Negative capacitance field-effect transistor (NCFET) and ferroelectric field-effect transistor (FE-FET) devices and methods of forming are provided. The gate dielectric stack of the NCFET and FE-FET devices includes a non-ferroelectric interfacial layer formed over the semiconductor channel, and a ferroelectric gate dielectric layer formed over the interfacial layer. The ferroelectric gate dielectric layer is formed by inserting dopant-source layers in between amorphous high-k dielectric layers and then converting the alternating sequence of dielectric layers to a ferroelectric gate dielectric layer by a post-deposition anneal (PDA). The ferroelectric gate dielectric layer has adjustable ferroelectric properties that may be varied by altering the precisely-controlled locations of the dopant-source layers using ALD/PEALD techniques. Accordingly, the methods described herein enable fabrication of stable NCFET and FE-FET FinFET devices that exhibit steep subthreshold slopes.

The present disclosure provides a semiconductor device and a method for fabricating a semiconductor device. The semiconductor device includes a substrate, a metal gate layer over the substrate, a channel between a source region and a drain region in the substrate, and a ferroelectric layer, at least a portion of the ferroelectric layer is between the metal gate layer and the substrate, wherein the ferroelectric layer includes hafnium oxide-based material, the hafnium oxide-based material includes a first portion of hafnium oxide with orthorhombic phase, a second portion of hafnium oxide with monoclinic phase, and a third portion of the hafnium oxide with tetragonal phase, wherein a first volume of the first portion is greater than a second volume of the second portion, and the second volume of the second portion is greater than a third volume the third portion.

Disclosed are semiconductor memory devices and methods of fabricating the same. The semiconductor memory devices may include a capacitor including first and second electrodes and a dielectric layer. The dielectric layer may include a zirconium aluminum oxide layer including a first zirconium region adjacent to the first electrode, a first aluminum region, a second aluminum region adjacent to the second electrode, and a second zirconium region between the first and second aluminum regions. The first and second zirconium regions may include zirconium and oxygen and may be devoid of aluminum. The first and second aluminum regions may include aluminum and oxygen and may be devoid of zirconium. The first aluminum region and the first zirconium region may be spaced apart by a first distance, and the first aluminum region and the second zirconium region may be spaced apart by a second distance shorter than the first distance.

A semiconductor device structure is provided. The semiconductor device structure includes a first fin structure and a second fin structure over a semiconductor substrate and a first epitaxial structure over the first fin structure. The semiconductor device structure also includes a second epitaxial structure over the second fin structure. The semiconductor device structure further includes a dielectric fin over the semiconductor substrate. The dielectric fin is between the first fin structure and the second fin structure. The dielectric fin has an inner portion and a protective layer. The protective layer extends along sidewalls and a bottom of the inner portion, and the protective layer has a dielectric constant higher than that of the inner portion.

In a method of manufacturing a negative capacitance structure, a dielectric layer is formed over a substrate. A first metallic layer is formed over the dielectric layer. After the first metallic layer is formed, an annealing operation is performed, followed by a cooling operation. A second metallic layer is formed. After the cooling operation, the dielectric layer becomes a ferroelectric dielectric layer including an orthorhombic crystal phase. The first metallic film includes a oriented crystalline layer.

A semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the semiconductor device are included. The method of manufacturing the semiconductor device includes forming a hafnium oxide layer on a substrate and crystallizing the hafnium oxide layer by using a hafnium cobalt oxide layer as a seed layer. According to the method of manufacturing the semiconductor device, a thin-film hafnium oxide layer may be easily crystallized.

A semiconductor device according to an embodiment includes: a silicon carbide layer; a silicon oxide layer; and a region disposed between the silicon carbide layer and the silicon oxide layer and having a nitrogen concentration equal to or more than 1×10.sup.21 cm.sup.−3. A nitrogen concentration distribution in the silicon carbide layer, the silicon oxide layer, and the region have a peak in the region, a nitrogen concentration at a first position 1 nm away from the peak to the side of the silicon oxide layer is equal to or less than 1×10.sup.18 cm.sup.−3 and a carbon concentration at the first position is equal to or less than 1×10.sup.18 cm.sup.−3, and a nitrogen concentration at a second position 1 nm away from the peak to the side of the silicon carbide layer is equal to or less than 1×10.sup.18 cm.sup.−3.

In an embodiment, a device includes: a first gate dielectric on a first channel region of a first semiconductor feature; a first gate electrode on the first gate dielectric; a second gate dielectric on a second channel region of a second semiconductor feature, the second gate dielectric having a greater crystallinity than the first gate dielectric; and a second gate electrode on the second gate dielectric.

A device is disclosed. The device includes a channel, a first source-drain region adjacent a first portion of the channel, the first source-drain region including a first crystalline portion that includes a first region of metastable dopants, a second source-drain region adjacent a second portion of the channel, the second source-drain region including a second crystalline portion that includes a second region of metastable dopants. A gate conductor is on the channel.

A device structure and a formation method are provided. The method includes forming a first carbon-containing layer over a substrate and forming a hafnium-containing oxide layer over the first carbon-containing layer. The method also includes forming a second carbon-containing layer over the hafnium-containing oxide layer. The method further includes crystallizing the hafnium-containing oxide layer while the hafnium-containing oxide layer is between the first carbon-containing layer and the second carbon-containing layer.