Semiconductor Device With Variable Insulation Volume Fraction
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing complexity and demand for high-reliability, high-speed semiconductor devices with multi-functional characteristics pose challenges in achieving uniform electrical characteristics across different regions of semiconductor devices, particularly in field effect transistors, due to variations in gate electrode and isolation pattern widths and volume fractions.
Innovation Solution
The semiconductor device incorporates a substrate with active patterns and isolation patterns of varying widths and volume fractions of insulating materials, where the first active pattern has a wider recess region filled with a smaller volume fraction of insulating material compared to the second active pattern, and gate electrodes of different widths intersecting these patterns to reduce performance differences between regions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If gate electrodes and isolation patterns have uniform widths across different regions, then manufacturing is simpler, but electrical characteristics vary due to different active pattern dimensions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by configuring first isolation patterns with a first width for the first active pattern and second isolation patterns with a second width for the second active pattern. This allows each isolation pattern to be locally optimized for its corresponding active pattern's dimensions, achieving uniform electrical characteristics across different regions despite varying active pattern sizes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the isolation patterns into different types (first isolation patterns and second isolation patterns) with different widths, matching them to different active patterns. This segmentation enables independent optimization of each isolation pattern's width to suit the specific dimensions of its associated active pattern, resolving the contradiction between manufacturing simplicity and electrical characteristic uniformity.
2Reliability
If insulating material volume fraction is increased in recess regions, then electrical isolation is improved, but device area is consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameter of insulating material volume fraction by configuring it to occupy 50% or more of the recess region volume. This parameter optimization ensures sufficient electrical isolation reliability while controlling the amount of insulating material used, thereby balancing isolation performance with device area consumption.
Data Source
AI summary
A semiconductor device includes a substrate having a first active pattern and a second active pattern, the first active pattern including a first recess region dividing an upper portion thereof into a first portion and a second portion, the second active pattern including a second recess region dividing an upper portion thereof into a first portion and a second portion, a first insulating pattern covering an inner sidewall of the first recess region, and a second insulating pattern covering an inner sidewall of the second recess region. The first insulating pattern and the second insulating pattern include the same insulating material, and a volume fraction of the first insulating pattern with respect to a volume of the first recess region is smaller than a volume fraction of the second insulating pattern with respect to a volume of the second recess region.