Dummy Gate Parts for Level Difference Minimization in Semiconductor Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
The high density of circuit patterns in semiconductor devices leads to uneven interlayer insulation layers due to differences in gate patterns between cell and peripheral regions, causing defective patterns during manufacturing.
Innovation Solution
Forming dummy gate parts in the peripheral region to match the real gate parts in the cell region, optimizing their density and shape to minimize the level difference and ensure even surface flattening through chemical mechanical polishing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If dummy gate parts are formed in the peripheral region to match real gate parts, then the level difference between cell and peripheral regions is reduced, but the manufacturing process complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The dummy gate parts are formed in advance during the gate formation process, before the interlayer insulation layer is deposited. This preliminary action ensures that the peripheral region has the same surface profile as the cell region, enabling uniform CMP processing and preventing level differences that would otherwise require additional corrective steps.
Solution Approach 2:
The dummy gate parts are specifically formed only in the peripheral region where no real gate parts exist. This local modification creates uniform surface characteristics across different regions of the substrate, allowing the interlayer insulation layer to be formed with consistent thickness and enabling uniform subsequent processing.
2Reliability
If dummy gate parts are formed to cover dummy active regions, then impurity ion implantation is prevented in peripheral regions, but the device structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The dummy gate parts serve multiple functions simultaneously: they act as masks during impurity ion implantation to prevent contamination of dummy active regions, and they provide surface profile matching to enable uniform interlayer insulation layer formation. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate structures for each purpose.
Solution Approach 2:
The dummy gate parts act as intermediary structures that bridge the functional requirements of the cell region and peripheral region. They provide the necessary masking function during implantation while also creating the appropriate surface topology, serving as a mediator between different regional requirements.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach allows for the formation of even interlayer insulation layers, preventing defective patterns and enabling smooth fabrication of semiconductor devices with minimized level differences between regions.
Implementation Method 1
chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is performed on the interlayer insulation layer
Data Source
AI summary
In a reliable semiconductor device and a method of fabricating the semiconductor device, a difference in height between upper surfaces of a cell region and a peripheral region (also referred to as a level difference) is minimized by optimizing dummy gate parts. The semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate including a cell region and a peripheral region surrounding the cell region, a plurality of dummy active regions surrounded by a device isolating region and formed apart from each other, and a plurality of dummy gate parts formed on the dummy active regions and on the device isolating regions located between the dummy active regions, wherein each of the dummy gate parts covers two or more of the dummy active regions.