Patent ID: 9496282
Filing Date: 2016-11-15
CPC Classification: H01L

Claim Text:
1. A method of forming a semiconductor structure comprising: providing a plurality of fins extending upwards from a surface of a buried insulator, wherein each fin of said plurality of fins contains an insulator material layer composed of an oxide on a topmost surface thereof; forming recesses in exposed portions of the buried insulator between adjacent fins of the plurality of fins, wherein said forming said recesses comprises an etch separate from an etch used to define said plurality of fins; filling the recesses with nitride material utilizing a directional deposition process, the directional deposition process further provides nitride portions; each nitride portion is located atop a corresponding fin, wherein said nitride portions atop adjacent fins are laterally separated from one another by a same distance by which adjacent fins of the plurality of fins are laterally separated, and wherein the nitride material does not contact a bottom of any one of the plurality of fins; removing residue nitride material from at least one sidewall of each of the plurality of fins; removing, at the same time and utilizing a lift-off etching process, the nitride portions and the insulator material layer atop the plurality of fins, while maintaining the nitride material within said recesses bare; and epitaxially growing a crystalline semiconductor merge material on exposed surfaces of the nitride material, the buried insulator, and the plurality of fins.