Oxide Semiconductor Contact Spacer Layout for Short-Circuit Isolation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing semiconductor devices with oxide semiconductor channel layers face challenges in ensuring reliable electrical connections between the channel layer and conductive contact patterns, while preventing short-circuits with adjacent conductive components.
Innovation Solution
The semiconductor device incorporates a structure with an upper conductive line, a channel layer with an oxide semiconductor, a gate dielectric film, a conductive contact pattern, and an insulating spacer. This configuration ensures an electrical connection between the channel layer and the conductive contact pattern, while preventing short-circuits with adjacent conductive components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional structure without insulating spacer is used, then the device complexity is reduced, but the reliability of electrical connection between channel layer and conductive contact pattern deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
An insulating spacer is introduced as an intermediary component between the conductive contact pattern and the upper conductive line. This spacer ensures reliable electrical connection between the channel layer and conductive contact pattern while preventing short-circuits with adjacent conductive components, thus resolving the contradiction between connection reliability and structural simplicity.
2Reliability
If the channel layer is directly contacted by conductive contact pattern without insulation, then the manufacturing process is simplified, but short-circuit between conductive components occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The insulating spacer serves as a mediator that provides electrical isolation between the conductive contact pattern and upper conductive line, preventing short-circuits. The spacer is formed through a conformal deposition process followed by planarization, which integrates well with existing manufacturing workflows and does not significantly complicate the fabrication process.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If insulating spacer is added between upper conductive line and conductive contact pattern, then short-circuit prevention is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The insulating spacer is a minimal additional component that effectively eliminates short-circuit risks by providing electrical isolation. While it does increase the component count, the spacer's simple geometry and integration into the existing layer structure minimize the overall complexity increase, achieving effective short-circuit prevention with minimal structural addition.
Data Source
AI summary
A semiconductor device includes an upper conductive line extending in a first horizontal direction over a substrate, a channel layer facing the upper conductive line in a second horizontal direction that is perpendicular to the first horizontal direction, a gate dielectric film between the channel layer and the upper conductive line, a conductive contact pattern including a lower surface, which is in contact with an upper surface of the channel layer, and sidewalls including a first sidewall, which faces the upper conductive line in the second horizontal direction, and an insulating spacer including a first portion between the upper conductive line and the conductive contact pattern in the second horizontal direction.