FinFET Dummy Gate Electrical Isolation via Contact Plugs
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Solution Overview
Problem
As electronic products become smaller and thinner, the need for integrating semiconductor devices grows, and existing methods for separating fin active regions in integrated circuit devices face challenges in maintaining electrical characteristics and compactness, particularly when using physical separation schemes that can degrade performance and increase variations in device characteristics.
Innovation Solution
The integration circuit device employs a device separation structure that electrically connects dummy gate lines to power lines, using lower and upper dummy contact plugs to turn off dummy transistors, allowing for electrical separation without physical isolation, thereby maintaining stable electrical characteristics and compactness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If physical separation schemes are used to separate fin active regions, then device isolation is achieved, but electrical characteristics are degraded and variations increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces physical separation structures with an electrical control mechanism. Instead of using physical barriers or isolation structures to separate fin active regions, the invention uses a control signal applied to a gate line to electrically control the state of dummy transistors, thereby achieving device separation through electrical means rather than mechanical/physical structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the operational state of the dummy transistor by applying a control voltage to the gate line. By changing the gate voltage parameter, the dummy transistor can be turned on or off, thereby controlling the electrical connection between fin active regions. This parameter-based control eliminates the need for fixed physical separation structures.
2Reliability
If device separation structures are implemented, then electrical disconnection between cells is achieved, but device compactness is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The gate line serves multiple functions: it acts as a control signal transmission line for turning dummy transistors on/off, and simultaneously functions as part of the device separation mechanism. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for dedicated separation structures, maintaining device compactness while achieving electrical disconnection when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The device separation is achieved dynamically through voltage control rather than through fixed physical structures. The dummy transistor's conductive state can be changed on-demand by applying appropriate voltages to the gate line, allowing the device to transition between connected and separated states without requiring physical separation structures that would occupy additional space.
3Manufacturing precision
If dummy transistors are used for electrical separation, then variations in electrical characteristics are reduced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The dummy transistor is designed with the same structure and materials as the main transistors in the device. This homogeneity ensures that the dummy transistor exhibits identical electrical characteristics and responds uniformly to control signals, reducing variations in electrical behavior while maintaining manufacturing consistency with the rest of the device.
Data Source
AI summary
An integrated circuit device includes a substrate including a fin active region extending in a first direction, a gate line intersecting the fin active region and extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, a power line electrically connected to source/drain regions at sides of the gate line on the fin active region, a pair of dummy gate lines intersecting the fin active region and extending in the second direction, and a device separation structure electrically connected to the pair of dummy gate lines and including a lower dummy contact plug between the pair of dummy gate lines on the fin active region and electrically connected to the power line, and an upper dummy contact plug on the lower dummy contact plug and on the pair of dummy gate lines to electrically connect the lower dummy contact plug to the pair of dummy gate lines.