A method of fabricating semiconductor fins, including, patterning a film stack to produce one or more sacrificial mandrels having sidewalls, exposing the sidewall on one side of the one or more sacrificial mandrels to an ion beam to make the exposed sidewall more susceptible to oxidation, oxidizing the opposite sidewalls of the one or more sacrificial mandrels to form a plurality of oxide pillars, removing the one or more sacrificial mandrels, forming spacers on opposite sides of each of the plurality of oxide pillars to produce a spacer pattern, removing the plurality of oxide pillars, and transferring the spacer pattern to the substrate to produce a plurality of fins.

Integrated circuit devices and methods of forming the same are provided. The methods may include sequentially forming an underlying mask layer and a preliminary first mask layer on a substrate, forming a first mask structure by removing a portion of the preliminary first mask layer, and then forming a preliminary second mask layer. The preliminary second mask layer may enclose the first mask structure in a plan view. The methods may also include forming a second mask structure by removing a portion of the preliminary second mask layer and forming a vertical channel region including a portion of the substrate by sequentially etching the underlying mask layer and the substrate. The second mask structure may be connected to the first mask structure, and etching the underlying mask layer may be performed using the first and the second mask structures as an etch mask.

Structures and formation methods of a semiconductor device structure are provided. The semiconductor device structure includes a fin structure over a semiconductor substrate. The semiconductor device structure also includes a gate stack covering a portion of the fin structure. The semiconductor device structure further includes a spacer element over a sidewall of the gate stack. The spacer element includes a first layer and a second layer over the first layer. The dielectric constant of the first layer is greater than the dielectric constant of the second layer. A gate dielectric layer of the gate stack adjoins the first layer and the second layer.

Fabrication method for a semiconductor memory device and structure are provided, which includes: providing at least two mask layers over a pair of fin structures extended above a substrate, wherein a first mask layer of the at least two mask layers is orthogonal to a second mask layer of the at least two mask layers; and patterning the pair of fin structures to define a pass-gate transistor, wherein the first mask layer facilitates removing of a portion of a first fin structure of the pair of fin structures to define a first pass-gate fin portion of the pass-gate transistor, and the second mask layer protects a second fin structure of the pair of fin structures to define a second pass-gate fin portion of the pass-gate transistor.

Semiconductor structures and forming methods are disclosed. One form of a method includes: forming mask spacers on a base; patterning a target layer using the mask spacers as masks, to form discrete initial pattern layers, where the initial pattern layers extend along a lateral direction and grooves are formed between a longitudinal adjacent initial pattern layers; forming boundary defining grooves that penetrate through the initial pattern layers located at boundary positions of the target areas and cutting areas along the lateral direction; forming spacing layers filled into the grooves and the boundary defining grooves; and using the spacing layers located in boundary defining grooves and the spacing layers located in the grooves as stop layers along the lateral and the longitudinal directions respectively, etching the initial pattern layers located in the cutting areas, and using the remaining initial pattern layers located in the target areas as the target pattern layers.

Techniques are disclosed for non-planar transistors having varying channel widths (Wsi). In some instances, the resulting structure has a fin (or nanowires, nanoribbons, or nanosheets) comprising a first channel region and a second channel region, with a source or drain region between the first channel region and the second channel region. The widths of the respective channel regions are independent of each other, e.g., a first width of the first channel region is different from a second width of the second channel region. The variation in width of a given fin structure may vary in a symmetric fashion or an asymmetric fashion. In an embodiment, a spacer-based forming approach is utilized that allows for abrupt changes in width along a given fin. Sub-resolution fin dimensions are achievable as well.

The present disclosure relates to a method for at least one of forming a part or modifying a part, and a system therefor. The method involves initially providing a planar structure having a first material layer disposed on a second material layer. A lithographic operation including greyscale printing is performed to produce a resist material layer on the first material layer, with the resist material layer having a predetermined three-dimensional pattern extending along X, Y and Z axes, with features helping to define the three-dimensional pattern having differing dimensions along the Z axis, and which acts as a mask. An etch process is then performed, using the mask provided by the resist material layer, to etch the first material layer to impart the pattern of the mask as an etched pattern into the first material layer in accordance with a predetermined selectivity etching ratio, such that the etched pattern in the first material layer includes features formed with greater dimensions than corresponding features in the mask of the resist material layer.

A novel dielectric cap structure for VTFET device fabrication is provided. In one aspect, a method of forming a VTFET device includes: patterning fins in a substrate using fin hardmasks, including a first fin(s) and a second fin(s); depositing a liner over the fins and the fin hardmasks; selectively forming first hardmask caps on top of the fin hardmasks/liner over the first fin(s); forming first bottom source and drain at a base of the first fin(s) while the fin hardmasks/liner over the first fin(s) are preserved by the first hardmask caps; selectively forming second hardmask caps on top of the fin hardmasks/liner over the second fin(s); and forming second bottom source and drains at a base of the second fin(s) while the fin hardmasks/liner over the second fin(s) are preserved by the second hardmask caps. A device structure is also provided.

A band-shaped Si pillar having a mask material layer on the top portion thereof is formed on a P+ layer. SiGe layers having mask material layers on the top portions thereof are then formed in contact with the side surfaces of the band-shaped Si pillar and the surfaces of N+ layers and the P+ layer. Si layers having mask material layers on the top portions thereof are then formed in contact with the side surfaces of the SiGe layers and the surfaces of the N+ layers. The outer peripheries of the bottom portions of the Si layers are then removed using the mask material layers as a mask to form band-shaped Si pillars. The mask material layers and the SiGe layers are then removed. Si pillars separated in the Y direction are then formed in the band-shaped Si pillars.

First lithography and etching are carried out on a semiconductor structure to provide a first intermediate semiconductor structure having a first set of surface features corresponding to a first portion of desired fin formation mandrels. Second lithography and etching are carried out on the first intermediate structure, using a second mask, to provide a second intermediate semiconductor structure having a second set of surface features corresponding to a second portion of the mandrels. The second set of surface features are unequally spaced from the first set of surface features and/or the features have different pitch. The fin formation mandrels are formed in the second intermediate semiconductor structure using the first and second sets of surface features; spacer material is deposited over the mandrels and is etched back to form a third intermediate semiconductor structure having a fin pattern. Etching is carried out on same to produce the fin pattern.