Semiconductor structures and methods of forming them

Abstract

A semiconductor structure and a method for forming the same, the method comprising: providing a substrate, an interlayer dielectric layer is formed on the substrate, an opening exposing part of the substrate is provided in the interlayer dielectric layer, sidewalls are formed on the sidewalls of the opening, the bottom of the opening, and the surface of the sidewall A high-k gate dielectric layer is formed on the top of the interlayer dielectric layer; at least the high-k gate dielectric layer on the top of the interlayer dielectric layer is removed; a post-deposition annealing process is performed on the remaining high-k gate dielectric layer; the post-deposition annealing process is performed Afterwards, a metal layer is filled in the opening to form a metal gate structure. The present invention reduces the length of the high-k gate dielectric layer by at least removing the high-k gate dielectric layer on the top of the interlayer dielectric layer, thereby reducing the expansion (or Shrinkage), correspondingly reducing the possibility of cracking of the high-k gate dielectric layer due to excessive stress, so as to reduce the gate leakage current, thereby improving the electrical performance and yield of the formed semiconductor structure.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention relates to the field of semiconductors, in particular to a semiconductor structure and a forming method thereof. Background technique [0002] The main semiconductor device of an integrated circuit, especially a very large scale integrated circuit, is a metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOS transistor). With the continuous development of integrated circuit manufacturing technology, the technology nodes of semiconductor devices continue to decrease, and the geometric dimensions of semiconductor devices follow Moore's law. When the size of semiconductor devices is reduced to a certain extent, various secondary effects brought about by the physical limits of semiconductor devices appear one after another, and it becomes more and more difficult to scale down the feature size of semiconductor devices. Among them, in the field of semiconductor manufacturing, how to solve the problem of large leakage current of semiconductor de...

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Problems solved by technology

[0004] Although the introduction of high-k metal gates can improve the electrical performance of semiconductor devices to a certain extent, the electrical performance and yield of semiconductor devices formed by the prior art still need to be improved

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