The present disclosure relates to the technical field of semiconductor manufacturing, and provides a semiconductor structure and a forming method thereof. The forming method includes: providing a semiconductor substrate, where a surface of the semiconductor substrate is provided with a plurality of conductive structures arranged at intervals; etching a surface of the conductive structure into a curved surface, and then depositing sequentially to form a first protective layer, a second protective layer and a third protective layer; etching the first protective layer, the second protective layer and the third protective layer to form a contact hole exposing the etched curved surface of the conductive structure; and forming a mask layer on a surface of the contact hole.

In certain aspects, a memory device includes a semiconductor layer, a peripheral circuit including a peripheral transistor in contact with the semiconductor layer, an array of memory cells disposed beside the semiconductor layer and the peripheral circuit, and bit lines coupled to the memory cells. Each of the memory cells includes a vertical transistor extending in a first direction, and a storage unit coupled to the vertical transistor. Each of the bit lines extends in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. A respective one of the bit lines and a respective storage unit are coupled to opposite ends of each one of the memory cells in the first direction.

Embodiments of bonded unified semiconductor chips and fabrication and operation methods thereof are disclosed. In an example, a method for forming a unified semiconductor chip is disclosed. A first semiconductor structure is formed. The first semiconductor structure includes one or more processors, an array of embedded DRAM cells, and a first bonding layer including a plurality of first bonding contacts. A second semiconductor structure is formed. The second semiconductor structure includes an array of NAND memory cells and a second bonding layer including a plurality of second bonding contacts. The first semiconductor structure and the second semiconductor structure are bonded in a face-to-face manner, such that the first bonding contacts are in contact with the second bonding contacts at a bonding interface.

The present disclosure provides a semiconductor structure and a manufacturing method thereof. The manufacturing method of the semiconductor structure includes: forming a first patterned mask layer on an upper surface of a first filling dielectric layer, the first patterned mask layer including a plurality of pattern units; etching the first filling dielectric layer based on the first patterned mask layer to form etched recesses; forming a second filling dielectric layer, the second filling dielectric layer filling up the etched recesses and covering the first patterned mask layer; removing the first patterned mask layer, and parts of the second filling dielectric layer on the first patterned mask layer and between the pattern units; removing the remaining first filling dielectric layer to form a plurality of capacitor contact holes exposing the substrate; and forming, in the capacitor contact holes, capacitor contact structures located on the two opposite sides of the BLs.

In certain aspects, a three-dimensional (3D) memory device includes a first semiconductor structure, a second semiconductor structure, a third semiconductor structure, a first bonding interface between the first semiconductor structure and the second semiconductor structure, and a second bonding interface between the second semiconductor structure and the third semiconductor structure. The first semiconductor structure includes a peripheral circuit. The second semiconductor structure includes a first array of memory cells. The third semiconductor structure includes a second array of memory cells. Each of the memory cells of the first and second arrays includes a vertical transistor extending in a first direction, and a storage unit coupled to the vertical transistor. The first array of memory cells is coupled to the peripheral circuit across the first bonding interface. The second array of memory cells is coupled to the peripheral circuit across the first bonding interface and the second bonding interfaces.

A method for forming a capacitor, the capacitor and a semiconductor device are provided. The method includes: providing a semiconductor structure including a substrate, a stacked-layer structure, a protective layer, a first mask layer, and a photolithography layer which is provided with a plurality of cross-shaped patterns arranged in a square close-packed manner; patterning the first mask layer based on the photolithography layer; forming a plurality of through holes penetrating through the protective layer and the stacked-layer structure based on the patterned first mask layer by etching, in which in a direction perpendicular to a surface of the substrate, a projection of each through hole is cross-shaped, and the plurality of through holes are arranged in the square close-packed manner; and forming a first electrode layer, a dielectric layer and a second electrode layer covering an inner wall of each through hole to form the capacitor.

A semiconductor memory device, includes: a first region including a first memory cell array; a second region arranged with the first region; and a third region arranged with the second region and including a second memory cell array. Each memory cell array includes: a field effect transistor above a semiconductor substrate, including a gate, a source, and a drain, the gate being connected to a first wiring, and one of the source and the drain being connected to a second wiring; and a capacitor below the transistor, including a first electrode connected to the other of the source and the drain, a second electrode facing the first electrode, and a third electrode connected to the second electrode and extending to the second region. The second region includes a conductor, the conductor connecting the third electrodes of the memory cell arrays.

Some embodiments include integrated memory having an array of access transistors. Each access transistor includes an active region which has a first source/drain region, a second source/drain region and a channel region. The active regions of the access transistors include semiconductor material having elements selected from Groups 13 and 16 of the periodic table. First conductive structures extend along rows of the array and have gating segments adjacent the channel regions of the access transistors. Heterogenous insulative regions are between the gating segments and the channel regions. Second conductive structures extend along columns of the array, and are electrically coupled with the first source/drain regions. Storage-elements are electrically coupled with the second source/drain regions. Some embodiments include a transistor having a semiconductor oxide channel material. A conductive gate material is adjacent to the channel material. A heterogenous insulative region is between the gate material and the channel material.

A memory cell includes a write access transistor, a storage transistor, and a read access transistor. A gate of the write access transistor is connected to a write word line, a source of the write access transistor is connected to a write bit line, and a drain of the write access transistor is connected to a gate of the storage transistor. A source of the storage transistor is connected to a source line and a drain of the storage transistor is connected to a source of the read access transistor. A gate of the read access transistor is connected to a read bit line and a drain of the read access transistor is connected to read bit line. The memory cell further includes a capacitive element having a first connection to the gate of the storage transistor and a second connection to a reference voltage source.

A reticle includes a mask substrate, a reflective layer on the mask substrate, and a mask pattern on the reflective layer, the mask pattern having image patterns to absorb light, and first patterns between the image patterns, the first patterns being openings, the first patterns having a honeycomb arrangement, in a plan view, such that seven of the first patterns are arranged at corresponding vertices and a center of a first regular hexagon, and each of the first patterns having a shape of a second regular hexagon that is rotated by 90 degrees relative to the first regular hexagon.