A self-aligned C-shaped vertical field effect transistor includes a semiconductor substrate having an uppermost surface and a fin structure on the uppermost surface of the semiconductor substrate. The fin structure has two adjacent vertical segments with rounded ends that extend perpendicularly from the uppermost surface of the semiconductor substrate and a horizontal segment that extends between and connects the two adjacent vertical segments. An opening is located between the two adjacent vertical segments on a side of the fin structure opposite to the horizontal segment.

A method includes forming an active fin using a hard mask as an etching mask, wherein the active fin comprises a source region, a drain region, and a channel region, the hard mask remains over the active fin after etching the semiconductive substrate, and the hard mask has a first portion vertically overlapping the source region of the active fin, a second portion vertically overlapping the channel region of the active fin, and a third portion vertically overlapping the drain region of the active fin. A sacrificial gate is formed over the second portion of the hard mask and the channel region of the active fin. The first and third portions of the hard mask are etched. After etching the first and third portions of the hard mask, a gate spacer is formed extending along sidewalls of the sacrificial gate, and the sacrificial gate is replaced with a replacement gate.

A method for forming a semiconductor device is provided. The method includes forming first and second semiconductor fins over a semiconductor substate; depositing a first isolation dielectric layer over the first and second semiconductor fins, the first isolation dielectric layer having a trench between the first and second semiconductor fins; depositing a second isolation dielectric layer having a first portion over a top surface of the first isolation dielectric layer and a second portion lining the trench of the first isolation dielectric layer; performing a chemical mechanical polish process to remove the first portion of the second isolation dielectric layer, while leaving the second portion of the second isolation dielectric layer to form an isolation dielectric plug between the first and second semiconductor fins; and after forming the isolation dielectric plug, forming first and second epitaxial structures over the first and second semiconductor fins.

A device includes a semiconductor fin, an isolation layer, a dielectric fin structure, and a gate structure. The semiconductor fin is over a substrate. The isolation layer is over the substrate and adjacent the semiconductor fin. The dielectric fin structure is over the isolation layer and includes a bottom dielectric fin and a top dielectric fin. The isolation layer surrounds a bottom of the bottom dielectric fin. The top dielectric fin is over the bottom dielectric fin and is spaced apart from the isolation layer. The gate structure is across the semiconductor fin and the dielectric fin structure, wherein a portion of the gate structure in contact with the isolation layer has a first width, and another portion of the gate structure in contact with the top dielectric fin has a second width greater than the first width.

A dummy fin described herein includes a low dielectric constant (low-k or LK) material outer shell. A leakage path that would otherwise occur due to a void being formed in the low-k material outer shell is filled with a high dielectric constant (high-k or HK) material inner core. This increases the effectiveness of the dummy fin to provide electrical isolation and increases device performance of a semiconductor device in which the dummy fin is included. Moreover, the dummy fin described herein may not suffer from bending issues experienced in other types of dummy fins, which may otherwise cause high-k induced alternating current (AC) performance degradation. The processes for forming the dummy fins described herein are compatible with other fin field effect transistor (finFET) formation processes and are be easily integrated to minimize and/or prevent polishing issues, etch back issues, and/or other types of semiconductor processing issues.

One example includes an integrated circuit (IC) comprising a fin field effect transistor (FinFET). The FinFET includes a substrate with a fin extending from a surface of the substrate. The fin includes a source region, a drain region, and a drift region adjacent the drain region. The fin also includes a field-plating (FP) dielectric layer on a first side, a second side, and a third side of the drift region. The FP dielectric layer includes a high-K material.

Transistors of different types of electronic devices on the same semiconductor substrate are configured with different transistor attributes to increase the performance of the different types of electronic devices. Fin height, shallow source drain (SSD) height, source or drain width, and/or one or more other transistor attributes may be co-optimized for the different types of electronic devices by various semiconductor manufacturing processes such as etching, lithography, process loading, and/or masking, among other examples. This enables the performance of a plurality of types of electronic devices on the same semiconductor substrate to be increased.

A semiconductor structure and a method for forming a semiconductor structure are disclosed. One form a semiconductor structure includes: a substrate, comprising a first region used to form a well region and a second region used to form a drift region, wherein the first region is adjacent to the second region; and a fin, protruding out of the substrate, wherein the fins comprise first fins located at a junction of the first region and the second region and second fins located on the second region, and a quantity of the second fins is greater than a quantity of the first fins.

A method of fabricating a semiconductor device is described. A plurality of semiconductor fins is formed in a first region on a substrate. An isolation region is formed around the plurality of semiconductor fins. Dummy fins are formed extending above the isolation region and laterally adjacent the plurality of semiconductor fins. A first etch is performed to etch the plurality of semiconductor fins such that a top surface of the plurality of semiconductor fins has a same height as a top surface of the isolation region. A second etch is performed selectively etching the isolation region to form a first recess in the isolation region laterally adjacent the semiconductor fins. A third etch is performed selectively etching the plurality of semiconductor fins to remove the plurality of semiconductor fins and to etch a second recess through the isolation region into the semiconductor substrate.

A device includes a substrate, a contact, a first gate, a second gate, a dielectric feature between the gates, a via, and a conductive line. The gates are each adjacent the contact and aligned lengthwise with each other along a first direction. A first sidewall of the dielectric feature defines an end-wall of the first gate. A second sidewall of the dielectric feature defines an end-wall of the second gate. The conductive line extends along a second direction. A projection of the conductive line onto a top surface of the dielectric feature passes between the first and second sidewalls. The via interfaces with the contact along a second plane. The via has a first dimension on the second plane along the second direction; the contact has a second dimension on the second plane along the second direction. The first dimension is greater than the second dimension.