IP Library › Granted Patent US 10,510,804
Granted Patent B2
US 10,510,804 · App. 16/120,990 · Granted Dec 17, 2019

Semiconductor structure integrated with magnetic tunneling junction and manufacturing method thereof

Inventors: Alexander Kalnitsky (San Francisco, CA); Harry-Hak-Lay Chuang (Hsinchu County, TW); Sheng-Haung Huang (Hsinchu, TW); Tien-Wei Chiang (Taipei, TW)
Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY LTD.
H01L27/228H01L43/12
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,510,804
App. No.
16/120,990
Granted
Dec 17, 2019
Kind
B2
Abstract

The present disclosure provides a semiconductor structure including a substrate, a transistor region having a gate over the substrate and a doped region at least partially in the substrate, a first metal layer over the transistor region, and a magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ) between the transistor region and the first metal layer. The present disclosure provides a method for manufacturing a semiconductor structure, including forming a transistor region over a substrate, the transistor region comprising a gate and a doped region, forming a magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ) over the transistor region, electrically coupling to the transistor region, and forming a first metal layer over the MTJ, electrically coupling to the MTJ and the transistor region.

Claims (44)

1. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor structure, comprising:

forming a transistor region over a substrate, the transistor region comprising a gate and a first doped region;

forming a magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ) directly over the first doped region, electrically coupling to the transistor region; and

forming a metal via directly over the gate after forming the MTJ, the metal via being at a same level with the MTJ, forming the metal via comprising:

filling conductive material in an opening of a dielectric layer surrounding the MTJ; and

removing a portion of the conductive material and subsequently removing a portion of the dielectric layer until a top surface of the MTJ is exposed.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the forming the transistor region comprises forming a transistor having the gate and the first doped region and forming a conductive plug structure extending from the doped region.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising forming a lower electrode and an upper electrode of the MTJ, the lower electrode being electrically coupling to the first doped region through the conductive plug structure.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the forming the MTJ over the transistor region comprises patterning the MTJ with a diameter of from about 10 nm to about 60 nm at a bottom surface of the MTJ from a top view perspective.

5. The method of claim 3 , further comprising forming the dielectric layer conformally covering the upper electrode and a sidewall of the MTJ.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising forming a first metal interconnect over the MTJ and the metal via, electrically coupling to the MTJ and the transistor region.

7. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor structure, comprising:

forming a transistor region over a substrate, the transistor region comprising a gate and a first doped region;

forming a first contact plug directly over the gate and a second contact plug directly over the first doped region;

forming a magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ) directly over the first doped region, electrically coupling to the transistor region; and

forming a first metal interconnect directly over the gate after forming the MTJ, the first metal interconnect being at a same level with the MTJ, forming the first metal interconnect comprising:

forming a dielectric layer conformally covering an upper electrode and a sidewall of the MTJ

filling conductive material in an opening of the dielectric layer; and

removing a portion of the conductive material and subsequently removing a portion of the dielectric layer until a top surface of the MTJ is exposed.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

forming an etch stop layer over the top surface of the MTJ after exposing the top surface of the MTJ by removing the dielectric layer.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein forming the MTJ comprises forming an upper electrode in contact with a metal via over the first metal interconnect.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein forming the MTJ comprises forming a bottom electrode in contact with the second contact plug.

11. The method of claim 7 , wherein the first contact plug and the first metal interconnect are composed of different materials.

12. The method of claim 7 , wherein forming the dielectric layer conformally covering an upper electrode and a sidewall of the MTJ comprises:

conformally forming a first dielectric layer over the MTJ;

forming a second dielectric layer over the MTJ; and

planarize a top surface of the second dielectric layer.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein filling conductive material in the opening of the dielectric layer further comprises:

removing a portion of the first dielectric layer and a portion of the second dielectric layer until the first contact plug is exposed.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein removing the portion of the conductive material further comprises:

removing an overburden of the conductive material on the top surface of the second dielectric layer.

15. The method of claim 7 , father comprising simultaneously forming metal vias over the top surface of the MTJ and a top surface of the first metal interconnect.

16. The method of claim 7 , wherein the MTJ comprises a diameter of from about 10 nm to about 60 nm from a top view perspective at a bottom surface of the MTJ.

17. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor structure, comprising:

forming a first transistor region and a second transistor region over a substrate, the first transistor region comprising a first gate and a first doped region, the second transistor region comprising a second gate and a second doped region;

simultaneously forming a first magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ) directly over the first doped region and a second MTJ directly over the second doped region, wherein a diameter at a bottom of the first MTJ is different from a diameter at a bottom of the second MTJ from a top perspective; and

forming an interconnect directly over the first gate and the second gate after forming the first MTJ and the second MTJ, the interconnect being at a same level with the first MTJ and the second MTJ, forming the interconnect comprising:

forming a dielectric layer conformally covering an upper electrode and a sidewall of each of the first MTJ and the second MTJ;

filling conductive material in openings of the dielectric layer; and

removing a portion of the conductive material and subsequently removing a portion of the dielectric layer until a top surface of the first MTJ and a top surface of the second MTJ are exposed.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein a height of the first MTJ is different from a height of the second MTJ from a cross sectional perspective.

19. The method of claim 17 , further comprising forming a first contact plug over the first doped region and a second contact plug over the second doped region prior to forming the first MTJ and the second MTJ.

20. The method of claim 17 , wherein removing the portion of the conductive material comprises removing an overburden of the conductive material on a top surface of the dielectric layer.

Continuity (2)
Division 14871685 · Sep 30, 2015
Related Publication 20180374896A1 · Dec 27, 2018