Patent Document

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   This invention relates generally to the cell structure and device configuration of semiconductor devices. More particularly, this invention relates to an improved trench MOSFET configuration having trench contacts integrated with trench Schottky rectifiers having planar contacts. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The trench Schottky rectifiers have been added externally in parallel to a semiconductor power device, e.g., a power trench MOSFET device for higher efficiency DC/DC applications. In parallel with the parasitic PN body diode, the trench Schottky rectifier acts as clamping diode to prevent the body diode from turning on. Therefore, many kinds of configuration have been proposed in prior arts to integrate the trench MOSFET and the trench Schottky rectifier on a single substrate. 
     FIG. 1A  shows the side cross-section of an integration configuration of a prior art (U.S. Pat. No. 6,351,018) wherein both trench MOSFET and trench Schottky rectifier are sharing a common trench gate. As shown in  FIG. 1A , The disclosed integration configuration is formed on an N doped substrate  102 . A plurality of trenches are etched inside the substrate  102  and filled with doped poly within trenches to serve as trench gates  106  and  106 ′ over a layer of gate oxide  104 . Between trench gates  106 ′, trench Schottky rectifier  110  is formed with a space width of W. Near the top surface of P well regions  108  in trench MOSFET, N+ source regions  112  are implanted adjacent to the sidewalls of trench gates. Body regions  114  heavily doped with P doping type are formed inside the P well regions  108 . Metal layer  120  is connected to source regions  112 , body regions  114  in trench MOSFET and is connected to anode of trench Schottky rectifiers via planar contacts  116  and  118 , respectively. 
   Another integration configuration was proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,593,620 where trench MOSFET and trench Schottky rectifier have separated trench gates, as shown in  FIG. 1B . The integration configuration comprising a DMOS transistor  220  and a trench Schottky rectifier  222  further includes an N+ substrate  200  onto which a lighter N doped epitaxial layer  202  is grown. A plurality of trench gates  210  are formed into the epitaxial layer  202  with gate oxide  206  padded on the filling-in material. The DMOS transistor  220  further comprises P body region  204  extending between trench gates  210  with N+ source regions  212  near its top surface adjacent to the sidewalls of trench gates. Metal A metal layer  216  is connected to source regions  212 , body regions  204  in DMOS transistor and is connected to anode of trench Schottky rectifier via planar contact. An insulating layer  235  is deposited on top of the trench gates  210  of the DMOS transistor  220  to isolate the metal layer  216  from the trench gates  210 . On the rear side of wafer, metal layer  230  is deposited to act as a common drain contact for DMOS transistors and as a common cathode electrode for trench Schottky rectifiers. 
   Both structures mentioned above can achieve the integration of trench MOSFET and trench Schottky rectifier on a single substrate, but it&#39;s should be noticed that, planar contacts are employed in both trench MOSFET and trench Schottky rectifier to contact the source regions and the body regions with source metal, and to contact the anode with anode metal, respectively. Especially for trench MOSFET, the planar contact will limit device shrinkage because that, the planar contact occupies a large area, resulting in a high specific on-resistance in trench MOSFET. 
   Another constraint of the prior art is that, please refer to  FIGS. 1A and 1B , metal step coverage of the prior arts will become poor if single metal is used to fill the planar contact when the planar contact dimension is shrunk. 
   Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide new and improved device configuration to avoid the high specific on-resistance caused by planar contact in trench MOSFET while having a better metal step coverage capability. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide new and improved device configuration to solve the problems discussed above. 
   One aspect of the present invention is that, trench contact is used in trench MOSFET portion for source-body trench contact. By employing the source-body trench contact, the devices are able to be shrunk to achieve a low specific on-resistance for trench MOSFET, therefore solving the main problem. 
   Another aspect of the present invention is that, planar contact is provided for trench gate connection, resulting a better metal step coverage capability than prior art, and on the other hand, avoiding gate-drain shortage caused by over-etching when using trench contact for shallow trench gate. 
   Another aspect of the present invention is that, W (tungsten) plugs are filled into all contact trenches, including trench contacts and planar contacts, to act as contact material, and therefore improves the metal step coverage and further enhances cell density for on-resistance reduction. 
   Briefly, in a preferred embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 2 , the present invention discloses an integration configuration in parallel with a wider common trench gate formed on a substrate heavily doped with a first semiconductor doping type, e.g., N+ dopant. Onto the substrate, an epitaxial layer lighter doped with the same doping type as substrate is grown, inside which a plurality of trench gates and a wider common trench gate are formed with a gate oxide between filling-in material and the inner surface of gate trenches. The integration configuration further comprises: a trench MOSFET and a trench Schottky rectifier. The trench MOSFET further comprises: body regions of a second semiconductor doping type, e.g., P dopant, extending between trench gates with source regions heavily doped with a first semiconductor doping type near its top surface; source-body trench contacts filled with W plugs padded with a barrier layer of Ti/TiN or Co/TiN or Mo/TiN penetrating through an thick oxide interlayer and the source regions, and extending into the body regions; a body contact resistance reduction area heavily doped with the second doping type around the bottom of each said source-body trench contact to further reduce contact resistance. The trench Schottky rectifier further comprises: planar contacts filled with W plugs padded with the barrier layer penetrating through the thick oxide interlayer to the top surface of the epitaxial layer between trench gates. In common trench gate portion, the planar gate contact is provided penetrating through the thick oxide interlayer and touching to the top surface of the common trench gate. Above the thick oxide interlayer and said W plugs, a resistance-reduction metal layer of Ti or Ti/TiN is deposited and then a metal layer of Al alloys or Cu. The metal layers are finally patterned to form gate metal for the common trench gate and source metal for trench MOSFET which is also functioning as anode metal for trench Schottky rectifier. The gate metal is connected to the common trench gate via said planar gate contact, the source metal for trench MOSFET is connected to the source regions and the body regions via said source-body trench contacts, and the anode metal for trench Schottky rectifier is connected to the anode via said planar contacts. Especially, the trench gates in trench Schottky rectifier is not shorted with the anode. 
   Briefly, in another preferred embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 3 , the present invention discloses an integration configuration in parallel with a wider trench gate for trench MOSFET gate connection, and the disclosed configuration is formed on a substrate heavily doped with a first semiconductor doping type, e.g., N+ dopant. Onto the substrate, an epitaxial layer lighter doped with the same doping type as substrate is grown, inside which a plurality of trench gates and a wider trench gate for trench MOSFET gate connection are formed with a gate oxide between filling-in material and the inner surface of gate trenches. The integration configuration further comprises: a trench MOSFET and a trench Schottky rectifier. The trench MOSFET further comprises: body regions of a second semiconductor doping type, e.g., P dopant, extending between trench gates with source regions heavily doped with a first semiconductor doping type near its top surface adjacent to the sidewalls of the trench gate; source-body trench contacts filled with W plugs padded with a barrier layer of Ti/TiN or Co/TiN or Mo/TiN penetrating through an thick oxide interlayer, the source regions and extending into the body regions; a body contact resistance reduction area heavily doped with the second doping type around the bottom of each said source-body trench contact to further reduce contact resistance. The trench Schottky rectifier further comprises: planar contacts filled with W plugs padded with the barrier layer penetrating through the thick oxide interlayer and touching to the top surface of the epitaxial layer and the top surface of the trench gates to contact trench gates in trench Schottky rectifier with its anode. In the wider trench gate portion which is for trench MOSFET gate connection, a planar gate contact is provided penetrating through the thick oxide interlayer and touching to the top surface of the wider trench gate for trench MOSFET gate connection. Above the thick oxide interlayer and the W plugs, a resistance-reduction metal layer of Ti or Ti/TiN is deposited and then metal layer of Al alloys or Cu. The metal layers are finally patterned to form gate metal for trench MOSFET gate connection and source metal for trench MOSFET which is also functioning as anode metal for trench Schottky rectifier. The gate metal is connected to trench gate for trench MOSFET gate connection via said planar gate contact, the source metal for trench MOSFET is connected to the source regions and the body regions via said source-body trench contacts, and the anode metal for trench Schottky rectifier is connected to trench gate in trench Schottky rectifier and the anode via said planar contacts. Especially, the trench gates in trench Schottky rectifier is not connected with the trench gate in trench MOSFET but shorted with the anode. 
   These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after having read the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, which is illustrated in the various drawing figures. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The present invention can be more fully understood by reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, with reference made to the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
       FIG. 1A  is a side cross-sectional view of a prior art. 
       FIG. 1B  is a side cross-sectional view of another prior art. 
       FIG. 2  is a side cross-sectional view of an embodiment according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 3  is a side cross-sectional view of another embodiment according to the present invention. 
       FIGS. 4A to 4E  are a serial of side cross-sectional views for showing the processing steps for fabricating the integrated configuration as shown in  FIG. 2 . 
       FIGS. 5A to 5C  are a serial of side cross-sectional views for showing the processing steps for fabricating the integrated configuration as shown in  FIG. 3 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
   Please refer to  FIG. 2  for a preferred embodiment of the present invention where an N-channel trench MOSFET  210  is integrated with a trench Schottky rectifier  220  in parallel with a wider common trench gate. The integrated configuration is formed on an N+ substrate  200  onto which a lighter N doped epitaxial layer  202  is grown. Into the epitaxial layer  202 , a plurality of gate trenches and a wider gate trench for common trench gate are etched and filled with doped poly padded with a layer of gate oxide  206  to serve as trench gates  211  for trench MOSFET  210  and trench Schottky rectifier  220 , and a wider trench gate  211 ′ for common trench gate, respectively. In trench MOSFET  210 , P body regions  204  are extending between two adjacent trench gates  211  with N+ source regions  208  near the top surface; source-body trench contacts  214  filled with W plug which is padded with a barrier layer  213  of Ti/TiN or Co/TiN or Mo/TiN are formed by penetrating through a thick oxide interlayer  215  and the source regions  208 , and extending into the P body regions  204 ; p+ body contact resistance reduction areas  212  are implanted around the bottom of each said source-body trench contact to further reduce contact resistance. In trench Schottky rectifier  220 , planar contacts  216  filled with W plug which is padded with the barrier layer  213  are formed by penetrating through the thick oxide interlayer  215  and touching to the top surface of the epitaxial layer  202  between trench gates  211  or further extending into the epitaxial layer with a depth in the epitaxial layer less than 0.1 um due to dry over etching of the thick oxide interlayer. In common trench gate portion, planar gate contact  217  filled with W plug which is padded with the barrier layer  213  is formed by penetrating through the thick oxide interlayer  215  and touching to the top surface of the wider common trench gate  211 ′ or further extending into the doped poly with a depth in the doped poly less than 0.2 um due to dry over etching of the thick oxide interlayer. Onto a resistance-reduction metal layer  218  of Ti or Ti/TiN which is deposited over the thick oxide interlayer  215  and said W plug, a metal layer  219  and  219 ′ composed of Al alloys or Cu are formed. Specifically, the metal layer  219  is serving as source metal for trench MOSFET  210  and also the anode metal for trench Schottky rectifier  220 , metal layer  219 ′ is serving as common gate metal for both trench MOSFET  210  and trench Schottky rectifier  220 . 
   Please refer to  FIG. 3  for another preferred embodiment of the present invention where an N-channel trench MOSFET  310  is integrated with a trench Schottky rectifier  320  in parallel with a wider trench gate for trench MOSFET gate connection. The integrated configuration is formed on an N+ substrate  300  onto which a lighter N doped epitaxial layer  302  is grown. Into the epitaxial layer  302 , a plurality of gate trenches and a wider gate trench are etched and filled with doped poly padded with a layer of gate oxide  306  to serve as trench gates  311  for trench MOSFET, trench gates  311 ′ for trench Schottky rectifier and a wider trench gate  311 ″ for trench MOSFET gate connection. In trench MOSFET  310 , P body regions  304  are extending between trench gates with N+ source regions  308  near its top surface adjacent to the sidewalls of trench gate  311 ; source-body trench contacts  314  filled with W plug which is padded with a barrier layer  313  of Ti/TiN or Co/TiN or Mo/TiN are formed by penetrating through a thick oxide interlayer  315  and the source regions  308 , and extending into the P body regions  304 ; p+ body contact resistance reduction areas  312  are implanted around the bottom of each said source-body trench contact to further reduce contact resistance. In trench Schottky rectifier  320 , planar contacts  316  filled with W plug which is padded with the barrier layer  313  are formed by penetrating through the thick oxide interlayer  315  and touching to the top surface of the epitaxial layer  302  and the top surface of trench gates  311 ′ or further extending into the epitaxial layer  302  with a depth less than 0.1 um and into trench gate  311 ′ with a depth less than 0.2 um due to dry over etching of the thick oxide interlayer  315 . In wider trench gate  311 ″ portion which is for trench MOSFET gate connection, planar gate contact  317  filled with W which is padded with the barrier layer  313  is formed by penetrating through  215  and touching to the top surface of the wider trench gate  311 ″ or further extending into trench gate  311 ″ with a depth in doped poly layer less than 0.2 um due to dry over etching of the thick oxide interlayer  315 . Onto a resistance-reduction metal layer  318  of Ti or Ti/TiN which is deposited over the thick oxide interlayer  315  and said W plug, metal layers  319  and  319 ′ composed of Al alloys or Cu are formed. Specifically, metal layer  319  is serving as source metal for trench MOSFET  310  and also the anode metal for trench Schottky rectifier  320 , metal layer  319 ′ is serving as gate metal for trench MOSFET  310 . And different from the first embodiment, the trench gates  311 ′ in trench Schottky rectifier in this embodiment is not connected with the trench gate in trench MOSFET but shorted with the anode. 
     FIGS. 4A to 4E  are a serial of exemplary steps that are performed to form the inventive integrated configuration of  FIG. 2 . In  FIG. 4A , an N doped epitaxial layer  202  is grown on an N+ substrate  200 . A trench mask (not shown) is employed to define a plurality of gate trenches for trench MOSFET and trench Schottky rectifier, and a wider gate trench for common trench gate. Then, these gate trenches are dry Si etched to a certain depth. After that, a sacrificial oxide layer is grown and then removed to eliminate the plasma damage may introduced during etching process. Next, a first insulation layer is deposited overlying the inner surface of all the gate trenches to serve as gate oxide  206  onto which doped poly is deposited within gate trenches and then etched back or CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing) to form trench gates  211  for both trench MOSFET and trench Schottky rectifier, and a wider common trench gate  211 ′. 
   In  FIG. 4B , a body mask (not shown) is applied to define body regions and followed by a step of P dopant Ion Implantation for the formation of P body regions  204 , and then a step for P body regions drive-in is carried out. After the removal of body mask, source mask (not shown) is applied to define source regions and followed by a step of N+ dopant Ion Implantation for the formation of N+ source regions  308 , and then a step for N+ source regions drive-in is carried out. 
   In  FIG. 4C , the process continues with the deposition of a second insulation layer over entire front surface to act as a thick oxide interlayer  215 . Then, a contact mask  1 , as illustrated, is applied to carry out planar contact etch to open the contact trenches by applying a dry oxide etching through  215 . For trench Schottky rectifier, the contact trenches are etched to the front surface of the epitaxial layer between trench gates to define the planar contact trench  216 ′ for trench Schottky rectifier. For common trench gate, the contact trench is etched to the top surface of the common trench gate  211 ′ to define the planar contact trench  217 ′ for common trench gate. 
   In  FIG. 4D , after the removal of contact mask  1 , a contact mask  2 , as illustrated, is applied to carry out trench contact etch to open the contact trenches  214 ′ for trench MOSFET by applying a dry oxide etching and a successively dry Si etching. The contact trenches  214 ′ is penetrating through the thick oxide interlayer  215  and the N+ source regions  208  and into the P body regions  204 . Then, in order to form the contact area  212  around the bottom of each the contact trench  214 ′, a BF2 Ion Implantation of a P dopant is carried out, and then followed by a step of RTA (Rapid Thermal Annealing, 900˜1000° C. for 15˜60 sec) to activate BF2 dopant after removing the contact mask  2 . 
   In  FIG. 4E , the inner surface of all contact trenches, including contact trenches for planar contacts and trench contacts, are lined by a barrier layer  213  composed of Ti/TiN or Co/TiN or Mo/TiN. And a step of RTA (700˜800° C. for 15˜60 sec) is performed to form silicide. Then, onto the barrier layer  213 , tungsten material are deposited to fill all said contact trenches, and followed by a step of tungsten and barrier layer etching back or CMP to form source-body trench contact  214  for trench MOSFET, planar contact  216  for trench Schottky rectifier and planar gate contact  217  for common trench gate. Then, over entire top surface, a resistance-reduction metal layer  218  composed of Ti or Ti/TiN and a metal layer of Al alloys or Cu are successively deposited. After that, a metal mask (not shown) is applied to pattern the metal layer into  219  and  219 ′ by dry metal etching. Especially, metal layer  219  is functioning as source metal for trench MOSFET and also anode metal for trench Schottky rectifier, metal layer  219 ′ is functioning as gate metal for common trench gate. 
     FIGS. 5A to 5C  are a serial of exemplary steps that are performed to form the inventive integrated configuration of  FIG. 3 . In  FIG. 5A , before the deposition of the second insulation layer, all steps are just the same as steps in  FIGS. 4A and 4B . After the deposition of the second insulation layer, which is serving as the thick oxide interlayer  315 , a contact mask  1 , as illustrated, is applied to carry out planar contact etch to open the contact trenches by applying a dry oxide etching through  315 . For trench Schottky rectifier, the contact trench is etched to expose the front surface of epitaxial layer  302  and top surface of trench gates  311 ′ to form the planar contact trench  316 ′. For the wider trench gate, the contact trench is etched to the top surface of the wider trench gate  311 ″ to form the planar gate contact trench  317 ′ for trench MOSFET gate connection. In  FIG. 5B , after the removal of contact mask  1 , a contact mask  2 , as illustrated, is applied to carry out trench contact etch to open the contact trenches  314 ′ for trench MOSFET by applying a dry oxide etching and a successively dry Si etching. The contact trenches  314 ′ is penetrating through the thick oxide interlayer  315  and the N+ source regions  308  and into the P body regions  304 . Then, in order to form the contact area  312  around the bottom of each said contact trench  314 ′, a BF2 Ion Implantation of a P dopant is carried out, and then followed by a step of RTA (Rapid Thermal Annealing, 900˜1000° C. for 15˜60 sec) to activate BF2 dopant after removing the contact mask  2 . 
   In  FIG. 5C , the inner surface of all contact trenches, including trenches for planar contacts and trench contacts, are lined by a barrier layer  313  composed of Ti/TiN or Co/TiN or Mo/TiN. And a step of RTA (700˜800° C. for 15˜60 sec) is performed to form silicide. Then, onto the barrier layer  313 , tungsten material are deposited to fill all said contact trenches, and followed by a step of tungsten and barrier layer CMP (not etching back) to form source-body trench contact  314  for trench MOSFET, planar contact  316  for trench Schottky rectifier and planar gate contact  317  for trench MOSFET gate connection. Then, over entire top surface, a resistance-reduction metal layer  318  composed of Ti or Ti/TiN and a metal layer of Al alloys or Cu are successively deposited. After that, a metal mask (not shown) is applied to pattern the metal layer into  319  and  319 ′ by dry metal etching. Especially, metal layer  219  is functioning as source metal for trench MOSFET and also anode metal for trench Schottky rectifier, metal layer  219 ′ is functioning as gate metal for trench MOSFET, and the trench gates  311 ′ in trench Schottky rectifier is not connected to the trench gates in trench MOSFET but shorted with the anode. 
   Although the present invention has been described in terms of the presently preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that such disclosure is not to be interpreted as limiting. Various alternations and modifications will no doubt become apparent to those skilled in the art after reading the above disclosure. Accordingly, it is intended that the appended claims be interpreted as covering all alternations and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

Technology Category: 5