A semiconductor device comprising a gate electrode on a substrate, a source/drain pattern on the substrate on a side of the gate electrode, and a gate contact plug on the gate electrode are disclosed. The gate contact plug may include a first gate contact segment, and a second gate contact segment that extends in a vertical direction from a top surface of the first gate contact segment. An upper width of the first gate contact segment may be greater than a lower width of the second gate contact segment.

One aspect of the disclosure provides for a method of forming a replacement gate structure. The method may include: removing a dummy gate from over a set of fins to form an opening in a dielectric layer exposing the set of fins, each fin in the set of fins being substantially separated from an adjacent fin in the set of fins via an dielectric; forming a protective cap layer within the opening over the exposed set of fins; removing a portion of the dielectric on each side of each fin in the set of fins; undercutting each fin by removing a portion of each fin in the set of fins to create a notch disposed under the protective cap layer; substantially filling each notch with an oxide; forming a gate dielectric over each fin in the set of fins; and forming a gate conductor over the gate dielectric, thereby forming the replacement gate structure.

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor structure, comprising: providing a preliminary structure having a first region and a second region and comprising a plurality of first trenches in the first region; forming a metal layer filling the first trenches covering on the preliminary structure, wherein the metal layer comprises a concave portion in the second region and the concave portion defines an opening; forming a metal nitride layer on the metal layer by an nitride treatment; and performing a planarization process to remove the metal nitride layer and a portion of the metal layer to expose the preliminary structure.

A method for fabricating a semiconductor device includes providing a semiconductor substrate having a first region and a second region; and forming at least one first dummy gate in the first region and at least one second dummy gate in the second region. Further, the method includes forming a dielectric layer with a top surface leveling with a surface of the first dummy gate on the semiconductor substrate; oxidizing a top portion of the second dummy gate to form a protective layer to prevent over-polishing on the second region; removing the first dummy gate to form a first gate trench; forming a first metal layer to fill the first gate trench and cover the protective layer and the dielectric layer; and removing a portion of the first metal layer higher than the dielectric layer to form a first metal gate in the first gate trench.

A method of forming a semiconductor device includes receiving a device having a substrate and a first dielectric layer surrounding a gate trench. The method further includes depositing a gate dielectric layer and a gate work function (WF) layer in the gate trench, and forming a hard mask (HM) layer in a space surrounded by the gate WF layer. The method further includes recessing the gate WF layer such that a top surface of the gate WF layer in the gate trench is below a top surface of the first dielectric layer. After the recessing of the gate WF layer, the method further includes removing the HM layer in the gate trench. After the removing of the HM layer, the method further includes depositing a metal layer in the gate trench.

There is provided a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, including: providing a semiconductor substrate having a plurality of openings formed thereon by removing a sacrificial gate; filling the openings with a top metal layer having compressive stress; and performing amorphous doping with respect to the top metal layer in a PMOS device region. Thus, it is possible to effectively improve carrier mobility of an NMOS device, and also to reduce the compressive stress in the PMOS device region to ensure a desired performance of the PMOS device.

Provided are slurry for polishing cobalt and a substrate polishing method. The slurry includes an abrasive configured to perform the polishing, the abrasive comprising zirconium oxide particles, a dispersing agent configured to disperse the abrasive, and a polishing accelerator configured to accelerate the polishing. The polishing accelerator includes an organic acid containing an amine group and a carboxylic group. According to the slurry in accordance with an exemplary embodiment, a polishing rate of the cobalt may increases without using an oxidizing agent, and local corrosion defects on a surface of the cobalt may be suppressed.

A method of manufacturing a Fin FET includes forming a fin structure including an upper layer. Part of the upper layer is exposed from an isolation insulating layer. A dummy gate structure is formed over part of the fin structure. The dummy gate structure includes a dummy gate electrode layer and a dummy gate dielectric layer. An interlayer insulating layer is formed over the dummy gate structure. The dummy gate structure is removed so that a space is formed. A gate dielectric layer is formed in the space. A first metal layer is formed over the gate dielectric in the space. A second metal layer is formed over the first metal layer in the space. The first and second metal layers are partially removed, thereby reducing a height of the first and second metal layers. A third metal layer is formed over the partially removed first and second metal layers.

In an embodiment, a device includes: a first nanostructure; a second nanostructure; a gate dielectric around the first nanostructure and the second nanostructure, the gate dielectric including dielectric materials; and a gate electrode including: a work function tuning layer on the gate dielectric, the work function tuning layer including a pure work function metal, the pure work function metal of the work function tuning layer and the dielectric materials of the gate dielectric completely filling a region between the first nanostructure and the second nanostructure, the pure work function metal having a composition of greater than 95 at. % metals; an adhesion layer on the work function tuning layer; and a fill layer on the adhesion layer.

A method of forming a gate stack structure includes forming a dipole metal layer on a high-κ gate dielectric layer on a semiconductor structure formed on a substrate, annealing the dipole metal layer, and removing the dipole metal layer. The dipole metal layer comprises dopants in the high-κ gate dielectric layer.