Pillar-type field effect transistor having low leakage current
09564200 ยท 2017-02-07
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
H10D30/6735
ELECTRICITY
H10D30/611
ELECTRICITY
H10B12/053
ELECTRICITY
H10D30/6734
ELECTRICITY
International classification
H01L29/66
ELECTRICITY
G11C11/403
PHYSICS
Abstract
A pillar-type field effect transistor having low leakage current is provided. The pillar-type field effect transistor includes: a semiconductor body, source and drain formed in a semiconductor pillar; a gate insulating layer formed on a surface of the semiconductor body; a gate electrode formed on a surface of the gate insulating layer. The gate electrode includes a first gate electrode and a second gate electrode being electrically connected with the first gate electrode. The first gate electrode has a work function higher than that of the second gate electrode. Accordingly, the gate induced drain leakage (GIDL) can be reduced, so that an off-state leakage current can be greatly reduced.
Claims
1. A pillar-type field effect transistor having low leakage current, comprising: a substrate; a semiconductor pillar formed substantially perpendicular to the substrate, the semiconductor pillar being elongated in a direction substantially perpendicular to the substrate and having a length substantially perpendicular to the substrate, the semiconductor pillar forming along the length of the semiconductor pillar a source region at one end thereof, a drain region at the other end thereof, and a semiconductor body between the source region and the drain region; a gate insulating layer formed around the semiconductor pillar along the length thereof; a gate electrode formed around the gate insulating layer, the gate electrode being divided into a first gate electrode and a second gate electrode along the length of the semiconductor pillar, wherein one of the first gate electrode and the second gate electrode is a source-side gate electrode, the other one thereof is a drain-side gate electrode electrically connected to the source-side gate electrode, and the drain-side gate electrode has a work function smaller than that of the source-side gate electrode to thereby reduce a gate-induced-drain leakage.
2. The pillar-type field effect transistor of claim 1, further comprising a third gate electrode between the first gate electrode and the second gate electrode.
3. The pillar-type field effect transistor of claim 2, further comprising inter-gate insulating layers formed between the first gate electrode and the third gate electrode, and between the third gate electrode and the second gate electrode.
4. The pillar-type field effect transistor of claim 1, wherein a cross-sectional area of the semiconductor body surrounded by the second gate electrode is smaller than that of the semiconductor body surrounded by the first gate electrode.
5. The pillar-type field effect transistor of claim 1, wherein a cross-sectional area of the semiconductor pillar is varied with the length of the semiconductor pillar.
6. The pillar-type field effect transistor of claim 1, wherein the first gate electrode and the second gate electrode are formed of a same material with different impurity doping types, different materials, or different materials with different impurity doping types.
7. The pillar-type field effect transistor of claim 1, wherein a thickness of the gate insulating layer formed under the second gate electrode is larger than that under the first gate electrode.
8. The pillar-type field effect transistor of claim 1, wherein each of the source region and the drain region is partially overlapped with the gate electrode.
9. The pillar-type field effect transistor of claim 1, further comprising a contact window for reducing contact resistance between the drain region and a drain electrode, wherein the contact window has an area wider than a cross-sectional area of the semiconductor pillar.
10. The pillar-type field effect transistor of claim 1, further comprising a selective epitaxial layer formed on a surface of the semiconductor pillar where the drain region is formed, wherein a total cross-sectional area of the semiconductor pillar where the drain region and the selective epitaxial layer are formed is wider than a cross-sectional area of the semiconductor body where the gate electrode is formed.
11. The pillar-type field effect transistor of claim 1, wherein the semiconductor pillar is formed by patterning a bulk semiconductor substrate or an SOI (Silicon on Insulator) substrate.
12. The pillar-type field effect transistor of claim 1, further comprising an inter-gate insulating layer is formed between the first gate electrode and the second gate electrode.
13. The pillar-type field effect transistor of claim 12, wherein the first gate electrode and the second gate electrode are electrically connected to each other by a contact or metal interconnection line.
14. The pillar-type field effect transistor of claim 12, wherein a cross-sectional area of the semiconductor body surrounded by the second gate electrode is smaller than that of the semiconductor body surrounded by the first gate electrode.
15. The pillar-type field effect transistor of claim 12, wherein a cross-sectional area of the semiconductor pillar is varied with the length of the semiconductor pillar.
16. The pillar-type field effect transistor of claim 12, wherein a thickness of the gate insulating layer formed under the second gate electrode is larger than that of the gate insulating layer formed under the first gate electrode.
17. The pillar-type field effect transistor of claim 12, wherein the first gate electrode and the second gate electrode are formed of a same material with different impurity doping types, different materials, or different materials with different impurity doping types.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
(1) The above and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
(13) Hereinafter, pillar-type field effect transistors (FETs) having low leakage current according to various embodiments of the present invention and manufacturing methods therefor will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
First Embodiment
(14) Hereinafter, a structure of a pillar-type FET having low leakage current according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to
(15) The pillar-type FET 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a source 103, a semiconductor body 105, a drain 110, a gate insulating layer 106, and a gate electrode. The gate electrode includes a first gate electrode 109, a second gate electrode 107, and an inter-gate insulating layer 108.
(16) The source 103, the semiconductor body 105, and the drain 110 are formed in a semiconductor pillar 120 made of silicon. The semiconductor pillar may be formed on a semiconductor substrate such as a bulk silicon substrate and a silicon on insulator (SOI) substrate. The semiconductor pillar may be formed in various shapes such as circle, ellipse, corner-rounded rectangle, and corner-rounded triangle. A height of the semiconductor pillar is defined to be in a range of 50 nm to 1000 nm. A cross-sectional area of the semiconductor pillar in the horizontal direction may be formed to be uniform. Alternatively, the cross-sectional area of the semiconductor pillar may be increased or decreased in various functional forms in the upward direction. Alternatively, the cross-sectional area of the semiconductor pillar may be repetitively increased and decreased. Preferably, the cross-sectional area of the semiconductor pillar is defined to be in a range of 78 nm.sup.2 to 130,000 nm.sup.2.
(17) A cross-sectional area of the semiconductor pillar may be gradually varied from upper edge to lower edge of the semiconductor pillar. A cross-sectional area of the semiconductor body surrounded by the second gate electrode may be smaller than that of the semiconductor body surrounded by the first gate electrode.
(18) The gate insulating layer 106 is formed on a surface of the semiconductor body 105. Preferably, a thickness of the gate insulating layer 106 is defined to be in a range of 0.5 nm to 10 nm. A thickness of a gate insulating layer formed under the second gate electrode 109 may be gradually increased in a direction from the body 105 to the drain 110. A thickness of the gate insulating layer formed between the second gate electrode and the semiconductor body may be larger than that of the gate insulating layer formed between the first gate electrode and the semiconductor body.
(19) The gate electrode of the pillar-type FET according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes the first gate electrode 107, the second gate electrode 109, and the inter-gate insulating layer 108, which have different work functions. As shown in
(20) The first gate electrode 107 is a source-side gate electrode which is made of a material having a work function higher than that of the second gate electrode 109. Therefore, a threshold voltage of the pillar-type FET according to the first embodiment of the present invention is mainly determined by the first gate electrode 107 having a high work function. The second gate electrode 109 is a drain-side gate electrode, of which work function is lower than that of the first gate electrode 107.
(21) The first gate electrode 107 and the second gate electrode 109 may be made of the same material with different impurity-doping types so as to lower the work function of the second gate electrode 109. In addition, the first gate electrode 107 and the second gate electrode 109 may be made of different materials so as to lower the work function of the second gate electrode 109. In addition, in an example of the gate electrode according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the first gate electrode 107 and the second gate electrode 109 may be made of different materials with different impurity-doping types so that the work function of the second gate electrode 109 can be lower than that of the first gate electrode 107.
(22) The first and second gate electrodes 107 and 109 may be formed by using a semiconductor material such as polycrystalline silicon, polycrystalline SiGe, polycrystalline Ge, amorphous silicon, amorphous SiGe, amorphous Ge, silicon, and Ge, one of silicides of various metals, one of various metal oxides, one of metals having various work functions, a two-element metal such as TaN, TiN, and WN, and a three-element metal.
(23) Lengths of the source/drain regions 103 and 110 formed in the semiconductor pillar 120 are defined in a direction perpendicular to an upper surface of the semiconductor pillar. The length of the source or drain region is defined to be in a range of 5 nm to 700 nm. In a case where the source/drain regions 103 and 110 are overlapped with the gate electrodes 107 and 109, each of the overlapped lengths is defined to be in a range of 0.1 nm to 50 nm.
(24) In the source or drain region formed in an upper portion of the semiconductor pillar 120, a cross-sectional area of the source or drain region excluding a vicinity of the gate electrode may be formed to be lager than that of the body region 105 so as to reduce resistance. In order to increase the cross-sectional area of the drain region 110 formed in the semiconductor pillar 120, a selective epitaxial layer may be grown on a surface of the semiconductor pillar where the drain region is formed. In addition, in a case where a contact window for electrical contact to the drain region 110 formed in the semiconductor pillar 120 is formed, an area of the contact window is formed to be larger than the cross-sectional area of the semiconductor pillar 120 where the drain 110 is formed, so that the cross section of the semiconductor pillar 120 and a portion of the side surface of the semiconductor pillar 120 where the drain 110 is formed can be in contact with the electrode. Accordingly, a contact area of contacting the electrode can be increased.
(25) In the pillar-type FET according to the present invention, since the work function of the second gate electrode 109 is smaller than that of the first gate electrode 107, an electrical field in the drain region overlapped with the second gate electrode can be reduced, and an electric field toward the source due to a drain bias can be also reduced. As a result, it is possible to reduce gate induced drain leakage (GIDL), which is one of the objects of the present invention. In addition, since the electrical field due to the drain voltage can be reduced, an occurrence of hot carriers can be suppressed, so that it is possible to improve durability of device.
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Second Embodiment
(28) Hereinafter, a structure of a pillar-type FET having low leakage current according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to
(29) The pillar-type FET according to the second embodiment is the same as the pillar-type FET according to the first embodiment except for a thickness of a gate insulating layer and a width of a semiconductor pillar. Referring to
(30) On the other hand, referring to
(31) If the width of the semiconductor pillar where the drain region 210 overlapped with the second gate electrode 209 is formed is decreased, parasite resistance is increased. Therefore, in order to increase an ON current of a device, resistance may be reduced by performing the selective epitaxial layer growth as described above.
Third Embodiment
(32) Hereinafter, a structure of a pillar-type FET having low leakage current according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to
(33) Referring to
(34) In the pillar-type FET 30 according to the third embodiment, when the first gate electrode 309 and the second gate electrode 307 are formed, the first gate electrode 309 is firstly formed, and the second gate electrode 307 having different work function is formed thereon. Alternatively, the first gate electrode 309 and the second gate electrode may be formed by forming p.sup.+ polysilicon and counter-doping the resulting product with impurities n.sup.+. A total length of the gate electrode is a sum of a length d1 of the first gate electrode 309 and a length d2 of the second gate electrode 307.
Fourth and Fifth Embodiments
(35) Hereinafter, structures of pillar-type FETs having low leakage current according to fourth and fifth embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to
(36) In the pillar-type FET 40 according to the fourth embodiment, a third gate electrode 412 is further provided to the structure of the pillar-type FET according to the first embodiment. That is, the pillar-type FET 40 according to the fourth embodiment is different from the first embodiment in terms of the only the structure of the gate electrode. Therefore, the gate electrode of the pillar-type FET 40 according to the fourth embodiment includes a first gate electrode 407, a second gate electrode 409, a third gate electrode 412, a first inter-gate insulating layer 408, and a second inter-gate insulating layer 413. The first inter-gate insulating layer 408 is formed between the first gate electrode 407 and the second gate electrode 409, and the second inter-gate insulating layer 413 is formed between the first gate electrode 407 and the third gate electrode 412. The structure of the fourth embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment except for the gate structure.
(37) In the pillar-type FET 50 according to the fifth embodiment, a third gate electrode 512 is further provided to the structure of the pillar-type FET according to the third embodiment. That is, the pillar-type FET 50 according to the fifth embodiment is different from the third embodiment in terms of the only the structure of the gate electrode. Therefore, the gate electrode of the pillar-type FET 50 according to the fifth embodiment includes a first gate electrode 507, a second gate electrode 509, and a third gate electrode 512. The structure of the fifth embodiment is the same as that of the third embodiment except for the gate structure.
(38) In the pillar-type FETs according to the fourth and fifth embodiments, the third gate electrode 412 (512) formed below the first gate electrode 407 (507) is formed to have a work function lower than that of the first gate electrode 407 (507), so that relatively similar characteristics can be obtained when the source and drain are exchanged. A length d4 of the third gate electrode 412 (512) is defined to be in a range of 5 nm to 400 nm. In the pillar-type FET according to the fourth embodiment, a thickness d5 of the second inter-gate insulating layer formed between the first gate electrode 407 and the third gate electrode 412 is defined in a range of 0.1 nm to 20 nm.
(39) DRAM Cell Array Using Pillar-Type FETs
(40) Hereinafter, a structure of a DRAM cell array using the pillar-type FETs according to the aforementioned embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail.
(41) In a case where the DRAM cell array is formed by using the pillar-type FETs according to the aforementioned first to fifth embodiments, a capacitor for storing charges in each cell may be formed on an upper or lower portion of each of semiconductor pillars 120, 220, 320, 420, and 520. Therefore, positions of the source and drain regions formed in each semiconductor pillar shown in
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(44) In
(45) After the semiconductor pillar is formed on the semiconductor substrate, the first insulating layer 602 for protection and insulation of an exposed silicon surface is formed with a thickness of 0.5 nm to 50 nm. Next, the second insulating layer 604 having a larger thickens of 10 nm to 500 nm is formed on the first insulating layer 602. In
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(47) However, the source regions 603 of the semiconductor pillars 620 are connected to each other in the bit line direction through the n.sup.+-doped source regions 603 formed under the semiconductor pillars 620. In order to reduce parasitic capacitance of the bit lines, a concentration of the p-type silicon substrate needs to be lowered. The second insulating layer 604 of
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(50) Hereinafter, processes for forming the structure shown in
(51) If the exposed drain region 610 or the polysilicon gate electrode is slightly oxidized, the product shown in
(52) Although the above description is mainly made on implementation of the present invention by using the bulk silicon substrate, the device according to the present invention may be implemented by using an SOI substrate as well as the bulk silicon substrate. In case of using the SOI substrate, electrical isolation between the bit lines can surely obtained. In addition, sensing margin can be increased by reducing parasitic capacitance of an arbitrary bit line. However, the SOI substrate is expensive, and a density of defects of the SOI substrate is higher than that of the bulk silicon substrate.
(53) According to the present invention, GIDL can be greatly reduced in a state that a threshold voltage of device in a pillar-type FET having a high degree of integration is suitably increased, so that an off-state current can be reduced. In addition, the off-state current can be reduced by using a change in cross-sectional area of a semiconductor pillar and a change in thickness of a gate insulating layer.
(54) While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.