Fin Active Region Layout With Diffusion Breaks for IC Reliability
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Solution Overview
Problem
As electronic products become miniaturized, multifunctional, and high-speed, semiconductor packages face challenges in achieving high integration and reliability, particularly in maintaining efficient operation with stacked semiconductor chips.
Innovation Solution
The integrated circuit (IC) device incorporates a fin-type active region with sub-fin-type active regions, gate lines, diffusion break structures, and crack fillers to enhance reliability, including a substrate with isolation regions, nanosheet stacks, and specific gate dielectric films to support transistor formation and stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If semiconductor packages are miniaturized and highly integrated to achieve smaller size and higher functionality, then productivity and integration level are improved, but reliability deteriorates due to increased complexity and potential for defects
Solution Approach 1:
The active region is divided into multiple sub-active regions (first, second, and third sub-active regions) separated by diffusion break structures. This segmentation isolates potential defect propagation paths, allowing individual regions to be independently controlled and preventing failures from spreading across the entire device, thereby maintaining reliability while achieving high integration.
Solution Approach 2:
Diffusion break structures are introduced as intermediary elements between sub-active regions. These structures act as barriers that control dopant diffusion and prevent harmful interactions between adjacent active regions, enabling higher integration density while maintaining device reliability through controlled isolation.
2Area of stationary object
If multiple sub-fin-type active regions are closely arranged to increase integration density, then area utilization is improved, but manufacturing precision deteriorates due to difficulty in controlling dopant diffusion and maintaining uniformity
Solution Approach 1:
Diffusion break structures are selectively positioned between specific sub-active regions to create localized control zones. This allows dopant diffusion to be precisely controlled in critical areas while maintaining close spacing between active regions, achieving both high area utilization and manufacturing precision through spatially differentiated dopant distribution.
Solution Approach 2:
Diffusion break structures are formed in advance before final doping processes. This preliminary action pre-establishes diffusion barriers that guide subsequent dopant introduction, ensuring precise dopant distribution and uniformity across closely spaced sub-active regions, thereby maintaining manufacturing precision during high-density integration.
3Reliability
If diffusion break structures are introduced to control dopant distribution and improve reliability, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional structural elements
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple functions are merged into the diffusion break structures: they serve as dopant diffusion barriers, physical separators between sub-active regions, and structural support elements. By combining these functions into a single structural feature, the patent achieves improved reliability without proportionally increasing device complexity, as one structure accomplishes multiple objectives.
Data Source
AI summary
An integrated circuit device includes: a fin-type active region protruding from a substrate and extending in a first lateral direction, wherein the fin-type active region includes a first sub-fin-type active region, a second sub-fin-type active region, and a third sub-fin-type active region that is disposed between the first sub-fin-type active region and the second sub-fin-type active region; a first gate line extending in a second lateral direction on the first sub-fin-type active region, wherein the second lateral direction intersects with the first lateral direction; a second gate line extending in the second lateral direction on the second sub-fin-type active region; a diffusion break structure passing through a portion of the third sub-fin-type active region in a vertical direction, wherein the diffusion break structure has a groove portion in an upper portion thereof; and a crack filler filling the groove portion.