A capacitor includes cup-shaped lower electrodes disposed on a substrate, a capacitor dielectric layer conformally covering inner surfaces and outer surfaces of the cup-shaped lower electrodes, and a support layer disposed between outer surfaces of the cup-shaped lower electrodes to connect the cup-shaped lower electrodes. The capacitor further includes an annealed oxide layer, which is interposed between the inner surfaces of the cup-shaped lower electrodes and the capacitor dielectric layer, and is also interposed between a portion of the outer surfaces of the cup-shaped lower electrodes and the capacitor dielectric layer. A method for forming the capacitor is also provided.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide power to backend memory of an IC device from the back side of the device. An example IC device with back-side power delivery for backend memory includes a frontend layer with a plurality of frontend components such as frontend transistors, a backend layer (that may include a plurality of layers) with backend memory (e.g., with one or more eDRAM arrays), and a back-side power delivery structure with a plurality of back-side interconnects electrically coupled to the backend memory, where the frontend layer is between the back-side power delivery structure and the backend layer.

Disclosed herein is an apparatus that includes a driver circuit including a plurality of first transistors arranged in a first direction; a control circuit including a plurality of second transistors arranged in parallel to the plurality of first transistors, each of the plurality of second transistors being coupled to control an associated one of the first transistors; and a power gating circuit arranged between the driver circuit and the control circuit, the power gating circuit being configured to supply a first power potential to each of the plurality of first transistors.

A contact forming method may include providing a semiconductor substrate including a silicon oxide film to an interior of a chamber, subjecting a surface of the silicon oxide film to plasma nitrification treatment, supplying a source gas including TiCl.sub.4 and H.sub.2 onto the silicon oxide film subjected to the plasma nitrification treatment, and forming a barrier layer by igniting a plasma using the source gas.

Provided is a step of forming, on a P-layer substrate 20, an N.sup.+ layer 21A to be connected to a source line SL, Si pillars 25a to 25d, N.sup.+ layers 23A to 23D to be connected to bit lines BL1 and BL2, HfO.sub.2 layers 30a and 32 surrounding lower and upper portions of the Si pillars 25a to 25d, a TiN layer 31a to be connected to a plate line PL, and TiN layers 33a and 33b to be connected to word lines WL1 and WL2. P layers 27a to 27d are formed so as to surround the Si pillars 25a to 25d and so as to be deposited on them to form a plurality of dynamic flash memory cells arranged in rows and columns.

A semiconductor structure includes a substrate comprising a peripheral region and a memory region defined thereon, a first dielectric layer disposed on the substrate, a second dielectric layer disposed on the first dielectric layer, an opening on the peripheral region of the substrate and having a lower portion through the first dielectric layer and an upper portion through the second dielectric layer, an interconnecting structure disposed on the second dielectric layer and two sides of the opening, a contact structure disposed in the lower portion of the opening, and a spacer covering a top surface of the contact structure, a sidewall of the second dielectric layer, and a sidewall of the interconnecting structure.

A semiconductor structure includes a substrate, a contact structure disposed on the substrate, and two first gate structures disposed on the substrate and at two sides of the first contact structure. The contact structure has a T-shaped cross-sectional profile having a first portion contacting the substrate and a second portion disposed on the first portion. A top surface of the second portion of the contact structure is flush with top surfaces of the two first gate structures.

Memory devices and methods of forming memory devices are described. The memory devices comprise a silicon nitride hard mask layer on a ruthenium layer. Forming the silicon nitride hard mask layer on the ruthenium comprises pre-treating the ruthenium layer with a plasma to form an interface layer on the ruthenium layer; and forming a silicon nitride layer on the interface layer by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). Pre-treating the ruthenium layer, in some embodiments, results in the interface layer having a reduced roughness and the memory device having a reduced resistivity compared to a memory device that does not include the interface layer.

A method for forming a semiconductor memory structure includes forming a plurality of conductive wire structures over a semiconductor substrate, and forming a plurality of spacer structures along the sidewalls of the conductive wire structures. Each of the spacer structures includes a first spacer. The method also includes forming a plurality of dielectric strips across the conductive wire structures, forming a plurality of conductive strips over the conductive wire structures and the dielectric strips, performing a patterning process on the conductive strips to form a plurality of conductive pads, and removing the first spacer of each of the spacer structures to form a gap in each of the spacer structures.

IC devices with backend memory and electrical feedthrough networks of interconnects between the opposite sides of the IC devices, and associated assemblies, packages, and methods, are disclosed. An example IC device includes a back-side interconnect structure, comprising back-side interconnects; a frontend layer, comprising frontend transistors; a backend layer, comprising backend memory cells and backend interconnects; and a front-side interconnect structure, comprising front-side interconnects. In such an IC device, the frontend layer is between the back-side interconnect structure and the backend layer, the backend layer is between the frontend layer and the front-side interconnect structure, and at least one of the back-side interconnects is electrically coupled to at least one of the front-side interconnects by an electrical feedthrough network of two or more of the backend interconnects.