An integrated circuit device according to the inventive concepts includes lower wiring structures formed on a substrate, an air gap arranged between the lower wiring structures, a capping layer covering an upper surface of the air gap, an etch stop layer conformally covering an upper surfaces of the lower wiring structures and the capping layer and having a protrusion and recess structure, an insulating layer covering the etch stop layer, and an upper wiring structure penetrating the insulating layer and connected to the upper surface of the lower wiring structure not covered with the etch stop layer, wherein the upper wiring structure covers a portion of an upper surface of the capping layer, and a level of the upper surface of the capping layer is higher than a level of the upper surface of the lower wiring structures.

The present disclosure provides a method of manufacturing a semiconductor structure. The method includes: receiving a substrate; forming a bit line structure on a top surface of the substrate; forming a spacer structure on the bit line structure, the spacer structure including a sacrificial layer sandwiched by a first dielectric layer and a second dielectric layer; removing the sacrificial layer to form a gap between the first dielectric layer and the second dielectric layer; reducing a width of the gap; and forming a seal layer to seal the gap.

An integrated circuit includes a base comprising an insulating dielectric. A plurality of conductive lines extends vertically above the base in a spaced-apart arrangement, the plurality including a first conductive line and a second conductive line adjacent to the first conductive line. A void is between the first and second conductive lines. A cap of insulating material is located above the void and defines an upper boundary of the void such that the void is further located between the base and the cap of insulating material. In some embodiments, one or more vias contacts an upper end of one or more of the conductive lines.

The present disclosure provides a semiconductor component including a substrate, a plurality of metallic lines, a passivation layer and a spacer. The metallic lines are disposed on the substrate, the passivation layer is disposed over the substrate and the metallic lines, and the spacer is interposed between the substrate and the dielectric layer and between the metallic lines and the dielectric layer. The passivation layer has a first dielectric constant, and the spacer has a second dielectric constant less than the first dielectric constant.

A semiconductor device includes bit line structures disposed on a substrate, each bit line structure comprising a bit line and an insulating spacer structure, buried contacts which fill lower portions of spaces between bit line structures in the substrate, and landing pads which fill upper portions of the spaces, extend from upper surfaces of the buried contacts to upper surfaces of the bit line structures, and are spaced apart from each other by insulating structures. A first insulating structure is disposed between a first landing pad and a first bit line structure. The first insulating structure includes a sidewall extending along a sidewall of the first landing pad toward the substrate. In a direction extending toward the substrate, the sidewall of the first insulating structure gets closer to a first sidewall of the first bit line structure.

A semiconductor device is provided. The semiconductor device includes a fin protruding from a semiconductor substrate and a gate structure formed across the fin. The semiconductor device also includes a gate spacer formed over a sidewall of the gate structure. The gate spacer includes a sidewall spacer and a sealing spacer formed above the sidewall spacer. In addition, an air gap is vertically sandwiched between the sidewall spacer and the sealing spacer. The semiconductor device further includes a hard mask formed over the gate structure and covering a sidewall of the sealing spacer.

A semiconductor device and a method of fabricating the semiconductor device are disclosed. The method includes: providing a first wafer including a substrate; forming a hole in the first wafer, which extends through the substrate; forming an insulating dielectric layer over a side wall of the hole; filling the hole with a conductive layer; removing at least part of the insulating dielectric layer situated in correspondence with the substrate, forming an air gap between the conductive layer and the substrate; and forming a closure layer, which closes the air gap. With the present invention, parasitic capacitance present between the conductive layer, the insulating dielectric layer and the substrate is significantly reduced, resulting in an improvement in performance of the semiconductor device.

A dummy gate is formed over a substrate. A sacrificial layer is formed over the dummy gate. An interlayer dielectric (ILD) is formed over the dummy gate and over the sacrificial layer. The dummy gate is replaced with a metal-containing gate. The sacrificial layer is removed. A removal of the sacrificial layer leaves air gaps around the metal-containing gate. The air gaps are then sealed.

A method of fabricating an air gap includes receiving a first thickness information of an inter-metal dielectric layer formed on a substrate and receiving a second thickness information of an inter-layer dielectric layer formed on the substrate. Then, a first etching is performed, wherein the first etching includes etch the inter-metal dielectric layer based on a first etching control value corresponding to the first thickness information. After the first etching, a second etching is performed to etch the inter-layer dielectric layer based on a second etching control value corresponding to the second thickness information.

An integrated circuit (IC) structure includes a gate structure, a source epitaxial structure, a drain epitaxial structure, a front-side interconnection structure, a backside dielectric layer, and a backside via. The source epitaxial structure and the drain epitaxial structure are respectively on opposite sides of the gate structure. The front-side interconnection structure is on a front-side of the source epitaxial structure and a front-side of the drain epitaxial structure. The backside dielectric layer is on a backside of the source epitaxial structure and a backside of the drain epitaxial structure and has an air gap therein. The backside via extends through the backside dielectric layer to a first one of the source epitaxial structure and the drain epitaxial structure.