Granted Patent B2

US 12,288,790 · App. 18/365,391 · Granted Apr 29, 2025

Inventor: Shahaji B. More (Hsinchu, TW)

Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

H01L27/0924H01L21/823418H01L21/823431H01L21/823468H01L29/0653H01L29/6656H01L29/66795H01L29/7851

Abstract

Claims (44)

1. A device comprising:

an isolation region on a substrate;

a first fin extending above a top surface of the isolation region;

a gate structure on a sidewall of the first fin and the top surface of the isolation region;

a gate spacer adjacent the gate structure; and

an epitaxial source/drain region adjacent the gate spacer, the epitaxial source/drain region extending along the sidewall of the first fin, the epitaxial source/drain region having a first main portion and a first projecting portion, the first main portion disposed in a first source/drain recess in the first fin, the first projecting portion disposed in a second source/drain recess in the isolation region.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein a height of the first main portion of the epitaxial source/drain region is greater than a height of the first projecting portion of the epitaxial source/drain region.

3. The device of claim 1 , further comprising:

a dielectric layer on the isolation region; and

an inter-layer dielectric on the dielectric layer, the inter-layer dielectric disposed at opposite sides of the epitaxial source/drain region.

4. The device of claim 1 , wherein the epitaxial source/drain region comprises:

a liner layer on the first fin, the liner layer having a first dopant concentration;

a main layer on the liner layer, the main layer having a second dopant concentration; and

a finishing layer on the main layer, the finishing layer having a third dopant concentration, the third dopant concentration less than the second dopant concentration and greater than the first dopant concentration.

5. The device of claim 4 , wherein the liner layer extends beneath the top surface of the isolation region, and wherein the main layer and the finishing layer are disposed over the top surface of the isolation region.

6. The device of claim 4 , wherein the liner layer and the main layer extend beneath the top surface of the isolation region, and wherein the finishing layer is disposed over the top surface of the isolation region.

7. The device of claim 4 , wherein the liner layer, the main layer, and the finishing layer extend beneath the top surface of the isolation region.

8. The device of claim 4 , wherein the liner layer has a first thickness in the first source/drain recess and has a second thickness along the sidewall of the first fin, the second thickness greater than the first thickness.

9. A device comprising:

an isolation region on a substrate;

a first fin extending above a top surface of the isolation region, the first fin having a first inner sidewall and a first outer sidewall;

a second fin extending above the top surface of the isolation region, the second fin having a second inner sidewall and a second outer sidewall, the first inner sidewall and the second inner sidewall facing one another; and

an epitaxial source/drain region in the first fin and the second fin, the epitaxial source/drain region covering more surface area of the first outer sidewall than of the first inner sidewall, the epitaxial source/drain region covering more surface area of the second outer sidewall than of the second inner sidewall.

10. The device of claim 9 , wherein a portion of the epitaxial source/drain region is disposed beneath the top surface of the isolation region.

11. The device of claim 9 , wherein the epitaxial source/drain region has a convex top surface.

12. The device of claim 9 , further comprising:

a first fin spacer on the first inner sidewall of the first fin; and

a second fin spacer on the second inner sidewall of the second fin.

13. The device of claim 12 , further comprising:

a dielectric layer on the isolation region, the dielectric layer extending between the first fin spacer and the second fin spacer.

14. The device of claim 9 , wherein the epitaxial source/drain region comprises a first semiconductor material layer and a second semiconductor material layer, the second semiconductor material layer is over the first semiconductor material layer, and the first semiconductor material layer is a different material than the second semiconductor material layer.

15. The device of claim 9 , further comprising:

a gate structure on the isolation region, the gate structure extending between the first fin and the second fin.

16. A method comprising:

depositing a spacer layer on fins, the fins extending from an isolation region;

patterning the spacer layer to form inner fin spacers and outer fin spacers, the inner fin spacers disposed on inner sidewalls of the fins, the outer fin spacers disposed on outer sidewalls of the fins;

patterning first source/drain recesses in the fins;

exposing the inner sidewalls and the outer sidewalls of the fins by etching the inner fin spacers and the outer fin spacers with an etching process, wherein the etching process etches the outer fin spacers at a faster rate than the inner fin spacers;

forming second source/drain recesses in the isolation region by etching the isolation region with the etching process; and

growing an epitaxial source/drain region in the first source/drain recesses, in the second source/drain recesses, and on the inner sidewalls and the outer sidewalls.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein a depth of the first source/drain recesses is greater than a depth of the second source/drain recesses.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the spacer layer is formed of silicon oxycarbonitride, and the etching process is an anisotropic plasma etch performed with CF 4 at a bias voltage in a range of 300 volts to 500 volts.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the etching process exposes more surface area of the outer sidewalls than the inner sidewalls.

20. The method of claim 16 , wherein growing the epitaxial source/drain region comprises growing liner layers, wherein more of the liner layers grows outwards from the outer sidewalls of the fins than grows upwards in the first source/drain recesses.

Continuity (5)

References Cited (30)