Patent ID: 8389401

Claim:
A method of forming a contact element in a semiconductor device, the method comprising: forming a contact opening in an interlayer dielectric material, said contact opening connecting to a contact area of a circuit element formed in and above a semiconductor region of said semiconductor device; forming an activation layer above said interlayer dielectric material and in said contact opening; removing a first portion of said activation layer from said interlayer dielectric material and from upper sidewall portions of said contact opening while preserving a second portion of said activation layer at least at a bottom of said contact opening; after removing said first portion of said activation layer, forming a barrier layer in said contact opening; performing an etch process so as to form a liner from said barrier layer selectively on said upper sidewall portions of said contact opening; performing a selective deposition process by using said second portion of said activation layer as an activation material of said deposition process so as to fill a conductive material into said contact opening; and removing any excess material of said conductive material so as to form said contact element.