Memory architectures having dense layouts

One embodiment relates to a memory device including a plurality of memory units tiled together to form a memory array. A memory unit includes a plurality of memory cells, which include respective capacitors and respective transistors, disposed on a semiconductor substrate. The capacitors include respective lower plates disposed in a conductive region in the semiconductor substrate. A wordline extends over the conductive region, and a contact couples the wordline to the conductive region so as to couple the wordline to the lower plates of the respective capacitors. The respective transistors are arranged so successive gates of the transistors are arranged on alternating sides of the wordline.

BACKGROUND

Several trends presently exist in the semiconductor and electronics industry. One trend is that recent generations of portable electronic devices are using more memory than previous generations. This increase in memory allows these new devices to store more data, such as music or images, and also may provide the devices with more computational power and speed, relative to previous product generations.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure will now be described with reference to the drawings wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout, and wherein the illustrated structures are not necessarily drawn to scale. It will be appreciated that this detailed description and the corresponding figures do not limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way, and that the detailed description and figures merely provide a few examples to illustrate some ways in which the inventive concepts can manifest themselves.

Existing embedded non-volatile memory devices, which can make use of a capacitor that stores charge over a gate electrode of a transistor, are well suited for many applications and can be compatible with logic manufacturing processes. However, these memory devices, whose transistors can use a polysilicon gate electrode, typically use a silicide blocking layer (e.g., resist protect oxide (RPO) layer) to increase or maintain charge retention of the floating polysilicon gate electrode. Unfortunately, the silicide blocking layer tends to enlarge the unit area of such memory devices. For example, in one given technology node, the unit area of a non-volatile memory cell can be about 4.4 um2. To reduce this unit area, improved memory array layouts which make use of an alternate gate coupling arrangement have been developed as described herein. In some implementations, these layouts can reduce the unit area of a memory cell from about 4.4 um2to about 3.3 um2for a given technology node (e.g., a reduction in area of approximately 25%). Considering the scope of process changes and corresponding time and capital outlay that are undertaken to go from one technology node to the next in the fab (e.g., to approximately double transistor density every 18 months in accordance with Moore's law), this layout change represents a significant improvement due to the ease and cost effectiveness in which it can be implemented.

Before delving into improved memory array layouts,FIG. 1illustrates a non-volatile memory cell100which can be arranged within such layouts, andFIG. 2shows a corresponding but non-optimized cross-sectional view of memory cell100. Referring toFIGS. 1-2concurrently, one can see that the memory cell100includes a capacitor102and a transistor104, which may also be collectively referred to as a “1T1C memory cell”. The capacitor102is made up of a first capacitor plate106, a second capacitor plate108, and a dielectric110separating the first and second capacitor plates106,108. The first capacitor plate106is coupled to a wordline (WL), which is used to program and/or read from the memory cell100. The transistor104, which includes a gate electrode111coupled to the second capacitor plate108, also includes a source region112and a drain region114. The source and drain regions112,114are spaced apart by a channel region116under the gate electrode111, and are coupled to a bitline (BL) and sourceline (SL), respectively. It will be appreciated that the terms source and drain can be interchanged depending on, for example, whether data is being read to or written from a memory cell. Thus, even though the BL inFIG. 1is shown as acting as source112, it can also act as a drain114—the same is true of sourceline SL.

Due to this configuration, the amount of charge stored on the capacitor plates106,108corresponds to a resistance of the channel region116and is indicative of a data state stored in the memory cell100. For example, if the charge stored on the capacitor plates106,108is sufficient to establish a transistor gate-to-source voltage which exceeds a threshold voltage of the transistor104, the channel region116will be conducting, corresponding to a first data state (e.g., logical “0”). On the other hand, if the amount of charge stored on the capacitor plates106,108provides a transistor gate-to-source voltage that is less than the transistor's threshold voltage, the channel region116will be non-conducting, corresponding to a second data state (e.g., logical “1”). In some embodiments, finer gradations of stored charge (and corresponding resistances) can be used to store multiple data states (e.g., 3 or more data states) within each memory cell100.

FIG. 3illustrates a schematic depiction of a portion of a memory array300arranged on a semiconductor substrate in accordance with some embodiments. The memory array300includes a number of memory units tiled together in rows and columns. For example, along Col. 1, the array300includes a first memory unit302a, a second memory unit302b, and a third memory unit302c; while along Col. 2, the array includes a fourth memory unit302d, a fifth memory unit302e, and a sixth memory unit302f. The first and fourth memory units302a,302dare along Row 1; second and fifth memory units302b,302eare along Row 2, and so on. Although the portion of memory array300shows only six memory units, it will be appreciated that memory array300could be a single memory unit (e.g.,302a) but it will often include billions of memory units, wherein any number of memory units are contemplated as falling within the scope of this disclosure.

Wordlines, which are typically formed in an active area in the semiconductor substrate and which can be covered by an RPO layer, extend in parallel with respective rows. The respective wordlines divide the respective memory units along a given row into respective upper and lower memory cell sub-groups. For example, WL1 divides the memory unit302ainto upper and lower memory cell subgroups304a,304b, respectively, and also divides memory unit302dinto upper and lower memory cell subgroups304c,304d, respectively. The upper and lower memory cell sub-groups each have multiple respective memory cells therein, wherein the wordline can be coupled to first capacitor plates of each memory cell along the row.

First and second bitlines, which can be formed in metal 1 or higher level interconnect for example, extend along opposite edges of a column of memory units and run perpendicular to the wordline. For example, BL1, BL2 extend along opposite edges of Col. 1, and are coupled to source/drain regions of memory cells308a,308b, respectively. Third and fourth bitlines (e.g., BL3, BL4), which are proximate to the first and second bitlines (e.g., BL1, BL2), respectively, also extend along opposite edges of Col. 1. Each bitline can be coupled to a single source/drain region for each memory cell.

One or more sourcelines extend in parallel with respective columns of memory units and are arranged to divide respective memory units along a column into respective left and right memory cell sub-groups each having multiple respective memory cells therein. With regards to the first memory unit302a, for example, first and second sourcelines SL1, SL2 divide it into a left memory cell sub-group306aand a right memory cell subgroup306b. The first sourceline SL1 is coupled to upper memory cells in both the left and right memory cell subgroups, and the second sourceline SL2 is coupled to lower memory cells in both the left and right memory cell subgroups, although other arrangements are within the scope of various embodiments.

Rather than the memory cells of the upper memory cell subgroup (e.g.,304a) being coupled to one sourceline (e.g., SL1) and the memory cells of the lower memory cell subgroup (e.g.,304b) being coupled to another sourceline (e.g., SL2), the memory cells could share the same sourceline in other embodiments. Thus, rather than having a pair of sourcelines (e.g., SL1, SL2) extending between adjacent memory cells of a column as illustrated, a single sourceline could be used instead. However, having the memory cells of the upper and lower subgroups coupled to two sourcelines as illustrated can provide the memory array100with read and write times that are approximately twice as fast compared with having only a single sourceline per column. Also, rather than memory cells on the left group (or right group) being coupled to two different bitlines (e.g.,308a,308ccoupled to BL1, BL2, respectively), these memory cells could be coupled to the same bitline. Again, however, having the memory cells of the left subgroup (and right subgroup) coupled to different respective bitlines as illustrated can provide the memory array with improved read and write speeds.

Further, in forming the upper and lower memory cell subgroups (e.g.,304a,304b) and left and right memory cell subgroups (e.g.,306a,306b), the wordlines and sourcelines can divide the respective memory units into four quadrants with each quadrant having a single 1T1C memory cell in some embodiments. In some implementations, these quadrants will have areas that are precisely or approximately equal within the confines of a given memory unit. In other implementations, however, there can be small area differences from one quadrant to the next within a given memory unit. Also, respective memory units are often identical to one another, although there may also be small, typically regularly repeating differences over an arrangement of memory units.

FIG. 4Ashows a perspective view of a single 1T1C memory cell400, which is made up of one transistor402and one capacitor404. For clarity of illustration, dielectric regions (other than gate dielectrics) have been omitted fromFIG. 4A.FIGS. 4B and 4Cshow more detailed cross-sectional views of transistor402and capacitor404, respectively. The transistor402includes source/drain regions406,408, which are separated from one another by a channel region under gate electrode410. One source/drain region406is coupled to a bitline (BL) through contact407, while the other source/drain region408is coupled to a sourceline (SL) through contact409. Transistor gate electrode410extends as shown by reference numeral412to form upper capacitor plate414. Lower capacitor plate426is made up of conductive regions416,418,420, which are buried in the semiconductor substrate424and therefore not shown inFIG. 4A, wherein capacitor dielectric422separates upper and lower capacitor plates414,426from one another. Contact428couples wordline WL to lower capacitor plate426. This 1T1C memory cell400can be repeated to form a memory unit.

FIG. 5shows a perspective view of one “tile” or one memory unit500that includes four memory cells. For clarity of illustration, dielectric regions (other than gate dielectrics) have been omitted from this figure. Each of the four memory cells inFIG. 5includes a transistor and a capacitor to cooperatively store a data state, as previously described with regards toFIGS. 1-2. However, for simplicity, only first gate506, second gate508, third gate510, and fourth gate512are labeled; and the corresponding transistors and/or capacitors are not labeled with reference numerals. Notably within this memory unit500, the memory cells are arranged to have an “alternate gate coupling” arrangement, which helps provide a particularly dense layout. In this alternate gate coupling arrangement, a wordline WL1, which is formed of a silicide blocking region and/or polysilicon aligned over an active region502in the substrate504, extends along a line503through a central region of the memory unit500such that gates of successive transistors are arranged on alternating sides of the wordline WL1. More specifically, moving from left to right along wordline WL1 inFIG. 5, first gate506is on a first side of the wordline WL1, second gate508is on a second, opposite side of the wordline WL1, third gate510is again on the first side of the wordline WL1, and fourth gate512is on the second side of the wordline WL1. The lower plates of the capacitors, which are not viewable inFIG. 5but which are formed in highly doped active region502buried in the substrate504under the wordline WL, are each coupled to WL1 through contact514. The capacitors being arranged side by-side in a regularly repeating pattern limits misalignment issues during manufacturing. One factor that helps limit this misalignment is the fact that the active region502extends along the line503, rather than twisting or turning through the substrate504. This is because existing techniques, which use twists or turns in the active region502, help ensure misalignment does not occur by providing some minimal spacing between edges of the active region. For twists and turns, this minimal spacing between edges increases the overall area of the memory cell, relative to linear active region502. Thus, because active region502extends along line503, it has fewer corners and it can avoid area increases due to the twists and turns, thereby helping to reduce the area of the memory unit500and/or limit misalignment issues.

FIG. 6Ashows a top layout view600corresponding to FIG.3's schematic, andFIGS. 6B-6Cshow cross-sectional views as indicated. Like FIG.3's schematic, the layout includes memory units (e.g.,602), which are arranged in a series of rows and columns. Wordlines (WL) run in parallel along respective rows, and bitlines (BL) and sourcelines (SL) extend along respective columns.

At the intersection of Row 1 and Col. 1 is a first memory unit602, which is roughly divided into quadrants by a first wordline WL1 and a pair of sourcelines SL1, SL2. Four 1T1C memory cells are arranged within the first memory unit—namely a first memory cell604, a second memory cell606, a third memory cell608, and a fourth memory cell610. Each memory cell can be considered to have a T-shaped layout (notwithstanding WL/capacitor contact612, which is shared for the four memory cells in the memory unit602).

Each memory cell includes a capacitor and a transistor. As shown by cutaway lines inFIG. 6A,FIG. 6Bshows a cross-sectional view of capacitor614andFIG. 6Cshows a cross-sectional view of transistor616. The capacitor614is made up of a first capacitor plate618, a second capacitor plate620, and a dielectric622separating the first and second capacitor plates618,620. A shared WL/capacitor contact612couples the wordline (e.g., WL1) to the first capacitor plate618, which includes n-doped regions (e.g.,624,626,628) in substrate630. The second capacitor plate620, which is typically a polysilicon layer632covered by a silicide blocking layer634(e.g., RPO layer seeFIG. 6A), is coupled to a gate electrode636of transistor616via a polysilicon segment638and/or by higher level interconnect.

Memory units such as memory unit602can be tiled together in a regularly repeating pattern to provide a denser layout than has been previously achievable. For example, the memory unit602illustrated inFIG. 6Acan be arranged in a given technology node to have a width (e.g., measured parallel to the rows) of approximately 3.8 um and a height (measured parallel to the column) of approximately 3.5 um. In such an implementation, because the memory unit602includes four memory cells arranged in an area of 3.5 um×3.8 um=13.3 um2, the average unit cell area is approximately 3.3 um2. Again, compared to existing layouts where the unit cell area was approximately 4.4 um2, this is a significant improvement in density. This improvement is density is especially attractive as various embodiments are compatible with standard CMOS logic process flows and avoids misalignment issues for capacitors of the memory cells.

Thus, some embodiments relate to a memory device including a plurality of memory units tiled together to form a memory array. A memory unit includes a plurality of memory cells, which include respective capacitors and respective transistors, disposed on a semiconductor substrate. The capacitors include respective lower plates disposed in a conductive region in the semiconductor substrate. A wordline extends over the conductive region, and a contact couples the wordline to the conductive region so as to couple the wordline to the lower plates of the respective capacitors. The respective transistors are arranged so successive gates of the transistors are arranged on alternating sides of the wordline.

Some embodiments relate to a memory array. The memory array includes a plurality of memory units tiled together in rows and columns. A memory unit at an intersection of a row and a column includes four memory cells including four transistors, respectively, and four capacitors, respectively. The four capacitors include respective lower plates disposed in a conductive region in the semiconductor substrate. A wordline extends in parallel with the row and is coupled to the conductive region via a contact. The four transistors of the memory unit are arranged so successive gates of the transistors are arranged on alternating sides of the wordline. First and second bitlines extends along opposite edges of the column and run perpendicular to the wordline.

Still other embodiments relate to a memory array that includes a plurality of memory units tiled together so as to abut one another along rows and columns of the memory array. A wordline passes through a memory unit so as to divide the memory unit into first and second memory cell subgroups. First and second sourcelines are proximate to one another and divide the memory unit into third and fourth regions. The wordline and first and second sourcelines collectively divide the memory unit into quadrants. A plurality of memory cells are arranged in respective quadrants of the memory unit. A memory cell includes a transistor having a gate electrode and source and drain regions spaced apart by a channel region under the gate electrode, and a capacitor having a first plate coupled to the wordline and a second plate coupled to the gate electrode.

Although the disclosure has been shown and described with respect to a certain aspect or various aspects, equivalent alterations and modifications will occur to others of ordinary skill in the art upon reading and understanding this specification and the annexed drawings. For example, it will be appreciated that the terms “first”, “second”, “third” and the like do not imply any spatial or temporal relationship therebetween, but rather are just generic identifiers. Further, these terms are interchangeable in this disclosure. For example, although one portion of this disclosure may refer to a “first” feature and a “second” feature, because first and second are merely generic identifiers, they features may also be referred to as a “second” feature and a “first” feature respectively. In particular regard to the various functions performed by the above described components (assemblies, devices, circuits, etc.), the terms (including a reference to a “means”) used to describe such components are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, to any component which performs the specified function of the described component (i.e., that is functionally equivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure which performs the function in the herein illustrated exemplary embodiments of the disclosure. In addition, while a particular feature of the disclosure may have been disclosed with respect to only one of several aspects of the disclosure, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of the other aspects as may be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms “including”, “includes”, “having”, “has”, “with”, or variants thereof are used in either the detailed description and the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising”.