A process is disclosed of forming metal replacement gates for PMOS transistors with oxygen in the metal gates such that the PMOS gates have effective work functions above 4.85. Metal work function layers in the PMOS gates are oxidized at low temperature to increase their effective work functions to the desired PMOS range. Hydrogen may also be incorporated at an interface between the metal gates and underlying gate dielectrics. Materials for the metal work function layers and processes for the low temperature oxidation are disclosed.

An integrated circuit containing a first plurality of MOS transistors operating in a low voltage range, and a second plurality of MOS transistors operating in a mid voltage range, may also include a high-voltage MOS transistor which operates in a third voltage range significantly higher than the low and mid voltage ranges, for example 20 to 30 volts. The high-voltage MOS transistor has a closed loop configuration, in which a drain region is surrounded by a gate, which is in turn surrounded by a source region, so that the gate does not overlap field oxide. The integrated circuit may include an n-channel version of the high-voltage MOS transistor and/or a p-channel version of the high-voltage MOS transistor. Implanted regions of the n-channel version and the p-channel version are formed concurrently with implanted regions in the first and second pluralities of MOS transistors.

A semiconductor device having an n channel MISFET formed on an SOI substrate including a support substrate, an insulating layer formed on the support substrate and a silicon layer formed on the insulating layer has the following structure. An impurity region for threshold adjustment is provided in the support substrate of a gate electrode so that the silicon layer contains carbon. The threshold value can be adjusted by the semiconductor region for threshold adjustment in this manner. Further, by providing the silicon layer containing carbon, even when the impurity of the semiconductor region for threshold adjustment is diffused to the silicon layer across the insulating layer, the impurity is inactivated by the carbon implanted into the silicon layer. As a result, the fluctuation of the transistor characteristics, for example, the fluctuation of the threshold voltage of the MISFET can be reduced.

An integrated circuit can include multiple SRAM cells, each including at least two pull-up transistors, at least two pull-down transistors, and at least two pass-gate transistors, each of the transistors having a gate; at least one of the pull-up transistors, the pull-down transistors, or the pass-gate transistors having a screening region a distance below the gate and separated from the gate by a semiconductor layer, the screening region having a concentration of screening region dopants, the concentration of screening region dopants being higher than a concentration of dopants in the semiconductor layer, the screening region providing an enhanced body coefficient for the pull-down transistors and the pass-gate transistors to increase the read static noise margin for the SRAM cell when a bias voltage is applied to the screening region; and a bias voltage network operable to apply one or more bias voltages to the multiple SRAM cells.

An integrated circuit and method has an isolated well with an improved isolated well contact. The well contact diffusion is isolated from a device diffusion of opposite conductivity type within the isolated well by an isolation transistor gate.

A method for fabricating field effect transistors using carbon doped silicon layers to substantially reduce the diffusion of a doped screen layer formed below a substantially undoped channel layer includes forming an in-situ epitaxial carbon doped silicon substrate that is doped to form the screen layer in the carbon doped silicon substrate and forming the substantially undoped silicon layer above the carbon doped silicon substrate. The method may include implanting carbon below the screen layer and forming a thin layer of in-situ epitaxial carbon doped silicon above the screen layer. The screen layer may be formed either in a silicon substrate layer or the carbon doped silicon substrate.

A semiconductor device including a gate structure on a channel region portion of a fin structure, and at least one of an epitaxial source region and an epitaxial drain region on a source region portion and a drain region portion of the fin structure. At least one of the epitaxial source region portion and the epitaxial drain region portion include a first concentration doped portion adjacent to the fin structure, and a second concentration doped portion on the first concentration doped portion. The second concentration portion has a greater dopant concentration than the first concentration doped portion. An extension dopant region extending into the channel portion of the fin structure having an abrupt dopant concentration gradient of n-type or p-type dopants of 7 nm per decade or greater.

Occurrence of short-channel characteristics and parasitic capacitance of a MOSFET on a SOI substrate is prevented.

A sidewall having a stacked structure obtained by sequentially stacking a silicon oxide film and a nitride film is formed on a side wall of a gate electrode on the SOI substrate. Subsequently, after an epitaxial layer is formed beside the gate electrode, and then, the nitride film is removed. Then, an impurity is implanted into an upper surface of the semiconductor substrate with using the gate electrode and the epitaxial layer as a mask, so that a halo region is formed in only a region of the upper surface of the semiconductor substrate which is right below a vicinity of both ends of the gate electrode.

A semiconductor device including a gate structure on a channel region portion of a fin structure, and at least one of an epitaxial source region and an epitaxial drain region on a source region portion and a drain region portion of the fin structure. At least one of the epitaxial source region portion and the epitaxial drain region portion include a first concentration doped portion adjacent to the fin structure, and a second concentration doped portion on the first concentration doped portion. The second concentration portion has a greater dopant concentration than the first concentration doped portion. An extension dopant region extending into the channel portion of the fin structure having an abrupt dopant concentration gradient of n-type or p-type dopants of 7 nm per decade or greater.

The present disclosure relates to a semiconductor chip having a level shifter with electro-static discharge (ESD) protection circuit and device applied to multiple power supply lines with high and low power input to protect the level shifter from the static ESD stress. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a feature to protect a semiconductor device in a level shifter from the ESD stress by using ESD stress blocking region adjacent to a gate electrode of the semiconductor device. The ESD stress blocking region increases a gate resistance of the semiconductor device, which results in reducing the ESD stress applied to the semiconductor device.