Channel and Slit Structure Layout for 3D Memory Reliability
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Solution Overview
Problem
The integration limit of semiconductor devices with memory cells on a single layer and the need for improved operation reliability in three-dimensional semiconductor devices.
Innovation Solution
A semiconductor device design featuring a gate structure with first and second channel structures spaced differently from a slit structure, and a manufacturing method that includes forming channel structures and a slit structure with varying distances to maintain pattern density and stability across different regions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If memory cells are stacked on a substrate to improve integration, then the degree of integration is improved, but structural deformation and reliability issues worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The gate structure is divided into multiple gate electrodes (first gate electrode, second gate electrode, third gate electrode) stacked in the vertical direction, with insulating layers between them. This segmentation allows independent control and stress application to different channel regions, improving both integration density and operational reliability through differentiated gate control.
Solution Approach 2:
Different gate electrodes are configured with different widths and positioned at different locations relative to the slit structure. The first gate electrode has a first width, the second gate electrode has a second width greater than the first, and the third gate electrode has a third width greater than the second. This local variation in gate structure provides region-specific control over channel characteristics, addressing reliability concerns in high-density stacked configurations.
2Area of stationary object
If channel structures are densely packed to improve integration, then area utilization is improved, but pattern density variation and deformation worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The gate electrodes are designed with asymmetric width variations relative to the slit structure. The first gate electrode is positioned at a first distance from the slit structure, the second gate electrode at a second distance greater than the first, and the third gate electrode at a third distance greater than the second. This asymmetric arrangement creates intentional pattern density variations that compensate for deformation effects in densely packed channel structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from two-dimensional planar gate structures to three-dimensional vertically stacked gate electrodes with varying widths at different heights. This dimensional transition allows control of channel properties through both vertical stacking (increasing integration) and horizontal width variation (maintaining pattern density consistency), resolving the contradiction between area utilization and structural stability.
Data Source
AI summary
A semiconductor device includes a gate structure including a cell region and a contact region, a slit structure configured to extend in a first direction through the gate structure, first channel structures disposed in the cell region of the gate structure, and second channel structures disposed in the cell region of the gate structure and disposed to be more adjacent to the contact region of the gate structure than the first channel structures. In a second direction that intersects the first direction, the first channel structures may be spaced apart from the slit structure by a first distance, and the second channel structures may be spaced apart from the slit structure at a second distance.