A package structure and a manufacturing method thereof are disclosed. The structure includes at least one semiconductor die, a redistribution layer disposed on the at least one semiconductor die, and connectors there-between. The connectors are disposed between the at least one semiconductor die and the redistribution layer, and electrically connect the at least one semiconductor die and the redistribution layer. The redistribution layer includes a dielectric layer with an opening and a metallic pattern layer disposed on the dielectric layer, and the metallic pattern layer includes a metallic via located inside the opening with a dielectric spacer surrounding the metallic via and located between the metallic via and the opening.

A method of forming a semiconductor device includes the following operations. A substrate is provided with an electric component. A composite dielectric layer is formed on the substrate and covers the electric component. An opening is formed through the composite dielectric layer. A directional etching process is performed to widen an upper portion of the opening. A metal feature is formed in the opening.

A method for providing a pre-deposition treatment (e.g., of a work-function layer) to accomplish work function tuning. In various embodiments, a gate dielectric layer is formed over a substrate, and a work-function metal layer is deposited over the gate dielectric layer. In some embodiments, a first in-situ process including a pre-treatment process of the work-function metal layer is performed. By way of example, the pre-treatment process removes an oxidized layer of the work-function metal layer to form a treated work-function metal layer. In some embodiments, after performing the first in-situ process, a second in-situ process including a deposition process of another metal layer over the treated work-function metal layer is performed.

Methods to deposit a metal cap for an interconnect are disclosed. In embodiments, a method comprises contacting the substrate with an alkyl halide and a ruthenium metal precursor to form a metal cap for an interconnect.

The present disclosure provides one embodiment of a method of forming an integrated circuit structure. The method includes forming a shallow trench isolation (STI) structure in a semiconductor substrate of a first semiconductor material, thereby defining a plurality of fin-type active regions separated from each other by the STI structure; forming gate stacks on the fin-type active regions; forming an inter-layer dielectric (ILD) layer filling in gaps between the gate stacks; patterning the ILD layer to form a trench between adjacent two of the gate stacks; depositing a first dielectric material layer that is conformal in the trench; filling the trench with a second dielectric material layer; patterning the second dielectric material layer to form a contact opening; and filling a conductive material in the contact opening to form a contact feature.

A semiconductor structure includes a first dielectric layer over a first conductive line and a second conductive line, a high resistance layer over a portion of the first dielectric layer, a low-k dielectric layer over the second dielectric layer, a second dielectric layer on the high resistance layer, a first conductive via extending through the low-k dielectric layer and the second dielectric layer, and a second conductive via extending through the low-k dielectric layer and the first dielectric layer to the first conductive line. The first conductive via extends into the high resistance layer.

A method for fabricating semiconductor devices is disclosed. The method includes forming a stack on a first substrate. A laser liftoff layer is interposed between the stack and the first substrate. The method includes forming a plurality of first interconnect structures over a first side of the stack. The method includes attaching a second substrate to the stack on the first side, with the plurality of first interconnect structures interposed between the stack and the second substrate; removing the first substrate by applying radiation on the laser liftoff layer. The method includes forming a plurality of second interconnect structures on a second side of the stack opposite to the first side.

Embodiments provide a method and resulting structure that includes forming an opening in a dielectric layer to expose a metal feature, selectively depositing a metal cap on the metal feature, depositing a barrier layer over the metal cap, and depositing a conductive fill on the barrier layer.

A three-dimensional (3D) metal-insulator-metal capacitor (MIMCAP) includes a plurality of center studs disposed within cavity walls of a plurality of cavities in a top plate. The center studs and the cavity walls are oriented orthogonal to a first metal layer and extend through a first via layer and a second metal layer. Each center stud includes a metal layer stud in the second metal layer stacked on a via layer stud in the first via layer. A dielectric layer is disposed between the center studs and the cavity walls of the plurality of cavities in the top plate. The center studs are coupled to a first electrode, and the top plate is coupled to a second electrode in the interconnect layers. In some examples, the center studs can form vertically oriented cylindrical capacitive elements positioned for high capacitance density.

Metal nitride diffusion barriers may be included between cobalt-based structures and ruthenium-based structures to reduce, minimize, and/or prevent intermixing of cobalt into ruthenium. A metal nitride diffusion barrier layer may include a cobalt nitride (CoN.sub.x), a ruthenium nitride (RuN.sub.x), or another metal nitride that has a bond dissociation energy greater than the bond dissociation energy of cobalt to cobalt (CoCo), and may therefore function as a strong barrier to cobalt migration and diffusion into ruthenium. Moreover, cobalt nitride and ruthenium nitride have lower resistivity relative to other materials such as titanium nitride (TiN), tungsten nitride (WN), and tantalum nitride (TaN). In this way, the metal nitride diffusion barriers are capable of minimizing cobalt diffusion and intermixing into ruthenium-based interconnect structures while maintaining a low contact resistance for the interconnect structures. This may increase semiconductor device performance, may increase semiconductor device yield, and may enable further reductions in interconnect structure size.