Curved Conductive Patterns for Contact Plug Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing difficulty in connecting contact plugs to conductive patterns in high-density semiconductor devices, particularly due to the risk of the contact plug penetrating the wrong pattern or failing to reach the target pattern, complicates the manufacturing process.
Innovation Solution
A semiconductor device with a substrate featuring sub-patterns that create a stepped structure with alternately stacked insulating and conductive patterns, allowing for contact plugs to be connected to the thicker, curved portions of the conductive patterns, which increases the contact area and provides an etching margin, thereby simplifying the process and reducing defects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If contact plugs are connected to thin conductive patterns in high-density integration, then device density increases, but manufacturing precision deteriorates due to risk of penetration or failure to reach target pattern
Solution Approach 1:
The conductive pattern is formed with a curved upper surface instead of a flat surface. The curvature radius is controlled to be 0.05-0.5 times the width of the conductive pattern. This curved shape creates a thicker contact region that provides an etching margin, allowing contact plugs to reliably connect to the conductive pattern even with process variations, thereby improving manufacturing precision while maintaining high device density
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the geometric parameters of the conductive pattern by controlling the curvature radius of its upper surface. By adjusting the curvature radius to be within 0.05-0.5 times the pattern width, the contact area is effectively increased without changing the overall layout density. This parameter optimization resolves the contradiction between high density and manufacturing precision
2Reliability
If contact plugs are connected to thick conductive patterns with curved surfaces, then etching margin increases improving reliability, but device density decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The curved upper surface of the conductive pattern is designed with a specific curvature radius (0.05-0.5 times the pattern width) that optimizes the balance between contact reliability and device density. The curvature creates a thicker contact region for reliable plug connection while the controlled radius prevents excessive thickness that would reduce density
Solution Approach 2:
By precisely controlling the curvature radius parameter within the range of 0.05-0.5 times the pattern width, the invention achieves the optimal balance point where the contact area is sufficiently large for reliable connection, but the overall structure maintains high device density
Data Source
AI summary
A semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same are provided. The semiconductor device includes a substrate on which a contact region and a cell region are defined, sub-patterns formed in the contact region, on the substrate, and insulating patterns and conductive patterns stacked alternately along the sub-patterns.