`
`[19]
`
`Fazan et al.
`
`[11]
`
`[45]
`
`Patent Number:
`
`Date of Patent:
`
`5,053,351
`
`Oct. 1, 1991
`
`[54] METHOD OF MAKING STACKED E-CELL
`CAPACITOR DRAM CELL
`
`[75]
`
`[73]
`
`[21]
`
`[221
`
`151]
`[52]
`
`15 31
`
`Inventors: Pierre Fazan; Hiang C. Chan;
`Howard E. Rhodes; Charles H.
`Dennison; Yauh-Ching Liu, all of
`Boise, Id.
`
`Assignee:
`
`Micron Technology, Inc., Boise, Id.
`
`App1.No.: 671,312
`
`Mar. 19, 1991
`Filed:
`Int. Cl.5 ........................................... .. I-I01L 21/70
`U.S. Cl. ...................................... .. 437/52; 437/47;
`437/48; 437/60; 437/233; 437/919'; 357/23.6
`Field of Search ..................... .. 437/47, 48, 51, 52,
`437/60, 191, 193, 195, 228, 233, 235, 919;
`357/23.6, 51
`
`References Cited
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`4,742,018
`4,953,126
`5,021,357
`
`.
`5/1988 Kimura et al.
`8/1990 Ema ................................. .. 357/23.6
`6/1991 Taguchi et al.
`................... .. 437/919
`
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`0058254
`5/I981
`0042161
`2/1989
`0187847
`3/1989
`0270343 10/1989
`
`Japan .
`Japan .
`Japan .
`Japan .
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`“A Spread Stacked Capacitor (SCC) Cell for 64MBit
`DRAMS”, by S. Knoue et al., pp. 31-34.
`“3—Dimensional Stacked Capacitor Cell for 16M and
`64M DRAMS”, by T. Erna et al., pp. 592-595.
`
`Primary Examiner——Brian E. Heam
`Assistant Exam1'ner—-Tom Thomas
`Attorney, Agent, or F1'rm—David J. Paul
`
`[57]
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`An existing stacked capacitor fabrication process is
`modified to construct a three-dimensional stacked ca-
`pacitor, referred to hereinafter as a stacked E cell or
`SEC. The SEC design defines a capacitor storage cell
`that in the present invention is used in a DRAM pro-
`cess. The SEC is made up ofa polysilicon storage node
`structure having an E-shaped cross-sectional upper
`portion and a lower portion making contact to an active
`area via a buried contact. The polysilicon storage node
`structure is overlaid by polysilicon with a dielectric
`sandwiched in between to form a completed SEC ca-
`pacitor. With the 3-dimensional shape and a texturized
`surface of a polysilicon storage node plate, substantial
`capacitor plate surface area of 3 to 5X is gained at the
`storage node.
`
`18 Claims, 11 Drawing Sheets
`
`ua§’ !
`
`41 “
`
`.
`
`52
`
`/
`
`.
`
`\\\‘.\
`
`
`
`INTEL 1012
`
`
`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Oct. 1, 1991
`
`Sheet 1 of 11
`
`5,053,351
`
`-I
`
`..O.o.owowwWwWWW
`u....3.....«..
`
`.h
`
`.3.
`
`1|.9
`vooooooo
`VODODO.r9DOb.Qt.O§OkO
`.o¢ooo<¢4¢¢o¢ooooo
`
`....«.§.«.u.«.«.3
`333
`wu.w«.»1«.M
`
`90
`
`’ ’
`
`v
`
`N—
`
`N—
`
`—‘Q.‘0V
`
`4
`
`v.o.owowo»owo»o~o~.~..
`%OOOOO4O4.OOOOOOOO
`II.1
`
`54
`
`N—
`
`9
`
` A.
`
`us.
`5969'0.v¢—
`
`.4«CVCQCWCWCWCWCWCWA.
`
`’o&v1...1,4,ouw_
`V44.W.W.®.@.<.@.W.WA.
`W%¢o¢«~»¢»¢»o»¢.¢..IO
`
` 1.....“»...§.....O>6>O>O)¢>¢0995.656».' rd.we
`
`m.«.»o»...3.
`
`«.«.§.«.«.«.«.«M'
`
`¢ooooo_
`
`
`
`
`
`'
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`U.S. Patent
`
`. bet. 1, 1991
`
`5,053,351
`
`anr
`
`W::s»fi% V--)?%§A
`
` 54.5,“
`
`3%‘5.15..53.51..‘
`
`
`
`v./m_../~_/8/~..—
`
`NGE
`
`
`
`
`
`
`U.S. Patent
`
`5,053,351
`
` ?.gliw.’M
`VVgV\.5
`
`nGE
`
`
`
`
`U.S. Patent
`
`_
`
`_ Oct. 1, 1991
`
`Sheet 4 of 11
`
`5,053,351
`
`S»
`
`
`
`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Oct. 1, 1991
`
`Sheet 5 of 11
`
`5,053,351
`
`
`
`
`
`
` IIICIIIIIIIIIW
`1:---:::;:=.='=-'4:
`::::
`IIIIIII
`maxfifi
`fiiie.
`
`
`IIIIIII
`lllllllfl.
`
`\%‘
`
`
`
`IIIIII 9
`IIIIIIE-”.'::‘.'15
`5
`=5-Eiiiiiiiv
`IIIIIIIV “"3"
`
`
`
`
`
`
`\\
` \\
`
`
`
`A§:
`4
`-
`II
`IIIIIIIIIIIIKQ
`IIIIIIIIIIIII
`:::::::::::::%
`l
`
`
`I’
`
`E I
`
`
`
`U.S. Patent
`
`_
`
`.
`
`-AOct.1, 1991
`
`Sheet 6 of 11
`
`5,053,351
`
`....I«.|‘..
`
`..
`.40¢ 74%
`uuuuuu!..?4%fl..m...m.».U1r..1..»%?E
`
`.%W\\»A,...
`
`.3..\2...\x.ww..‘
`.{EA.J/flmW.M\,§w\\\..My
`:m“1..\,;.»g.4..4mum.,\\,u.\,@.‘.ww“_1.
`
`E
`
`®GE
`
`mmmm
`
`
`
`
`
`U.S. Patent
`
`5,053,351
`
`
`
`IlllilllllilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllII
`
`IIHMIIIIIEIIIIII
`IIIIIIIIIIII
`
`
`
`
`
`,i..-....J...I/%fi7a«wa..E?/.5AV n§wmW4«vW.v Zzmm._.
`L,..\\§.u,I47!.A
`\V\\.5.o\.5o..v’la‘4r.£n9¥oouk.5
`
`
`flue?I...vvr4mV\Wfifl......fl.,uo?.i.z..
`
`MVEiMRmW11%1ATfdE%hllIUWVi!llflfl$W.l@IJ
`EmaE
`OOl..r!‘....w1‘§IlIIIIlII..Illufltlmn
`rlilnunuImllllllnlnllalulunmlilu
`
`IIII
`
`N
`
`A4
`
`
`
`
`
`U.S. Patent
`
`A
`
`4 bct.1,1991
`
`5,053,351
`
`r..lr....nfiv,g7¢w.,iI1ifiéfiwaofl
`
`
`
`..,.u.\wvé;.3avV®ww.\n.
`
`..,.mN.£\¢,d\,.,;.\\\mO.a"\‘
`
`\§\..V\\..6 v6
`
` 9K\4%‘¢‘DQAE‘Ctllll6%//.%9.7z—W\7vooofim
`
`‘.
`
`mm
`
`Q.®_u_.
`
`A
`
`
`
`
`5,053,351
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`———- r '
`
`I————————————————— IV
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`N IIIIIII‘
`_ nanny,
`
`:=::::*]n‘i\C3
`
`Illlgz! “
`
`,'
`
`zaunn.
`IIIIIIl
`
`IIIIIVIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII —--'1-
`
`
`
`
`
` k
`
`iii‘
`
`
`:::::::::::a»§2§.sZ
`II
`IIIIIIIIIIIIIg{
`
` k\
`
`
`
`I...-I.-III
`
`II . IIIIIIIIIIIILQ
`
`
`
`I_—————CC-—H-—.—C-
`
`'
`
`
`
`4 4.
`
`
`
`
`
`U.S. Patent
`
`.
`
`(Set. 1, 1991
`
`5,053,351
`
`iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
`:g5::::::=s
`:...:;:=:=-.'_ >
`
`mmGE
`
`5 s
`
`O 0,
`
`7/
`
`\
`
`A
`
`wvwmmwam/11%..1
`.1,“mm
`
`iR
`
`"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""II
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Oct. 1, 1991
`
`Sheet 11 of 11
`
`5,053,351
`
`.,x\.
`,.._.,flu».r4.;
`
`Vrm-41...1:.._
`
`mm
`
`OFGE
`
`A
`
`||'aI\
`
`
`
`
`
`
`1
`
`METHOD OF MAKING STACKED E-CELL
`CAPACITOR DRAM CELL
`
`5,053,351
`
`2
`ence, discusses a 3-dimensional stacked capacitor fin
`structure.
`
`FIELD OF THE INVENTION
`
`This invention relates to semiconductor circuit mem-
`
`ory storage devices and more particularly to a process
`for fabricating three-dimensional stacked cell capacitors
`used in high-density dynamic random access memory
`(DRAM) arrays.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`In dynamic semiconductor memory storage devices it
`is essential that storage node capacitor cell plates be
`large enough to retain an adequate charge or capaci-
`tance in spite of parasitic capacitances and noise that
`may be present during circuit operation. As is the case
`for most semiconductor integrated circuitry, circuit
`density is continuing to increase at a fairly constant rate.
`The issue of maintaining storage node capacitance is
`particularly important as the density of DRAM arrays
`continues to increase for future generations of memory
`devices.
`The ability to densely pack storage cells while main-
`taining required capacitance levels is a crucial require-
`ment of semiconductor manufacturing technologies if
`future generations of expanded memory array devices
`are to be successfully manufactured.
`One method of maintaining, as well as increasing,
`storage _node size in densely packed memory devices is
`through the use of a “stacked storage cell” design. With
`this technology, two or more layers of a conductive
`material such as polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon or
`poly) are deposited over an access device on a silicon
`wafer, with dielectric layers sandwiched between each
`poly layer. A cell constructed in this manner is known
`as a stacked capacitor cell (STC). Such a cell utilizes the
`space over the access device for capacitor plates, has a
`low soft error rate (SER) and may be used in conjunc-
`tion with inter-plate insulative layers having a high
`dielectric constant.
`
`However, it is difficult to obtain sufficient storage
`capacitance with a conventional STC capacitor as the
`storage electrode area is confined within the limits of its
`own cell area. Also, maintaining good dielectric break-
`down characteristics between poly layers in the STC
`capacitor becomes a major concern once insulator
`thickness is appropriately scaled.
`A paper submitted by S. Inoue et al., entitled “A
`SPREAD STACKED CAPACITOR (SSC) CELL
`FOR 64 MBIT DRAMS,” IEDM, Dig. Tech. Papers,
`pp. 31-34, 1989, herein incorporated by reference, dis-
`cusses a storage electrode of a 1st memory cell being
`expanded to the neighboring 2nd memory cell area.
`The SSC cell fabrication process (refer to FIG. 2 pp.
`32) begins with a storage electrode deposited above the
`digit lines that is expanded from the 1st memory cell to
`its adjacent memory cells and visa versa. This results in
`a stacked capacitor arrangement where each storage
`electrode can occupy two memory cell areas, thus al-
`most doubling the storage capacitance of one memory
`cell. However, the SSC process is complicated and adds
`at least two masks to the standard process.
`Also, a paper submitted by T. Erna et al., entitled “3
`-DIMENSIONAL STACKED CAPACITOR CELL
`FOR 16 M AND 64 M DRAMS,” IEDM, Dig. Tech.
`Papers, pp. 592-595, 1988, herein incorporated by refer-
`
`10
`
`15
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`45
`
`50
`
`55
`
`65
`
`The fin structure and its development is shown in
`FIG. 1, pp. 593 of the article mentioned above. The
`storage node is formed by two polysilicon layers, called
`fins, with gaps between the fins (the number of fins can
`be increased, but is limited by design rules used). Capac-
`itor dielectric film surrounds the whole surface of the
`
`fins with polysilicon (used for a capacitor cell plate)
`covering the fins and filling in the gaps. This design can
`be fabricated using current methods and increases stor-
`age capacitance, but it is not suitable for a deep submi-
`cron (such as 0.2 micron) design rule DRAM cell be-
`cause the total thickness of several fins and cell plate is
`much larger than minimum feature size. The process
`flow, needed to realize this fin structure, requires pre-
`cise alignment between two adjacent word lines and
`digits lines. This alignment along with the requirement
`to have the storage node poly overlap the storage node
`contact leads to a larger cell area that is not suitable for
`0.2 micron design rules mentioned previously.
`The present invention develops a stacked E cell simi-
`lar to the fin cell with a major and very important dif-
`ference. The stacked E cell maximizes the area available
`
`for the storage node that the fin cell uses up for the
`contact made to connect the storage node plate to an
`active area. An existing stacked capacitor fabrication
`process is modified to construct a three-dimensional
`stacked E cell.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`The invention is directed to maximizing storage cell
`surface area in a high density/high volume DRAM
`(dynamic random access memory) fabrication process.
`An existing stacked capacitor fabrication process is
`modified to construct a three-dimensional stacked ca-
`pacitor, referred to hereinafter as a stacked E cell or
`SEC. The SEC design defines a capacitor storage cell
`that in the present invention is used in a DRAM pro-
`cess, however it will be evident to one skilled in the art
`to incorporate these steps into other processes requiring
`memory cells such as VRAMs, EPROMS or the like.
`After a silicon wafer is prepared using conventional
`process steps, the present invention develops the SEC
`by depositing alternating layers of polysilicon and di-
`electric which are then patterned and etched to form’ a
`storage node plate having an E-shaped cross-section.
`The entire structure conforms to the wafer’s topology
`formed by two adjacent digit lines running perpendicu-
`lar to and over the top of two adjacent word lines, thus
`resulting in increased capacitor plate surface area for
`each storage cell. Such a structure is a vast improve-
`ment over the fin cell by maximizing the area available
`for a storage node.
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`FIG. 1 is a top planar view of a portion of an in-pro-
`cess wafer showing digit lines, word lines and storage
`capacitors;
`FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view through broken line
`A—A of FIG. 1;
`FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view through broken line
`B-—B of FIG. 1;
`FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the in-process
`wafer portion of FIG. 2 following a conformal dielec-
`tric deposition over existing word lines;
`
`
`
`5,053,351
`
`5
`
`3
`FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the in-process
`wafer portion of FIG. 4 following a buried contact
`photo and etch;
`FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the in-process
`wafer portion of FIG. 5 following a photoresist strip, a
`blanket deposition of a thick polysilicon layer and blan-
`ket depositions of alternate layers of dielectric and
`polysilicon;
`FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the in-process
`wafer portion of FIG. 6, following photo and etch of 10
`two adjacent storage nodes;
`FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the in-process
`wafer portion of FIG. 7, after a polysilicon deposition
`followed by a poly spacer etch;
`FIG. 9a is a cross-sectional view of the in-process 15
`wafer portion of FIG. 8, following a photo and etch of
`adjacent storage node plates;
`FIG. 9b is a cross-sectional view of the in-process
`wafer portion of FIG. 8, following a photo and partial
`poly etch of adjacent storage node plates;
`FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the in-process
`wafer portion of FIGS. 9a or 9b, following depositions
`of conformal cell dielectric and a poly cell plate.
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE
`PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
`
`4
`consisting of polysilicon 32, silicide 33 and dielectric 34
`following the location of the buried digit line contacts.
`Dielectric 34 can be either nitride or oxide and may be
`deposited by chemical vapor deposition (CVD).
`Polysilicon 32 has previously been conductively doped
`to electrically couple with silicide 33 to serve as the
`conductor for digit lines 11. Digit lines 11 run perpen-
`dicular to and over the top of word lines 12 (shown in
`FIG. 2) and conform to the wafer surface resulting in a
`waveform-like topology running in both the digit line
`and word line directions. A second dielectric, such as
`nitride or oxide is now deposited (preferrably by CVD),
`followed by an anisotropic etch to form vertical dielec-
`tric spacers 35.
`FIGS. 4-10 show the formation of the SEC seen from
`the cross-sectional view A—A of FIG. 1, which shows
`a cross-section of parallel word lines 12 that presents
`clearer views of the present invention. Therefore, the
`invention will be described from here on as seen from
`the word line cross-section A—A.
`‘
`As shown in FIG. 4, word lines 12 and their subse-
`quent isolation layers are then covered with dielectric
`41 to a preferred thickness of 500 to 2000 angstroms
`preferably by CVD. Dielectric 41 may be either nitride
`or oxide depending on a desired storage node etch used
`later in the process.
`As shown in FIG. 5, buried contact 52 is aligned to
`word lines 12 by covering all of the wafer surface area
`with photoresist 51. After applying an appropriate pho-
`tomask, a buried contact anisotropic etch provides an
`opening to locate Contact 52.
`Up to this point, process flow has followed that of an
`array comprising conventional stacked capacitor cells.
`From this point forward, the process is unique to an
`array having SEC-type storage capacitors.
`As shown in FIG. 6, the photoresist 51 (of FIG. 5)
`has been stripped and a thick layer of conformal
`polysilicon 61 is deposited. Conformal poly layer 61
`connects to active area 21 via buried contact 52. Fol-
`lowing poly 61 deposition, dielectric layers 62 and 64
`and polysilicon layers 63 and 65 are deposited alter-
`nately on top of one another with dielectric 62 being the
`first layer deposited superjacent thick polysilicon 61.
`The selection of dielectric layers 62 and 64 can be either
`oxide or nitride depending on the type of dielectric
`deposited for dielectric layer 41 along with the storage
`node etch used later in the process. The combinations
`selected for dielectrics 41, 62 and 64 will become obvi-
`ous to one skilled in the art once the procedures for the
`storage node etch is developed later in this embodiment.
`As shown in FIG. 7, photoresist 71 is patterned so a
`subsequent etch will form a storage node area contain-
`ing a storage node pair that will later be patterned and
`etched to form two separate storage node plates.
`As shown in FIG. 8, after photoresist 71 (seen in FIG.
`7) is stripped, a conformal layer of poly is deposited,
`followed by an anisotropic etch to form vertical poly
`spacers 81 attaching poly layers 61, 63 and 65 together
`on opposite ends of the patterned storage node area.
`As shown in FIG. 9a, photoresist 91 is patterned to
`form separate poly storage node plates 92 (made up of
`patterned poly layers 61, 63, 65 and 81 as seen in FIG.
`8). During the patterning of storage node plates 92, an
`etch is performed that will consume the poly layers
`making up plates 92 along with dielectric layers 62 and
`64 and then stopping on dielectric layer 41. For exam-
`ple,
`the selection of dielectric 41 is nitride therefore
`requiring dielectrics 62 and 64 to be of a second type
`
`20
`
`25
`
`The invention is directed to maximizing storage cell
`surface area in a high density/high volume DRAM
`fabrication process, in a sequence shown in FIGS. 1-10.
`A silicon wafer is prepared using conventional pro-
`cess steps up to the point of defining a cell array. Capac-
`itor fabrication will now follow.
`The capacitor of each cell will make contact with a
`buried contact within the cell, while the capacitor will
`extend to the active area of an adjacent cell. Each active
`area within the array is isolated from one another by a
`thick field oxide. The active areas can be arranged in
`interdigitated columns and non-interdigitated rows or
`simply parallel and in line to one another in both the
`vertical and horizontal directions. The active areas are
`used to form active MOS transistors that can be doped
`as NMOS or PMOS type FETs depending on the de-
`sired use.
`
`FIG. 1 shows a top planar view portion of a com-
`pleted multilayered memory array with the main build-
`ing blocks comprising digit lines 11, word lines 12 and
`storage node plates 13 of an SEC.
`As shown in FIG. 2, poly 22, covered with silicide 23
`and dielectric 24 (either oxide or nitride) are patterned
`to serve as word lines 12. Word lines 12 are further
`isolated from one another as well as subsequent conduc-
`tive layers by dielectric spacers 26 (also either oxide or
`nitride) that have been previously deposited over a thin
`layer of gate oxide 25 or a thick layer of field oxide 27.
`Dielectrics 24 and 26 may be deposited by chemical
`vapor deposition (CVD) which is preferred for its ex-
`cellent conformity. Active areas 21 have been appropri-
`ately doped to a desired conductivity type which pene-
`trates into the bulk silicon wafer 20, by conventional
`process steps. Now the wafer is ready for digit line
`formation that will run perpendicular to word lines 12.
`FIG. 3 shows the formation of digit lines 11. A con-
`formal layer of dielectric 31 is deposited over the exist-
`ing wafer surface to isolate previously formed active
`areas 21 from the subsequent formation of digit lines 11.
`First, buried digit line contacts are patterned and etched
`through dielectric 31 allowing access to active areas 21.
`Second, digit lines 11 are made up of patterned layers
`
`30
`
`35
`
`45
`
`50
`
`55
`
`65
`
`
`
`5,053,351
`
`5
`dielectric such as oxide. Following the patterning of
`storage node plates 92 an isotropic etch is performed to
`remove oxide dielectrics 62 and 64 (seen in FIG. 8). As
`the example suggests, the selection of dielectrics 41, 62
`and 64 may change as long as dielectric 41 is of a differ-
`ent type than that of dielectrics 62 and 64. The overall
`result of these two etches form the upper E-shaped
`cross-sectional portion and the lower portion of the
`SEC that extends downward and couples to active area
`21 via buried contact 52. Poly plates 92 can be textur-
`ized by conventional texturization techniques to further
`increase the storage node plate’s surface area.
`Alternately, as shown in FIG. 9b, a partial poly etch
`leaves a remaining poly portion 93 still allowing physi-
`cal connection between adjacent storage node plates 92.
`An isotropic wet etch is preformed to remove dielec-
`trics 62 and 64 (seen in FIG. 8). When using this etch,
`dielectrics 41, 62 and 64 may be of the same type (oxide
`or nitride) as partial poly etch allows the remaining poly
`portion 93 to protect dielectric 41 during the removal of
`dielectrics 62 and 64. The result of these two etches
`form the E-shaped cross-sectional portion of the SEC.
`Following the isotropic wet etch poly 93 is completely
`removed by a poly etch that stops upon reaching dielec-
`tric 41 to form the lower portion of the SEC that con-
`nects to active area 21 via buried contact 52 thereby
`completing the storage node plate 92.
`_
`As shown in FIG. 10, following a photoresist 91 strip
`(seen in FIG. 9a or 9b), dielectric 101 is deposited (pref-
`errably by CVD) that conforms to poly storage node
`plates 92. Dielectric 101 can be from materials having a
`high dielectric constant such as nitride, an oxide—nitride
`compound or Ta;>_O5. Dielectric 101 serves as a cell
`dielectric for the SEC. Following cell dielectric _101
`deposition, a blanket deposition of conformal poly 102
`is deposited. Poly plates 92 and poly 102 are conduc-
`tively doped either n-type or p-type depending on the
`conductivity type desired for active area 21. Poly 102
`now serves as a poly capacitor cell plate which becomes
`a common cell plate to all SEC storage capacitors in the
`array.
`With the 3-dimensional shape and _texturized surface
`of poly storage node plate 92, along with poly capacitor
`cell plate 102 that envelops plate 92, substantial capaci-
`tor plate surface area is gained at the storage node.
`Because capacitance is greatly affected by surface area
`of a capacitor’s storage node plates, the area gained can
`provide an additional 3 to 5X increase in capacitance
`over that of a conventional STC capacitor, without
`more space than that required for defining a stacked
`capacitor storage cell.
`Throughout the preferred embodiment, polysilicon is
`deposited and conductively doped to serve as conduc-
`tive lines and capacitor plates, however many materials
`that possess conductive qualities and that can be depos-
`ited or sputtered may be used in place of polysilicon if
`so desired. It is therefore,
`to be understood that al-
`though the present invention has been described with
`reference to a preferred embodiment, various modifica-
`tions, known to those skilled in the art, may be made to
`the structures and process steps presented herein with-
`out departing from the invention as recited in the sev-
`eral claims appended hereto.
`We claim:
`
`1. A process for fabricating a DRAM array on a
`silicon substrate, said process comprising the following
`sequence of steps:
`
`6
`creating a plurality of separately isolated active areas
`arranged in parallel interdigitated rows and parallel
`non-interdigitated columns;
`creating a gate dielectric layer on top of each active
`area;
`depositing a first conductive layer superjacent sur-
`face of said array;
`depositing a first dielectric layer superjacent said first
`conductive layer;
`masking and etching said first conductive and said
`first dielectric layers to form a plurality of parallel
`conductive word lines aligned along said rows
`such that each said word line passes over a inner
`portion of each said active area being separated
`therefrom by a remanent of said gate dielectric
`layer;
`creating of a conductively-doped digit line junction
`and storage node junction within each said active
`area on opposite sides of each said word line;
`.
`depositing a second dielectric layer superjacent said
`array surface;
`creating a first aligned buried contact location at each
`said digit line junction in each said active area;
`depositing a second conductive layer superjacent said
`array surface, said second conductive layer making
`direct contact to said digit line junctions at said first
`buried contact locations;
`depositing a third dielectric layer superjacent to said
`second conductive layer;
`masking and etching said second conductive layer
`and said third dielectric layer to form a plurality of
`parallel conductive digit lines aligned along said
`columns such that a digit
`line makes electrical
`contact at each digit line junction within a column,
`said digit lines running perpendicular to and over
`said word lines forming a 3-dimensional, wave-
`form-like topology;
`depositing a fourth dielectric layer on surface of said
`silicon, said fourth dielectric conforming to said
`waveform-like topology;
`masking and etching a second aligned buried contact
`location allowing access to a storage node junction;
`depositing a third conductive layer superjacent exist-
`ing topology, said conductive layer making contact
`at said storage node junction;
`depositing a fifth dielectric layer superjacent said
`third conductive layer;
`depositing a fourth conductive layer superjacent said
`fifth dielectric layer;
`depositing a sixth dielectric layer superjacent said
`fourth conductive layer;
`depositing a fifth conductive layer superjacent said
`sixth dielectric layer;
`'
`masking and etching said third, fourth and fifth con-
`ductive layers and said fifth and sixth dielectric
`layers to form a pair of storage nodes connected to
`one another;
`depositing and anisotropically etching a conformal
`sixth conductive layer to form vertical conductive
`spacers, said spacers making Contact to vertical
`patterned edges of said third, fourth and fifth con-
`ductive layers;
`masking and etching said connected storage node pair
`thereby separating said storage node pair into sepa-
`rate storage node plates, upper portion of each said
`storage node plate having an E-shaped cross-sec-
`tion and a lower portion connecting to said storage
`node junction;
`
`10
`
`15
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`45
`
`50
`
`55
`
`65
`
`
`
`7
`depositing a cell dielectric layer superjacent and co-
`extensive said storage node plates; and
`depositing a seventh conductive layer superjacent
`and coextensive said cell dielectric layer, thereby
`forming a top cell plate,'said top cell plate being 5
`common to the entire memory array.
`2. A process as recited in claim 1, wherein said gate
`dielectric layer is oxide.
`3. A process as recited in claim 1, wherein said first
`and said second conductive layers comprise a layer of 10
`tungsten silicide and a layer of conductively-doped
`polysilicon.
`4. A process as recited in claim 1, wherein said first,
`said second, said third, said fourth, said fifth and said
`sixth dielectric layers are selected from the group con-
`sisting essentially of oxide or nitride.
`5. A process as recited in claim 1, wherein said third,
`said fourth, said fifth, said sixth and said seventh con-
`ductive layers are conductively-doped polysilicon.
`6. A process as recited in claim 5, wherein_said con-
`ductively-doped polysilicon has a texturized surface.
`7. A process as recited in claim 1, wherein said mask-
`ing and etching of said storage node pair comprises the
`steps of:
`a) patterning a photoresist over said storage node
`pair;
`b) etching area exposed by said patterning of the
`photoresist thereby separating said storage node
`pair into single storage node plates, each said single
`plate having an E-shaped cross-section;
`c) etching said fifth and said sixth dielectric layers;
`and
`d) removing said photoresist.
`8. A process as recited in claim 1, wherein said mask-
`ing and etching of said storage node pair comprises the
`steps of:
`.
`a) patterning a photoresist over said storage node
`pair;
`b) partial etching area exposed by said patterning of
`the photoresist thereby forming two separate E- 40
`shaped cross-sections from said storage node pair,
`said partial etching leaves a portion of said sixth
`polysilicon layer intact thereby covering said word
`lines;
`c) etching said fifth and said sixth dielectric layers;
`cl) etching remaining said portion of sixth polysilicon
`layer thereby separating said storage node pair into
`single storage node plates, each said single plate
`having an E-shaped cross-section;
`e) removing said photoresist.
`9. A process as recited in claim 1, wherein said first,
`said second, said third dielectric layers and said cell
`dielectric layer are deposited by chemical vapor deposi-
`tion.
`
`15
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`45
`
`50
`
`5,053,351
`
`8
`depositing a first conductive layer superjacent exist-
`ing topology, said conductive layer making contact
`at said storage node junction;
`depositing a second dielectric layer superjacent said
`first conductive layer;
`depositing a second conductive layer superjacent said
`second dielectric layer;
`depositing a third dielectric layer superjacent said
`second conductive layer;
`depositing a third conductive layer superjacent said
`third dielectric layer;
`masking and etching said first, second and third con-
`ductive layers and said second and third dielectric
`layers to form a pair of storage nodes connected to
`one another;
`depositing and anisotropically etching a conformal
`fourth conductive layer to form vertical conduc-
`tive spacers, said spacers making contact to vertical
`patterned edges of said first, second and third con-
`ductive layers;
`masking and etching said connected storage node pair
`thereby separating said storage node pair into sepa-
`rate storage node plates, upper portion of each said
`separate storage node plate having an E-shaped
`cross-section and lower portion connecting to said
`storage node junction;
`depositing a cell dielectric layer superjacent and co-
`extensive said storage node plate; and
`depositing a fifth conductive layer superjacent and
`coextensive said cell dielectric layer, thereby form-
`ing a top cell plate, said top cell plate being com-
`mon to the entire memory array.
`-
`12. A process as recited in claim 11, wherein said first,
`said second and said third dielectric layers are selected
`from the group consisting essentially of oxide or nitride.
`13. A process as recited in claim 11, wherein said first,
`second, third, fourth, and fifth conductive layers are
`conductively-doped polysilicon.
`14. A process as recited in claim .13, wherein said
`conductively-doped polysilicon has a texturized sur-
`face.
`15. A process as recited in claim 11, wherein said
`masking and etching of said storage node pair comprises
`the steps of:
`a) patterning a photoresist over said storage node
`pair;
`b) etching area exposed by said patterning of the
`photoresist thereby separating said storage node
`pair into single storage node plates, each said single
`plate having an E-shaped cross-section;
`c) etching said second and said third dielectric layers;
`and
`
`d) removing said photoresist.
`16. A process as recited in claim 11, wherein said
`masking and etching of said storage node pair comprises
`the steps of:
`a) patterning a photoresist over said storage node
`pair;
`b) partial etching area exposed by said patterning of
`the photoresist thereby forming two separate E-
`shaped cross-sections from said storage node pair,
`said partial etching leaves a portion of said sixth
`polysilicon layer intact thereby covering said word
`lines;
`,
`'
`c) etching said second and said third dielectric layers;
`d) etching remaining said portion of sixth polysilicon
`layer thereby separating said storage node pair into
`
`10. A process as recited in claim 1, wherein said cell
`dielectric layer is selected from the group consisting
`essentially of oxide, an oxide-nitride compound, or
`Ta2O5.
`11. A process for fabricating a DRAM storage capac-
`itor on a silicon substrate having active areas word lines
`and digit lines, said process comprising the following
`sequence of steps:
`depositing a first dielectric layer on surface of said
`silicon, said first dielectric layer conforming to said
`waveform-like topology;
`masking and etching a first aligned buried contact
`location allowing access to a storage node junction
`in each said active area;
`
`55
`
`65
`
`
`
`9
`
`5,053,351
`
`10
`dielectric layer and said cell dielectric layer are depos-
`ited by chemical vapor deposition.
`18. A process as recited in claim 11, wherein said cell
`dielectric layer is selected from the group consisting
`essentially of oxide, an oxide-nitride compound, or
`Ta2O5.
`1
`#
`it
`I
`III
`
`single storage node plates, each said single plate
`
`having an E-shaped cross-section:
`
`e) removing said photoresist.
`
`17. A process as recited in claim 11, wherein said first
`
`10
`
`15
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`45
`
`50
`
`55
`
`65
`
`
`
`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION
`
`PATENT NO.
`
`: 5,053,351
`
`DATED
`
`Ioctober 1, 1991
`
`,
`
`'NVENT0R(3) 3Pierre C. Fazan, et a1
`
`It is certified that error appears in the above-indentified patent and that said Letters Patent is hereby
`corrected as shown below:
`
`Column 6, lines 2-2, please delete
`"arranged in- parallel interdigitated rows and parallel non-
`intergitated columns".
`
`Signed ahd Sealed this
`
`Twenty-first Day of June, 1994
`
`Arresting Officer
`
`Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks
`
`ERUCE LEHMAN