Patterned silicide structures and methods of manufacture
Aspects of the present technology are directed toward Integrated Circuits (IC) including a plurality of trenches disposed in a substrate about a set of silicide regions. The trenches can extend down into the substrate below the set of silicide regions. The silicide regions can be formed by implanting metal ions into portions of a substrate exposed by a mask layer with narrow pitch openings. The trenches can be formed by selectively etching the substrate utilizing the set of silicide regions as a trench mask. An semiconductor material with various degree of crystallinity can be grown from the silicide regions, in openings that extend through subsequently formed layers down to the silicide regions.
1. An Integrated Circuit (IC) comprising:
a plurality of first silicide regions disposed in a substrate;
a plurality of trenches disposed between the plurality of first silicide regions and extending into the substrate below the plurality of first silicide regions;
a plurality of first dielectric regions disposed in the plurality of trenches and over the plurality of first silicide regions;
a plurality of first conductive regions disposed above the plurality of first dielectric regions;
a plurality of second dielectric regions disposed above the plurality of first conductive regions;
a plurality of semiconductor materials with various degree of crystallinity regions disposed in holes extending through the plurality of second dielectric regions, the plurality of conductive regions and the plurality of first dielectric regions and down to the plurality of first silicide regions, wherein the plurality of semiconductor materials with various degree of crystallinity regions are coupled to corresponding first silicide regions;
a third dielectric region disposed between the first conductive regions and the plurality of semiconductor materials with various degree of crystallinity regions; and
a plurality of Magnetic Tunnel Junction (MTJ) cell pillars disposed on corresponding ones of the plurality of semiconductor materials with various degree of crystallinity regions.
2. The IC according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a fourth dielectric region encapsulating the plurality of MTJ cell pillars the plurality of MTJ cell pillars; and
a plurality of second conductive regions disposed on the fourth dielectric region and extending through vias in the fourth dielectric region to the plurality of MTJ cell pillars, wherein corresponding one of the second conductive regions are coupled to sets of the MTJ cell pillars.
3. The IC according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of semiconductor materials with various degree of crystallinity regions comprise:
first portions doped with a first type of dopant at a first concentration proximate the plurality of first silicide regions;
second portions doped with the first type of dopant at a second concentration proximate the plurality of MTJ cell pillars; and
third portions doped with a second type of dopant at a third concentration and disposed between the first and second portions.
4. The IC according to claim 1 , wherein:
the substrate comprises a Silicon (Si) substrate; and
the plurality of first silicide regions comprise Titanium Silicide (TiSi 2 ), Nickel Silicide (NiSi) or Cobalt Silicide (CoSi 2 ) regions disposed in the Silicon (Si) substrate.
5. The IC according to claim 2 , wherein:
the plurality of first dielectric regions comprise a first Silicon Oxide (SiO 2 ) layer;
the plurality of first conductive regions comprise a polysilicon or metal layer;
the plurality of second dielectric regions comprise a second Silicon Oxide (SiO 2 ) layer;
the third dielectric regions comprises a third Silicon Oxide (SiO 2 ) layer or a Silicon in Oxynitride (SiON) layer; and
the fourth dielectric region comprises an Oxide or Spin-on-Glass (SOG) layer.
6. The IC according to claim 2 , wherein the plurality of MTJ cell pillars comprise:
a reference magnetic layer coupled to a plurality of selectors;
a tunneling barrier layer disposed on the reference magnetic layer; and
a free magnetic layer disposed on the tunneling barrier layer.
7. The IC according to claim 6 , wherein the plurality of MTJ cell pillars further comprise one or more seed layers, one or more Synthetic Antiferromagnetic (SAF) layers, one or more anti-ferromagnetic (AFM) coupling layers, one or more ferromagnetic (FM) coupling layers, one or more Processional Spin Current (PSC) coupling layers, one or more Perpendicular Magnetic Anisotropy (PMA) layers, one or more capping layers, and/or one or more hard mask layers.
8. The IC according to claim 6 , wherein the reference magnetic barrier layer is coupled to the plurality of semiconductor materials with various degree of crystallinity regions by a plurality of second silicide regions.
9. The IC according to claim 6 , further comprises a plurality of contacts coupled to the free magnetic layer through a plurality of second silicide regions.
10. The IC according to claim 9 , wherein a second silicide region comprises one of a Nickel Silicide (NiSi), Cobalt Silicide (CoSi 2 ), or Titanium Silicide (TiSi 2 ).
11. The IC according to claim 2 , wherein the plurality of second conductive regions are coupled together by a respective source line for a memory cell array.
12. The IC according to claim 2 , wherein the plurality of second conductive regions are patterned to form top contacts on respective MTJ cell pillars.
13. The IC according to claim 2 , wherein the plurality of second conductive regions comprise at least a portion of a plurality of bit lines for a memory cell array.
14. The IC according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of first silicide regions are buried below a top surface of the substrate.
15. The IC according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of first silicide regions approximate a top surface of the substrate.
16. The IC according to claim 1 , further comprising a nitride layer disposed between the plurality of first dielectric regions and both the substrate and the plurality of first silicide regions.
17. The IC according to claim 16 , wherein the first dielectric regions comprise Silicon Oxide (SiO 2 ) and the nitride layer comprises Silicon Nitride (Si 3 N 4 ).
18. The IC according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of first silicide regions comprise elongated bars with a tight pitch.
19. The IC according to claim 3 , wherein the first and second portions of the semiconductor materials with various degree of crystallinity comprise Silicon (Si) doped with phosphorus (P) or Arsenic (As), and the third portions of the semiconductor materials with various degree of crystallinity comprise Silicon (Si) doped with Boron (B) or Aluminum (Al).
20. The IC according to claim 1 , wherein the third dielectric region comprises one of a Silicon Oxide (SiO 2 ), Silicon Oxynitride (SiON), Aluminum Oxide (Al 2 O 3 ), or Hafnium Oxide (HfO 2 ) with a high-k value.