Active-Gate Transistor Contacts With Enlarged Gate Landing Sections
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Solution Overview
Problem
As gate widths shrink in advanced technology nodes, the size mismatch between contacts and gates leads to incomplete contact landing, causing shorting and performance issues in field-effect transistors, particularly in low-noise amplifiers.
Innovation Solution
The structure includes a field-effect transistor with a gate extension having a section adjoined to the sidewall, allowing a gate contact to land on the gate extension, thereby reducing gate resistance and improving contact landing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If gate widths are shrunk in advanced technology nodes, then device integration and performance are improved, but contact dimensions become larger than gate dimensions causing incomplete contact landing and shorting issues
Solution Approach 1:
The gate structure is segmented into the original gate and an additional gate extension portion. This segmentation allows the contact to land on the extended portion while maintaining the original gate's functional dimensions, thus resolving the size mismatch between contact and gate without compromising device integration.
Solution Approach 2:
The gate extension extends in a lateral dimension beyond the original gate boundaries. This dimensional extension provides an additional landing area for the contact in the lateral direction, enabling complete contact landing while maintaining the original gate width for device performance.
2Reliability
If contacts are placed over the gate within the active region, then gate resistance is reduced, but size mismatch causes incomplete contact landing and shorting
Solution Approach 1:
The gate structure is divided into the functional gate region and the extended gate portion. The contact can now land on the extended portion which is electrically connected to the gate, achieving complete contact landing and reliable electrical connection without shorting issues.
Solution Approach 2:
The gate extension acts as an intermediary structure between the contact and the original gate. It provides a bridging region that ensures complete contact landing while maintaining proper electrical connection to the gate, thus improving contact reliability.
3Length of moving object
If gate width is reduced for advanced nodes, then device scaling is achieved, but contact dimensions become larger than gate dimensions
Solution Approach 1:
The gate structure is segmented into the original narrow gate for device scaling and an extended gate portion for contact landing. This allows the functional gate to maintain reduced width for advanced node scaling while the extension provides sufficient area for contact placement.
Solution Approach 2:
The gate extension adds lateral dimension to the gate structure beyond the original gate width. This dimensional extension provides sufficient contact area while the original gate width remains reduced for device scaling, effectively decoupling these two requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
Structures for a transistor including regions for landing gate contacts and methods of forming a structure for a transistor that includes regions for landing gate contacts. The structure includes a field-effect transistor having a source region, a gate region, a gate with a sidewall, and a gate extension with a section adjoined to the sidewall. The structure further includes a dielectric layer over the field-effect transistor, and a gate contact positioned in the dielectric layer to land on at least the section of the gate extension.