Patent ID: 11955547
Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY LTD.
Field: Semiconductors (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 7:
8. An integrated circuit device comprising:
a gate stack disposed over a substrate;
a first L-shaped spacer having a first surface disposed along a first sidewall of the gate stack and a second L-shaped spacer having a first surface disposed along a second sidewall of the gate stack, wherein the first L-shaped spacer and the second L-shaped spacer include silicon and carbon;
a shallow trench isolation structure disposed within the substrate;
a first source/drain epitaxy region and a second source/drain epitaxy region disposed over the substrate, wherein the gate stack is disposed between the first source/drain epitaxy region and the second source/drain epitaxy region, the first source/drain epitaxy region has a first top surface disposed between a second sidewall surface and a third sidewall surface, the second source/drain epitaxy region has a second top surface disposed between a fourth sidewall surface and a fifth sidewall surface, and the first source/drain epitaxy region and the second source/drain epitaxy region are semiconductor layers;
an interlayer dielectric (ILD) layer disposed over the substrate;
wherein a second surface of the first L-shaped spacer is opposite the first surface of the first L-shaped spacer and a second surface of the second L-shaped spacer is opposite the first surface of the second L-shaped spacer;
wherein a third surface of the first L-shaped spacer extends from the first surface of the first L-shaped spacer to the second surface of the first L-shaped spacer, a fourth surface of the first L-shaped spacer extends from the second surface of the first L-shaped spacer away from the gate stack to the second sidewall surface of the first source/drain epitaxy region, and the second surface of the first L-shaped spacer extends from the third surface of the first L-shaped spacer to the fourth surface of the first L-shaped spacer;
wherein a third surface of the second L-shaped spacer extends from the first surface of the second L-shaped spacer to the second surface of the second L-shaped spacer, a fourth surface of the second L-shaped spacer extends from the second surface of the second L-shaped spacer away from the gate stack to the fourth sidewall surface of the second source/drain epitaxy region, and the second surface of the second L-shaped spacer extends from the third surface of the second L-shaped spacer to the fourth surface of the second L-shaped spacer;
wherein a top surface of the gate stack, the third surface of the first L-shaped spacer, and the third surface of the second L-shaped spacer are free of the ILD layer;
wherein the first top surface of the first source/drain epitaxy region is higher than the fourth surface of the first L-shaped spacer and the second top surface of the second source/drain epitaxy region is higher than the fourth surface of the second L-shaped spacer;
wherein a first portion of the ILD layer physically contacts the first top surface, the second sidewall surface, and the third sidewall surface of the first source/drain epitaxy region, the first portion of the ILD layer extends from the second surface of the first L-shaped spacer to the second sidewall surface of the first source/drain epitaxy region, and the first portion of the ILD layer extends below the first top surface of the first source/drain epitaxy region and covers the fourth surface of the first L-shaped spacer;
wherein a second portion of the ILD layer physically contacts the second top surface, the fourth sidewall surface, and the fifth sidewall surface of the second source/drain epitaxy region, the second portion of the ILD layer extends from the second surface of the second L-shaped spacer to the fourth sidewall surface of the second source/drain epitaxy region, and the second portion of the ILD layer extends below the second top surface of the second source/drain epitaxy region and covers the fourth surface of the second L-shaped spacer;
wherein the ILD layer directly contacts an entirety of the second surface of the first L-shaped spacer, an entirety of the second surface of the second L-shaped spacer, an entirety of the fourth surface of the first L-shaped spacer, and an entirety of the fourth surface of the second L-shaped spacer; and
wherein the ILD layer extends continuously from the shallow trench isolation structure to physically contact the second surface of the first L-shaped spacer.