Intel corporation (20240105520). TRENCH PLUG HARDMASK FOR ADVANCED INTEGRATED CIRCUIT STRUCTURE FABRICATION simplified abstract

TRENCH PLUG HARDMASK FOR ADVANCED INTEGRATED CIRCUIT STRUCTURE FABRICATION

Organization Name

intel corporation

Inventor(s)

Anthony St. Amour of Portland OR (US)

Michael L. Hattendorf of Portland OR (US)

Christopher P. Auth of Portland OR (US)

TRENCH PLUG HARDMASK FOR ADVANCED INTEGRATED CIRCUIT STRUCTURE FABRICATION - A simplified explanation of the abstract

This abstract first appeared for US patent application 20240105520 titled 'TRENCH PLUG HARDMASK FOR ADVANCED INTEGRATED CIRCUIT STRUCTURE FABRICATION

Simplified Explanation

The patent application describes an integrated circuit structure fabrication method for 10 nanometer node and smaller structures, including a fin comprising silicon, gate structures, trench contact structure, and contact plug.

• The integrated circuit structure includes a fin made of silicon.
• A plurality of gate structures are positioned over the fin, with dielectric sidewall spacers.
• A trench contact structure is located over the fin between the dielectric sidewall spacers of a pair of gate structures.
• A contact plug is positioned over the fin between the dielectric sidewall spacers of another pair of gate structures, comprising a lower dielectric material and an upper hardmask material.

Potential Applications

This technology can be applied in the manufacturing of advanced integrated circuits for various electronic devices, such as smartphones, computers, and IoT devices.

Problems Solved

This technology solves the challenge of fabricating smaller and more efficient integrated circuit structures for high-performance electronic devices.

Benefits

The benefits of this technology include improved performance, reduced power consumption, and increased integration density in electronic devices.

Potential Commercial Applications

Potential commercial applications of this technology include semiconductor manufacturing companies, electronics manufacturers, and research institutions.

Possible Prior Art

One possible prior art could be the use of similar materials and structures in the fabrication of integrated circuits, but with different configurations or processing techniques.

Unanswered Questions

1. What specific materials are used for the dielectric sidewall spacers in this integrated circuit structure? 2. How does the trench contact structure improve the performance of the integrated circuit?

Original Abstract Submitted

embodiments of the disclosure are in the field of advanced integrated circuit structure fabrication and, in particular, 10 nanometer node and smaller integrated circuit structure fabrication and the resulting structures. in an example, an integrated circuit structure includes a fin comprising silicon. a plurality of gate structures is over the fin, individual ones of the plurality of gate structures along a direction orthogonal to the fin and having a pair of dielectric sidewall spacers. a trench contact structure is over the fin and directly between the dielectric sidewalls spacers of a first pair of the plurality of gate structures. a contact plug is over the fin and directly between the dielectric sidewalls spacers of a second pair of the plurality of gate structures, the contact plug comprising a lower dielectric material and an upper hardmask material.