Granted Patent B2

US 12,543,559 · App. 17/216,210 · Granted Feb 3, 2026

Inventors: Jordan D. Greenlee (Boise, ID); Rita J. Klein (Boise, ID); Everett Allen McTeer (Eagle, ID); John Hopkins (Meridian, ID); David Ross Economy (Boise, ID)

Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.

H01L23/53257H01L21/76805H01L21/76895H01L23/535H10B41/27H10B43/27

Abstract

Claims (60)

1 . An apparatus comprising:

a first dielectric material;

a second dielectric material separated from the first dielectric material;

a memory cell string including a pillar extending through the first and second dielectric materials, the pillar including a portion between the first and second dielectric materials;

a control gate associated with the memory cell string;

an additional dielectric material contacting the portion of the pillar;

a conductive material contacting the additional dielectric material; and

a tungsten structure including a portion of tungsten contacting the conductive material, wherein the tungsten structure is part of the control gate, and a majority of the portion of tungsten is beta-phase tungsten, and the tungsten structure includes an additional portion of tungsten contacting the portion of tungsten, and a majority of the additional portion of tungsten is alpha-phase tungsten.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the additional dielectric material includes aluminum oxide.

3 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first and second dielectric materials have a same dielectric material.

4 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the conductive material contains titanium.

5 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the conductive material has a thickness in a range from 2 nanometers to 5 nanometers.

6 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the conductive material has a discontinuous structure.

7 . An apparatus comprising:

a first dielectric material;

a second dielectric material separated from the first dielectric material;

a memory cell string including a pillar extending through the first and second dielectric materials, the pillar including a portion between the first and second dielectric materials;

an additional dielectric material contacting the portion of the pillar;

a conductive material contacting the additional dielectric material; and

a tungsten structure including a portion of tungsten contacting the conductive material, wherein a majority of the portion of tungsten is beta-phase tungsten, wherein the tungsten structure includes an additional portion of tungsten contacting the portion of tungsten, and a majority of the additional portion of tungsten is alpha-phase tungsten.

8 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the majority of the second additional portion of tungsten has a grain size having a maximum dimension of at least 80 nanometers.

9 . The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein at least 50% of the additional portion of tungsten has a grain size with a maximum dimension of at least about 100 nanometers.

10 . An apparatus comprising:

a first dielectric material;

a second dielectric material separated from the first dielectric material;

a memory cell string including a pillar extending through the first and second dielectric materials, the pillar including an additional dielectric material between the first and second dielectric materials;

a control gate associated with the memory cell string;

a conductive material contacting the additional dielectric material; and

a tungsten structure including a portion of tungsten contacting the conductive material, wherein the tungsten structure is part of the control gate, and a majority of the portion of tungsten is beta-phase tungsten, and the tungsten structure includes an additional portion of tungsten contacting the portion of tungsten, and a majority of the additional portion of tungsten is alpha-phase tungsten.

11 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the additional dielectric material includes aluminum oxide.

12 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the first and second dielectric materials have a same dielectric material.

13 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the conductive material contains titanium.

14 . An apparatus comprising:

a first dielectric material;

a second dielectric material separated from the first dielectric material;

a memory cell string including a pillar extending through the first and second dielectric materials, the pillar including an additional dielectric material between the first and second dielectric materials;

a conductive material contacting the additional dielectric material; and

a tungsten structure including a portion of tungsten contacting the conductive material, wherein a majority of the portion of tungsten is beta-phase tungsten, wherein the tungsten structure includes an additional portion of tungsten contacting the portion of tungsten, and a majority of the additional portion of tungsten is alpha-phase tungsten.

15 . The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the majority of the additional portion of tungsten has a grain size having a maximum dimension of at least 50 nanometers.

16 . The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein at least 50% of the additional portion of tungsten has a grain size with a maximum dimension of at least about 100 nanometers.

17 . An apparatus comprising:

a first dielectric material;

a second dielectric material separated from the first dielectric material;

a memory cell string including a pillar extending through the first and second dielectric materials, the pillar including a portion between the first and second dielectric materials;

an additional dielectric material contacting the portion of the pillar, the additional dielectric material having a dielectric constant greater than a dielectric constant of silicon dioxide;

a conductive material contacting the additional dielectric material, the conductive material containing titanium; and

a tungsten structure including a portion of tungsten contacting the conductive material, wherein a majority of the portion of tungsten is beta-phase tungsten wherein the tungsten structure includes an additional portion of tungsten contacting the portion of tungsten, and a majority of the additional portion of tungsten is alpha-phase tungsten.

18 . The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the additional dielectric material includes aluminum oxide.

19 . The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the first and second dielectric materials have a same dielectric material.

20 . The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the conductive material includes titanium silicon nitride.

21 . The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the conductive material includes titanium nitride.

22 . An apparatus comprising:

control gates for a memory cell string, the control gates interleaved with dielectric materials, the control gates including a control gate located between a first dielectric material of the dielectric materials and a second dielectric material of the dielectric materials;

a pillar of the memory cell string extending through the control gates and the dielectric materials, the pillar including a portion between the first and second dielectric materials;

an additional dielectric material formed on the portion of the pillar, the first dielectric material of the dielectric materials, and the second dielectric material of the dielectric materials, the additional dielectric material having a dielectric constant at least equal to a dielectric constant of aluminum oxide;

a conductive material formed on the additional dielectric material, the conductive material containing titanium; and

a tungsten structure including a portion of tungsten contacting the conductive material, wherein a majority of the portion of tungsten is beta-phase tungsten, wherein the tungsten structure includes an additional portion of tungsten contacting the portion of tungsten, and a majority of the additional portion of tungsten is alpha-phase tungsten.

23 . The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein the conductive material includes titanium silicon nitride.

24 . The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein the conductive material includes titanium nitride.

25 . The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein the first and second dielectric materials have a same dielectric material.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (82)