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.

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.

The present disclosure relates to a patterning method and a method of manufacturing a semiconductor structure. The patterning method includes: providing a base; forming a first patterned mask layer on a surface of the base, where the first patterned mask layer includes a plurality of first mask structures extending along a first direction, and the first mask structures are arranged at intervals; forming a first dielectric layer on the first patterned mask layer, where the first dielectric layer fills up a spacing region between the first mask structures and covers an upper surface of the first patterned mask layer; and etching the first dielectric layer to form a plurality of second mask structures extending along a second direction, where the second mask structures are arranged at intervals, and the second direction intersects with the first direction; and selectively etching the first mask structure and the second mask structure.

Self-aligned gate endcap (SAGE) architectures having local interconnects, and methods of fabricating SAGE architectures having local interconnects, are described. In an example, an integrated circuit structure includes a first gate structure over a first semiconductor fin, and a second gate structure over a second semiconductor fin. A gate endcap isolation structure is between the first and second semiconductor fins and laterally between and in contact with the first and second gate structures. A gate plug is over the gate endcap isolation structure and laterally between and in contact with the first and second gate structures. A local gate interconnect is between the gate plug and the gate endcap isolation structure, the local gate interconnect in contact with the first and second gate structures.

An initial semiconductor structure includes an underlying substrate, a hard mask stack, an organic planarization layer (OPL), a first complementary material, and a patterned photoresist layer patterned into a plurality of photoresist pillars defining a plurality of photoresist trenches. The first material is partially etched inward of the trenches, to provide trench regions, and the photoresist is removed. The trench regions are filled with a second complementary material, preferentially etchable with respect to the first material. A polymer brush is grafted on the second material but not the first material, to form polymer brush regions with intermediate regions not covered by the brush. The first material is anisotropically etched the at the intermediate regions but not the brush regions. The OPL is etched inward of the intermediate regions, to provide a plurality of OPL pillars defining a plurality of OPL trenches inverted with respect to the photoresist pillars.

A method for forming a patterned mask layer is provided. The method includes forming a first layer over a substrate. The method includes forming a first strip structure and a second strip structure over the first layer. The method includes forming a spacer layer conformally covering the first strip structure, the second strip structure, and the first layer. The method includes forming a block structure in the first trench. The method includes removing a first portion of the spacer layer, which is under the first trench and not covered by the block structure, and a second portion of the spacer layer, which is over the first strip structure and the second strip structure. The method includes forming a third strip structure in the second trench and the third trench. The method includes removing the block structure. The method includes removing the spacer layer.

Disclosed are semiconductor devices and methods of fabricating the same. The method comprises sequentially stacking a lower sacrificial layer and an upper sacrificial layer on a substrate, patterning the upper sacrificial layer to form a first upper sacrificial pattern and a second upper sacrificial pattern, forming a first upper spacer and a second upper spacer on sidewalls of the first upper sacrificial pattern and a second upper sacrificial pattern, respectively, using the first and second upper spacers as an etching mask to pattern the lower sacrificial layer to form a plurality of lower sacrificial patterns, forming a plurality of lower spacers on sidewalls of the lower sacrificial patterns, and using the lower spacers as an etching mask to pattern the substrate. The first and second upper spacers are connected to each other.

A method includes patterning a mandrel layer over a target layer to form first mandrels and second mandrels, the first mandrels having a larger width than the second mandrels. A spacer layer is formed over the first mandrels and the second mandrels, and altered so that a thickness of the spacer layer over the first mandrels is greater than a thickness of the spacer layer over the second mandrels. Spacers are formed from the spacer layer which have a greater width adjacent the first mandrels than the spacers which are adjacent the second mandrels. The spacers are used to etch a target layer.

A forming method of a semiconductor structure includes the following: providing a semiconductor substrate formed with a first mask layer having a preset pattern; forming a second mask layer having a first mask pattern on a surface of the first mask layer, wherein the first mask pattern includes a plurality of first sub-patterns arranged in sequence; forming a second mask pattern in the second mask layer through the first mask pattern in a self-alignment manner, wherein the second mask pattern includes the first sub-patterns of the first mask pattern and second sub-patterns corresponding to the first sub-patterns; etching the first mask layer based on the first sub-patterns and the second sub-patterns of the second mask pattern to convert the preset pattern into an active area pattern; and defining active areas in the semiconductor substrate based on the active area pattern.

A semiconductor device and fabrication method thereof are provided. The fabrication method include: providing a to-be-etched material layer; forming a plurality of discrete sacrificial layers on the to-be-etched material layer; forming first initial spacers on sidewalls of each of the discrete sacrificial layers. Each first initial spacer includes a first bottom region and a first top region on the first bottom region; removing the discrete sacrificial layers. The method further includes: removing the first top region of each first initial spacer to form a first spacer from each first bottom region; forming second spacers on sidewalls of each of the first spacers. Each second spacer includes a second bottom region and a second top region on the second bottom region; removing the first spacers; The method further includes: removing the second top regions by etching; and etching the to-be-etched material layer by using the second spacers as a mask.