Semiconductor device including gate channel having adjusted threshold voltage

US9230992B2 · US · B2

Patent metadata
FieldValue
Publication numberUS-9230992-B2
Application numberUS-201414265735-A
CountryUS
Kind codeB2
Filing dateApr 30, 2014
Priority dateApr 30, 2014
Publication dateJan 5, 2016
Grant dateJan 5, 2016

How to read this patent

A practical reading order for non-experts. Skip the full description unless you need deep technical detail.

  1. Title

    What the patent document calls the invention.

  2. Abstract

    A short plain-language summary of the technical disclosure.

  3. Assignees and inventors

    Who owns or filed the patent and who is credited as inventor.

  4. Key dates

    Filing, priority, publication, and grant dates set the timeline.

  5. First independent claim

    The legal scope of protection — read this for what is actually claimed.

  6. CPC / IPC classifications

    Technology tags used to group this patent with similar filings.

  7. Citations and related patents

    Prior art links and similar publications in this corpus.

Abstract

Official abstract text for this publication.

A semiconductor device includes at least one first semiconductor fin formed on an nFET region of a semiconductor device and at least one second semiconductor fin formed on a pFET region. The at least one first semiconductor fin has an nFET channel region interposed between a pair of nFET source/drain regions. The at least one second semiconductor fin has a pFET channel region interposed between a pair of pFET source/drain regions. The an epitaxial liner is formed on only the pFET channel region of the at least one second semiconductor fin such that a first threshold voltage of the nFET channel region is different than a second threshold voltage of the pFET channel.

First claim

Opening claim text (preview).

What is claimed is: 1. A semiconductor device comprising: a semiconductor substrate including an nFET portion and a pFET portion separately located from the nFET portion; at least one first semiconductor fin formed on the nFET portion, the at least one first semiconductor fin having an nFET channel region interposed between a pair of nFET source/drain regions; and at least one second semiconductor fin formed on the pFET portion, the at least one second semiconductor fin having a pFET channel region interposed between a pair of pFET source/drain regions, the pFET channel region including an etched portion of the at least one second semiconductor fin, and wherein the etched portion has a first thickness that is less than a second thickness of the at least one first semiconductor fin; and an epitaxial liner formed only on the pFET channel region such that a first threshold voltage of the nFET channel region is different than a second threshold voltage of the pFET channel region wherein the epitaxial liner is formed on the etched portion, the combination of the etched portion and the epitaxial liner defining a third thickness that is equal to the second thickness of the at least one first semiconductor fin. 2. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the nFET source/drain regions and the pFET source/drain regions each exclude the epitaxial liner. 3. The semiconductor device of claim 2 , wherein the epitaxial liner comprises silicon germanium (SiGe) formed in a middle portion of the at least one second semiconductor fin formed on the pFET portion, and the middle region of that at least one second semiconductor fin formed on the nFET portion is formed from only Si. 4. The semiconductor device of claim 3 , wherein the at least one second semiconductor fin formed on the pFET portion includes a middle portion defined by the SiGe channel region and side portions consisting of Si formed at opposing sides of the middle portion, and wherein the at least one first semiconductor fin formed on the nFET portion includes a Si middle portion consisting of only Si and side portions consisting of Si formed at opposing sides of the Si middle portion. 5. The semiconductor device of claim 4 , wherein the second threshold voltage is less than the first threshold voltage. 6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the semiconductor substrate has multiple pFET regions, each pFET channel region having a different concentration of SiGe with respect to one another to form different respective threshold voltages. 7. The semiconductor device of claim 6 , wherein the multiple pFET regions includes the first pFET region having a SiGe concentration of 25%, the second pFET region having a SiGe concentration of 50%, and a third pFET region having a SiGe concentration of 75%, wherein a third threshold voltage of the third pFET region is less than the first and second threshold voltages.

Assignees

Inventors

Classifications

Patent family

Related publications grouped by family.

External sources

Frequently asked questions

Answers are generated from the same data shown on this page.

What does patent US9230992B2 cover?
A semiconductor device includes at least one first semiconductor fin formed on an nFET region of a semiconductor device and at least one second semiconductor fin formed on a pFET region. The at least one first semiconductor fin has an nFET channel region interposed between a pair of nFET source/drain regions. The at least one second semiconductor fin has a pFET channel region interposed between…
Who is the assignee on this patent?
IBM
What technology area does this patent fall under?
Primary CPC classification H10D84/0193. Mapped technology areas include Electricity.
When was this patent published?
Publication date Tue Jan 05 2016 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) (B2). Legal status and post-grant events are not shown on this page.
What related patents are in patentsdb?
We list 8 related publications on this page (citations in our corpus or others sharing the same primary CPC).