The method includes receiving a semiconductor device having a first surface and a second surface. The first surface is a top surface including a conductive material exposed thereon; and the second surface is an embedded surface including the conductive material and a dielectric material. The method also includes selecting a first polishing slurry to achieve a first polishing rate of the conductive material in the first polishing slurry and a second polishing rate of the dielectric material in the first polishing slurry. The method further includes selecting a second polishing slurry to achieve a third polishing rate of the conductive material in the second polishing slurry and a fourth polishing rate of the dielectric material in the second polishing slurry. The method additionally includes polishing the first surface with the first polishing slurry until the second surface is exposed; and polishing the second surface with the second polishing slurry.

In some embodiments, the present disclosure relates to an integrated circuit device. A transistor structure includes a gate electrode separated from a substrate by a gate dielectric and a pair of source/drain regions disposed within the substrate on opposite sides of the gate electrode. A lower conductive plug is disposed through a lower inter-layer dielectric (ILD) layer and contacting a first source/drain region. A capping layer is disposed directly on the lower conductive plug. An upper inter-layer dielectric (ILD) layer is disposed over the capping layer and the lower ILD layer. An upper conductive plug is disposed through the upper ILD layer and directly on the capping layer.

The present disclosure describes a method for forming metallization layers that include a ruthenium metal liner and a cobalt metal fill. The method includes depositing a first dielectric on a substrate having a gate structure and source/drain (S/D) structures, forming an opening in the first dielectric to expose the S/D structures, and depositing a ruthenium metal on bottom and sidewall surfaces of the opening. The method further includes depositing a cobalt metal on the ruthenium metal to fill the opening, reflowing the cobalt metal, and planarizing the cobalt and ruthenium metals to form S/D conductive structures with a top surface coplanar with a top surface of the first dielectric.

A semiconductor device has a substrate and electrical components disposed over the substrate. An encapsulant is disposed over the substrate and electrical components. A multi-layer shielding structure is formed over the encapsulant. The multi-layer shielding structure has a first layer of ferromagnetic material and second layer of a protective layer or conductive layer. The ferromagnetic material can be iron, nickel, nickel iron alloy, iron silicon alloy, silicon steel, nickel iron molybdenum alloy, nickel iron molybdenum copper alloy, iron silicon aluminum alloy, nickel zinc, manganese zinc, other ferrites, amorphous magnetic alloy, amorphous metal alloy, or nanocrystalline alloy. The first layer can be a single, homogeneous material. The protective layer can be stainless steel, tantalum, molybdenum, titanium, nickel, or chromium. The conductive layer can be copper, silver, gold, or aluminum. The multi-layer shielding structure protects the electrical components from low frequency and high frequency interference.

A chip structure includes a substrate, a bottom conductive layer, a semiconductor layer, an interlayer dielectric layer, at least one electrode, and at least one top electrode. The substrate includes in order a core layer and a composite material. The bottom conductive layer is disposed on the bottom surface of the core layer, the semiconductor layer is disposed on the substrate, and an interlayer dielectric layer is disposed on the semiconductor layer. The at least one electrode is disposed between the semiconductor layer and the interlayer dielectric layer, and the at least one top electrode is disposed on the interlayer dielectric layer and electrically coupled to the at least one electrode.

The present disclosure provides a method of forming a semiconductor device structure. The method includes forming a trench in a dielectric layer on a semiconductor substrate; forming a bottom metal feature of a first metal in a lower portion of the trench by a selective deposition; depositing a barrier layer in an upper portion of the trench, the barrier layer directly contacting both a top surface of the bottom metal feature and sidewalls of the dielectric layer; and forming a top metal feature of a second metal on the barrier layer, filling in the upper portion of the trench, wherein the second metal is different from the first metal in composition.

The present disclosure describes a method for the planarization of ruthenium metal layers in conductive structures. The method includes forming a first conductive structure on a second conductive structure, where forming the first conductive structure includes forming openings in a dielectric layer disposed on the second conductive structure and depositing a ruthenium metal in the openings to overfill the openings. The formation of the first conductive structure includes doping the ruthenium metal and polishing the doped ruthenium metal to form the first conductive structure.

Methods and apparatus for processing a substrate are provided. For example, a method of processing a substrate comprises supplying oxygen (O.sub.2) into a processing volume of an etch chamber to react with a silicon-based hardmask layer atop a base layer of ruthenium to form a covering of an SiO-like material over the silicon-based hardmask layer and etching the base layer of ruthenium using at least one of O.sub.2 or chloride (Cl.sub.2) while supplying nitrogen (N.sub.2) to sputter some of the SiO-like material onto an exposed ruthenium sidewall created during etching.

A semiconductor structure is provided. The semiconductor structure includes an epitaxial structure over a semiconductor substrate. The semiconductor structure also includes a conductive feature over the semiconductor substrate. The conductive feature includes a high-k dielectric layer and a metal layer on the high-k dielectric layer, and a top surface of the metal layer is below a top surface of the high-k dielectric layer. The semiconductor structure further includes a metal-semiconductor compound layer formed on the epitaxial structure. In addition, the semiconductor structure includes a first metal contact structure formed on the top surface of the metal layer of the conductive feature. The semiconductor structure further includes a second metal contact structure formed on the metal-semiconductor compound layer.

A semiconductor substrate has an exposed surface having a compositionally uniform metal, and an embedded surface having the metal and an oxide. The exposed surface is polished using a first slurry including a first abrasive and a first amine-based alkaline until the embedded surface is exposed. The embedded surface is polished using a second slurry including a second abrasive and a second amine-based alkaline. The second abrasive is different from the first abrasive. The second amine-based alkaline is different from the first amine-based alkaline. The metal and the oxide each has a first and a second removal rate in the first slurry, respectively, and a third and fourth removal rate in the second slurry, respectively. A ratio of the first removal rate to the second removal rate is greater than 30:1, and a ratio of the third removal rate to the fourth removal rate is about 1:0.5 to about 1:2.