A semiconductor structure includes: an electrode cover layer; a first conductive structure on the electrode cover layer; a contact structure, including a first and a first contact layer. The first contact layer is in contact with the first conductive structure, the bottom of the second contact layer is in contact with the top of the first contact layer, the width of the first contact layer is greater than the width of the bottom of the second contact layer, the lower surface of the contact structure is not lower than the lower surface of the electrode cover layer, and the resistivity of the first conductive structure is not greater than that of the contact structure and is not greater than that of the electrode cover layer.

A semiconductor device structure includes a gate structure formed over a substrate. The semiconductor device structure also includes a source/drain structure formed beside the gate structure. The semiconductor device structure further includes a contact structure formed over the source/drain structure. The semiconductor device structure also includes a first cap layer formed over the contact structure. The semiconductor device structure further includes a dielectric structure extending from a top surface of the first cap layer into the contact structure. The dielectric structure and the source/drain structure are separated by the contact structure.

A method includes forming a first conductive feature in a first dielectric layer, forming a first metal cap over and contacting the first conductive feature, forming an etch stop layer over the first dielectric layer and the first metal cap, forming a second dielectric layer over the etch stop layer; and etching the second dielectric layer and the etch stop layer to form an opening. The first conductive feature is exposed to the opening. The method further includes selectively depositing a second metal cap at a bottom of the opening, forming an inhibitor film at the bottom of the opening and on the second metal cap, selectively depositing a conductive barrier in the opening, removing the inhibitor film, and filling remaining portions of the opening with a conductive material to form a second conductive feature.

Implementations of low-resistance copper interconnects and manufacturing techniques for forming the low-resistance copper interconnects described herein may achieve low contact resistance and low sheet resistance by decreasing tantalum nitride (TaN) liner/film thickness (or eliminating the use of tantalum nitride as a copper diffusion barrier) and using ruthenium (Ru) and/or zinc silicon oxide (ZnSiO.sub.x) as a copper diffusion barrier, among other examples. The low contact resistance and low sheet resistance of the copper interconnects described herein may increase the electrical performance of an electronic device including such copper interconnects by decreasing the resistance/capacitance (RC) time constants of the electronic device and increasing signal propagation speeds across the electronic device, among other examples.

Microelectronic deviceshaving at least one conductive contact structure adjacent a silicide regionare formed using methods that avoid unintentional contact expansion and contact reduction. A first metal nitride liner is formed in a contact opening, and an exposed surface of a polysilicon structure is thereafter treated (e.g., cleaned and dried) in preparation for formation of a silicide region. During the pretreatments (e.g., cleaning and drying), neighboring dielectric material is protected by the presence of the metal nitride liner, inhibiting expansion of the contact opening. After forming the silicide region, a second metal nitride liner is formed on the silicide region before a conductive material is formed to fill the contact opening and form a conductive contact structure (e.g., a memory cell contact structure, a peripheral contact structure).

Embodiments of the disclosure are in the field of integrated circuit structure fabrication. In an example, an integrated circuit structure includes an inter-layer dielectric (ILD) layer over a conductive interconnect line, the ILD layer having a trench therein, the trench exposing a portion of the conductive interconnect line. A dielectric liner layer is along a top surface of the ILD layer and along sidewalls of the trench, the dielectric liner layer having an opening therein, the opening over the portion of the conductive interconnect line. A conductive via structure is in the trench and between portions of the dielectric liner layer along the sidewalls of the trench, the conductive via structure having a portion extending vertically beneath the dielectric liner layer and in contact with the portion of the conductive interconnect line.

A semiconductor device structure, along with methods of forming such, are described. The semiconductor device structure includes a first source/drain epitaxial feature disposed in a first region, and the first source/drain epitaxial feature is asymmetric with respect to a fin. The structure further includes a second source/drain epitaxial feature disposed in the first region, a first dielectric feature disposed between the first source/drain epitaxial feature and the second source/drain epitaxial feature, and a conductive feature disposed over the first and second source/drain epitaxial features and the first dielectric feature.

A semiconductor device includes a first structure including a first insulating layer and a first conductive wiring arranged on the first insulating layer, a second-1 insulating layer arranged above the first structure in a first direction, a via hole penetrating the second-1 insulating layer in the first direction, a barrier layer arranged at a lower side of the via hole, and a via plug electrically connected to the first conductive wiring and arranged to fill a remaining space in an internal space of the via hole, excluding the barrier layer.