Integrated circuit device and method of manufacture

1. A method of manufacturing an integrated circuit comprising a memory device, comprising:

defining isolation trenches in a surface of a semiconductor substrate;

forming array gate electrodes, wherein forming array gate electrodes comprises:

defining a gate groove in the semiconductor substrate;

forming a gate electrode material so as to fill the groove;

forming word lines, the array gate electrodes being connected with corresponding word lines; and

forming peripheral circuitry by forming at least one peripheral transistor, the process of providing a peripheral transistor comprising forming a peripheral gate electrode;

wherein the peripheral gate electrodes and the word lines are made by:

forming a layer stack comprising at least one layer on the substrate surface so as to cover the memory cells and the peripheral circuitry; and

thereafter, patterning the layer stack so as to form the word lines and the peripheral gate electrodes,

wherein the method further comprises:

providing a gate insulating material at an interface between an active area and a groove and at an interface between the active area and pockets; and

depositing a gate electrode material so as to fill the groove and two pockets.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein a pocket is defined in each of the isolation trenches by an etching process which etches an isolating material in the isolation trenches selectively with respect to a semiconductor substrate material.

3. A method of manufacturing an integrated circuit comprising a memory device, comprising:

defining isolation trenches in a surface of a semiconductor substrate;

forming array gate electrodes, wherein forming array gate electrodes comprises:

defining a gate groove in the semiconductor substrate;

forming a gate electrode material so as to fill the groove;

forming word lines, the array gate electrodes being connected with corresponding word lines; and

forming peripheral circuitry by forming at least one peripheral transistor, the process of providing a peripheral transistor comprising forming a peripheral gate electrode;

wherein the peripheral gate electrodes and the word lines are made by:

forming a layer stack comprising at least one layer on the substrate surface so as to cover the memory cells and the peripheral circuitry; and

thereafter, patterning the layer stack so as to form the word lines and the peripheral gate electrodes,

wherein the process of defining the gate groove further comprises:

forming a first hard mask layer stack on the semiconductor substrate, the first hard mask layer stack comprising at least one layer of a material which is different from the material of the semiconductor substrate; and

defining a first opening in the first hard mask layer stack, and

etching the substrate material at a position corresponding to the first opening.

4. The method according to claim 3 , further comprising:

forming a second hard mask layer stack on the surface of the first hard mask layer stack, the second hard mask layer stack comprising a carbon layer; and

defining a second opening in the second hard mask layer stack, wherein the second opening is defined at a position at which the first opening is to be formed.

5. A method of manufacturing an integrated circuit comprising a memory device, comprising:

defining isolation trenches in a surface of a semiconductor substrate;

forming array gate electrodes, wherein forming array gate electrodes comprises:

defining a gate groove in the semiconductor substrate;

forming a gate electrode material so as to fill the groove;

forming word lines, the array gate electrodes being connected with corresponding word lines; and

forming peripheral circuitry by forming at least one peripheral transistor, the process of providing a peripheral transistor comprising forming a peripheral gate electrode;

wherein the peripheral gate electrodes and the word lines are made by:

forming a layer stack comprising at least one layer on the substrate surface so as to cover the memory cells and the peripheral circuitry; and

thereafter, patterning the layer stack so as to form the word lines and the peripheral gate electrodes,

wherein the method further comprises:

wherein defining the gate groove comprises:

selective etching the substrate material with respect to the isolating material of the isolation trenches;

thereafter, defining a pocket in each of the isolation trenches at a position adjacent to the groove so that the two pockets will be connected with the groove and the groove is disposed between the two pockets, the two pockets extending to a second depth larger than a first depth of the gate groove.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the patterning of the layer stack so as to form the peripheral gate electrode and the word lines comprises an etching process of simultaneously etching the word lines and the peripheral gate electrodes.

7. The method of claim 3 , wherein the first hard mask layer stack further comprises a top layer made of polysilicon.

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the peripheral gate electrode is formed by patterning a polysilicon layer forming part of the first hard mask layer stack.

9. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the first hard mask layer stack comprises a bottom layer which is made of polysilicon and a top layer which is made of silicon nitride.

10. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

forming a silicon dioxide layer on the semiconductor substrate surface, this process being performed before the process of providing the first hard mask layer stack.