Fabrication method of a lateral 3D memory device

1 . A fabrication method of a lateral three-dimensional memory device, comprising:

forming a thin film transistor, wherein forming the thin film transistor includes a first thermal process having a first range of temperatures;

forming a capacitor bottom electrode of a capacitor structure, wherein forming the capacitor bottom electrode includes a second thermal process having a second range of temperature, wherein a maximum temperature in the second range of temperatures is less than a maximum temperature in the first range of temperatures;

forming a CMOS structure, wherein:

forming the CMOS structure includes a third thermal process having a third range of temperatures, wherein a maximum temperature in the third range of temperatures is less than a maximum temperature in the second range of temperatures;

wherein the CMOS structure is in direct contact with both a respective storage node of the capacitor structure in an uppermost tier of a vertical stack and a respective thin film transistor in the uppermost tier of the vertical stack; and

forming at least one other part of the capacitor structure, wherein forming the at least one other part of the capacitor structure includes a fourth thermal process having a fourth range of temperatures, wherein a maximum temperature in the fourth range of temperatures is less than a maximum temperature in the third range of temperatures.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the formation of the bottom electrode of the capacitor is at least in part constructed from a titanium nitride (TiN) material.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the maximum temperature in the first range is greater than or equal to 1050° C.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the maximum temperature in the second range is a temperature greater than 875° C.

5 . The method of claim 1 wherein the maximum temperature in the third range is a temperature between 400° C. and 800° C.

6 . The method of claim 1 wherein the maximum temperature in the fourth range is a temperature greater than or equal to 400° C.

7 . A method for forming arrays of vertically stacked memory cells, having horizontally oriented access devices and storage nodes, comprising:

forming gate dielectric on exposed surfaces of horizontally oriented single crystalline silicon (Si) layers in a vertical stack;

doping edges of the Si layers in the vertical stack to form source/drain regions;

after doping edges of the Si layers, forming a first conductive material directly adjacent the doped edges of the Si layers to form first electrodes;

after forming the first conductive material, forming a CMOS device in a layer that is vertically above a top surface of the vertical stack, wherein the CMOS device is in direct contact with both a respective storage node in an uppermost tier of the vertical stack and a respective horizontally oriented access device in the uppermost tier of the vertical stack;

after forming the CMOS device, forming capacitor dielectric material in horizontal openings adjacent to the first electrodes; and

forming a second conductive material in third horizontal openings adjacent the capacitor dielectric material to form second electrodes.

8 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising epitaxially growing the first Si layer to have a first thickness in a range of approximately 200 to 600 angstroms (Å).

9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising epitaxially growing the first Si layer to have a second thickness (t2) in a range of approximately 100 to 400 angstroms (Å).

10 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

forming a third vertical opening adjacent a second region of SiGe layers and the Si layers to expose third vertical sidewalls in the vertical stack;

selectively removing the Si layer in the second horizontal direction to form a plurality of second horizontal openings in the second region and stopping on the second dielectric material;

gas phase doping a dopant into a side surface of the Si layers from the second horizontal openings to form second source/drain regions horizontally adjacent a channel region; and

forming horizontally oriented capacitor cells having a bottom electrode formed in electrical contact with the second source/drain regions.

11 . The method of claim 7 , the method further comprising forming a plurality of patterned fourth vertical openings through the vertical stack adjacent first source/drain regions in which to deposit a second conductive material to form vertically oriented digit lines.

12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

forming a doped, n-type poly silicon (Si) material in the plurality of patterned fourth vertical openings through the vertical stack adjacent first source/drain regions to form the vertically oriented digit lines; and

annealing to diffuse n-type dopants from the n-type poly silicon (Si) material into the horizontally oriented single crystalline Si layers to form first source/drain regions in the horizontally oriented access devices adjacent channel regions.

13 . The method of claim 7 , wherein forming SiGe layers comprises epitaxially growing the SiGe layers to a thickness (tSiGe) less than a thickness of the Si layers (tSi).

14 . The method of claim 7 , wherein forming multiple, alternating SiGe layers and Si layers further comprises forming a tier including at least four layers including a first SiGe layer, the first Si layer of a first thickness, a second SiGe layer, and the sacrificial Si layer of a second thickness.

15 . The method of claim 7 , wherein forming SiGe layers and the Si layers further comprises a forming multiple (SiGe/Si/SiGe) n/Si interfaces where n is a non-integer and a tier includes at least five layers.

16 . The method of claim 7 , wherein removing the first Si layer reduces a first thickness of the first Si layer to form a remaining, thinned vertical thickness in the first Si layer.

17 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising removing the first Si layer and the sacrificial Si layer to form a separation between the remaining, thinned first Si layers in a range of 400 to 800 angstroms (Å).

18 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising removing the first Si layers in each tier to expose a remaining, thinned vertical thickness in a range of approximately 50 to 250 angstroms (Å) for first Si layers.

19 . A memory device comprising:

a vertical stack of memory cells formed in tiers, the stack having a respective horizontally oriented access device and a respective storage node in each tier, the horizontally oriented access devices having first source/drain regions and second source drain regions separated by epitaxially grown, single crystalline channel regions;

the horizontally oriented storage node of a respective tier being directly electrically coupled to the second source/drain region of the horizontally oriented access device of the respective tier;

wherein the second source/drain regions comprise a doped silicon material that is not a silicide; and

a CMOS device formed in a layer that is vertically above a top surface of the vertical stack, wherein the CMOS device is in direct contact with both a respective storage node in an uppermost tier of the vertical stack of memory cells and a respective horizontally oriented access device in the uppermost tier of the vertical stack of memory cells.

20 . The memory device of claim 19 , wherein the CMOS device is laterally outside of an area that laterally encircles the vertical stack of memory cells.

21 . The memory device of claim 19 , wherein the CMOS device is laterally inside of an area that laterally encircles the vertical stack of memory cells.

22 . The memory device of claim 19 , wherein the doped silicon source/drain region is directly electrically coupled to a TiN electrode of the horizontally oriented storage node.