116 words
A container capacitor structure, comprising: a cup-shaped electrode having an interior surface and an exterior surface, wherein said exterior surface comprises a first portion and a second portion; an insulating layer contacting the exterior surface on the first portion, such that the insulating layer is in contact with the first portion at least vertically up to a top of the cup-shaped electrode; a dielectric layer disposed on the interior surface and on the exterior surface on said second portion; and a conductor layer disposed on the dielectric layer such that the conductive layer is capacitively coupled the first portion of the exterior surface and is not capacitively coupled to the second portion of the exterior surface.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 116 words
A container capacitor structure, comprising: a cup-shaped electrode having an interior surface and an exterior surface, wherein said exterior surface comprises a first portion and a second portion; an insulating layer contacting the exterior surface on the first portion, such that the insulating layer is in contact with the first portion at least vertically up to a top of the cup-shaped electrode; a dielectric layer disposed on the interior surface and on the exterior surface on said second portion; and a conductor layer disposed on the dielectric layer such that the conductive layer is capacitively coupled the first portion of the exterior surface and is not capacitively coupled to the second portion of the exterior surface.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 14 words
The container capacitor structure of claim 5 , wherein the cup-shaped electrode comprises hemispherical-grain-silicon.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 22 words
The container capacitor structure of claim 5 , wherein the cup-shaped electrode has an interior width of no greater than 200 nm.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 22 words
The container capacitor structure of claim 5 , wherein the cup-shaped electrode has an exterior width of no greater than 300 nm.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 117 words
Container capacitor structures, comprising: bottom electrodes having a cup-shape, the bottom electrodes having an interior surface and an exterior surface; at least one insulating layer in contact with the exterior surface of the cup-shaped bottom electrodes and filling a recess between a first pair of cup-shaped bottom electrodes; a dielectric layer disposed on the interior surface of the cup-shaped bottom electrodes and on the exterior surface of the cup-shaped bottom electrodes exclusive of the exterior surfaces facing the recess; and a top electrode layer formed on the dielectric layer to capacitively couple to the interior surfaces of the cup-shaped bottom electrodes and capacitively couple to the exterior surfaces of the cup-shaped bottom electrodes exclusive of the recess.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 117 words
Container capacitor structures, comprising: bottom electrodes having a cup-shape, the bottom electrodes having an interior surface and an exterior surface; at least one insulating layer in contact with the exterior surface of the cup-shaped bottom electrodes and filling a recess between a first pair of cup-shaped bottom electrodes; a dielectric layer disposed on the interior surface of the cup-shaped bottom electrodes and on the exterior surface of the cup-shaped bottom electrodes exclusive of the exterior surfaces facing the recess; and a top electrode layer formed on the dielectric layer to capacitively couple to the interior surfaces of the cup-shaped bottom electrodes and capacitively couple to the exterior surfaces of the cup-shaped bottom electrodes exclusive of the recess.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 28 words
The container capacitor structures in claim 9 , wherein said at least one insulating layer defines a contact site between a second pair of the cup-shaped bottom electrodes.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 32 words
The container capacitor structures in claim 9 , wherein the first pair of the cup-shaped bottom electrodes and the second pair of the cup-shaped bottom electrodes share a common cup-shaped bottom electrode.

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 2006-08-18 2007-02-17 2007-08-19 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 2010-08-18 2011-02-17 2011-08-19 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2014-08-18 2015-02-17 2015-08-19 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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