Methods of forming MIS contact structures for semiconductor devices and the resulting devices

1. A method of forming an MIS contact structure, comprising:

forming at least one layer of insulating material above a semiconductor layer;

performing at least one contact opening etching process to form a contact opening in said at least one layer of insulating material that exposes a portion of said semiconductor layer;

conformably depositing a layer of contact insulating material in said contact opening and on the exposed surface of said semiconductor layer;

conformably depositing a conductive material layer on said layer of contact insulating material within said contact opening;

forming a sacrificial material layer in said contact opening on said conductive material layer such that it overfills said contact opening;

reducing a thickness of said sacrificial material layer so as to expose a portion, but not all, of said conductive material layer, wherein said reduced-thickness sacrificial material layer has an upper surface;

performing at least one etching process to remove portions of said conductive material layer and said layer of contact insulating material positioned above said upper surface of said reduced-thickness sacrificial material layer so as to thereby define recessed portions of said conductive material layer and said layer of contact insulating material;

removing said reduced-thickness sacrificial material layer; and

forming a conductive contact in said contact opening that contacts said recessed portions of said conductive material layer and said layer of contact insulating material.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said semiconductor layer comprises one of a source/drain region, a gate structure or a resistor.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said layer of contact insulating material is comprised of one of silicon nitride, a high-k insulating material (k value of 10 or greater) or silicon oxynitride.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said conductive material layer is comprised of one of a metal, a metal alloy or polysilicon.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein said sacrificial material layer is comprised of one of OPL or DUO™ oxide.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said reduced-thickness sacrificial material layer has a thickness that falls within the range of about 10-40 nm.

7. A method of forming an MIS contact structure, comprising:

forming at least one layer of insulating material above a semiconductor layer;

performing at least one contact opening etching process to form a contact opening in said at least one layer of insulating material that exposes a portion of said semiconductor layer, wherein said contact opening has sidewalls;

conformably depositing a layer of contact insulating material on said sidewalls of said contact opening and on said exposed surface of said semiconductor layer, wherein said layer of contact insulating material has substantially vertically oriented portions and a substantially horizontally oriented portion positioned between said substantially vertically oriented portions of said layer of contact insulating material;

conformably depositing a conductive material layer on said layer of contact insulating material within said contact opening, wherein said conductive material layer has substantially vertically oriented portions and a substantially horizontally oriented portion positioned between said substantially vertically oriented portions of said conductive material layer;

performing at least one process operation to remove portions, but not all, of said vertically oriented portions of said conductive material layer and said vertically oriented portions of said layer of contact insulating material so as to thereby expose portions of said sidewalls of said contact opening, while leaving said horizontally oriented portion of said conductive material layer and said horizontally oriented portion of said layer of contact insulating material positioned within said contact opening above said semiconductor layer; and

forming a conductive contact in said contact opening that contacts said conductive material layer and said layer of contact insulating material.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein performing said at least one process operation comprises:

forming a recessed sacrificial material layer in said contact opening on said conductive material layer;

with said recessed sacrificial material layer in position within said contact opening, performing at least one etching process to remove said portions, but not all, of said vertically oriented portions of said conductive material layer and said vertically oriented portions of said layer of contact insulating material so as to thereby expose portions of said sidewalls of said contact opening; and

after performing said at least one etching process, removing said recessed sacrificial material layer.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein performing said at least one process operation comprises:

forming a recessed non-sacrificial conductive material layer in said contact opening on said conductive material layer; and

with said recessed non-sacrificial conductive material layer in position within said contact opening, performing at least one etching process to remove said portions, but not all, of said vertically oriented portions of said conductive material layer and said vertically oriented portions of said layer of contact insulating material so as to thereby expose portions of said sidewalls of said contact opening;

wherein said step of forming said conductive contact in said contact opening comprises forming said conductive contact in said contact opening such that it contacts said non-sacrificial conductive material layer, said conductive material layer and said layer of contact insulating material.

10. A method of forming an MIS contact structure, comprising:

forming at least one layer of insulating material above a semiconductor layer;

performing at least one contact opening etching process to form a contact opening in said at least one layer of insulating material that exposes a portion of said semiconductor layer;

conformably depositing a layer of contact insulating material in said contact opening and on the exposed surface of said semiconductor layer;

conformably depositing a conductive material layer on said layer of contact insulating material within said contact opening;

forming a non-sacrificial conductive layer in said contact opening on said conductive material layer such that it overfills said contact opening;

reducing a thickness of said non-sacrificial conductive layer so as to expose a portion, but not all, of said conductive material layer, wherein said reduced-thickness non-sacrificial conductive layer has an upper surface;

performing at least one etching process to remove portions of said conductive material layer and said layer of contact insulating material positioned above said upper surface of said reduced-thickness non-sacrificial conductive layer so as to thereby define recessed portions of said conductive material layer and said layer of contact insulating material; and

forming a conductive contact in said contact opening that contacts said recessed portion of said conductive material layer, said recessed portion of said layer of contact insulating material and said reduced-thickness non-sacrificial conductive layer.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein said semiconductor layer comprises one of a source/drain region, a gate structure or a resistor.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein said layer of contact insulating material is comprised of one of silicon nitride, a high-k insulating material (k value of 10 or greater) or silicon oxynitride.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein said conductive material layer is comprised of one of a metal, a metal alloy or polysilicon.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein said non-sacrificial conductive layer is comprised of one of a metal, a metal alloy or polysilicon.