Electrical fuse for silicon-on-insulator devices

Abstract

An apparatus for providing an electrical fuse is provided. An electrical fuse is patterned from the active layer of a semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) wafer. One shape of the electrical fuse may be a first and second portion electrically coupled via a third section. The third section is typically thinner than the first and second portion. An ion implant is performed to fully deplete the electrical fuse, and a silicidation process is performed. Thereafter, standard processing techniques may be used to form vias and other integrated circuit structures.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional of patent application Ser. No. 10 / 811,405, entitled “Method of Fabricating an Electrical Fuse for Silicon-On-Insulator Devices,” filed on Mar. 26, 2006, which application is incorporated herein by reference.TECHNICAL FIELD [0002] The present invention relates to semiconductor devices and, in particular, to an electrical fuse for silicon-on-insulator devices. BACKGROUND [0003] Fuses are commonly used in integrated circuits to provide redundancy and programming capabilities. To increase yield in integrated circuits such as memory chips, it is common to include redundant memory cells on the memory chips. If a memory circuit is found to be defective or is not needed, the fuse may be blown by activating or deactivating the redundant memory cells. Another common practice is to utilize fuses to program or customize integrated circuits for a particular application or customer. In this manner, the same chip may be produced and customized for individual...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This approach enables the efficient and cost-effective incorporation of electrical fuses into SOI devices, allowing for customization and redundancy without adding process complexity or cost, by forming the fuse simultaneously with other semiconductor devices like transistors.

Problems solved by technology

If a memory circuit is found to be defective or is not needed, the fuse may be blown by activating or deactivating the redundant memory cells.

The use of the laser, however, requires complicated processing steps and expensive laser equipment.

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