METHOD FOR MAKING NANOSTRUCTURE TRANSISTORS WITH FLUSH SOURCE/DRAIN DOPANT BLOCKING STRUCTURES INCLUDING A SUPERLATTICE

Abstract

A method for making a semiconductor device may include forming spaced apart gate stacks on a substrate defining respective trenches therebetween. Each gate stack may include alternating layers of first and second semiconductor materials, with the layers of the second semiconductor material defining nanostructures. The method may further include forming respective source/drain regions within the trenches, forming respective insulating regions adjacent lateral ends of the layers of the first semiconductor material, and forming respective dopant blocking superlattices adjacent lateral ends of the nanostructures and flush with adjacent surfaces of the insulating regions. Each dopant blocking superlattice may include stacked groups of layers, with each group of layers including a plurality of stacked base semiconductor monolayers defining a base semiconductor portion, and at least one non-semiconductor monolayer constrained within a crystal lattice of adjacent base semiconductor portions.

Claims

1-20. (canceled)

21. A method for making a semiconductor device comprising: forming a plurality of spaced apart gate stacks on a substrate defining respective trenches therebetween, each gate stack comprising a plurality of layers of first and second different semiconductor materials; forming respective source/drain regions within the trenches; forming respective insulating regions adjacent lateral ends of the layers of the first semiconductor material; and forming respective dopant blocking superlattices adjacent lateral ends of the layers of the second semiconductor material and flush with adjacent surfaces of the insulating regions, each dopant blocking superlattice comprising a plurality of stacked groups of layers, each group of layers comprising a plurality of stacked base semiconductor monolayers defining a base semiconductor portion, and at least one non-semiconductor monolayer constrained within a crystal lattice of adjacent base semiconductor portions.

22. The method of claim 21 further comprising forming a respective semiconductor buffer layer between each lateral end of the layers of the second semiconductor material and the adjacent dopant blocking superlattice.

23. The method of claim 21 comprising forming a respective lateral bottom dopant blocking superlattice between the substrate and the source/drain regions, each lateral bottom dopant blocking superlattice comprising a plurality of stacked groups of layers, each group of layers comprising a plurality of stacked base semiconductor monolayers defining a base semiconductor portion, and at least one non-semiconductor monolayer constrained within a crystal lattice of adjacent base semiconductor portions.

24. The method of claim 21 wherein the first semiconductor material comprises silicon germanium.

25. The method of claim 21 wherein the second semiconductor material comprises silicon.

26. The method of claim 21 wherein the source/drain regions comprise phosphorus doped silicon (Si:P).

27. The method of claim 21 further comprising forming respective conductive contact liners in the trenches adjacent the insulating regions and dopant blocking superlattices.

28. The method of claim 27 further comprising forming a respective metal plug adjacent each conductive contact liner.

29. The method of claim 21 wherein the base semiconductor monolayers comprise silicon.

30. The method of claim 21 wherein the non-semiconductor monolayers comprise oxygen.

31. A method for making a semiconductor device comprising: forming a plurality of spaced apart gate stacks on a substrate defining respective trenches therebetween, each gate stack comprising a plurality of layers of first and second different semiconductor materials; forming respective source/drain regions within the trenches; forming respective insulating regions adjacent lateral ends of the layers of the first semiconductor material; forming respective dopant blocking superlattices adjacent lateral ends of the layers of the second semiconductor material and flush with adjacent surfaces of the insulating regions, each dopant blocking superlattice comprising a plurality of stacked groups of layers, each group of layers comprising a plurality of stacked base semiconductor monolayers defining a base semiconductor portion, and at least one non-semiconductor monolayer constrained within a crystal lattice of adjacent base semiconductor portions; forming a respective semiconductor buffer layer between each lateral end of the layers of the second semiconductor material and the adjacent dopant blocking superlattice; and forming a respective lateral bottom dopant blocking superlattice between the substrate and the source/drain regions, each lateral bottom dopant blocking superlattice comprising a plurality of stacked groups of layers, each group of layers comprising a plurality of stacked base semiconductor monolayers defining a base semiconductor portion, and at least one non-semiconductor monolayer constrained within a crystal lattice of adjacent base semiconductor portions.

32. The method of claim 31 wherein the first semiconductor material comprises silicon germanium, and the second semiconductor material comprises silicon.

33. The method of claim 31 wherein the source/drain regions comprise phosphorus doped silicon (Si:P).

34. The method of claim 31 further comprising forming respective conductive contact liners in the trenches adjacent the insulating regions and dopant blocking superlattices.

35. The method of claim 34 further comprising forming a respective metal plug adjacent each conductive contact liner.

36. A method for making a semiconductor device comprising: forming a plurality of spaced apart gate stacks on a substrate defining respective trenches therebetween, each gate stack comprising a plurality of layers of first and second different semiconductor materials; forming respective source/drain regions within the trenches; forming respective insulating regions adjacent lateral ends of the layers of the first semiconductor material; and forming respective dopant blocking superlattices adjacent lateral ends of the layers of the second semiconductor material and flush with adjacent surfaces of the insulating regions, each dopant blocking superlattice comprising a plurality of stacked groups of layers, each group of layers comprising a plurality of stacked base silicon monolayers defining a base silicon portion, and at least one oxygen monolayer constrained within a crystal lattice of adjacent base silicon portions.

37. The method of claim 36 further comprising forming a respective semiconductor buffer layer between each lateral end of the layers of the second semiconductor material and the adjacent dopant blocking superlattice.

38. The method of claim 36 comprising forming a respective lateral bottom dopant blocking superlattice between the substrate and the source/drain regions, each lateral bottom dopant blocking superlattice comprising a plurality of stacked groups of layers, each group of layers comprising a plurality of stacked base silicon monolayers defining a base silicon portion, and at least one oxygen monolayer constrained within a crystal lattice of adjacent base silicon portions.

39. The method of claim 36 wherein the first semiconductor material comprises silicon germanium, and the second semiconductor material comprises silicon.

40. The method of claim 36 further comprising forming respective conductive contact liners in the trenches adjacent the insulating regions and dopant blocking superlattices.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] FIG. 1 is a greatly enlarged schematic cross-sectional view of a superlattice for use in a semiconductor device in accordance with an example embodiment.

[0017] FIG. 2 is a perspective schematic atomic diagram of a portion of the superlattice shown in FIG. 1.

[0018] FIG. 3 is a greatly enlarged schematic cross-sectional view of another embodiment of a superlattice in accordance with an example embodiment.

[0019] FIGS. 4A-4E are a series of cross-sectional diagrams illustrating a method of making a nanosheet transistor with superlattice dopant blocking layers in accordance with an example embodiment.

[0020] FIGS. 5A-5F are a series of cross-sectional diagrams illustrating another method of making a nanosheet transistor with superlattice dopant blocking layers in accordance with an example embodiment.

[0021] FIGS. 6A-6D are a series of cross-sectional diagrams illustrating a conventional method of making a nanosheet transistor in accordance with the prior art.

[0022] FIGS. 7A-7H are a series of cross-sectional diagrams illustrating another method of making a nanosheet transistor with superlattice dopant blocking layers and providing enhanced contact area in accordance with an example embodiment.

[0023] FIGS. 8A-8C are a series of cross-sectional diagrams illustrating still another method of making a nanosheet transistor providing enhanced contact area in accordance with an example embodiment.

[0024] FIGS. 9A-9D are a series of cross-sectional diagrams illustrating yet another method of making a nanosheet transistor providing enhanced contact area in accordance with an example embodiment.

[0025] FIGS. 10A-10D are a series of cross-sectional diagrams illustrating another method of making a nanosheet transistor providing enhanced contact area in accordance with an example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] Example embodiments will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the example embodiments are shown. The embodiments may, however, be implemented in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the specific examples set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

[0027] Generally speaking, the present disclosure relates to semiconductor devices having an enhanced semiconductor superlattice therein to provide performance enhancement characteristics. The enhanced semiconductor superlattice may also be referred to as an MST layer or MST technology in this disclosure.

[0028] More particularly, the MST technology relates to advanced semiconductor materials such as the superlattice 25 described further below. In prior work, Applicant theorized that certain superlattices as described herein reduce the effective mass of charge carriers and that this thereby leads to higher charge carrier mobility. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,897,472, which is hereby incorporate herein in its entirety by reference.

[0029] Further development by Applicant has established that the presence of MST layers may advantageously improve the mobility of free carriers in semiconductor materials, e.g., at interfaces between silicon and insulators like SiO.sub.2 or HfO.sub.2. Applicant theorizes, without wishing to be bound thereto, that this may occur due to various mechanisms. One mechanism is by reducing the concentration of charged impurities proximate to the interface, by reducing the diffusion of these impurities, and/or by trapping the impurities so they do not reach the interface proximity. Charged impurities cause Coulomb scattering, which reduces mobility. Another mechanism is by improving the quality of the interface. For example, oxygen emitted from an MST film may provide oxygen to a SiSiO.sub.2 interface, reducing the presence of sub-stoichiometric SiO.sub.x. Alternately, the trapping of interstitials by MST layers may reduce the concentration of interstitial silicon proximate to the SiSiO.sub.2 interface, reducing the tendency to form sub-stoichiometric SiO.sub.x. Sub-stoichiometric SiO.sub.x at the SiSiO.sub.2 interface is known to exhibit inferior insulating properties relative to stoichiometric SiO.sub.2. Reducing the amount of sub-stoichiometric Sio.sub.x at the interface may more effectively confine free carriers (electrons or holes) in the silicon, and thus improve the mobility of these carriers due to electric fields applied parallel to the interface, as is standard practice in field-effect-transistor (FET) structures. Scattering due to the direct influence of the interface is called surface-roughness scattering, which may advantageously be reduced by the proximity of MST layers followed by anneals or during thermal oxidation.

[0030] In addition to the enhanced mobility characteristics of MST structures, they may also be formed or used in such a manner that they provide piezoelectric, pyroelectric, and/or ferroelectric properties that are advantageous for use in a variety of different types of devices, as will be discussed further below.

[0031] Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, the materials or structures are in the form of a superlattice 25 whose structure is controlled at the atomic or molecular level and may be formed using known techniques of atomic or molecular layer deposition. The superlattice 25 includes a plurality of layer groups 45a-45n arranged in stacked relation, as perhaps best understood with specific reference to the schematic cross-sectional view of FIG. 1.

[0032] Each group of layers 45a-45n of the superlattice 25 illustratively includes a plurality of stacked base semiconductor monolayers 46 defining a respective base semiconductor portion 46a-46n and a non-semiconductor monolayer(s) 50 thereon. The non-semiconductor monolayers 50 are indicated by stippling in FIG. 1 for clarity of illustration.

[0033] The non-semiconductor monolayer 50 illustratively includes one non-semiconductor monolayer constrained within a crystal lattice of adjacent base semiconductor portions. By constrained within a crystal lattice of adjacent base semiconductor portions it is meant that at least some semiconductor atoms from opposing base semiconductor portions 46a-46n are chemically bound together through the non-semiconductor monolayer 50 therebetween, as seen in FIG. 2. Generally speaking, this configuration is made possible by controlling the amount of non-semiconductor material that is deposited on semiconductor portions 46a-46n through atomic layer deposition techniques so that not all (i.e., less than full or 100% coverage) of the available semiconductor bonding sites are populated with bonds to non-semiconductor atoms, as will be discussed further below. Thus, as further monolayers 46 of semiconductor material are deposited on or over a non-semiconductor monolayer 50, the newly deposited semiconductor atoms will populate the remaining vacant bonding sites of the semiconductor atoms below the non-semiconductor monolayer.

[0034] In other embodiments, more than one such non-semiconductor monolayer may be possible. It should be noted that reference herein to a non-semiconductor or semiconductor monolayer means that the material used for the monolayer would be a non-semiconductor or semiconductor if formed in bulk. That is, a single monolayer of a material, such as silicon, may not necessarily exhibit the same properties that it would if formed in bulk or in a relatively thick layer, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

[0035] Applicant theorizes without wishing to be bound thereto that non-semiconductor monolayers 50 and adjacent base semiconductor portions 46a-46n cause the superlattice 25 to have a lower appropriate conductivity effective mass for the charge carriers in the parallel layer direction than would otherwise be present. Considered another way, this parallel direction is orthogonal to the stacking direction. The band modifying layers 50 may also cause the superlattice 25 to have a common energy band structure, while also advantageously functioning as an insulator between layers or regions vertically above and below the superlattice.

[0036] Moreover, this superlattice structure may also advantageously act as a barrier to dopant and/or material diffusion between layers vertically above and below the superlattice 25. These properties may thus advantageously allow the superlattice 25 to provide an interface for high-K dielectrics which not only reduces diffusion of the high-K material into the channel region, but which may also advantageously reduce unwanted scattering effects and improve device mobility, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

[0037] It is also theorized that semiconductor devices including the superlattice 25 may enjoy a higher charge carrier mobility based upon the lower conductivity effective mass than would otherwise be present. In some embodiments, and as a result of the band engineering achieved by the present embodiments, the superlattice 25 may further have a substantially direct energy bandgap that may be particularly advantageous for opto-electronic devices, for example.

[0038] The superlattice 25 also illustratively includes a cap layer 52 on an upper layer group 45n. The cap layer 52 may comprise a plurality of base semiconductor monolayers 46. The cap layer 52 may have between 2 to 100 monolayers of the base semiconductor, and, more preferably between 10 to 50 monolayers.

[0039] Each base semiconductor portion 46a-46n may comprise a base semiconductor selected from the group consisting of Group IV semiconductors, Group III-V semiconductors, and Group II-VI semiconductors. Of course, the term Group IV semiconductors also includes Group IV-IV semiconductors, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. More particularly, the base semiconductor may comprise at least one of silicon and germanium, for example.

[0040] Each non-semiconductor monolayer 50 may comprise a non-semiconductor selected from the group consisting of oxygen, nitrogen, fluorine, carbon and carbon-oxygen, for example. The non-semiconductor is also desirably thermally stable through deposition of a next layer to thereby facilitate manufacturing. In other embodiments, the non-semiconductor may be another inorganic or organic element or compound that is compatible with the given semiconductor processing as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. More particularly, the base semiconductor may comprise at least one of silicon and germanium, for example.

[0041] It should be noted that the term monolayer is meant to include a single atomic layer and also a single molecular layer. It is also noted that the non-semiconductor monolayer 50 provided by a single monolayer is also meant to include a monolayer wherein not all of the possible sites are occupied (i.e., there is less than full or 100% coverage). For example, with particular reference to the atomic diagram of FIG. 2, a 4/1 repeating structure is illustrated for silicon as the base semiconductor material, and oxygen as the energy band-modifying material. Only half of the possible sites for oxygen are occupied in the illustrated example.

[0042] In other embodiments and/or with different materials this one-half occupation would not necessarily be the case as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. Indeed it can be seen even in this schematic diagram, that individual atoms of oxygen in a given monolayer are not precisely aligned along a flat plane as will also be appreciated by those of skill in the art of atomic deposition. By way of example, a preferred occupation range is from about one-eighth to one-half of the possible oxygen sites being full, although other numbers may be used in certain embodiments.

[0043] Silicon and oxygen are currently widely used in conventional semiconductor processing, and, hence, manufacturers will be readily able to use these materials as described herein. Atomic or monolayer deposition is also now widely used. Accordingly, semiconductor devices incorporating the superlattice 25 in accordance with the embodiments may be readily adopted and implemented, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

[0044] Referring now additionally to FIG. 3, another embodiment of a superlattice 25 in accordance with the embodiments having different properties is now described. In this embodiment, a repeating pattern of 3/1/5/1 is illustrated. More particularly, the lowest base semiconductor portion 46a has three monolayers, and the second lowest base semiconductor portion 46b has five monolayers. This pattern repeats throughout the superlattice 25. The non-semiconductor monolayers 50 may each include a single monolayer. For such a superlattice 25 including Si/O, the enhancement of charge carrier mobility is independent of orientation in the plane of the layers. Those other elements of FIG. 3 not specifically mentioned are similar to those discussed above with reference to FIG. 1 and need no further discussion herein.

[0045] In some device embodiments, all of the base semiconductor portions of a superlattice may be a same number of monolayers thick. In other embodiments, at least some of the base semiconductor portions may be a different number of monolayers thick. In still other embodiments, all of the base semiconductor portions may be a different number of monolayers thick.

[0046] Turning to FIGS. 4A-4E, a method for making nanosheet transistor devices which incorporate the above-described superlattice structures, such as to advantageously provide dopant blocking between the source/drain and nanosheet channel layers, is now described. A plurality of gate stacks 102 are formed on a silicon substrate 101, followed by source/drain recesses 103 (FIG. 4A). In the illustrated example, each gate stack 102 includes alternating silicon (Si) nanosheets 104 and silicon germanium (SiGe) (e.g., boron-doped SiGe) layers 105, with inner spacers 109 (e.g., SiO.sub.2) on the ends of the SiGe layers, although different materials may be used in different embodiments.

[0047] In some embodiments, silicon buffers 106a, 106b may optionally be epitaxially grown on the sides of the nanosheets 104 and the substrate 101 within the recess 103, respectively (FIG. 4B). The buffers 106a, 106b may help mitigate any surface roughness prior to formation of the MST superlattice films, which helps to prevent or reduce defects therein. In an example implementation, the buffers 106a, 106b may have a thickness of 2 nm or less, although other thicknesses may be used in different embodiments.

[0048] MST film and cap formation may then be performed (FIG. 4C) to define superlattices 125a and cap layers 152a on the buffers 106a, as well as a superlattice 125b and cap layer 152b on the buffer 106b (FIG. 4D), as described above. By way of example, the superlattices 125a, 125b may have two or three non-semiconductor monolayers 50 (e.g., two or three oxygen-inserted monolayers), although other numbers may be used in different embodiments.

[0049] Source/drain regions 107 may then be formed within the recesses 103 using a hard mask 108 (FIG. 4D). In the illustrated example, this is done with a Si:P growth, although other source/drain materials may be used in different embodiments. It should be noted that the Si:P growth occurs over the cap layers 152a, 152b in the illustrated example, but in some embodiments these cap layers may be omitted. After removal of the hard mask 108 (FIG. 4E), additional processing steps may be performed to complete the nanosheet transistor, such as removing the SiGe layers 105 and forming a gate-all-around (GAA) structure in which the nanosheets 104 provide a plurality of stacked channels between the source/drain regions 107, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. Further details regarding the formation of GAA devices are provided in U.S. Pat Pubs. US2022/0005926, US2022/0005927, US2022/0384600, US2022/0376047, and US2023/0121774, all of which are also assigned to the present Applicant and are hereby incorporated herein in their entireties by reference. It should be noted that other nanostructures besides nanosheets 104 (e.g., nanotubes, etc.) may be used in some configurations.

[0050] Referring additionally to FIGS. 5A-5F, another example approach for making nanosheet transistor devices is now described. This approach begins similarly to the one described above, although after the trench 103 is etched, then a further recess etch is performed on the silicon nanosheets 104 and substrate 101 (FIG. 5B). As such, the buffers 106a and portions of the buffer 106b are recessed laterally inside of the inner spacers 109 upon formation (FIG. 5C), as are the subsequent MST superlattice films 125a and cap layers 152a, as well as portions of the superlattice 125b and cap layer 152b, as seen in FIG. 5D. The source/drain region 107 formation (FIGS. 5E-5F) and subsequent processing steps may be similar to those described above.

[0051] It should be noted that in some embodiments the buffers 106a and/or 106b may be omitted, as the additional Si recess etching may provide sufficient surface smoothing without the buffer(s). Furthermore, formation of the cap layer 152b may occur as part of the source/drain region 107 formation (Si:P process), which does not diminish the overall area available for the source/drain region. The cap layer 152 eventually gets doped with P during this process. Additionally, in some embodiments the cap layers 152a and/or 152b may optionally be omitted. More particularly, in an example implementation the MST and Si:P formation may both advantageously occur within the same chamber in-situ, in which case MST layers without a cap layer may still provide desired blocking capabilities. The Si:P 107 may then be etched where exposed through the hard mask 108, and a metal 120 deposited thereover (FIG. 5F), followed by silicide formation to define a contact.

[0052] While the superlattices 125a provide similar dopant blocking capabilities (i.e., blocking the phosphorous in the source/drain regions 107 from the nanosheet 104 channel layers) to the superlattices 125a described above, the present approach may provide an additional advantage in that the buffers 106a, superlattices 125a, and cap layers 152a do not protrude into the source/drain regions 107. By way of example, this configuration may occupy significantly less source/drain area, on the order of 11-25% in some embodiments, whereas the above-described approach may create additional resistance due to the loss of available source/drain surface area, which may be undesirable in certain embodiments.

[0053] Turning to FIGS. 6A-6D, a conventional approach for making nanosheet transistor devices is now described. This approach begins with forming a plurality of gate stacks 62 on a silicon substrate 61, followed by source/drain recesses 63 via a hard mask 68 (FIG. 6A), as similarly described above. In the illustrated example, each gate stack 62 includes alternating silicon (Si) nanosheets 64 and silicon germanium (SiGe) layers 65. Source/drain regions 67 and inner spacers 69 may then be formed within the recesses 63 using the hard mask 68 (FIG. 6B). In the illustrated example, this is done with a Si:P growth, although other source/drain materials may be used in different embodiments. A metal layer 70 is formed over the hard mask 68 and the source/drain region 67 (FIG. 6C), followed by silicidation/metal removal (FIG. 6D) to define a source/drain contact 71. The hard mask 68 may then be removed.

[0054] A potential drawback of this conventional approach is that there is a relatively small amount of contact area between the contact 70 and the source/drain region 67 (i.e., only at the top of the source/drain region), which may result in relatively high contact resistance. Various example embodiments which provide for enhanced contact area, and therefore lower contact resistance, are now described. One such example embodiment is described with reference to FIGS. 7A-7H. A plurality of gate stacks 202 are formed on a silicon substrate 201, followed by source/drain recesses 203 (FIG. 7A). In the illustrated example, each gate stack 102 includes alternating silicon (Si) nanosheets 204 and silicon germanium (SiGe) layers 205, with inner spacers 209 (e.g., SiO.sub.2) on the ends of the SiGe layers, as similarly discussed above.

[0055] In some embodiments, silicon buffers 206a, 206b may optionally be epitaxially grown on the sides of the nanosheets 204 and the substrate 201 within the recess 203, respectively (FIG. 7B). As noted above, the buffers 206a, 206b may help mitigate any surface roughness prior to formation of the MST superlattice films, which helps to prevent or reduce defects therein. MST film and cap formation may then be performed (FIG. 7C) to define superlattices 225a, 225b and cap layers 252a, 252b on the buffers 206a, 206b (FIG. 7D), respectively, as similarly described above. Source/drain regions 207 (e.g., Si:P) may then be formed within the recesses 203 using a hard mask 208 (FIG. 7D). Here again, in the illustrated example the Si:P growth occurs over the cap layers 152, but in some embodiments these cap layers may be omitted.

[0056] Next, spacers 212 are formed on the inside edges of the hard mask 208, allowing the Si:P to be etched such that a Si:P liner remains within the trench 203 (FIG. 7E). Thereafter, a metal layer 210 may be deposited over the hard mask 208 and filling the trench 203 (FIG. 7F), followed by silicidation and metal removal (FIG. 7G) to define a contact liner 211 along the bottom and sidewalls of the trench 203, which may then be filled with a metal plug 213 to complete the contact structure (FIG. 7H). As discussed further above, the hard mask 208 may then be removed and additional processing steps performed to complete the nanosheet transistor.

[0057] Another example embodiment which provides reduced contact resistance is now described with reference to FIGS. 8A-8C. Beginning with the structure shown in FIG. 6B, here spacers 212 are next formed on the inside edges of the hard mask 208, allowing the Si:P to be etched such that a Si:P liner remains within the trench 203 (FIG. 8A). Thereafter, a metal layer 210 may be deposited over the hard mask 208 and filling the trench 203 (FIG. 8B), followed by silicidation/metal removal and metal plug 213 formation (FIG. 8C), as described above. The resulting structure is similar to that of FIG. 7H, with the exception that MST films 225 and cap layers 252 are omitted in this embodiment. Here again, the hard mask 208 may then be removed and additional processing steps performed to complete the nanosheet transistor.

[0058] Still another example embodiment which provides reduced contact resistance is now described with reference to FIGS. 9A-9D. This approach begins with a structure similar to that of FIG. 7B, but the trench 203 is then filled with Si:P source/drain material 207 (FIG. 9A). Spacers 212 are next formed on the inside edges of the hard mask 208, allowing the Si:P to be etched such that a Si:P liner remains within the trench 203 (FIG. 9B). Thereafter, metal deposition followed by silicidation/metal removal (FIG. 9C) and metal plug 213 formation (FIG. 9D) may be performed, as described above. Here again, the hard mask 208 may then be removed and additional processing steps performed to complete the nanosheet transistor.

[0059] Yet another example embodiment which provides reduced contact resistance is now described with reference to FIGS. 10A-10D. This approach also begins with a structure similar to that of FIG. 7B, but a partial deposition of Si:P source/drain material 207 is performed to line (but not completely fill) the trench 203 (FIG. 10A). Thereafter, metal 210 deposition followed by silicidation/metal removal (FIG. 10C) and metal plug 213 formation (FIG. 10D) may be performed, as described above. Here again, the hard mask 208 may then be removed and additional processing steps performed to complete the nanosheet transistor. With respect to the partial deposition of Si:P, it should be noted that this approach may also be used in the above-described embodiments (with or without the use of MST layers) rather than fully filling the trench with Si:P. Moreover, in another similar approach to that shown in FIGS. 10A-10D, all of the illustrated steps would be the same except the process would begin with a structure similar to that of FIG. 6A (i.e., where no silicon recess of the nanosheets 203 is performed prior to the Si:P partial deposition).

[0060] Example dimensions which may be used for one of more of the following embodiments include: gate height=63 nm; gate length (Lg)=12 nm; SiGe layer thickness=12.8 nm; and Si nanosheet thickness=5 nm. However, it will be appreciated that other dimensions are possible in different configurations, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

[0061] Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention will come to the mind of one skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed, and that modifications and embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.