Microelectronic Via Electrodes Insulated by Gap Regions
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing thickness of insulating layers in semiconductor devices to isolate through via electrodes from the substrate leads to stress and deteriorated step coverage, making it difficult to maintain sufficient thickness, especially as devices downscale and via electrodes become smaller, affecting the structure and operation of semiconductor devices.
Innovation Solution
A semiconductor device design featuring a trench with a conductive via electrode and an insulating layer that extends along the inactive surface and partially into the trench to create a gap region, which can be a vacuum or filled with a gaseous material, providing improved electrical isolation and reducing stress on the via electrode and substrate by using a liner layer and multiple insulating layers to define the gap region.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the thickness of the insulating layer is increased to improve electrical isolation, then electrical isolation is improved, but stress on the through via electrode and substrate increases and step coverage deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The insulating structure is segmented into multiple components: a first insulating layer formed on the substrate, a through via electrode penetrating the substrate, and a second insulating layer formed on the first insulating layer and the through via electrode. This segmentation allows each layer to contribute to electrical isolation without requiring any single layer to be excessively thick, thereby reducing stress while maintaining isolation effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a single-layer insulating structure to a multi-layer insulating structure with different spatial arrangements. The first insulating layer provides isolation at the substrate interface, while the second insulating layer provides additional isolation above the through via electrode. This dimensional approach to insulation distributes the isolation function across multiple layers rather than concentrating it in one thick layer.
2Reliability
If the thickness of the insulating layer is increased to improve electrical isolation, then electrical isolation is improved, but step coverage property deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The insulating function is segmented across multiple layers with different thicknesses and positions. The first insulating layer is formed on the substrate with controlled thickness, and the second insulating layer is formed on top of both the first insulating layer and the through via electrode. This segmentation allows each layer to be optimized for its specific function, maintaining good step coverage while achieving the required electrical isolation.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the insulating structure have different properties optimized for their local functions. The first insulating layer provides isolation at the substrate interface where electrical isolation is most critical, while the second insulating layer provides additional isolation in the upper region. This local optimization allows effective isolation without requiring uniform thickness throughout, preserving step coverage properties.
3Volume of moving object
If the through via electrode becomes smaller to downscale semiconductor devices, then device size is reduced, but it becomes difficult to maintain sufficient thickness margin of the insulating layer
Solution Approach 1:
The insulating structure is segmented into a first insulating layer on the substrate and a second insulating layer above the through via electrode. This segmentation allows the insulating layers to be optimized independently, ensuring sufficient thickness margins even as the through via electrode size is reduced for device downsaling. Each layer can be precisely controlled to maintain appropriate thickness ratios.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a vertical dimension to the insulating structure by introducing a second insulating layer above the through via electrode. This multi-layer vertical arrangement provides sufficient insulation thickness margins even when the through via electrode diameter is reduced, allowing device downsaling while maintaining manufacturing precision and electrical isolation.
Data Source
AI summary
A microelectronic device includes a substrate having a trench extending therethrough between an active surface thereof and an inactive surface thereof opposite the active surface, a conductive via electrode extending through the substrate between sidewalls of the trench, and an insulating layer extending along the inactive surface of the substrate outside the trench and extending at least partially into the trench. The insulating layer defines a gap region in the trench that separates the substrate and the via electrode. Related devices and methods of fabrication are also discussed.