Fabricating a substantially self-aligned MOSFET

Claim 1

A method of fabricating a semiconductor transistor device, comprising: providing a substrate; providing first materials having horizontal surfaces and also having opposed vertical surfaces forming a trench; providing a second material in the trench and over the vertical and horizontal surfaces, the second material having a substantially uniform thickness so as to form a notch over the trench; providing a masking material into the notch and planarizing, where the masking material is an insulator, and then removing the second material using the masking material as a mask in a direction toward the first material, so that a vertical surface of one of the first materials is at least substantially aligned with a vertical surface of the second material.

Claim 2

A method of fabricating a semiconductor transistor device, comprising: providing a substrate; providing first materials having horizontal surfaces and also having opposed vertical surfaces forming a trench; providing a second material in the trench and over the vertical and horizontal surfaces, the second material having a substantially uniform thickness so as to form a notch over the trench; providing a masking material into the notch and planarizing, where the masking material is an insulator, and then removing the second material using the masking material as a mask in a direction toward the first material, so that a vertical surface of one of the first materials is at least substantially aligned with a vertical surface of the second material.

Claim 13

A method of fabricating a semiconductor device, comprising: providing a semiconductor substrate; disposing a first oxide layer on the substrate; disposing a nitride layer on the first oxide layer; removing portions of the first layers; removing portions of the substrate adjacent to the remaining first layers; disposing side walls on substantially coplanar surfaces of the first layers and the substrate; disposing second oxide layers on surfaces of the substrate which are substantially normal to the side walls; removing the side walls; disposing and planarizing a first layer of polysilicon on the second oxide layers; disposing a third oxide layer on the layer of polysilicon and on the nitride layer; removing the third oxide layer from a top of the nitride layer; removing the nitride layer to form a trench; disposing a second layer of polysilicon having a substantially uniform thickness over the trench and over the third oxide layer, so that the second layer of polysilicon forms a notch; disposing and planarizing a masking material into the notch so that the masking material substantially fills the notch; and then removing the second layer of polysilicon immediately adjacent to the masking material in a direction normal to the first layer of polysilicon, so that a vertical surface of the second polysilicon layer is substantially coplanar with a vertical surface of the first polysilicon layer.

Claim 14

A method of fabricating a semiconductor device, comprising: providing a semiconductor substrate; disposing a first oxide layer on the substrate; disposing a nitride layer on the first oxide layer; removing portions of the first layers; removing portions of the substrate adjacent to the remaining first layers; disposing side walls on substantially coplanar surfaces of the first layers and the substrate; disposing second oxide layers on surfaces of the substrate which are substantially normal to the side walls; removing the side walls; disposing and planarizing a first layer of polysilicon on the second oxide layers; disposing a third oxide layer on the layer of polysilicon and on the nitride layer; removing the third oxide layer from a top of the nitride layer; removing the nitride layer to form a trench; disposing a second layer of polysilicon having a substantially uniform thickness over the trench and over the third oxide layer, so that the second layer of polysilicon forms a notch; disposing and planarizing a masking material into the notch so that the masking material substantially fills the notch; and then removing the second layer of polysilicon immediately adjacent to the masking material in a direction normal to the first layer of polysilicon, so that a vertical surface of the second polysilicon layer is substantially coplanar with a vertical surface of the first polysilicon layer.