Patent ID: 7786003

Claim:
A method of forming a buried local interconnect comprising the steps of: forming a hardmask on a substrate and patterning the hardmask to form a patterned hardmask; etching a recess having a bottom and sidewalls into the substrate through the patterned hardmask; forming sidewall spacers in the recess; forming silicide on the bottom of the recess by depositing a metal within the recess between the sidewall spacers, reacting the metal with the bottom of the recess and stripping away unreacted metal to thereby define the buried local interconnect; depositing fill material over the silicide; and removing the patterned hardmask after the fill material is deposited; wherein the sidewall spacers are sized such that the silicide formed on the bottom of the recess in a final structure of the buried local interconnect is narrower than the bottom of the recess.