Granted Patent B2

US 7,244,648 · App. 11/375,696 · Granted Jul 17, 2007

Abstract

Claims (28)

1. A method of forming a semiconductor construction, comprising:

providing a semiconductor substrate; the substrate comprising a silicon-containing region, and a silicon-oxide-containing region;

forming a mask over and in contact with the silicon-containing region;

while the mask is over the silicon-containing region, forming a nitrogen-containing material across at least a portion of the silicon-oxide-containing region;

after forming the nitrogen-containing material, removing the mask;

after removing the mask, forming a silicon nitride layer which extends across the silicon-containing region and the silicon-oxide-containing region, the silicon nitride layer being over the nitrogen-containing material;

conductively-doping the silicon-containing region to define a first capacitor electrode; and

incorporating the first capacitor electrode and the silicon nitride layer into a capacitor construction.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the conductively-doping of the silicon-containing region occurs prior to forming the nitrogen-containing material.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the silicon-containing region comprises hemispherical grain polycrystalline silicon, and wherein the silicon-oxide-containing region comprises borophosphosilicate glass.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the silicon-containing region consists of silicon, and wherein the silicon-oxide-containing region comprises borophosphosilicate glass.

5. A semiconductor construction, comprising:

a silicon-containing base;

a silicon oxide-containing mass over the base, and having an opening extending therethrough to the base;

a silicon-containing layer within the opening and narrowing the opening, the silicon-containing layer having substantially no oxygen therein, the silicon-containing layer having a first surface with a first degree of roughness and having a second surface with a second degree of roughness less than the first degree of roughness;

a first nitrogen-containing layer extending across the silicon oxide-containing mass and across the second surface of the silicon-containing layer, the first nitrogen-containing layer being in direct contact with the silicon oxide-containing mass and the second surface of the silicon-containing layer, the first nitrogen-containing layer having a first thickness; and

a second nitrogen-containing layer extending across the first surface of the silicon-containing layer, the second nitrogen-containing layer being in direct contact with the first surface of the silicon-containing layer, the second nitrogen-containing layer having a second thickness which is less than the first thickness.

6. The construction of claim 5 further comprising a transistor supported by the base and having a source/drain region corresponding to a conductively-doped diffusion region within the base; and wherein the opening extends to the source/drain region.

7. The construction of claim 5 wherein the silicon-containing layer consists essentially of silicon.

8. The construction of claim 5 wherein the silicon-containing layer consists essentially of conductively-doped silicon.

9. The construction of claim 5 wherein the silicon-containing layer consists of conductively-doped silicon.

10. The construction of claim 5 wherein the silicon-containing layer comprises polycrystalline silicon.

11. The construction of claim 5 wherein the silicon-containing layer comprises hemispherical grain polycrystalline silicon.

12. The construction of claim 5 wherein the silicon oxide-containing mass comprises borophosphosilicate glass.

13. The construction of claim 5 wherein the first nitrogen-containing layer comprises silicon nitride.

14. The construction of claim 5 wherein the second nitrogen-containing layer comprises silicon nitride.

15. The construction of claim 5 wherein the first thickness is from about 20 Å to about 30 Å, and the second thickness is less than 10 Å.

16. The construction of claim 5 further comprising a silicon-dioxide-containing layer over the first and second nitrogen-containing layers, and a conductive material over the silicon-dioxide-containing layer; the conductive material being capacitively coupled with the silicon-containing layer through at least the silicon-dioxide-containing layer and the second nitrogen-containing layer.

Assignments (8)