Semiconductor structures having a source contact and a drain contact that exhibit reduced contact resistance and methods of forming the same are disclosed. In one embodiment of the present application, the reduced contact resistance is provided by forming a layer of a dipole metal or metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) oxide between an epitaxial semiconductor material (providing the source region and the drain region of the device) and an overlying metal semiconductor alloy. In yet other embodiment, the reduced contact resistance is provided by increasing the area of the source region and drain region by patterning the epitaxial semiconductor material that constitutes at least an upper portion of the source region and drain region of the device.

Semiconductor devices are provided. The semiconductor devices may include a first wire pattern extending in a first direction on a substrate and a second wire pattern on the first wire pattern. The second wire pattern may be spaced apart from the first wire pattern and extends in the first direction. The semiconductor devices may also include a first gate structure at least partially surrounding the first wire pattern and the second wire pattern, a second gate structure spaced apart from the first gate structure in the first direction, a first source/drain region between the first gate structure and the second gate structure, a first spacer between a bottom surface of the first source/drain region and the substrate, a first source/drain contact on the first source/drain region, and a second spacer between the first source/drain contact and the first gate structure.

An integrated circuit device including a substrate including first and second device regions; a first fin active region on the first device region; a second fin active region on the second device region; an isolation film covering side walls of the active regions; gate cut insulating patterns on the isolation film on the device regions; a gate line extending on the fin active regions, the gate line having a length limited by the gate cut insulating patterns; and an inter-region insulating pattern on the isolation film between the fin active regions and at least partially penetrating the gate line in a vertical direction, wherein the inter-region insulating pattern has a bottom surface proximate to the substrate, a top surface distal to the substrate, and a side wall linearly extending from the bottom to the top surface.

Disclosed are semiconductor devices including a double gate metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistor and methods for fabricating the same. The double gate MOS transistor includes a first back gate, a second back gate, and a first dielectric layer disposed on the first back gate and on the second back gate. An MX2 material layer is disposed on the first dielectric layer, a second dielectric layer disposed on the MX2 material layer, and a work function metal (WFM) is disposed on the second dielectric layer. A front gate is disposed on the WFM, which fills a space between the first back gate and the second back.

A device includes a semiconductor substrate and a first gate stack over the semiconductor substrate, the first gate stack being between a first gate spacer and a second gate spacer. The device further includes a second gate stack over the semiconductor substrate between the first gate spacer and the second gate spacer and a dielectric material separating the first gate stack from the second gate stack. The dielectric material is at least partially between the first gate spacer and the second gate spacer, a first width of an upper portion of the dielectric material is greater than a second width of a lower portion of the dielectric material, and a third width of an upper portion of the first gate spacer is less than a fourth width of a lower portion of the first gate spacer.

Gate metal is removed from a region containing transistors such as nanosheet transistors or vertical transport field-effect transistors using techniques that control the undercutting of gate metal in an adjoining region. A dielectric spacer layer is deposited on the transistors. A first etch causes the removal of gate metal over the boundary between the regions with limited undercutting of gate metal beneath the dielectric spacer layer. A subsequent etch removes the gate metal from the transistors in one region while the gate metal in the adjoining region is protected by a buffer layer. Gate dielectric material may also be removed over the boundary between regions.

A method of fabricating a semiconductor device may include designing a layout including first and second gate patterns, first and second dummy gate patterns, and third and fourth gate patterns sequentially arranged in a first direction; forming first to fourth sacrificial patterns and first and second dummy sacrificial patterns, which correspond to the first to fourth gate patterns and the first and second dummy gate patterns respectively, on a substrate using a photomask manufactured based on the layout; and performing an optical proximity correction on the layout. The optical proximity correction may include measuring distances between adjacent ones of the sacrificial and dummy sacrificial patterns in the first direction to provide measured distances, comparing a mean value of the measured distances with a mean value of target distances to obtain a first distance therebetween, and reducing a distance between the first and second dummy gate patterns by the first distance.

Improved gate structures, methods for forming the same, and semiconductor devices including the same are disclosed. In an embodiment, a semiconductor device includes a gate structure over a semiconductor substrate, the gate structure including a high-k dielectric layer; a gate electrode over the high-k dielectric layer; a conductive cap over and in contact with the high-k dielectric layer and the gate electrode, a top surface of the conductive cap being convex; and first gate spacers on opposite sides of the gate structure, the high-k dielectric layer and the conductive cap extending between opposite sidewalls of the first gate spacers.

A method for processing an integrated circuit includes forming N-type and P-type gate all around transistors and core gate all around transistors. The method deposits a metal gate layer for the P-type transistors. The method forms a passivation layer in-situ with the metal gate layer of the P-type transistor.

A semiconductor device includes a substrate including a first active pattern and a second active pattern, a gate electrode including a first gate electrode on the first active pattern and a second gate electrode on the second active pattern, a gate cutting pattern between the first and second gate electrodes, gate spacers on opposing side surfaces of the gate electrode, and a gate capping pattern on top surfaces of the gate electrode, the gate cutting pattern, and the gate spacers and extending in the first direction. The gate cutting pattern includes a first and second side surfaces, which are opposite to each other in a second direction crossing the first direction. The first and side surfaces are in contact with respective ones of the gate spacers, and the top surface of the gate cutting pattern is closer to the substrate than the top surfaces of the pair of gate spacers.