A method of rounding fin-shaped structures includes the following steps. A substrate including fin-shaped structures, and pad oxide caps and pad nitride caps covering the fin-shaped structures from bottom to top are provided. An isolation structure fills between the fin-shaped structures. A removing process is performed to remove a top part of the isolation structure and expose top parts of the fin-shaped structures. An oxidation process is performed to oxidize sidewalls of the top parts of the fin-shaped structures, thereby forming oxidized parts covering sidewalls of the top parts of the fin-shaped structures. The pad nitride caps are removed. The pad oxide caps and the oxidized parts are removed at the same time, thereby forming rounding fin-shaped structures.

A memory cell of a magnetic random access memory includes multiple layers disposed between a first metal layer and a second metal layer. At least one of the multiple layers include one selected from the group consisting of an iridium layer, a bilayer structure of an iridium layer and an iridium oxide layer, an iridium-titanium nitride layer, a bilayer structure of an iridium layer and a tantalum layer, and a binary alloy layer of iridium and tantalum.

A memory cell of a magnetic random access memory includes multiple layers disposed between a first metal layer and a second metal layer. At least one of the multiple layers include one selected from the group consisting of an iridium layer, a bilayer structure of an iridium layer and an iridium oxide layer, an iridium-titanium nitride layer, a bilayer structure of an iridium layer and a tantalum layer, and a binary alloy layer of iridium and tantalum.

Methods of cutting gate structures, and structures formed, are described. In an embodiment, a structure includes first and second gate structures over an active area, and a gate cut-fill structure. The first and second gate structures extend parallel. The active area includes a source/drain region disposed laterally between the first and second gate structures. The gate cut-fill structure has first and second primary portions and an intermediate portion. The first and second primary portions abut the first and second gate structures, respectively. The intermediate portion extends laterally between the first and second primary portions. First and second widths of the first and second primary portions along longitudinal midlines of the first and second gate structures, respectively, are each greater than a third width of the intermediate portion midway between the first and second gate structures and parallel to the longitudinal midline of the first gate structure.

Disclosed is a method for the fabrication of a correlated electron material (CEM) switching device, the method comprising: forming a layer of a conductive substrate; forming a layer of a correlated electron material on the conductive substrate; forming a layer of a conductive overlay on the layer of correlated electron material; and patterning the layers whereby to form a stack comprising a conductive substrate, a CEM layer and a conductive overlay, wherein the patterning comprises the following steps: forming a hard mask on the layer of the conductive overlay; dry etching the layer of conductive overlay and the layer of correlated electron material whereby to form a partially formed stack; depositing a coating of a protective polymer over at least sidewalls of the partially formed stack; and dry etching the layer of conductive substrate.

Disclosed is a method for the fabrication of a correlated electron material (CEM) switching device, the method comprising: forming a layer of a conductive substrate; forming a layer of a correlated electron material on the conductive substrate; forming a layer of a conductive overlay on the layer of correlated electron material; and patterning the layers whereby to form a stack comprising a conductive substrate, a CEM layer and a conductive overlay, wherein the patterning comprises the following steps: forming a hard mask on the layer of the conductive overlay; dry etching the layer of conductive overlay and the layer of correlated electron material whereby to form a partially formed stack; depositing a coating of a protective polymer over at least sidewalls of the partially formed stack; and dry etching the layer of conductive substrate.

A method of forming a fin field effect transistor (finFET), including forming a temporary gate structure having a sacrificial gate layer and a dummy gate layer on the sacrificial gate layer, forming a gate spacer layer on each sidewall of the temporary gate structure, forming a source/drain spacer layer on the outward-facing sidewall of each gate spacer layer, removing the dummy gate layer to expose the sacrificial gate layer, removing the sacrificial gate layer to form a plurality of recessed cavities, and forming a gate structure, where the gate structure occupies at least a portion of the plurality of recessed cavities.

A memory cell of a magnetic random access memory includes multiple layers disposed between a first metal layer and a second metal layer. At least one of the multiple layers include one selected from the group consisting of an iridium layer, a bilayer structure of an iridium layer and an iridium oxide layer, an iridium-titanium nitride layer, a bilayer structure of an iridium layer and a tantalum layer, and a binary alloy layer of iridium and tantalum.

A memory cell of a magnetic random access memory includes multiple layers disposed between a first metal layer and a second metal layer. At least one of the multiple layers include one selected from the group consisting of an iridium layer, a bilayer structure of an iridium layer and an iridium oxide layer, an iridium-titanium nitride layer, a bilayer structure of an iridium layer and a tantalum layer, and a binary alloy layer of iridium and tantalum.

The present disclosure relates to a semiconductor device, a solid-state imaging device, and a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device capable of improving the voltage dependency of a gate capacitance type. Provided is a semiconductor device having a laminated structure in which a compound layer formed on a surface of a semiconductor layer and formed by the semiconductor layer reacting with metal, an insulating film layer in contact with the compound layer, and an electrode layer formed on the insulating film layer are laminated. The present technology can be applied, for example, to an analog-to-digital (AD) conversion part included in the solid-state imaging device.