Patent Abstract:
A method of forming a semiconductor device with improved leakage control, includes: providing a semiconductor substrate; forming a trench in the substrate; forming a leakage stop implant in the substrate under the bottom of the trench and under and aligned to a sidewall of the trench; filling the trench with an insulator; and forming an N-well (or a P-well) in the substrate adjacent to and in contact with an opposite sidewall of the trench, the N-well (or the N-well) extending under the trench and forming an upper portion of an isolation junction with the leakage stop implant, the upper portion of the isolation junction located entirely under the trench. The leakage control implant is self-aligned to the trench sidewalls.

Full Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to the field of semiconductor integrated circuits; more specifically, it relates to a structure for reducing shallow trench isolation (STI) bound inter-well leakage in complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology and the method of fabricating said structure.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Bulk CMOS technologies that utilize STI can be susceptible to leakage currents between the N-well or the P-well and adjacent diffusions or the substrate that the STI attempts to isolate. STI is formed by etching a trench from the surface of a substrate a predetermined depth into the substrate and then filling the trench with an insulator. Inter-well leakage is a key design issue that affects the degree to which performance-influencing parameters such as junction capacitance can be optimized. Inter-well leakage can cause latch-up, high standby current and high power dissipation. Inter-well leakage becomes increasingly important as the design ground-rules for STI shrink in response to increased device density.  
           [0003]    Turning to FIG. 1, FIG. 1 is a partial cross-section view through a typical pair of CMOS devices. Fabricated on a substrate  100  are a PFET  105  and an NFET  110 . PFET  105  is bounded by a first STI  115  and a second STI  120 . NFET  110  is bounded by second STI  120  and a third STI  125 . PFET  105  is fabricated in an N-well  130  and comprises source/drains  135 A,  135 B, and a gate  140 . NFET  110  is fabricated in a P-well  145  and comprises source/drains  150 A,  150 B, and a gate  155 . An isolation junction  160  is formed between N-well  130  and P-well  145  and extends up to a bottom surface  165  of second STI  120 . Isolation junction  160  and second STI  120  provide for isolation of PFET  105  and NFET  110 .  
           [0004]    [0004]FIGS. 2A and 2B are partial cross section views illustrating one method of forming an N-well and a P-well in CMOS technology. In FIG. 1, second STI  120  is formed in substrate  100 . Second STI  120  has in addition to bottom surface  165 , a first sidewall  170  and a second sidewall  175 . Second STI  120  is bisected by a reference plane  180 , which is equidistant from first and second sidewalls  170  and  175  and perpendicular to a top surface  182  of substrate  100 . N-well  130  is formed by implantation of N dopant atoms using a first resist mask  185  as an implantation mask. First resist mask  185  has a sidewall  187  formed on top of second STI  120  and between reference plane  180  and first sidewall  170  of the second STI. After implant, a sidewall  188  of N-well  130  is located under second STI  120  and between reference plane  180  and first sidewall  170  of the second STI.  
           [0005]    In FIG. 2B, P-well  145  is formed by implantation of P dopant atoms using a second resist mask  190  as an implantation mask. Second resist mask  190  has a sidewall  197  formed on top of second STI  120  and between reference plane  180  and second sidewall  175  of the second STI. After implant, a sidewall  198  of P-well  145  is located under STI  120  and between reference plane  180  and second sidewall  175  of the second STI. Sidewall  188  of N-well  130  is separated from sidewall  198  of P-well  145  by distance “D”. After subsequent process steps, especially heat cycles, sidewall  188  of N-well  130  and sidewall  198  of P-well  145  merge due to dopant diffusion to form isolation junction  160  as illustrated in FIG. 1  and described above. Generally, the N-well and P-well implants are not necessarily performed directly on surface  182  of substrate  100 , but through an intervening layer, which may comprise silicon oxide, silicon nitride, or a combination thereof, formed on the surface of the substrate, which layer has not been included in FIGS. 2A and 2B.  
           [0006]    [0006]FIG. 3 is a partial cross-section view through a typical pair of CMOS devices illustrating a leakage path between the P-well device and the N-well. Non-perfect or misalignment of first and/or second resist masks  185  and  190  will cause isolation junction  160  to shift further toward NFET  110  and result in increased inter-well leakage. The leakage path is from grounded source/drain  150 A of NFET  110  to N-well  130  held at V NW . In one example, V NW  is about 0 to 2.5 v. As the width of second STI  120  decreases, the percent the total width of the second STI used by alignment tolerances increases, so even acceptable alignment can result in unacceptable inter-well leakage. Decrease in the depth of second STI  120  also increases inter-well leakage.  
           [0007]    Accordingly, a method to control inter-well leakage as STI width and depth ground-rules decrease is required.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0008]    A first aspect of the present invention is a method of forming a semiconductor device with improved leakage control, comprising: providing a semiconductor substrate having a top surface; forming a trench in the substrate, the trench having a bottom, a first sidewall and an opposite second sidewall; forming a leakage stop implant in the substrate under the bottom of the trench and under and aligned to the second sidewall; filling the trench with an insulator; and forming an N-well in the substrate adjacent to and in contact with the first sidewall, the N-well extending under the trench and forming an upper portion of an isolation junction with the leakage stop implant, the upper portion of the isolation junction located entirely under the trench.  
           [0009]    A second aspect of the present invention is a method of forming a semiconductor device with improved leakage control, comprising: providing a P doped semiconductor substrate having a top surface; forming a trench in the substrate, the trench having a bottom, a first sidewall and an opposite second sidewall; forming a conformal modulating layer on the top surface of the substrate and on the bottom and first and second sidewalls of the trench; forming a leakage stop implant in the substrate under the bottom of the trench and under and aligned to the second sidewall; filling the trench with an insulator; and forming an N-well in the substrate adjacent to and in contact with the first sidewall, the N-well extending under the trench and forming an upper portion of an isolation junction with the leakage stop implant, the upper portion of the isolation junction located entirely under the trench.  
           [0010]    A third aspect of the present invention is a semiconductor device with improved leakage control, comprising: a P doped semiconductor substrate having a top surface; a STI in the substrate, the STI having a bottom, a first sidewall and an opposite second sidewall; a leakage stop implant in the substrate under the bottom of the STI and under and aligned to the second sidewall; and an N-well in the substrate adjacent to and in contact with the first sidewall, the N-well extending under the STI and forming an upper portion of an isolation junction with the leakage stop implant, the upper portion of the isolation junction located entirely under the STI.  
           [0011]    A fourth aspect of the present invention is a method of forming a semiconductor device with improved leakage control, comprising: providing a semiconductor substrate having a top surface; forming a trench in the substrate, the trench having a bottom, a first sidewall and an opposite second sidewall; forming a leakage stop implant in the substrate under the bottom of the trench and under and aligned to the second sidewall; filling the trench with an insulator; and forming a P-well in the substrate adjacent to and in contact with the first sidewall, the P-well extending under the trench and forming an upper portion of an isolation junction with the leakage stop implant, the upper portion of the isolation junction located entirely under the trench.  
           [0012]    A fifth aspect of the present invention is a method of forming a semiconductor device with improved leakage control, comprising: providing an N doped semiconductor substrate having a top surface; forming a trench in the substrate, the trench having a bottom, a first sidewall and an opposite second sidewall; forming a conformal modulating layer on the top surface of the substrate and on the bottom and first and second sidewalls of the trench, the modulating layer having a outer surface; forming a leakage stop implant in the substrate under the bottom of the trench and under and aligned to the outer surface of the modulating layer on the second sidewall; filling the trench with an insulator; and forming a P-well in the substrate adjacent to and in contact with the first sidewall, the P-well extending under the trench and forming an upper portion of an isolation junction with the leakage stop implant, the upper portion of the isolation junction located entirely under the trench.  
           [0013]    A sixth aspect of the present invention is a semiconductor device with improved leakage control, comprising: an N doped semiconductor substrate having a top surface; a STI in the substrate, the STI having a bottom, a first sidewall and an opposite second sidewall; a leakage stop implant in the substrate under the bottom of the STI and under and aligned to the second sidewall; and a P-well in the substrate adjacent to and in contact with the first sidewall, the P-well extending under the STI and forming an upper portion of an isolation junction with the leakage stop implant, the upper portion of the isolation junction located entirely under the STI.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
       [0014]    The features of the invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 1 is a partial cross-section view through a typical pair of CMOS devices;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIGS. 2A and 2B are partial cross section views illustrating one method of forming of an N-well and a P-well in CMOS technology;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 3 is a partial cross-section view through a typical pair of CMOS devices illustrating a leakage path between the P-well device and the N-well;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIGS. 4A through 4J are partial cross section views illustrating fabrication of a CMOS device according to the present invention;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 5 is a computer-simulated cross section of the doping profile of the N and P wells near the STI of the related art;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 6 is a computer-simulated cross section of the doping profile of the N-well and P-well near the STI according to the present invention;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 7 is a higher magnification view of the computer-simulated cross section of the doping profile of the N-well and P-well near the STI of FIG. 6 according to the present invention;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 8 is a computer-simulated plot of the net active dopant vs. depth below the STI according to the present invention; and  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 9 is a plot of leakage current vs. N-well voltage by leakage stop implant dose according to the present invention for the structure illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0024]    The present invention describes a method in which a local field implant is introduced into the critical area under the STI that determines the inter-well leakage. The implant is controlled so as not to introduce other leakage paths while reducing the NFET source/drain to N-well leakage. Further, the method does not produce excess parasitic capacitance.  
         [0025]    Referring to the drawings, FIGS. 4A through 4J are partial cross section views illustrating fabrication of a CMOS device according to the present invention. In FIG. 4A, a substrate  200  has a top surface  205 . Formed on top surface  205  of substrate  200  is first oxide layer  210 . Formed on top of first oxide layer  210  is first nitride layer  215 . First oxide layer  210  may be formed by oxidation or deposition. First nitride layer  215  may be formed by deposition. Formed on top of first nitride layer  215  is first resist mask  220 .  
         [0026]    In FIG. 4B, first nitride layer  215  and first oxide layer  210  have been etched and a trench  225  has been formed in substrate  200 . In one example the process sequence is to plasma etch first nitride layer  215  using a chlorine based chemistry, followed by removing first resist layer  220  and wet or plasma etching first oxide layer  110 , followed by plasma etching substrate  200  using a chlorine based chemistry. During the silicon plasma etch there is etch back of first nitride layer  215 . Trench  225  has a bottom  227 , a first sidewall  230 A and a second sidewall  230 B. First nitride layer  215  is used as a chemical-mechanical-polish (CMP) stop in subsequent processing steps.  
         [0027]    In FIG. 4C A liner  240  is formed on bottom  227 , first sidewall  230 A and a second sidewall  230 B of trench  225 . Trench  225  is bisected by a reference plane  245 , which is equidistant from first and second sidewalls  230 A and  230 B and perpendicular to top surface  205  of substrate  200 . In one example, substrate  200  is P doped to a concentration of about 1E15 atm/cm 3  to 1E16 atm/cm 3 , trench  225  is about 0.25 to 0.4 micron deep and about 0.4 to 5 microns wide, first oxide layer  210  is about 8 to 12 nm thick, first nitride layer  215  is about 50 to 200 nm thick and liner  240  is about 10 to 30 nm thick thermal oxide. In a second example trench  225  is about 0.05 to 1 micron deep and about 0.1 to 5 microns wide.  
         [0028]    In FIG. 4D, a conformal second nitride layer  250  is deposited on top of first nitride layer  215 , exposed regions of first oxide layer  210 , and liner  240  which covers bottom  227 , first sidewall  230 A and second sidewall  230 B of trench  225 . Second nitride layer  250  may be formed by deposition. Second nitride layer  250  has an outer surface  255 . In one example second nitride layer  250  is about 40 to 120 nm thick.  
         [0029]    In FIG. 4E, a leakage stop implant  260  is formed by implantation of P dopant atoms using a second resist mask  265  as an implantation mask. Second resist mask  265  has a sidewall  270  formed on top of second nitride layer  250  in trench  210  and between reference plane  245  and outer surface  255  of second nitride layer  250 . The portion of second nitride layer  250  on liner  240  of trench  225  acts to modulate the depth and lateral distance of leakage stop implant  260  from the second sidewall of the trench. In one example, the leakage stop implantation step implants boron at a dose of about 2.5E12 to about 5E12 atm/cm2 and an energy of about 20 to 40 Kev to produce a maximum implant depth of about 80 to 120 nm below bottom  27  of trench  225 . In another example, the leakage stop implantation step implants boron diflouride at a dose of about 2.5E12 to about 5E12 atm/cm2 and an energy of about 80 to 180 Kev. In still another example, the leakage stop implantation step implants indium at a dose of about 2.5E12 to about 5E12 atm/cm2 and an energy of about 160 to 340 Kev. The width of leakage stop implant  260  is determined by sidewall  270  of first resist mask  265  on a first side  272  and by outer surface  255  of second nitride layer  250  on a second side  274 . Since, as mentioned above, second nitride layer is conformal, leakage stop implant  270  is effectively self-aligned to second sidewall  210 B of trench  210 .  
         [0030]    In FIG. 4F, second resist mask  265  is removed and second nitride layer  250  etched by reactive ion etching (RIE) until substantially all of the second nitride layer is removed from on top of first nitride layer  215  and bottom  227  of trench  225 . The RIE step leaves liner  240  exposed at bottom  227  of trench  225  and forms a nitride spacer  250 A over the oxide liner on first and second sidewalls  230 A and  230 B. Second nitride layer  250  is removed so as not to interfere with subsequent processing steps, especially CMP of the trench fill and the N-well and P-well implants.  
         [0031]    In FIG. 4G, trench  225  is filled with an insulator, such as a silicon oxide formed by plasma CVD using tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) or a high-density plasma (HDP) oxide to form STI  275 . Trench fill is accomplished by a blanket deposition of the insulator followed by a CMP step. First oxide layer  210  and first nitride layer  215  are then removed and second oxide layer  277  formed. Second oxide layer  277  may be formed by oxidation or deposition. Second oxide layer protects top surface  205  of substrate  200  from implant damage and contamination in subsequent processing steps. In one example, second oxide layer is about 5 to 30 nm thick.  
         [0032]    In FIG. 4H, an N-well  280  is formed by implantation of N dopant atoms using a third resist mask  285  as an implantation mask. Third resist mask  285  has a sidewall  290  formed on top of second oxide layer  277  over STI  275  and between reference plane  245  and first sidewall  230 A of now filled trench  225 . After implant, a sidewall  282  of N-well  280  is located under now filled trench  225  and between reference plane  245  and first sidewall  210 A of the filled trench. In one example, N-well  280  extends from top surface  205  of substrate  200  to about 0.8 to 1.0 micron below the surface of the substrate. After the implantation step, third resist mask  285  is removed.  
         [0033]    The process step illustrated in FIG. 4I is optional, but generally required for the fabrication of advanced CMOS devices where it is necessary to tailor the P dopant concentration in the bulk silicon of the NFET device. In FIG. 4I, a P-well  295  is formed by implantation of P dopant atoms using a fourth resist mask  300  as an implantation mask. Fourth resist mask  300  has a sidewall  305  formed on top of second oxide layer  277  over STI  275  and between reference plane  245  and second sidewall  240  of now filled trench  225 . After implant, a sidewall  297  of N-well  295  is located under now filled trench  225  and between reference plane  245  and second sidewall  240  of the filled trench. In one example, P-well  295  extends from top surface  205  of substrate  200  to about 0.8 to 1.0 micron below the surface of the substrate. After the implantation step, fourth resist mask  300  is removed. In the present example, sidewall  282  of N-well  280  is separated from sidewall  297  of P-well  295  by distance “D” where “D” is about 0.1 to 0.2 micron. However, dependent upon alignment of fourth resist  300 , there may not be any separation between sidewall  297  of P-well  295  and the N-well  280  and the P-well may even overlap the N-well. The same photomask used to pattern second resist mask  265  may be used to pattern fourth resist mask  300 .  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 4J illustrates formation of isolation junction  310  after subsequent process steps, especially heat cycles, from sidewall  282  of N-well  280  and sidewall  297  of P-well  295 . It should be noticed that isolation junction  310  exhibits a protrusion  315  of P dopant in contact with and under now filled trench  225  and extending from second sidewall  240  of the filled trench toward reference plane  245 . Protrusion  315  results from leakage stop implant  260  increasing the concentration of P dopant in that region of P-well  305 . The effect of protrusion  315  is to increase length of the leakage path from source/drain  325  to N-well  290 . Also shown in FIG. 4H is a source/drain  320  of a PFET device formed in N-well  290  and a source/drain  325  of an NFET device formed in P-well  305 .  
         [0035]    [0035]FIG. 5 is a computer-simulated cross section of the doping profile of the N and P wells near the STI of the related art. In FIG. 5 the N-well is on the left side of FIG. 5 and extends to a depth of Y=−1.6 microns. The P-well is on the right side of FIG. 5. The STI is visible between X=1.0 and X=1.7 microns (PFET source/drain  135 B-second STI  120 -NFET source/drain  150 A of FIG. 3) with the bottom of the STI at Y=−0.2 micron. Small values for STI depth and width are used in the simulation in order to maximize the probability of N-well leakage. The N-well leakage is shown in FIG. 9. There is no leakage stop implant. The P-well extends only as far X=1.65 or about 7% of the width of the STI.  
         [0036]    [0036]FIG. 6 is a computer-simulated cross section of the doping profile of the N-well and P-well near the STI according to the present invention. In FIG. 6 the N-well is on the left side of FIG. 6 and extends to a depth of Y=−1.6 microns. The P-well is on the right side of FIG. 6. The STI is visible between X=1.0 and X=1.7 microns with a depth of Y=−0.2 micron. Small values for STI depth and width are used in the simulation in order to maximize the probability of N-well leakage. The N-well leakage is shown in FIG. 9. The leakage stop implant is visible under the STI and extends from the P-well as far as X=1.44 or about 37% of the width of the STI. Thus, P dopant extends over 5 times further under the STI when a leakage stop implant is performed then when there is no leakage stop implant. The leakage stop implant used in the simulation is 5E12 atm/cm 2  at 30 Kev.  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 7 is a higher magnification view of the computer-simulated cross section of the doping profile of the N-well and P-well near the STI of FIG. 6 according to the present invention. In FIG. 7, simulated nitride spacers are visible at X=1.06 to X=1.075 microns (first spacer) and at X=1.66 to X=1.75 microns (second spacer). The leakage stop implant extends to Y=−0.35 micron or 0.15 micron under the STI.  
         [0038]    [0038]FIG. 8 is a computer-simulated plot of the net active dopant vs. depth below the STI according to the present invention. Profiles of no boron, 2.5E12 atm/cm 2  boron, 3.75E12 atm/cm 2  boron and 5E12 atm/cm 2  boron are shown. All implants are at 30 Kev. The profiles are calculated at X=1.65 in FIG. 7. At the silicon/STI interface X=0.2 the concentration of boron without a leakage stop implant is less than 1.1E16 atm/cm 3 . With a leakage stop implant the concentration of boron at the silicon/STI interface ranges from 3E16 atm/cm 3  for a dose of 2.5E12 atm/cm 2  to just under 1E17 atm/cm 3  for a dose of 5E12 atm/cm 2 . For the latter case this is over ten times the surface concentration of boron vs. the no leakage implant case. At about 0.1 micron below the STI (X=0.3) the concentration of boron without a leakage stop implant is about 1.35E16 atm/cm 3 . With a leakage stop implant the concentration of boron at 0.1 micron below the STI ranges from about 1.07E17 atm/cm 3  for a dose of 2.5E12 atm/cm 2  to about 1.14E17 atm/cm 3  for a dose of 5E12 atm/cm 2 . For the latter case this is over eight times the concentration of boron vs. the no leakage implant case.  
         [0039]    From FIGS. 5, 6,  7  and  8  it is clear that the leakage stop implant has a significant effect on the isolation junction profile and P-well doping concentration under the STI.  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 9 is a plot of leakage current vs. N-well voltage by leakage stop implant dose according to the present invention for the structure illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7. The total resulting current per  1- micron wide STI unit is plotted for a voltage ramp from 0 to 2.5 volts. Any leakage above 0.1 nA/um is considered unacceptable. With no leakage stop implant, a leakage of about 9 nA/micron at about 0.1 volt is evident. With a 30 Kev, 2.5E12 atm/cm2 boron dose, unacceptable leakage is prevented at up to about 1 volt. A 30 Kev, 3.75E12 atm/cm2 boron dose is effective up to 2.5 volts, while at a 30 Kev, 5E12 atm/cm2 boron dose there is virtually no measurable leakage. Thus, the use of a leakage stop implant is very effective at preventing N-well leakage, even with a very narrow and shallow STI structure.  
         [0041]    While the present invention has been described in terms of limiting leakage between a P-well device and an N-well (a PFET source/drain and an N-well) the invention is also applicable to limiting leakage between an N-well device and a P-well (an NFET source/drain and a P-well.) In the case of limiting leakage between an N-well device and a P-well the leakage stop implant is selected from the group consisting of phosphorous implanted to a dose of about 2.5E12 to 5.0E12 atm/cm2 and at energies of about 20 to 60 Kev and arsenic implanted to a dose of about 2.5E12 to 5.0E12 atm/cm2 and at energies of about 30 to 70 Kev. The concentration of N dopant at an interface formed by the bottom of said trench and said substrate would be about 3E16 atm/cm 3  to 1E17 atm/cm 3  and the concentration of N dopant at about 0.1 micron below the interface under the second sidewall would be about 1.0E17 atm/cm 3  to 1.5E17 atm/cm 3 .  
         [0042]    It should also be understood that whenever the term P or N doped substrate is used, the term is intended to include an N or a P doped epitaxial layer formed on a P or N doped substrate or an N or a P doped region formed in an N or a P doped substrate or epitaxial layer in which the P-well or N-well respectively, is formed.  
         [0043]    The description of the embodiments of the present invention is given above for the understanding of the present invention. It will be understood that the invention is not to the particular embodiments described herein, but is capable of various modifications, rearrangements and substitutions, such as applicability to other isolation schemes such as recessed oxidation (ROX)or where the devices are diodes instead of NFETs and PFETs, which will now become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore it is intended that the following claims cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

Technology Classification (CPC): 7