The present polymeric materials can be patterned with relatively low photo-exposure energies and are thermally stable, mechanically robust, resist water penetration, and show good adhesion to metal oxides, metals, metal alloys, as well as organic materials. In addition, these polymeric materials can be solution-processed (e.g., by spin-coating), and can exhibit good chemical (e.g., solvent and etchant) resistance in the cured form.

The threshold voltage is shifted in a negative or positive direction in some cases by an unspecified factor in a manufacturing process of the thin film transistor. If the amount of shift from 0 V is large, driving voltage is increased, which results in an increase in power consumption of a semiconductor device. Thus, a resin layer having good flatness is formed as a first protective insulating film covering the oxide semiconductor layer, and then a second protective insulating film is formed by a sputtering method or a plasma CVD method under a low power condition over the resin layer. Further, in order to adjust the threshold voltage to a desired value, gate electrodes are provided over and below an oxide semiconductor layer.

A semiconductor device with high aperture ratio is provided. The semiconductor device includes a nitride insulating film, a transistor over the nitride insulating film, and a capacitor including a pair of electrodes over the nitride insulating film. An oxide semiconductor layer is used for a channel formation region of the transistor and one of the electrodes of the capacitor. A transparent conductive film is used for the other electrode of the capacitor. One electrode of the capacitor is in contact with the nitride insulating film, and the other electrode of the capacitor is electrically connected to one of a source electrode and a drain electrode of the transistor.

A semiconductor device and a method of fabricating the semiconductor device are provided. The semiconductor device includes a substrate, a gate structure over the substrate, a source/drain regions adjacent to the pair of spacers in the substrate, an etch stop layer next to the gate structure and overlying the substrate, a contact plug extending into the source/drain region and partially overlapping the gate structure, a protective layer over the etch stop layer overlying the substrate and covering the etch stop layer next to the gate structure without the contact plug, and an interlayer dielectric layer over the protective layer. The contact plug has no contact-to-gate short issue to the gate structure.

A semiconductor device that is suitable for miniaturization is provided. Alternatively, a highly reliable semiconductor device is provided. A semiconductor device including a capacitor and a transistor is provided. In the semiconductor device, the transistor includes a semiconductor layer, the semiconductor layer is positioned over the capacitor, and the capacitor includes a first electrode that is electrically connected to the transistor.

A highly reliable semiconductor device which uses an oxide semiconductor film for a backplane is provided. A semiconductor device includes a first conductive film, a first insulating film over the first conductive film, an oxide semiconductor film which is over the first insulating film and overlaps with the first conductive film, a second insulating film over the oxide semiconductor film, and a pair of second conductive films electrically connected to the oxide semiconductor film through an opening portion included in the second insulating film. The second insulating film overlaps with a region of the oxide insulating film in which a carrier flows between the pair of second conductive films and overlaps with end portions of the oxide semiconductor film.

A thin film transistor includes a gate electrode, an active layer formed of oxide semiconductor material on a substrate, and a gate insulation layer therebetween. The active layer includes a channel region corresponding to the gate electrode, a source region at one side of the channel region, and a drain region at the other side of the channel region. The source region includes a first upper portion and the drain region includes a second upper portion that includes the oxide semiconductor material and Si.

Deep gate-all-around semiconductor devices having germanium or group III-V active layers are described. For example, a non-planar semiconductor device includes a hetero-structure disposed above a substrate. The hetero-structure includes a hetero-junction between an upper layer and a lower layer of differing composition. An active layer is disposed above the hetero-structure and has a composition different from the upper and lower layers of the hetero-structure. A gate electrode stack is disposed on and completely surrounds a channel region of the active layer, and is disposed in a trench in the upper layer and at least partially in the lower layer of the hetero-structure. Source and drain regions are disposed in the active layer and in the upper layer, but not in the lower layer, on either side of the gate electrode stack.

Provided is an element with stable electrical characteristics or a device including plural kinds of elements with stable electrical characteristics. The semiconductor device includes a first insulator, a transistor over the first insulator, a second insulator over the transistor, and a third insulator over the second insulator. The second insulator includes an opening reaching the first insulator. The opening is filled with a fourth insulator. The first insulator, the third insulator, and the fourth insulator each have a lower hydrogen-transmitting property than the second insulator.

According to one embodiment, a transistor includes a first electrode, a second electrode, a current path between the first and second electrodes, the current path including an oxide semiconductor layer, a control terminal which controls an on/off action of the current path, an insulating layer between the control terminal and the oxide semiconductor layer, a first oxide layer between the first electrode and the oxide semiconductor layer, the first oxide layer being different from the oxide semiconductor layer, and a second oxide layer between the second electrode and the oxide semiconductor layer, the second oxide layer being different from the oxide semiconductor layer.