A semiconductor device includes: a semiconductor substrate; an upper surface electrode formed on an upper surface side of the semiconductor substrate; an insulating film formed on the upper surface side of the semiconductor substrate; and a lower surface electrode formed on a lower surface side of the semiconductor substrate and having a larger area than that of the upper surface electrode, wherein the upper surface electrode and the lower surface electrode are electrodes having a compressive stress.

A method includes forming a gate structure over a substrate; forming a source/drain region adjacent the gate structure; forming a first interlayer dielectric (ILD) over the source/drain region; forming a contact plug extending through the first ILD that electrically contacts the source/drain region; forming a silicide layer on the contact plug; forming a second ILD extending over the first ILD and the silicide layer; etching an opening extending through the second ILD and the silicide layer to expose the contact plug, wherein the silicide layer is used as an etch stop during the etching of the opening; and forming a conductive feature in the opening that electrically contacts the contact plug.

Middle-of-line (MOL) interconnects that facilitate reduced capacitance and/or resistance and corresponding techniques for forming the MOL interconnects are disclosed herein. An exemplary MOL interconnect structure includes a device-level contact disposed in a first insulator layer and a ruthenium structure disposed in a second insulator layer disposed over the first insulator layer. The device-level contact physically contacts an integrated circuit feature, and the ruthenium structure physically contacts the device-level contact. An air gap separates sidewalls of the ruthenium structure from the second insulator layer. A top surface of the ruthenium structure is lower than a top surface of the second insulator layer. A via disposed in a third insulator layer extends below the top surface of the second insulator layer to physically contact the ruthenium structure. A remainder of a dummy contact spacer layer may separate the first insulator layer and the second insulator layer.

A metallization stack and a method of manufacturing the same, and an electronic device including the metallization stack are provided. The metallization stack may include at least one interconnection line layer and at least one via hole layer arranged alternately on a substrate. At least one pair of adjacent interconnection line layer and via hole layer in the metallization stack includes: an interconnection line in the interconnection line layer, and a via hole in the via hole layer. The interconnection line layer is closer to the substrate than the via hole layer. A peripheral sidewall of a via hole on at least part of the interconnection line does not exceed a peripheral sidewall of the at least part of the interconnection line.

Methods of etching a metal layer and a metal-containing barrier layer to a predetermined depth are described. In some embodiments, the metal layer and metal-containing barrier layer are formed on a substrate with a first dielectric and a second dielectric thereon. The metal layer and the metal-containing barrier layer formed within a feature in the first dielectric and the second dielectric. In some embodiments, the metal layer and metal-containing barrier layer can be sequentially etched from a feature formed in a dielectric material. In some embodiments, the sidewalls of the feature formed in a dielectric material are passivated to change the adhesion properties of the dielectric material.

A semiconductor device structure and method for forming the same are provided. The semiconductor device structure includes a first conductive layer formed over a substrate, and an air gap structure adjacent to the first conductive layer. The semiconductor device structure includes a support layer formed over the air gap structure. A bottom surface of the support layer is in direct contact with the air gap structure, and the bottom surface of the support layer is lower than a top surface of the first conductive layer and higher than a bottom surface of the first conductive layer.

A method of forming nanocrystalline graphene according to an embodiment may include: arranging a substrate having a pattern in a reaction chamber; injecting a reaction gas into the reaction chamber, where the reaction gas includes a carbon source gas, an inert gas, and a hydrogen gas that are mixed; generating a plasma of the reaction gas in the reaction chamber; and directly growing the nanocrystalline graphene on a surface of the pattern using the plasma of the reaction gas at a process temperature. The pattern may include a first material and the substrate may include a second material different from the first material.

A semiconductor device structure is provided. The semiconductor device structure includes a first conductive line over a substrate. The semiconductor device structure includes a first protection cap over the first conductive line. The semiconductor device structure includes a first photosensitive dielectric layer over the substrate, the first conductive line, and the first protection cap. The semiconductor device structure includes a conductive via structure passing through the first photosensitive dielectric layer and connected to the first protection cap. The semiconductor device structure includes a second conductive line over the conductive via structure and the first photosensitive dielectric layer. The semiconductor device structure includes a second protection cap over the second conductive line. The semiconductor device structure includes a second photosensitive dielectric layer over the first photosensitive dielectric layer, the second conductive line, and the second protection cap.

A method for forming a semiconductor device includes the following: after sacrificial side walls are formed on the side walls of conductive connection structures, forming an outer side wall material layer on the surfaces of the sacrificial side walls; perforating the outer side wall material layer to form pinholes in the outer side wall material layer which expose the surfaces of the sacrificial side walls; removing the sacrificial side walls through the pinholes to form air gaps; and forming a cover layer for sealing the pinholes.

The present disclosure describes an exemplary method that can prevent or reduce out-diffusion of Cu from interconnect layers to magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) structures. The method includes forming an interconnect layer over a substrate that includes an interlayer dielectric stack with openings therein; disposing a metal in the openings to form corresponding conductive structures; and selectively depositing a diffusion barrier layer on the metal. In the method, selectively depositing the diffusion barrier layer includes pre-treating the surface of the metal; disposing a precursor to selectively form a partially-decomposed precursor layer on the metal; and exposing the partially-decomposed precursor layer to a plasma to form the diffusion barrier layer. The method further includes forming an MTJ structure on the interconnect layer over the diffusion barrier layer, where the bottom electrode of the MTJ structure is aligned to the diffusion barrier layer.