A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes forming a fin structure comprising alternately stacked first semiconductor layers and second semiconductor layers over a substrate. A sacrificial gate structure is formed over the fin structure. Spacers are formed on either side of the sacrificial gate structure. The sacrificial gate structure is removed to form a trench between the spacers. The first semiconductor layers are removed from the trench, while leaving the second semiconductor layers suspended in the trench. A self-assembling monolayer is formed on sidewalls of the spacers in the trench. Interfacial layers are formed encircling the suspended second semiconductor layers, respectively. A high-k dielectric layer is deposited at a faster deposition rate on the interfacial layers than on the self-assembling monolayer. A metal gate structure is formed over the high-k dielectric layer.

A semiconductor device includes: a substrate, a gate structure on the substrate, and a spacer adjacent to the gate structure, in which the spacer extends to a top surface of the gate structure, a top surface of the spacer includes a planar surface, the spacer encloses an air gap, and the spacer is composed of a single material. The gate structure includes a high-k dielectric layer, a work function metal layer, and a low resistance metal layer, in which the high-k dielectric layer is U-shaped. The semiconductor device also includes an interlayer dielectric (ILD) layer around the gate structure and a hard mask on the spacer, in which the top surface of the hard mask is even with the top surface of the ILD layer.

A transistor device and method of making the same are disclosed. The transistor device includes one or more air gaps in one or more sidewall spacers. The one or more air gaps may be located adjacent the gate and/or above the source or drain regions of the device. Various embodiments may include different combinations of air gaps formed in one or both sidewall spacers. Various embodiments may include air gaps formed in one or both sidewall spacers adjacent to the gate and/or above the source or drain regions of the device. The formation of the air gaps may reduce unwanted parasitic and/or fringing capacitance.

A method is provided for fabricating a flash memory structure. The method includes providing a substrate; and forming a gate structure and a hard mask layer. The method also includes forming a sidewall structure on side walls of the gate structure and the hard mask layer; and forming an etching barrier layer covering the sidewall structure. In addition, the method includes forming a first dielectric layer; and removing the sidewall structure and the etching barrier layer higher than the first dielectric layer. Moreover, the method includes forming a sacrificial sidewall layer on the side wall of the hard mask layer and above the sidewall structure and the etching barrier layer; and forming a second dielectric layer on the first dielectric layer. Further, the method includes forming a contact hole penetrating through the second dielectric layer and the first dielectric layer; and forming a contact-hole plug in the contact hole.

A transistor device and method of making the same are disclosed. The transistor device includes one or more air gaps in one or more sidewall spacers. The one or more air gaps may be located adjacent the gate and/or above the source or drain regions of the device. Various embodiments may include different combinations of air gaps formed in one or both sidewall spacers. Various embodiments may include air gaps formed in one or both sidewall spacers adjacent to the gate and/or above the source or drain regions of the device. The formation of the air gaps may reduce unwanted parasitic and/or fringing capacitance.

A method of fabricating a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) is disclosed. A first conductive feature and a second conductive feature are provided. A first hard mask (HM) is formed on the first conductive feature. A patterned dielectric layer is formed over the first and the second conductive features, with first openings to expose the second conductive features. A first metal plug is formed in the first opening to contact the second conductive features. A second HM is formed on the first metal plugs and another patterned dielectric layer is formed over the substrate, with second openings to expose a subset of the first metal plugs and the first conductive features. A second metal plug is formed in the second openings.

A semiconductor device includes source and a drain above a substrate and spaced apart along a first direction, and a semiconductor channel extending between the source and the drain. The semiconductor device further includes gate spacers, an interfacial layer, and a metal gate structure. The gate spacers are disposed on the semiconductor channel and spaced apart by a spacer-to-spacer distance along the first direction. The interfacial layer is on the semiconductor channel. The interfacial layer extends a length along the first direction, and the length is less than a minimum of the spacer-to-spacer distance along the first direction. The metal gate structure is over the interfacial layer.

A semiconductor structure includes a stack of semiconductor layers disposed over a substrate, a first metal gate stack disposed over the stack of semiconductor layers, a second metal gate stack interleaved between the stack of semiconductor layers, a source/drain (S/D) feature disposed in the stack of semiconductor layers, and an S/D contact disposed over the S/D feature. In many examples, the S/D feature is separated from a sidewall of the second metal gate stack by a first air gap and the S/D contact is separated from a sidewall of the first metal gate stack by a second air gap.

The present disclosure provides a semiconductor device structure with fine patterns and a method for forming the semiconductor device structure, which can prevent the collapse of the fine patterns. The semiconductor device structure includes a first target structure and a second target structure disposed over a semiconductor substrate. The semiconductor device structure also includes a first spacer element disposed over the first target structure, wherein a topmost point of the first spacer element is between a central line of the first target structure and a central line of the second target structure in a cross-sectional view.

A method for manufacturing a semiconductor structure includes: providing a substrate; forming at least a pair of first side walls on the substrate, an interval being provided distance between two first side walls in each pair; forming a second side wall at either side of each of the first side walls by an In-Situ Steam Generation (ISSG) process, and forming a gate oxide layer on the substrate between the two first side walls in each pair; and forming a gate layer on a surface of the gate oxide layer.