An SGT production method includes a first step of forming a fin-shaped semiconductor layer on a semiconductor substrate and forming a first insulating film; a second step of forming a pillar-shaped semiconductor layer, a first dummy gate, and a first hard mask formed from a third insulating film; a third step of forming a second hard mask on a side wall of the first hard mask, and forming a second dummy gate; a fourth step of forming a sidewall and forming a second diffusion layer; a fifth step of depositing an interlayer insulating film, exposing upper portions of the second dummy gate and the first dummy gate, removing the second dummy gate and the first dummy gate, forming a first gate insulating film, and forming a gate electrode and a gate line; and a sixth step of forming a first contact and a second contact.

A nanosheet field effect transistor design in which the threshold voltage is adjustable by adjusting the composition of the gate. The channel of the nanosheet field effect transistor may be composed of a III-V semiconductor material, and the gate, which may be separated from the channel by a high dielectric constant dielectric layer, may also be composed of a III-V semiconductor material. Adjusting the composition of the gate may result in a change in the affinity of the gate, in turn resulting in a change in the threshold voltage. In some embodiments the channel is composed, for example, of In.sub.xGa.sub.1-xAs, with x between 0.23 and 0.53, and the gate is composed of InAs.sub.1-yN.sub.y with y between 0.0 and 0.4, and the values of x and y may be adjusted to adjust the threshold voltage.

An integrated circuit having an improved gate contact and a method of making the circuit are provided. In an exemplary embodiment, the method includes receiving a substrate. The substrate includes a gate stack disposed on the substrate and an interlayer dielectric disposed on the gate stack. The interlayer dielectric is first etched to expose a portion of the gate electrode, and then the exposed portion of the gate electrode is etched to form a cavity. The cavity is shaped such that a portion of the gate electrode overhangs the electrode. A conductive material is deposited within the cavity and in electrical contact with the gate electrode. In some such embodiments, the etching of the gate electrode forms a curvilinear surface of the gate electrode that defines the cavity.

Semiconductor structures are provided. The semiconductor structure includes a substrate and a gate structure formed over the substrate. In addition, a sidewall of the gate structure has a top portion having a first inclination, a middle portion having a second inclination, and a bottom portion having a third inclination, and the first inclination, the second inclination, and the third inclination are different from one another.

A method of making a vertical transistor includes forming a doped source on a substrate; depositing a sacrificial gate material on the source; forming a trench in the sacrificial gate material to expose the doped source; growing an epitaxial layer within the trench to form a channel region extending from the doped source and through the sacrificial gate material; performing an epitaxial growth process to grow an epitaxial layer on a portion of the channel region to form a drain over the sacrificial gate material; depositing a dielectric material on the drain to form a spacer that protects the epitaxial growth; and removing the sacrificial gate material and replacing the sacrificial gate material with a gate stack that surrounds the channel region between the doped source and the drain.

A nonvolatile memory device includes gate electrodes three dimensionally arranged on a semiconductor substrate, a semiconductor pattern extending from the semiconductor substrate and crossing sidewalls of the gate electrodes, a metal liner pattern formed between the semiconductor pattern and formed on a top surface and a bottom surface of each of the gate electrodes, and a charge storage layer formed between the semiconductor pattern and the metal liner pattern.

Apparatus and methods are disclosed, including an apparatus that includes a number of tiers of a first semiconductor material, each tier including at least one access line of at least one memory cell and at least one source, channel and/or drain of at least one peripheral transistor, such as one used in an access line decoder circuit or a data line multiplexing circuit. The apparatus can also include a number of pillars of a second semiconductor material extending through the tiers of the first semiconductor material, each pillar including either a source, channel and/or drain of at least one of the memory cells, or a gate of at least one of the peripheral transistors. Methods of forming such apparatus are also described, along with other embodiments.

First, second, and third trenches are formed in a layer over a substrate. The third trench is substantially wider than the first and second trenches. The first, second, and third trenches are partially filled with a first conductive material. A first anti-reflective material is coated over the first, second, and third trenches. The first anti-reflective material has a first surface topography variation. A first etch-back process is performed to partially remove the first anti-reflective material. Thereafter, a second anti-reflective material is coated over the first anti-reflective material. The second anti-reflective material has a second surface topography variation that is smaller than the first surface topography variation. A second etch-back process is performed to at least partially remove the second anti-reflective material in the first and second trenches. Thereafter, the first conductive material is partially removed in the first and second trenches.

A semiconductor device includes: a sidewall insulating film; a gate electrode; source and drain regions; a first stress film; and a second stress film.

A method for fabricating a gate stack of a semiconductor device comprises forming a first dielectric layer over a channel region of the device, forming a first nitride layer over the first dielectric layer, depositing a scavenging layer on the first nitride layer, forming a capping layer over the scavenging layer, removing portions of the capping layer and the scavenging layer to expose a portion of the first nitride layer in a n-type field effect transistor (nFET) region of the gate stack, forming a first gate metal layer over the first nitride layer and the capping layer, depositing a second nitride layer on the first gate metal layer, and depositing a gate electrode material on the second nitride layer.