throbber
Unltfid States P3t€Ilt
`
`[19]
`
`[11] Patent Number:
`
`5,541,427
`
`Chappell et al.
`
`[45] Date of Patent:
`
`Jul. 30, 1996
`
`lllllllllllllllllIlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllIllllllllll
`USO0554l427A
`
`[54] SRAM CELL WITH CAPACITOR
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`Debrosse et a], “Contact Process Providing Layout Advan,-’
`tages In A Static Random~Access Memory Cell.lBM TDB
`V01. 32 N0. 9A, Feb. 1990, pp.
`Dittrich, M. “Vertical Drive Device Polysilicon Load Static
`Random-Access Memory Cell:IBM TDB” vol. 31, No. 7,
`De“ 1988’ 913- 230:2?‘ _
`_
`Chesebro, D. et al., Simplified Local Interconnection Tech-
`nique For Sram and Logic Semiconductor Structures" IBM
`TDB vol. 34, No. 1, Jun. 1991 pp. 328-330.
`F. White et al., “Damascene Stud Local Interconnect In
`CMOS Technology” IEDM 1992 pp. 301-304.
`(List continued on next page.)
`,
`_
`,
`Przmary Exammer—Robert P. Limanek
`Attorney, Agent, or Firm—David Aker
`
`[57]
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`A storage latch comprising a gate insulating layer over the
`substrate, shallow trenches formed through the insulating
`layer and in the substrate to provide device insulation; and
`gfffeg "’*g$°“S .1“ ‘hi Sgbsfiate b"t“’e°’:1:hf”haC1}1°W trenches‘
`6 °Pe ‘°g‘°{’5 ° "6 S_°“‘°°5_ and me ale S‘a_°kS are
`formed 0Ver_feg10nS 0_f Oxide adficent the doped reg10I1S- A
`plananzed Insulator is formed between the gate stacks-
`Openings are provided in the planarized insulator for con-
`tacts to the doped regions and the gate stacks. Conductive
`matcria}
`the opgnings to fonn Contacts for the doped
`regions and for the gate stackS_ A patterned layer of con_
`ductive material on the planarized insulator connects
`selected ones of the contacts for wiring portions of the latch.
`A six device SRAM cell comprises a deep isolation trench
`formed in the substrate; a flrst latch including two transistors
`formed of p-type material on a first side of the trench; 21
`second latch including two transistors formed of n—type
`material on a second side of the trench opposite the first side
`of the trench’ and connection mcans for electrically crass
`"
`'
`f th fi
`l
`h
`h
`'
`f h
`,2. 12:02‘: ,:;f,;::::s‘;::I:,:, 2,:
`separately forming contacts to diifusion regions and gate
`stacks on the semiconductor substrate is used.
`
`1 Claim, 8 Drawing Sheets
`
`0490377
`574210664
`614239660
`90271663
`9353302
`
`7/1937
`12/1982
`10/1986
`ll/1990
`8/1993
`
`European pa1_o1f_ ,
`Japan .
`Japan .
`Japan .
`Japan .
`
`Hill
`
`52
`
`"M 50
`
`
`
`INTEL 1011
`
`[75]
`
`Inventors: Barbara A_ Chappem Amawalk; Bi]-an
`Davari, Mahopac; George A_
`Sai_Halasz’ Mt‘ Kisco; Yuan Taur’
`Bedford, an of N_Y_
`
`73] Assignce:
`
`International Business Machines
`Corporation, A1/monk, N_Y_
`
`2” App!‘ No" 162588
`-
`22]
`Filed;
`Den 3’ 1993‘
`
`_51]
`Int. (21.6 .
`. H01L 27/108; H0lL 27/11
`52] U.S. Cl. ........................ .. 257/306; 257/374; 257/397;
`257/513; 257/752; 257/903
`58] Field of Search ................................... .. 257/513, 752,
`257/903, 374, 397, 904, 306
`
`55}
`
`References Cited
`
`U5. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`10/1982 Dockerty et al.
`....................... 29/571
`3/1987 Minato ct al.
`.. 257/374
`4/1988 Neppl et al.
`......
`. . ...... 437/34
`11/1933 Ning et al. .................. 257/554
`2/1989 Yamanaka et al.
`...... 257/904
`7/1990 Cronin et al.
`........................... 437/192
`Barber Cl
`...........................
`5,045,916
`9/1991 V01‘ (:1 al.
`...... 257/383
`5,072,286 12/l99l Minami et 211.
`"
`5,145,799
`9/1992 Rodder
`5,173,450 12/1992 Wei
`...........
`437/200
`5,187,638
`2/1993 Sandhu et '31.
`__ 257,306
`H 257/204
`5,227,649
`7/1993 Chapman ......
`,_ 257/55
`5,243,203
`9/1993 Hayden et :11.
`437/60
`5,246,876
`9/1993 Manning ...............
`.. 257/903
`5,320,975
`6/1994 Cedcrhaum Ct 231.
`.
`5,334,852
`Manning Cl, Ell.
`..................... ..
`
`
`
`
`
`4,409,722
`4,653,025
`4,740,479
`4,735,341
`4,805,147
`4,944,682
`
`

`
`5,541,427
`Page 2
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`D. Kenney et a1., “A Bun'ed—Plate Trench Cell for n 64—Mb
`DRAM” 1992 Symposium on VLSI Technology Digest of
`Technical Papers, 1992 IEEE pp. 14-15.
`R. D. J. Verhaar, et al. “A 25 pm2 Bulk Full CMOS Sram
`
`Cell Technology With Fully Overlapping Contacts”, IEDM
`1990’ IEEE pp‘ 473'475'
`M. Helm et al., “A Low Cost, Microprocessor Compatible,
`18.4 pmz, 6~T Bulk Cell Technology for High Speed
`SRAMS” VLSI 93’ 2 pages.
`
`

`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Jul. 30, 1996
`
`Sheet 1 of 8
`
`5,541,427
`
`FIG .
`
`1
`
`FIG. 2
`
`p-SUBSTRATE
`
`TRENEH
`
`

`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Jul. 30, 1996
`
`Sheet 2 of 8
`
`5,541,427
`
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`U.S. Patent
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`Jul. 30, 1996
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`Sheet 3 of 8
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`5,541,427
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`U.S. Patent
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`Jul. 30, 1996
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`Sheet 4 of 8
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`5,541,427
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`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Jul. 30, 1996
`
`Sheet 5 of 3
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`5,541,427
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`Jul. 30, 1996
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`5,541,427
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`

`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Jul. 30, 1995
`
`Sheet 7 of 3
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`5,541,427
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`U.S. Patent
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`Jul. 30, 1996
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`5,541,427
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`

`
`5,541,427
`
`1
`SRAM CELL WITH CAPACITOR
`
`TECHNICAL FIELD
`
`This invention relates to SRAM devices. More particu-
`larly it relates to a configuration for a small SRAM cell.
`Further, it relates to a process for producing SRAM semi-
`conductor chips.
`
`BACKGROUND ART
`
`information processing circuits progress towards
`As
`higher levels of integration, there is growth in array size for
`cache and imbcddcd arrays, there is increased use of cache
`in high data volume machines, and with increased used of
`CMOS arrays in large, so called high end data processing
`machines, there are pressures to decrease the size of CMOS
`SRAM cells. Without such decrease in size it is necessary to
`make investments in larger chips, more aggressive lithog-
`raphy, and vertical enhancements. Such investments greatly
`increase the cost of the chips.
`In addition to the requirement for reduced area, electrical
`requirements for SRAM cells are becoming more stringent.
`For example, increased reliability standards have resulted in
`larger device ratios being required in current products.
`Soft error rate (SER) is also of great concern. Projections
`from prior work and preliminary sizing of cells used on 4
`megabyte chips indicate that enhancement of stored charge
`will in all probability be required to avoid excessive SER.
`Without added capacitance the indigeneous static stored
`charge may be inadequate to prevent upset in the stored data
`due to “funneled” charge (field ermaneed collection) that is
`collected too rapidly for the current from the p-devices to
`compensate.
`Another problem associated with smaller cells, is the need
`for more complex and therefore thinner wiring of reduced
`pitch at the so called back end of the line (BEOL) levels
`needed to make interconnections to logic and SRAM periph-
`eral circuitry. It is desirable to have a layout and process for
`dense SRAM cells which allows presently available BEOL
`wiring to be used, thus avoiding the cost and reliability
`problems associated with reduced pitch size wiring.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`It is a principal object of the invention to provide a
`configuration for a small SRAM cell.
`It is yet another object of the invention to provide a
`configuration for an SRAM cell, which while small in size,
`can be electrically connected to subsequent wiring layers
`which are of relatively large pitch.
`It is another object of the invention to provide a method
`for producing a small SRAM cell suitable for high density
`applications.
`In accordance with the invention a storage latch is formed
`on a semiconductor substrate. The storage latch comprises a
`gate insulating layer over the substrate, shallow trenches
`formed through the insulating layer and in the substrate to
`provide device insulation; and doped regions in the substrate
`between the shallow trenches. The doped regions define
`sources and drains. Gate stacks are formed over regions of
`the oxide adjacent the doped regions. A planarized insulator
`is formed between the gate stacks. Openings are provided in
`the planarized insulator for contacts to the doped regions and
`the gate stacks. Conductive material fills the openings to
`form contacts for the doped regions and for the gate stacks.
`A patterned layer of conductive material on the planarized
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`40
`
`50
`
`55
`
`60
`
`65
`
`2
`insulator connects selected ones of the contacts for wiring
`portions of the latch.
`The invention is also directed to a six device SRAM cell
`formed on a silicon substrate. The cell comprises a deep
`isolation trench formed in the substrate; a first latch includ-
`ing two transistors formed of p-type material on a first side
`of the trench; a second latch including two transistors
`formed of n-type material on a second side of the trench
`opposite the first side of the trench, connection means for
`electrically cross wiring the transistors of the first latch to the
`transistors of the second latch, the connection means includ-
`ing conductors arranged substantially perpendicular to the
`trench; and two access transistors accessing the latches, the
`accessing transistors being located on the second side of the
`trench.
`
`The invention is further directed to a process for sepa-
`rately forming contacts to diffusion regions and gate stacks
`on a semiconductor substrate. The process comprises the
`steps of forming a conformal etch stop layer over the
`substrate and said gate stacks; forming a passivating layer
`over the etch stop layer of a thickness at least sufficient to
`cover the gate stacks; planarizing the passivating layer at a
`level corresponding to the etch step layer; forming first
`openings in the passivating layer and the gate stacks, the
`opening being positioned so as to be borderless to the
`diffusion regions and of a sufiicient depth to make electrical
`contact to the gate stacks but not to the diffusion regions;
`forming several second openings in the passivating layer and
`the etch stop layer which are borderless to the gate stacks
`and of a sufficient depth to make electrical contact to the
`diffusion regions but, at the gate stacks, are of insuflicient
`depth to make electrical contact to the gate stacks; and filling
`the first openings and the second openings with a conductive
`material, the conductive material forming the contacts.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a SRAM cell
`accordance with the invention.
`
`in
`
`FIG. 2 to FIG. 8 are enlarged cross sectional representa-
`tions of process steps used to form the cell of FIG. 1.
`FIG. 9 is an enlarged somewhat schematic cross-sectional
`view of a substrate processed in accordance with the process
`steps of FIG. 2 to FIG. 8, showing connection to additional
`wiring levels.
`FIG. 10 is a plan view on a somewhat smaller scale than
`FIG. 2 to FIG. 8 of the cell of FIG. 1.
`
`FIG. 11 is a plan view similar to FIG. 10 of the cell of FIG.
`1 but without capacitors formed therein.
`FIG. 12 is a plan view similar to FIG. 10 of the cell of
`FIG. 1 illustrating capacitors formed therein.
`FIG. 13 is a plan view similar to FIG. 10 of the cell of
`FIG. 1 with a subsequent wiring level added.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE
`PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
`
`FIG. 1 illustrates a six device SRAM cell in accordance
`with the invention. Two n—deviee field eifect transistors 1
`and 2 have their sources connected to a common ground
`plane. This is advantageous in that any mismatch in the
`contact resistance will not add to instability.
`A latch formed of transistors 1 and 2 is cross-wired with
`a latch formed of p-device field efiect transistors 3 and 4
`which have their sources connected to a supply voltage
`VDD. An access transistor 5 connects transistors 1 and 3 to
`
`

`
`5,541,427
`
`3
`a bit line BL. A second access transistor 6 connects transis-
`tors 2 and 4 to bit line EH The gates of transistors 5 and 6
`are connected to word line WL.
`
`in capacitors Cbl and Cb2 are cross-coupled
`Built
`between the latch drains. These capacitors oppose discharge
`current in parallel. Further, any increase in the low side
`voltage couples through these capacitors to add to the high
`side voltage. Thus, the efiective stored charge on the cell
`may be increased as a result of the presence of these
`capacitors by as much as a factor of four. However, the
`capacitance is not large enough to substantially degrade the
`write time of the cell. In cells sized for a density used to form
`4 megabyte storage chips, an increase in the stored charge of
`the cell from, for example, 10 fentocoulombs to 30 fento-
`coulombs may result in an order of magnitude decrease in
`soft error rate. This is because a cell with very small stored
`charge can be upset by “funneled” charge collection. This is
`field-enhanced conduction from along an alpha track that
`intersects the depletion region associated with a drain node.
`A current pulse of this nature may be faster than the time
`constant for delivering current through the p—device. If the
`stored charge of the cell is high enough to oifset this initial
`rapid charge collection, the p—device current is high enough
`to compensate for any additional charge collected by a cell.
`This is especially true in the cell of the present invention,
`since the self-aligned contacts combined with shallow trench
`isolation allow a relatively small diifused area of the drain
`nodes to collect charge, as is more fully explained below.
`The cell of FIG. 1 should be designed with adequate
`device sizes for reliable read and write stability and for
`reasonable performance. For example, the cell is designed to
`have abeta ratio of 1.7 of latch device WLR (width to length
`ratio) to access device WLR. Capacitors Cbl and Cb2 also
`enhance stability for write margin. The ratio of the WLR of
`the access device to the WLR of the p-type transistors should
`be approximately 1.47. Further, for proper operation under
`burn in conditions the access device has a channel length 0.1
`micrometer wider than minimum to assure that it is cut off
`when the word line is low. The access device has a WLR of
`1.9. This ratio, combined with small bit-line contact area,
`results in a good read signal development rate. Alternatively,
`cell area may be increased by approximately 20% to achieve
`higher read speed by increasing wordline device size widths
`by a factor of two and other device widths so as to maintain
`the same read and write stability. The layout of the cell
`according to the present invention, as more fully described
`below, results in denser and faster peripheral circuitry,
`especially for that portion which is pitch-matched to the cell.
`Referring to FIG. 2, the cell in accordance with FIG. 1 is
`fabricated on a P type substrate 10 which has, formed
`therein, an n-well 12 immediately adjacent to a deep isola-
`tion trench 14. Trench 14 and other isolation regions are
`formed by any one of a number of well known processes
`including lithography, etching, filling with an insulating
`material and planarization. For example, shallow trenches
`are also formed at positions as more fully explained below
`with respect to FIGS. 10 to 13.
`A gate oxide layer 16 is then formed on the surface of
`substrate 10. A series of layers which eventually form gate
`stacks 18 are then deposited in succession over gate oxide
`layer 16. These include a polysilicon layer 20 approximately
`150 nm thick formed of n’' or p““ material. A diffusion barrier
`layer 22 formed of, for example, titanium nitride and having '
`a thickness of 100 nm is deposited over layer 20. This may
`be followed by a titanium silicide or tungsten layer 24
`having a thickness of approximately 100 nm. The presence
`of this layer reduces the sheet resistance of the gate. Finally,
`
`10
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`45
`
`50
`
`55
`
`60
`
`65
`
`4
`
`a reactive sputtered nitride cap layer 26 also having a
`thickness of approximately 100 nm is deposited. This con-
`figuration is referred to below as a “polycide” gate, and the
`materials used to form it as “polycide”.
`After the layers described are deposited, photo lithogra-
`phy and etching processes are used to selectively remove
`portions of the layers to form the gate stacks 18. Nitride
`spacers 28 are formed along the gate edges.
`Source and drain regions such as for example 29 and 30
`are then formed by implantation and annealing in a manner
`well known in the art. Preferably a titanium silicide layer 31
`is formed by a self-aligned technique on the source and drain
`regions, although this is not essential.
`Referring to FIG. 3 a conformal coating of silicon dioxide
`approximately 50 nm thick is followed by an additional
`conformal coating of aluminum oxide also approximately 50
`nm thick as represented by layer 32 (a bilayer). The use of
`these two layers allows the aluminum oxide to be stripped
`off with the silicon dioxide acting as a buffer so that the
`underlying diifusion regions are not damaged.
`An additional conformal layer 34 formed by chemical
`vapor deposition of a nitride is then deposited over layer 32.
`Finally, a thick passivating layer 36 formed of an insulator
`such as an oxide (preferable silicon dioxide) is deposited to
`athickness which covers gate stacks 18. Passivating layer 36
`is then planarized to a level corresponding substantially to
`the top of gate stacks 18 by chemical-mechanical polishing
`and/or reactive ion etching (RIE).
`Referring to FIG. 4, an opening 40 also called a (CG)
`opening for electrical contact to a gate is formed with a mask
`process by a technique such as RIE. The etch is made
`through the nitride aluminum oxide and silicon dioxide
`layers and deep enough into the gate stack so that the
`tungsten silicide layer 24 is exposed and penetrated. Passi-
`vating layer 36 is etched to a similar depth. Thus,
`the
`opening for a contact which is borderless to both the gate
`and the passivating oxide is produced.
`Refening to FIG. 5, a second set of openings 42 are
`provided for contacts to the diffusion region. These contacts
`are also designated (CD). This opening is placed so that it is
`borderless to the gate stack but makes contact with a
`diffusion region. Etching down to a dilfusion region 43
`through passivating layer 36 occurs. However, nitride cap 26
`etches at a much slower rate so that tungsten silicide or
`tungsten layer 24 is not reached and thus, when opening 42
`is filled with an electrically conductive material, there is no
`contact to the electrically conducive portions of gate stack
`18.
`
`More specifically, when the mask used to form openings
`40 is used the nitride over the gate is first etched to expose
`the aluminum oxide film over the gate. The aluminum oxide
`film over the diffusion area is not exposed due to the thick
`oxide film over it. However,
`the aluminum oxide and
`sputtered nitride films are etched to contact the polycide gate
`(FIG. 4).
`In FIG. 5 the passivating layer 36 and the nitride layer 34
`are etched first, stopping on the aluminum oxide film both
`over the diffusion region and over the gate. The aluminum
`oxide film is then etched, followed by an oxide etch to
`Contact the titanium silicide layer 31 (if it is used) over the
`diffusion region 43 or if layer 31 is not present, present, the
`diffusion region 43 directly. At this time the polycide gate is
`still insulated by the sputtered nitride cap 26 so shorting does
`not occur.
`
`Once the contact holes are opened, as described above, a
`damacine process can be used to provide tungsten studs 44A
`
`

`
`5,541,427
`
`5
`and 44B in openings 42 and 40, respectively. After filling,
`these regions are planarized as shown in FIG. 6. No mask is
`needed.
`
`Referring to FIG. 7 a thin dielectric layer 50 is then
`formed on the planarized surface. Layer 50 is removed
`except for selected regions where it is used as the insulator
`of capacitors Cbl and Cb2 (FIG. 1). A mask may be used to
`provide for this removal. Finally, as illustrated in FIG. 7 and
`FIG. 8 a thin film S2 of tungsten or aluminum is deposited
`and patterned to form electrical conductors. Where this film
`directly contacts a stud 44A or 44B an electrical connection
`is made. Where the film overlies dielectric layer 50 (FIG. 7)
`a capacitor is formed.
`Referring to FIG. 9 the substrate 10 upon which the
`process steps of FIG. 2 to FIG. 8 have been carried on is
`schematically illustrated. The patterned metalization layer
`52 lends itself well to receiving contacts 54 in selected
`contact areas 56. The contacts 54 are essentially vias through
`a layer of insulating material 58. A further layer of metal-
`ization 60 is patterned on the surface of layer 58 and over
`contacts 54 so as to provide additional wiring. Further, as is
`well known in the art, additional contacts 62 may extend up
`through an additional insulating layer 64 to another pat-
`terned metal layer 66. However, the process according to the
`invention in combination with the cell layout, as described
`below, simplifies the amount of wiring that must be done in
`the layers above contacts 54.
`Referring to FIG. 10, the cell layout, at a level corre-
`sponding essentially to that which exists at the completion of
`the process steps described with respect to FIG. 6 is illus-
`trated. The basic cell is small with dimensions of 3.6 umX5.0
`um for a cell area of 18.0 urnz.
`
`Transistors 3 and 4 are located on one side of deep trench
`14 with their gate stack areas being represented by the
`reference numerals 3’ and 4'. Transistors 1 and 2, with their
`gate stack areas represented by the references numerals 1'
`and 2' are located on the side of deep trench 14 opposite to
`the location of transistors 3 and 4. Separation of transistors
`1 and 2 from transistors 3 and 4 by the relatively narrow
`deep trench, allows these transistors to be located quite close
`to one another and therefore decreases the area of the cell.
`Access transistors 5 and 6 are located on the same side of
`
`trench 14 as transistors 1 and 2 with the gate areas being
`represented by 5' and 6' respectively.
`The various devices are isolated by shallow trench isola-
`tion areas. Active doped regions where the isolation trenches
`do not exist include the region generally shown as 70 in the
`shape of an upside down letter T formed by extensions 72
`and 74, as well as a generally C shaped area 76 having a
`portion 78 which is horizontal in FIG. 10 as well as two
`portions 80 and 82 which are vertical in FIG. 10. Region 76
`has two out out regions 84 and 86 which are not doped.
`The multilayer structure of the gates, including polysili-
`con and various other layers described above actually extend
`from the gates to form conductors 88 and 90. Wherever these
`conductors cross active doped silicon region a device chan-
`nel is formed underneath the oxide coating as described
`above. The diffusion regions are then formed by a self
`aligned MOS process where regions on either side of the
`channel are the sources and drains. The sources of transistors
`1, 2, 3 and 4 are each connected to one side of the power
`supply as more fully described below.
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`40
`
`45
`
`50
`
`55
`
`60
`
`65
`
`6
`
`To complete the wiring shown in FIG. 10, contacts are
`provided as discussed above with respect to FIG. 6. Further
`when contacts 44A (FIG. 6) are provided, an associated
`metalization layer provides wires 44C and 44D to wire the
`drains of transistors 1 and 3 and transistors 2 and 4 to each
`
`these two
`other respectively. It will be understood that
`seperate metalization processes (CG) and (CD) may be
`carried out in any desired order.
`Wordline WL is also formed of the same material as the
`
`gate stack and portions thereof define the gates of transistors
`5 and 6. During the same mask step that is used to provide
`wires 44C and 44D, metalization regions 92, 94, 96 and 98
`are also formed. These provide contact areas CA to the bit
`lines, ground, and VDD respectively. At this point all wiring
`is complete which is required for completion of the struc-
`tures of FIG. 7 or FIG. 8, except for layer 52.
`Referring to FIG. 11, a structure without capacitors Cbl
`and Cb2 is produced. Layer 52 provides metalization
`regions 100, 102, 104 106 and 108. The latches are cross-
`conneeted by regions 104 and 106 and instead of capacitors
`being formed there are simply continuous electrical conduc-
`tors.
`
`If it is desirable to do so, at this point connections can also
`be made to VDD and ground. This may be done at this level
`without the use of an additional contact mask.
`
`Referring to FIG. 12, prior to additional metalization
`regions such as those added in FIG. 11 being placed thereon,
`oxide dielectric regions 50A and 50B are formed (corre-
`sponding to insulator 50 of FIG. 7). Metalization layer 52 of
`FIG. 7 is then formed with regions 100A, 102A, 104A, and
`106A. Regions 100A and 102A are very similar to regions
`100 and 102 respectively of FIG. 11. However, regions 104A
`and 106A have extensions formed over appropriate portions
`of insulating layer regions 50A and 50B so as to define
`capacitors Cbl and Cb2. Thus the device of FIG. 1 is
`produced.
`Referring to FIG. 13, in subsequent processing steps the
`contact areas are filled with conductive material to form vias
`110, 112, 114 and 116, each of a conductive material
`corresponding to contact 54 of FIG. 9. Finally, an additional
`metalization layer 60 is deposited and patterned to form bit
`line contacts 118 and 120, wordline strap 122, ground
`conductor 124, and VDD conductor 126. These conductive
`regions are in turn connected to subsequent levels of wiring
`as illustrated in FIG. 9.
`
`While the invention has been particularly shown and
`described with respect to preferred embodiments thereof, it
`will be understood by those skilled in the art that changes in
`form and details may be made therein without departing
`from the scope and spirit of the invention.
`We claim:
`1. A storage latch formed on a semiconductor substrate,
`comprising:
`a gate insulating layer over said substrate;
`shallow trenches formed through said insulating layer and
`in said substrate to provide device insulation;
`doped regions in said substrate between said shallow
`trenches, said doped regions defining sources and
`drains;
`gate stacks over regions of said oxide adjacent said doped
`regions;
`
`

`
`5,541,427
`
`7
`aplanarized insulator formed between said gate stacks;
`openings in said planarized insulator for contacts to said
`doped regions and said gate stacks;
`.
`_
`_
`_
`_
`°°“d“°“.V° mammal fi_11mg Sald °p‘m§“g5 to form °°“ta°tS 5
`for said doped regions and for said gate stacks;
`dielectric material disposed over selected ones of said
`contacts, and
`
`8
`a patterned layer of conductive material on said pla-
`narized insulator for connecting selected ones of said
`contacts for wiring of said latch, said patterned layer of
`.
`.
`.
`.
`.
`.
`conductive material extending over said dielectric
`material so as to form a capacitor of said latch over said
`Selected ComactS_
`
`*
`
`*
`
`*
`
`*
`
`*

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