IP Library Granted Patent US 12,426,334
Granted Patent B2
US 12,426,334 · App. 18/655,832 · Granted Sep 23, 2025

FinFET device and method

Inventors: Chih-Han Lin (Hsinchu, TW); Ming-Ching Chang (Hsinchu, TW); Chao-Cheng Chen (Hsinchu, TW)
Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
H10D64/017H10D30/024H10D30/6211H10D30/6219H10D30/797H10D62/021H10D62/116H10D62/151H10D64/516H10D84/013H10D84/0135H10D84/0144H10D84/0158H10D84/038
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,426,334
App. No.
18/655,832
Granted
Sep 23, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

A semiconductor device includes a fin extending from a substrate, a gate stack over and along a sidewall of the fin, a spacer along a first sidewall of the gate stack and the sidewall of the fin, a dummy gate material along the sidewall of the fin, wherein the dummy gate material is between the spacer and the gate stack, and a first epitaxial source/drain region in the fin and adjacent the gate stack.

Claims (40)

1. A semiconductor device, comprising:

a fin extending from a substrate, the fin having an upper surface, a first sidewall, and a second sidewall;

an isolation region along a sidewall of the fin, the fin extending higher than an upper surface of the isolation region;

a gate structure over the fin and the upper surface of the isolation region, the gate structure comprising a gate dielectric layer and a gate electrode;

a dielectric layer adjacent to the first sidewall of the fin and the gate structure in a top-down view;

a spacer structure contacting a first sidewall of the gate structure;

a corner structure between the spacer structure and the gate structure on the first sidewall of the fin in the top-down view, wherein the corner structure is a separate element from the spacer structure, wherein the dielectric layer is between the corner structure and the fin; and

an epitaxial source/drain region adjacent to the gate structure.

2. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein a distance between the epitaxial source/drain region and the gate structure on the sidewall of the fin is greater than a distance between the epitaxial source/drain region and the corner structure on the sidewall of the fin in the top-down view.

3. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein a width of the corner structure decreases as the corner structure extends away from the fin.

4. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric layer contacts the epitaxial source/drain region.

5. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the spacer structure contacts the dielectric layer.

6. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein an interface between the corner structure and the gate structure is curved.

7. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric layer extends past opposite sidewalls of the corner structure.

8. A semiconductor device, comprising:

a fin extending from a substrate, the fin having an upper surface, a first sidewall, and a second sidewall;

an isolation region along the first sidewall and the second sidewall of the fin, the fin protruding above the isolation region;

a gate structure on the first sidewall of the fin and an upper surface of the isolation region, wherein the gate structure includes a conductive gate electrode;

a source/drain region in the fin and adjacent to the gate structure;

a dielectric layer on the first sidewall of the fin extending from the gate structure to the source/drain region;

a spacer on the dielectric layer on the first sidewall of the fin, the spacer contacting the gate structure; and

a corner structure along the first sidewall of the fin, wherein the corner structure is a different layer than the spacer, wherein the corner structure extends between the spacer and the gate structure along the first sidewall of the fin.

9. The semiconductor device of claim 8 , wherein the gate structure comprises a gate dielectric layer, wherein a sidewall of the corner structure contacts the gate dielectric layer.

10. The semiconductor device of claim 8 , wherein the corner structure comprises polysilicon or amorphous silicon.

11. The semiconductor device of claim 8 , wherein a width of the corner structure measured parallel to the first sidewall of the fin is between 2 nm and 30 nm.

12. The semiconductor device of claim 8 , wherein a thickness of the corner structure measured perpendicular to the first sidewall of the fin is between 2 nm and 20 nm.

13. The semiconductor device of claim 8 , wherein the dielectric layer extends further between the gate structure and the fin than the corner structure.

14. The semiconductor device of claim 13 , wherein the dielectric layer extends closer to the source/drain region than the corner structure.

15. A semiconductor device, comprising:

a fin extending from a substrate;

a gate stack over a top and along a sidewall of the fin, wherein the gate stack includes a conductive gate electrode;

an epitaxial source/drain region in the fin and adjacent to the gate stack;

a spacer along a first sidewall of the gate stack and the sidewall of the fin;

a corner structure positioned in a corner region of the sidewall of the fin and the gate stack, wherein the corner structure and the spacer are different layers, wherein the corner structure contacts the gate stack; and

a dielectric layer adjacent to the gate stack and separating the spacer and the corner structure from the sidewall of the fin.

16. The semiconductor device of claim 15 , wherein the dielectric layer contacts the epitaxial source/drain region.

17. The semiconductor device of claim 15 , wherein the corner structure has a triangular shape in a top-down view.

18. The semiconductor device of claim 15 , wherein the corner structure comprises polysilicon or amorphous silicon.

19. The semiconductor device of claim 15 , wherein the corner structure is between the gate stack and the fin along a line perpendicular to the sidewall of the fin in a top-down view.

20. The semiconductor device of claim 15 , wherein the gate stack comprises a gate dielectric layer, wherein the corner structure contacts the gate dielectric layer and the spacer.

Continuity (3)
Continuation 17345188 · Jun 11, 2021
Division 16549046 · Aug 23, 2019
Related Publication 20240290867A1 · Aug 29, 2024
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