Semiconductor Contact Plug Leakage Current Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
As semiconductor devices become more highly integrated, it becomes increasingly difficult to reduce or prevent leakage current from contact plugs, which are essential for providing electrical connections between lower patterns and upper interconnections, leading to various issues such as increased leakage current.
Innovation Solution
A semiconductor device is designed with a multi-fin active structure featuring N sub-fins in a substrate, where impurity areas with different conductivity types are formed, and a contact plug with a smaller horizontal width is created, overlapping specific sub-fins and including a metal silicide layer to enhance electrical properties and reduce leakage current.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If contact plugs are formed on lower patterns at various intervals to provide electrical connections, then electrical connectivity is improved, but leakage current increases
Solution Approach 1:
The contact plug is divided into multiple segments corresponding to different conductivity type impurity areas (first conductivity type and second conductivity type). This segmentation allows the contact plug to make selective electrical connections to specific impurity areas, enabling controlled current flow paths that reduce leakage while maintaining necessary electrical connectivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The contact plug structure is designed with varying properties at different locations - the upper portion overlaps with both first and second conductivity type impurity areas, while the lower portion is positioned to make selective contact with specific impurity areas. This local differentiation enables the contact plug to provide electrical connections where needed while blocking leakage paths in other regions.
2Productivity
If device integration is increased to improve productivity, then output per unit time increases, but leakage current from contact plugs becomes more difficult to control
Solution Approach 1:
The contact plug is segmented to align with the segmented impurity areas beneath the multi-fin active structure. This segmentation becomes increasingly important as device integration increases, as it allows precise control over current flow paths in highly integrated devices where contact plugs are densely packed and leakage control becomes more challenging.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the conductivity type parameters of impurity areas (alternating between first and second conductivity types) in the multi-fin active structure. This parameter variation creates distinct electrical regions that the contact plug can selectively connect to, enabling effective leakage current control even in highly integrated devices with increased device density.
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
The solution effectively decreases leakage current and improves the electrical characteristics of semiconductor devices by optimizing the configuration of sub-fins and impurity areas within the multi-fin active structure, leading to enhanced performance.
Implementation Method 1
A contact plug having a smaller horizontal width than the multi-fin active is formed on the impurity areas... including a metal silicide layer to enhance electrical properties and reduce leakage current
Data Source
AI summary
A semiconductor device includes merged contact plugs. A multi-fin active having N sub-fins is formed in a substrate. A contact plug is formed on the impurity areas. N is an integer between about eight (8) and about one thousand (1000). The N sub-fins include a first sub-fin formed in the outermost portion of the multi-fin active and a second sub-fin formed near the first sub-fin. A straight line perpendicular to a surface of the substrate and passes through a virtual bottom edge of the contact plug is disposed between the first sub-fin and the second sub-fin, or through the second sub-fin. The virtual bottom edge of the contact plug is defined at a cross point of a correlation line extending on a side surface of the contact plug and a horizontal line in contact with a lowermost end of the contact plug and parallel to the surface of the substrate.