A semiconductor device includes a substrate, a pair of semiconductor fins, a dummy fin structure, a gate structure, a plurality of source/drain structures, a crystalline hard mask layer, and an amorphous hard mask layer. The pair of semiconductor fins extend upwardly from the substrate. The dummy fin structure extends upwardly above the substrate and is laterally between the pair of semiconductor fins. The gate structure extends across the pair of semiconductor fins and the dummy fin structure. The source/drain structures are above the pair of semiconductor fins and on either side of the gate structure. The crystalline hard mask layer extends upwardly from the dummy fin and has an U-shaped cross section. The amorphous hard mask layer is in the first hard mask layer, wherein the amorphous hard mask layer having an U-shaped cross section conformal to the U-shaped cross section of the crystalline hard mask layer.

A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device includes: a first insulating film forming step of forming a first insulating film in a transistor having a structure in which a source and a drain raised in a fin shape are covered with a gate; a sacrifice film forming step of forming a sacrifice film; a hard mask pattern forming step of forming a hard mask film having a desired pattern; a first opening forming step of forming a first opening; a second insulating film forming step of forming a second insulating film made of a material different from the first insulating film, in the first opening; a second opening forming step of forming a second opening by removing the sacrifice film, after the second insulating film forming step; and a contact plug forming step of forming a contact plug in the second opening.

A method of forming a semiconductor device includes forming a source/drain region on a substrate, depositing a metal-rich metal silicide layer on the source/drain region, depositing a silicon-rich metal silicide layer on the metal-rich metal silicide layer, and forming a contact plug on the silicon-rich metal silicide layer. This disclosure also describes a semiconductor device including a fin structure on a substrate, a source/drain region on the fin structure, a metal-rich metal silicide layer on the source/drain region, a silicon-rich metal silicide layer on the metal-rich metal silicide layer, and a contact plug on the silicon-rich metal silicide layer.

Transistors having a plurality of channel semiconductor structures, such as fins, over a dielectric material. A source and drain are coupled to opposite ends of the structures and a gate stack intersects the plurality of structures between the source and drain. Lateral epitaxial overgrowth (LEO) may be employed to form a super-lattice of a desired periodicity from a sidewall of a fin template structure that is within a trench and extends from the dielectric material. Following LEO, the super-lattice structure may be planarized with surrounding dielectric material to expose a top of the super-lattice layers. Alternating ones of the super-lattice layers may then be selectively etched away, with the retained layers of the super-lattice then laterally separated from each other by a distance that is a function of the super-lattice periodicity. A gate dielectric and a gate electrode may be formed over the retained super-lattice layers for a channel of a transistor.

A device includes a plurality of fin structures that each protrude vertically upwards out of a substrate and each extend in a first direction in a top view. A gate structure is disposed over the fin structures. The gate structure extends in a second direction in the top view. The second direction is different from the first direction. The fin structures have a fin pitch equal to a sum of: a dimension of one of the fin structures in the second direction and a distance between an adjacent pair of the fin structures in the second direction. An end segment of the gate structure extends beyond an edge of a closest one of the fin structures in the second direction. The end segment has a tapered profile in the top view or is at least 4 times as long as the fin pitch in the second direction.

A semiconductor device includes: a drift region of a first conductive type including a contact section and extension sections extending along the main surface of a substrate; column regions of a second conductive type which alternate with the extension sections in a perpendicular direction to the extension direction of the extension sections and each includes an end connecting to the contact section; a well region of a second conductive type which connects to the other end of each column region and tips of the extension sections; and electric field relaxing electrodes which are provided above at least some of residual pn junctions with an insulating film interposed therebetween. Herein, the residual pn junctions are pn junctions other than voltage holding pn junctions formed in interfaces between the extension sections and the column regions.

In a method for forming a semiconductor device, a layer of logic devices is formed on a substrate. The layer of logic devices includes a stack of gate-all-around field-effect transistors (GAA-FETs) positioned over the substrate, where the stack of GAA-FETs includes a first layer of GAA-FETs stacked over a second layer of GAA-FETs. A first wiring layer is formed over the layer of logic devices, where the first wiring layer includes one or more metal routing levels. A memory stack is formed over the first wiring layer. The memory stack includes wordline layers and insulating layers that alternatingly arranged over the first wiring layer. A three-dimensional (3D) NAND memory device is formed in the memory stack. The 3D NAND memory device includes a channel structure that extends into the memory stack and further is coupled to the wordline layers of the memory stack.

A gate structure of a field effect transistor includes a first gate dielectric layer, a second gate dielectric layer, and one or more conductive layers disposed over the first gate dielectric layer and the second gate dielectric layer. The first gate dielectric layer is separated from the second gate dielectric layer by a gap filled with a diffusion blocking layer.

A method includes forming a p-well and an n-well in a substrate. The method further includes forming a stack of interleaving first semiconductor layers and second semiconductor layers over the p-well and the n-well, the first semiconductor layers having a first thickness and the second semiconductor layers having a second thickness different than the first thickness. The method further includes annealing the stack of interleaving semiconductor layers. The method further includes patterning the stack to form fin-shaped structures including a first fin-shaped structure over the n-well and a second fin-shaped structure over the p-well. The method further includes etching to remove the second semiconductor layers from the first and second fin-shaped structures, where the first semiconductor layers have a different thickness within each of the first and second fin-shaped structures after the etching. The method further includes forming a metal gate over the first and second fin-shaped structures.

A semiconductor device includes a first active region, a second active region spaced apart from the first active region, a plurality of first channel layers disposed on the first active region, and a second channel layer disposed on the second active region. The semiconductor device further includes a first gate structure intersecting the first active region and the first channel layers, a second gate structure intersecting the second active region and the second channel layer, a first source/drain region disposed on the first active region and contacting the plurality of first channel layers, and a second source/drain region and contacting the second channel layer. The plurality of first channel layers includes a first uppermost channel layer and first lower channel layers disposed below the first uppermost channel layer, and the first uppermost channel layer includes a material that is different from a material included in the first lower channel layers.