Formation of wrap-around-contact for gate-all-around nanosheet FET

1. A semiconductor device, comprising:

a substrate comprising a semiconductor material with a predetermined crystal orientation;

a gate stack comprising a plurality of nanosheet channel layers, each nanosheet channel layer being controlled by metal gate electrodes located above and below the nanosheet channel layer, each nanosheet channel layer comprising the same semiconductor material and crystal orientation as that of the substrate;

a source/drain region including a source/drain epitaxy on each of opposite sides of the gate stack, each source/drain region comprising a plurality of separated bridging structures respectively connected to each nanosheet channel layer;

a metal wrap-around-contact separately located in each source/drain region, the metal wrap-around-contact located in spaces between the bridging structures and encapsulating the bridging structures,

wherein the bridging structures are entirely embedded in the metal wrap-around-contact, and the bridging structures are each separated from each other,

wherein the source/drain epitaxy includes a crystal structure Si (100) that is a single merged epitaxy component.

2. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises silicon with a (110) crystal orientation,

wherein the metal wrap-around-contact is distinct from the bridging structure in the source/drain region, the metal wrap-around-contact filling spaces between the bridging structures that are separated, and the metal wrap-around-contact encapsulate the bridging structures, and

wherein the metal wrap-around-contact is separated from the bridging structure in the source/drain region.

3. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the bridging structures do not contact each other,

wherein the bridging structures are void of being merged together.

4. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein each nanosheet channel layer comprises a nanowire channel layer so that the semiconductor device comprises a nanowire transistor, and

wherein the substrate comprises silicon with a (110) crystal orientation.

5. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the bridging structures include a boron-doped Silicon-Germanium alloy (SiGe:B) to provide a p-channel field effect transistor (PFET), and,

wherein the source/drain region includes the source/drain epitaxy including a crystal structure Si (100) and is a single merged epitaxy component,

wherein the bridging structures are void of being merged together.

6. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the bridging structures include a phosphorus-doped Silicon (Si:P) to provide an n-channel field effect transistor (NFET), and

wherein the metal wrap-around-contact is set apart from the bridging structure in the source/drain region, the metal wrap-around-contact filling spaces between the bridging structures that are separated, and the metal wrap-around-contact encapsulate the bridging structures.

7. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein each bridging structure is connected to its respective nanosheet layer at a proximal end and to a dielectric material at a distal end,

wherein the a source/drain region comprises a semiconductor layer distinct from the metal wrap-around-contact,

wherein the bridging structures span across the source/drain region, and

wherein the bridging structures include epitaxial bridging structures that are not merged together.

8. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , as comprising a first semiconductor device of a pair of adjacent semiconductor devices, wherein one of the source/drain regions of the first semiconductor device is shared as a common source/drain region of a second semiconductor device of the pair of adjacent semiconductor devices, and wherein each bridging structure in the shared source/drain region is connected to its respective nanosheet layers in each of the first and second semiconductor devices,

wherein the bridging structures are each separated from each other, and

wherein the metal wrap-around-contact is set apart from the bridging structure in the source/drain region.

9. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein a width dimension of the source/drain region is 10-20 nanometers,

wherein the bridging structures do not contact each other, and

wherein the source/drain region includes the source/drain epitaxy including a crystal structure Si (100) and is a single merged epitaxy component.

10. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , further comprising a metal contact positioned on the metal wrap-around-contact, the metal wrap-around-contact comprising a conductive path between the metal contact and the plurality of nanosheet channel layers,

wherein the bridging structures do not contact each other,

wherein the bridging structures are void of being merged together.

11. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the source/drain region includes a source/drain epitaxy and is a merged epitaxy component.

12. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises silicon with a (110) crystal orientation,

wherein the metal wrap-around-contact is distinct from the bridging structure in the source/drain region, the metal wrap-around-contact filling spaces between the bridging structures that are separated, and the metal wrap-around-contact encapsulate the bridging structures,

wherein the source/drain region includes the source/drain epitaxy including the crystal structure Si (100) and is a single merged epitaxy component, and

wherein the bridging structures are each separated from each other and are void of being merged together.

13. A semiconductor chip, comprising at least one semiconductor device that comprises:

at least one gate stack comprising a plurality of channel layers, each channel layer being controlled by metal gate electrodes located above and below the nanosheet channel layer;

a source/drain region on each of opposite sides of each gate stack, each source/drain region comprising a plurality of separated bridging structures respectively connected to each channel layer, and each bridging structure having a same semiconductor material and crystal orientation as that. of the channel layer;

a metal wrap-around-contact separately positioned in the source/drain region, the metal wrap-around-contact filling spaces between the bridging structures and encapsulating the bridging structures,

wherein the bridging structures are embedded in the metal wrap-around-contact,

wherein the bridging structures are each separated from each other, and

wherein the source/drain epitaxy includes a crystal structure Si (100).

14. The semiconductor chip of claim 13 , wherein the bridging structures do not contact each other, and further comprising:

a metal contact positioned on the metal wrap-around-contact, the metal wrap-around-contact comprising a conductive path between the metal contact and the plurality of nanosheet channel layers; and

an interlayer dielectric (ILD) material being selectively deposited to surround the bridging structures,

wherein the bridging structures are entirely embedded in the metal wrap-around-contact.

15. The semiconductor chip of claim 13 , wherein each channel layer comprises one of a nanowire channel layer and a nanosheet channel,

wherein the bridging structures are filled in with an interlayer dielectric (ILD) material,

wherein the bridging structures do not contact each other,

wherein the source/drain region includes the source/drain epitaxy including the crystal structure Si (100) and is a single merged epitaxy component, and wherein the bridging structures are void of being merged together.

16. The semiconductor chip of claim 13 , wherein the bridging structures include a boron-doped Silicon-Germanium alloy (SiGe:B) to provide a p-channel field effect transistor (pFET).

17. The semiconductor chip of claim 13 , wherein the bridging structures include a phosphorus-doped Silicon (Si:P) to provide an n-channel field effect. transistor (nFET),

wherein the bridging structures are each separated from each other, and

wherein the metal wrap-around-contact is distinct from the bridging structure in the source/drain region, the metal wrap-around-contact filling spaces between the bridging structures that are separated, and the metal wrap-around-contact encapsulate the bridging structures.

18. A semiconductor device, comprising:

a substrate comprising a semiconductor material with a predetermined crystal orientation;

a gate stack comprising a plurality of nanosheet channel layers, each nanosheet channel layer being controlled by metal gate electrodes located above and below the nanosheet channel layer;

a source/drain region on each of opposite sides of the gate stack, each source/drain region comprising bridging structures respectively connected to each nanosheet channel layer; and

a metal wrap-around-contact in the source/drain region, the metal wrap-around-contact filling spaces between the bridging structures and encapsulating the bridging structures,

wherein the bridging structures are each separated from each other, and

wherein the source/drain epitaxy includes a crystal structure Si (100).

19. The semiconductor device of claim 18 , further comprising:

a metal contact positioned on the metal wrap-around-contact, the metal wrap-around-contact comprising a conductive path between the metal contact and the plurality of nanosheet channel layers,

wherein the bridging structure is not merged together,

wherein the bridging structures do not contact each other,

wherein the source/drain region includes the source/drain epitaxy including the crystal structure Si (100) and is a single merged epitaxy component,

wherein the bridging structures are void of being merged together, and

wherein the source/drain region includes the source/drain epitaxy the crystal structure Si (100) and is a single merged epitoxy component.

20. The semiconductor device of claim 18 , wherein the bridging structures do not contact each other and are not merged,

wherein the source/drain region includes a source/drain epitaxy and is a merged epitaxy component,

wherein the source/drain region on each of opposite sides of each gate stack, each source/drain region comprising a plurality of the bridging structures that are separated from each other respectively connected to each channel layer, and each bridging structure having a same semiconductor material and crystal orientation as that of the channel layer,

wherein the metal wrap-around-contact separately positioned in the source/drain region, the metal wrap-around-contact filling spaces between the bridging structures and encapsulating the bridging structures,

wherein the source/drain region includes the source/drain epitaxy including the crystal structure Si (100) and is a single merged epitaxy component, and

wherein the metal wrap-around-contact is separated from the bridging structure in the source/drain region.