Fabrication of an isolated dummy fin between active vertical fins with tight fin pitch
A method of forming an arrangement of active and inactive fins on a substrate, including forming at least three vertical fins on the substrate, forming a protective liner on at least three of the at least three vertical fins, removing at least a portion of the protective liner on the one of the at least three of the at least three of vertical fins, and converting the one of the at least three of the at least three vertical fins to an inactive vertical fin.
1. A method of forming an arrangement, of active and inactive fins on a substrate, comprising:
forming at least three vertical fins on the substrate;
forming a protective liner on at least three of the at least three vertical fins;
removing at least a portion of the protective liner on at least one of the at least three of the at least three vertical fins; and
converting the one of the at least three of the at least three vertical fins to an inactive vertical fin, without using a fin-cut process.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the protective liner is formed by atomic layer deposition.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the protective liner is silicon oxide (SiO), silicon nitride (SiN), silicon oxynitride (SiON), silicon boronitride (SiBN), or a combinations thereof.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the protective liner is a silicon oxide, and the at least three vertical fins are silicon-germanium (SiGe).
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the protective liner is conformally deposited on the at least three of the at least three vertical fins.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising forming a gate structure on one or more of the at least three vertical fins.
7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising forming at least one source/drain on the one or more of the at least three vertical fins.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least three vertical fins are formed by a sidewall image transfer process.
9. A method of forming an arrangement of active and inactive fins on a substrate, comprising:
forming at least three vertical fins on the substrate;
forming a protective liner on at least three of the at least three vertical fins;
forming a filler layer on the at least three of the at least three vertical fins;
forming a masking layer on at least a portion of the filler layer, wherein at least a portion of the protective liner on one of the at least three of the at least three vertical fins is exposed;
removing at least a portion of the protective liner on the one of the at least three vertical fins; and
converting the one of the at least three of the at least three vertical fins to an inactive vertical fin, wherein at least portion of the inactive vertical fin is non-conductive.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the at least a portion of the protective liner is removed by a selective etching.
11. The method of claim 9 , wherein removing at least a portion of the protective liner on the one of the at least three vertical fins forms a reaction channel between the one of the at least three vertical fins and the filler layer.
12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising introducing a gaseous reactant into the reaction channel.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the gaseous reactant oxidizes or nitrides the one of the at least three vertical fins to convert the one of the at least three vertical fins to the inactive vertical fin.
14. The method of claim 9 , further comprising forming a gate structure by forming a gate dielectric layer on at least a portion of at least one of the at least three vertical fins, forming a work function layer on at least a portion of the gate dielectric layer, and forming a gate fill layer on at least a portion of the work function layer.
15. A method of forming an arrangement of active and inactive fins on a substrate, comprising:
forming a plurality of active vertical fins on a substrate, wherein the active vertical fins are made of a semiconductor material;
forming at least one inactive vertical fin adjacent to at least one of the plurality of active vertical fins, wherein the at least one inactive vertical fin is at least partially converted to an insulating material; and
forming a dielectric layer on at least a portion of the plurality of active vertical fins.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein at least two of the plurality of active vertical tins are adjacent to each other, and the pitch between the at least one inactive vertical fin and the at least one of the plurality of active vertical fins adjacent to the at least one inactive vertical fin is the same as the pitch between the two adjacent active vertical fins.
17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising forming a gate fill layer on at least a portion of the dielectric layer to form a gate structure on at least one of the plurality of active vertical fins.
18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising forming a source/drain at opposite ends of each of the plurality of active vertical fins.
19. The method of claim 15 , further comprising forming a protective liner on at least a portion of each of the plurality of active vertical fins and on at least a portion of the at least one inactive vertical fin.
20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the protective liner is silicon nitride.