A method for depositing a metal oxynitride film by epitaxial growth at a low temperature is provided. It is a method for manufacturing a metal oxynitride film, in which the metal oxynitride film is epitaxially grown on a single crystal substrate by a sputtering method using an oxide target with a gas containing a nitrogen gas introduced. The oxide target contains zinc, the substrate during the deposition of the metal oxynitride film is higher than or equal to 80° C. and lower than or equal to 400° C., and the flow rate of the nitrogen gas is greater than or equal to 50% and lower than or equal to 100% of the total flow rate of the gas.

A semiconductor device having favorable electrical characteristics is provided. A semiconductor device having stable electrical characteristics is provided. A highly reliable semiconductor device is provided. The semiconductor device includes a semiconductor layer, a first insulating layer, and a first conductive layer. The semiconductor layer includes an island-shaped top surface. The first insulating layer is provided in contact with a top surface and a side surface of the semiconductor layer. The first conductive layer is positioned over the first insulating layer and includes a portion overlapping with the semiconductor layer. In addition, the semiconductor layer includes a metal oxide, and the first insulating layer includes an oxide. The semiconductor layer includes a first region overlapping with the first conductive layer and a second region not overlapping with the first conductive layer. The first insulating layer includes a third region overlapping with the first conductive layer and a fourth region not overlapping with the first conductive layer. Furthermore, the second region and the fourth region contain phosphorus or boron.

A nonplanar MOSFET device such as a FinFET or a sacked nanosheets/nanowires FET has a substrate, one or more nonplanar channels disposed on the substrate, and a gate stack enclosing the nonplanar channels. A first source/drain (S/D) region is disposed on the substrate on a source side of the nonplanar channel and second S/D region is disposed on the substrate on a drain side of the nonplanar channel. The first and second S/D regions made of silicon-germanium (SiGe). In some embodiments, both S/D regions are p-type doped. Contact trenches provide a metallic electrical connection to the first and the second source/drain (S/D) regions. The S/D regions have two parts, a first part with a first concentration of germanium (Ge) and a second part with a second, higher Ge concentration that is a surface layer having convex shape and aligned with one of the contact trenches.

A metal oxide film with high electrical characteristics is provided. A metal oxide film with high reliability is provided. The metal oxide film contains indium, M (M is aluminum, gallium, yttrium, or tin), and zinc. In the metal oxide film, distribution of interplanar spacings d determined by electron diffraction by electron beam irradiation from a direction perpendicular to a film surface of the metal oxide film has a first peak and a second peak. The top of the first peak is positioned at greater than or equal to 0.25 nm and less than or equal to 0.30 nm, and the top of the second peak is positioned at greater than or equal to 0.15 nm and less than or equal to 0.20 nm. The distribution of the interplanar spacings d is obtained from a plurality of electron diffraction patterns of a plurality of regions of the metal oxide film. The electron diffraction is performed using an electron beam with a beam diameter of greater than or equal to 0.3 nm and less than or equal to 10 nm.

A transistor including a channel layer including an oxide semiconductor material and methods of making the same. The transistor includes a channel layer having a first oxide semiconductor layer having a first oxygen concentration, a second oxide semiconductor layer having a second oxygen concentration and a third oxide semiconductor layer having a third oxygen concentration. The second oxide semiconductor layer is located between the first semiconductor oxide layer and the third oxide semiconductor layer. The second oxygen concentration is lower than the first oxygen concentration and the third oxygen concentration.

Graphene is selectively deposited on a metal layer relative to a dielectric layer of a semiconductor substrate. Dielectric material is selectively deposited on the dielectric layer relative to the metal layer of the semiconductor substrate. The graphene is a high-quality graphene film that serves as an inhibitor during deposition of the dielectric material. In some implementations, the dielectric material may be a metal oxide. In some implementations, the dielectric material may be a low-k dielectric material. The graphene remains throughout semiconductor integration processes. In some implementations, the graphene may be subsequently modified by to permit deposition on the surface of the graphene or the graphene may be subsequently removed.

Methods and systems for depositing threshold voltage shifting layers onto a surface of a substrate and structures and devices formed using the methods are disclosed. An exemplary method includes using a cyclical deposition process, depositing a threshold voltage shifting layer onto a surface of the substrate. The threshold voltage shifting layers are particularly useful for metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors.

It is an object to provide a highly reliable semiconductor device including a thin film transistor with stable electric characteristics. In a semiconductor device including an inverted staggered thin film transistor whose semiconductor layer is an oxide semiconductor layer, a buffer layer is provided over the oxide semiconductor layer. The buffer layer is in contact with a channel formation region of the semiconductor layer and source and drain electrode layers. A film of the buffer layer has resistance distribution. A region provided over the channel formation region of the semiconductor layer has lower electrical conductivity than the channel formation region of the semiconductor layer, and a region in contact with the source and drain electrode layers has higher electrical conductivity than the channel formation region of the semiconductor layer.

A semiconductor device including a first oxide semiconductor layer, a first gate electrode opposing the first oxide semiconductor layer, a first gate insulating layer between the first oxide semiconductor layer and the first gate electrode, a first insulating layer covering the first oxide semiconductor layer and having a first opening, a first conductive layer above the first insulating layer and in the first opening, the first conductive layer being electrically connected to the first oxide semiconductor layer, and an oxide layer between an upper surface of the first insulating layer and the first conductive layer, wherein the first insulating layer is exposed from the oxide layer in a region not overlapping the first conductive layer in a plan view.

Embodiments of the invention include non-planar InGaZnO (IGZO) transistors and methods of forming such devices. In an embodiment, the IGZO transistor may include a substrate and an IGZO fin formed above the substrate. Embodiments may include a source contact and a drain contact that are formed adjacent to more than one surface of the IGZO fin. Additionally, embodiments may include a gate electrode formed between the source contact and the drain contact. The gate electrode may be separated from the IGZO layer by a gate dielectric. In one embodiment, the IGZO transistor is a finfet transistor. In another embodiment the IGZO transistor is a nanowire or a nanoribbon transistor. Embodiments of the invention may also include a non-planar IGZO transistor that is formed in the back end of line stack (BEOL) of an integrated circuit chip.