Patent · US Expired

Method for forming a buried contact in a semiconductor device

US5162259A · kind A · utility

62Cited by
4References
8Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateFeb 4, 1991
Grant dateNov 10, 1992
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 4, 2011

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH01L21/76895
  • WIPO fieldSemiconductors
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A process for forming a buried contact (50) in a semiconductor device (20) which avoids etch damage to the substrate and forms a self-aligned, low resistance contact to a silicon substrate (22) is provided. After forming a contact opening (32) through overlying insulating and conducting layers (24, 28,30), a silicide region (40) is formed in the substrate at the contact surface (34) exposed by the contact opening (32). A refractory metal silicide which provides high etching selectivity to polysilicon is formed in the substrate at the contact surface (34) by either a blanket deposition of a refractory metal into the contact opening (32), or alternatively, by a selective deposition process using contact surface (34) as a nucleation site. In a preferred embodiment, a cobalt or tantalum silicide region (40) is formed in the substrate at the contact surface (34) and a conductive layer (42) is deposited and etched to form an interconnect (48) contacting the silicide region (40). The high etching selectivity obtainable between the conductive layer ( 42) and the silicide region (40) avoids damage to the substrate surface providing improved device performance.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.