Embedded transistor
View Patent ↗An embedded transistor for an electrical device, such as a DRAM memory cell, and a method of manufacture thereof is provided. A trench is formed in a substrate and a gate dielectric and a gate electrode formed in the trench of the substrate. Source/drain regions are formed in the substrate on opposing sides of the trench. In an embodiment, one of the source/drain regions is coupled to a storage node and the other source/drain region is coupled to a bit line. In this embodiment, the gate electrode may be coupled to a word line to form a DRAM memory cell.
1. A method comprising:
providing a substrate having a first set of trenches and a second set of trenches;
forming a dielectric material layer in the first set of trenches and the second set of trenches;
removing the dielectric material layer in the second set of trenches;
forming a gate dielectric along sidewalls and a bottom of the second set of trenches;
forming a gate electrode over the gate dielectric in the second set of trenches; and
forming source/drain regions in the substrate on opposing sides of the second set of trenches.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the gate electrode is recessed below an upper surface of the substrate.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the gate dielectric has a different thickness along a bottom than along sidewalls of the second set of trenches.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising forming a capacitor electrically coupled to one of the source/drain regions.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the forming the gate dielectric and the forming the gate electrode comprises:
depositing a gate dielectric layer over an upper surface of the substrate, along sidewalls of the second set of trenches, and along the bottom of the second set of trenches;
depositing a gate electrode material over the gate dielectric layer; and
recessing the gate electrode material such that an uppermost surface of the gate electrode material is lower than an uppermost surface of the substrate.
6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising, after the recessing the gate electrode material, forming a dielectric material over the gate electrode material and planarizing a surface of the dielectric material such that the surface is coplanar with a top surface of the substrate.
7. A method comprising:
providing a substrate;
forming a plurality of trenches in the substrate;
filling the plurality of trenches in the substrate with a first dielectric material layer;
removing at least a portion of the first dielectric material layer from selected ones of the plurality of trenches, the removing exposing a bottom of the selected ones of the plurality of trenches;
forming a gate dielectric layer along the bottom and sidewalls of the selected ones of the plurality of trenches;
forming a gate electrode over the gate dielectric layer along the bottom of the selected ones of the plurality of trenches; and
forming source/drain regions along a surface of the substrate adjacent the selected ones of the trenches.
8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising forming a second dielectric material over a top surface of the gate electrode.
9. The method of claim 7 , wherein forming the gate dielectric layer comprises forming the gate dielectric such that the gate dielectric has a first thickness along the bottom and a second thickness along sidewalls, the first thickness being different than the second thickness.
10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the forming a gate electrode comprises:
filling the selected ones of the plurality of trenches with a gate electrode material;
planarizing a surface of the gate electrode material; and
recessing the gate electrode material within the selected ones of the plurality of trenches.
11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising forming a second dielectric layer over the gate electrode, an upper surface of the second dielectric layer being coplanar with an upper surface of the substrate.
12. The method of claim 7 , further comprising forming a capacitor electrically coupled to one of the source/drain regions adjacent to at least one of the selected ones of the plurality of trenches.
13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising electrically coupling a bit line to another of the source/drain regions adjacent to the at least one of the selected ones of the plurality of trenches.
14. A method comprising:
providing a substrate;
forming a first trench and a second trench in the substrate;
filling the first trench and the second trench with a first dielectric material layer;
removing the first dielectric material layer from a bottom of the second trench to expose a bottom of the second trench;
forming a gate dielectric layer along a surface of the bottom of the second trench;
forming a gate electrode in the second trench, an upper surface of the gate electrode being lower than an upper surface of the substrate; and
forming source/drain regions along a surface of the substrate adjacent the second trench.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the forming the gate dielectric layer and the forming the gate electrode comprises:
depositing a dielectric layer over an upper surface of the substrate, along sidewalls and a bottom of the second trench;
depositing a gate electrode material over the dielectric layer;
planarizing the dielectric material and the gate electrode material to expose the substrate between the first trench and the second trench; and
recessing the gate electrode material such that an uppermost surface of the gate electrode material is lower than an uppermost surface of the substrate, thereby forming the gate dielectric layer and the gate electrode.
16. The method of claim 14 , further comprising, after the forming the gate electrode, forming a dielectric material over the gate electrode and planarizing a surface of the dielectric material such that the surface of the dielectric material is coplanar with a top surface of the substrate.
17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the gate dielectric has a different thickness along a bottom of the second trench than along sidewalls of the second trench.
18. The method of claim 14 , wherein the removing the first dielectric material layer comprises forming a mask over the first dielectric material layer in the first trench and etching the first dielectric material layer in the second trench.
19. The method of claim 14 , further comprising forming a capacitor electrically coupled to one of the source/drain regions.
20. The method of claim 19 , wherein further comprising electrically coupling a bit line to another of the source/drain regions.