HKMG high voltage CMOS for embedded non-volatile memory

1. A method of forming an integrated circuit (IC) comprising:

providing a semiconductor substrate comprising a first region and a second region;

forming a non-volatile memory (NVM) device over the first region;

forming a protective sacrificial layer that covers the NVM device while leaving the second region exposed;

with the protective sacrificial layer in place over the NVM device, selectively forming a high voltage (HV) gate insulating layer over the semiconductor substrate in the second region;

forming a gate oxide layer over the protective sacrificial layer and over the HV gate insulating layer;

forming a HV high-κ metal gate (HKMG) transistor over the HV gate insulating layer; and

forming one or more HKMG CMOS devices in the second region.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein forming the HV gate insulating layer comprises:

forming a first oxide layer over the first and second regions;

forming a high temperature oxide (HTO) layer over the first oxide layer; and

patterning and etching the HTO layer to form the HV gate insulating layer.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein forming the HTO layer comprises rapid thermal annealing and etching the HTO layer comprises wet etching.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein:

a boundary region between the NVM device and the HV HKMG transistor in the semiconductor substrate, comprises a STI (shallow trench isolation) region;

the NVM device is formed over first region, prior to forming, patterning and etching the HTO layer; and

no wet etching occurs over the STI region in the boundary region.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein forming the one or more HKMG CMOS devices comprises:

depositing a high-κ dielectric layer over the first and second regions, wherein a bottom surface of the high-κ dielectric layer contacts an upper surface of the gate oxide layer;

depositing an etch stop layer over the high-κ dielectric layer;

depositing a sacrificial gate poly layer over the etch stop layer;

forming a hard mask layer over the sacrificial gate poly layer; and

patterning and etching the hard mask layer and the layers underneath to form gate stacks.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

performing a first CMP on the hard mask layer to stop at a top surface of the sacrificial gate poly layer;

removing the sacrificial poly layer to form openings in the gate stacks;

depositing a metal gate electrode layer in the openings; and

performing a second CMP on the metal gate electrode layer.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the metal gate electrode layer comprises Ti (titanium), TiN (titanium nitride), TiAI (titanium aluminum) or TaN (tantalum nitride).

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein:

thickness of the HV gate insulating layer ranges between 80 Angstroms and 200 Angstroms;

thickness of the sacrificial gate poly layer is approximately 680 Angstroms; and thickness of the hard mask layer is approximately 1100 Angstroms.

9. A method of forming an integrated circuit (IC) comprising:

providing a semiconductor substrate comprising a memory region, a high-voltage transistor region, and a logic region;

forming a pair of split-gate flash memory cell structures over the memory region, wherein the pair of split-gate flash memory cell structures includes a pair of select gates spaced on opposite sides of a common source/drain region, and a pair of memory gates disposed about outer sidewalls of the pair of select gates, respectively;

forming a protective sacrificial layer that covers the pair of split-gate flash memory cell structures while leaving the high-voltage transistor region and logic region exposed;

with the protective sacrificial layer in place over the pair of split-gate flash memory cell structures, forming a high-voltage gate structure of a high-voltage transistor over the high-voltage transistor region and forming a logic gate structure over the logic transistor region;

after the high-voltage gate structure and logic gate structure have been formed, removing the protective sacrificial layer from over the split-gate flash memory cell; and

performing a chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) operation to planarize upper surfaces of the select gates with an upper surface of the high-voltage gate structure and upper surface of the logic gate structure.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

after removing the protective sacrificial layer and prior to the CMP operation, forming a conformal layer over the split-gate flash memory cell structure.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein forming the high-voltage gate structure comprises:

forming a high temperature oxide (HTO) layer on the high-voltage transistor region of the semiconductor substrate;

forming a gate oxide layer over the HTO layer;

forming a high-k dielectric layer over the gate oxide layer;

forming an etch-stop layer over the high-k dielectric layer;

forming a polysilicon layer over the etch-stop layer; and

patterning the polysilicon layer, etch-stop layer, high-k dielectric layer, gate oxide layer, and HTO layer to form sidewalls that define the high-voltage gate structure.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

performing a chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) operation to planarize upper surfaces of the select gates with an upper surface of the polysilicon layer and with an upper surface of the logic gate structure.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

after the CMP operation has been performed, removing the polysilicon layer to form a recess in the high-voltage gate structure; and

depositing a replacement metal gate electrode layer in the recess.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein:

the high-voltage transistor includes a high-voltage gate insulating layer with a first thickness; and

the logic transistor includes a logic gate insulating layer with a second thickness that is less than the first thickness.

15. A method of forming an integrated circuit (IC) comprising:

providing a semiconductor substrate comprising a memory region, a high-voltage transistor region, and a logic region;

forming a non-volatile memory cell structure over the memory region;

forming a protective sacrificial layer that covers the non-volatile memory cell structure while leaving the high-voltage transistor region and logic region exposed;

with the protective sacrificial layer in place over the non-volatile memory cell structure, forming a first oxide layer over the protective sacrificial layer, the high-voltage transistor region, and the logic region;

with the protective sacrificial layer in place over the non-volatile memory cell structure, forming a high-voltage gate structure of a high-voltage transistor over the high-voltage transistor region and forming a logic gate structure over the logic transistor region; and

after the high-voltage gate structure and logic gate structure have been formed, removing the protective sacrificial layer from over the non-volatile memory cell structure.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

after removing the protective sacrificial layer, forming a conformal layer over the non-volatile memory cell structure.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the non-volatile memory cell includes a pair of split-gate flash memory cells disposed on the memory region.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein each split-gate flash memory cell comprises:

a select gate (SG) arranged between first and second source/drain regions;

a memory gate (MG) arranged alongside the select gate between the first and second source/drain regions; and

a charge-trapping layer arranged between neighboring sidewalls of the MG and the SG, wherein the charge-trapping layer extends under the MG.

19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising:

after the conformal layer has been formed, performing a chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) operation to planarize upper surfaces of the SG with an upper surface of the high-voltage gate structure and an upper surface of the logic gate structure.

20. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

with the protective sacrificial layer in place over the non-volatile memory cell structure, forming a second oxide layer over the first oxide layer, wherein a bottom surface of the second oxide layer contacts an upper surface of the first oxide layer.