Tahir Ghani

A 45nm Logic Technology with High-k+Metal Gate Transistors, Strained Silicon, 9 Cu Interconnect Layers, 193nm Dry Patterning, and 100% Pb-free Packaging

A 45 nm logic technology is described that for the first time incorporates high-k + metal gate transistors in a high volume manufacturing process. The transistors feature 1.0 nm EOT high-k gate dielectric, dual band edge workfunction metal gates and third generation strained silicon, resulting in the highest drive currents yet reported for NMOS and PMOS. The technology also features trench contact based local routing, 9 layers of copper interconnect with low-k ILD, low cost 193 nm dry patterning, and 100% Pb-free packaging. Process yield, performance and reliability are demonstrated on 153 Mb SRAM arrays with SRAM cell size of 0.346 mum2, and on multiple microprocessors.

A 90nm high volume manufacturing logic technology featuring novel 45nm gate length strained silicon CMOS transistors

This paper describes the details of a novel strained transistor architecture which is incorporated into a 90nm logic technology on 300mm wafers. The unique strained PMOS transistor structure features an epitaxially grown strained SiGe film embedded in the source drain regions. Dramatic performance enhancement relative to unstrained devices are reported. These transistors have gate length of 45nm and 50nm for NMOS and PMOS respectively, 1.2nm physical gate oxide and Ni salicide. World record PMOS drive currents of 700/spl mu/A//spl mu/m (high V/sub T/) and 800/spl mu/A//spl mu/m (low V/sub T/) at 1.2V are demonstrated. NMOS devices exercise a highly tensile silicon nitride capping layer to induce tensile strain in the NMOS channel region. High NMOS drive currents of 1.26mA//spl mu/m (high VT) and 1.45mA//spl mu/m (low VT) at 1.2V are reported. The technology is mature and is being ramped into high volume manufacturing to fabricate next generation Pentium/spl reg/ and Intel/spl reg/ Centrino/spl trade/ processor families.

A 90-nm logic technology featuring strained-silicon

A leading-edge 90-nm technology with 1.2-nm physical gate oxide, 45-nm gate length, strained silicon, NiSi, seven layers of Cu interconnects, and low-/spl kappa/ CDO for high-performance dense logic is presented. Strained silicon is used to increase saturated n-type and p-type metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) drive currents by 10% and 25%, respectively. Using selective epitaxial Si/sub 1-x/Ge/sub x/ in the source and drain regions, longitudinal uniaxial compressive stress is introduced into the p-type MOSEFT to increase hole mobility by >50%. A tensile silicon nitride-capping layer is used to introduce tensile strain into the n-type MOSFET and enhance electron mobility by 20%. Unlike all past strained-Si work, the hole mobility enhancement in this paper is present at large vertical electric fields in nanoscale transistors making this strain technique useful for advanced logic technologies. Furthermore, using piezoresistance coefficients it is shown that significantly less strain (/spl sim/5 /spl times/) is needed for a given PMOS mobility enhancement when applied via longitudinal uniaxial compression versus in-plane biaxial tension using the conventional Si/sub 1-x/Ge/sub x/ substrate approach.

A logic nanotechnology featuring strained-silicon

Strained-silicon (Si) is incorporated into a leading edge 90-nm logic technology . Strained-Si increases saturated n-type and p-type metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) drive currents by 10 and 25%, respectively. The process flow consists of selective epitaxial Si/sub 1-x/Ge/sub x/ in the source/drain regions to create longitudinal uniaxial compressive strain in the p-type MOSFET. A tensile Si nitride-capping layer is used to introduce tensile uniaxial strain into the n-type MOSFET and enhance electron mobility. Unlike past strained-Si work: 1) the amount of strain for the n-type and p-type MOSFET can be controlled independently on the same wafer and 2) the hole mobility enhancement in this letter is present at large vertical electric fields, thus, making this flow useful for nanoscale transistors in advanced logic technologies.

A 22nm high performance and low-power CMOS technology featuring fully-depleted tri-gate transistors, self-aligned contacts and high density MIM capacitors

A 22nm generation logic technology is described incorporating fully-depleted tri-gate transistors for the first time. These transistors feature a 3rd-generation high-k + metal-gate technology and a 5th generation of channel strain techniques resulting in the highest drive currents yet reported for NMOS and PMOS. The use of tri-gate transistors provides steep subthreshold slopes (~70mV/dec) and very low DIBL (~50mV/V). Self-aligned contacts are implemented to eliminate restrictive contact to gate registration requirements. Interconnects feature 9 metal layers with ultra-low-k dielectrics throughout the interconnect stack. High density MIM capacitors using a hafnium based high-k dielectric are provided. The technology is in high volume manufacturing.

A 90 nm logic technology featuring 50 nm strained silicon channel transistors, 7 layers of Cu interconnects, low k ILD, and 1 /spl mu/m/sup 2/ SRAM cell

A leading edge 90 nm technology with 1.2 nm physical gate oxide, 50 nm gate length, strained silicon, NiSi, 7 layers of Cu interconnects, and low k carbon-doped oxide (CDO) for high performance dense logic is presented. Strained silicon is used to increase saturated NMOS and PMOS drive currents by 10-20% and mobility by >50%. Aggressive design rules and unlanded contacts offer a 1.0 /spl mu/m/sup 2/ 6-T SRAM cell using 193 nm lithography.

The High-k Solution

The Intels Core 2 microprocessors, based on the latest 45-nanometer CMOS process technology have more transistors and run faster and cooler than microprocessors fabricated with the previous, 65-nm process generation. For compute-intensive music, video, and gaming applications, users will see a hefty performance increase.

A 14nm logic technology featuring 2 nd -generation FinFET, air-gapped interconnects, self-aligned double patterning and a 0.0588 µm 2 SRAM cell size

A 14nm logic technology using 2nd-generation FinFET transistors with a novel subfin doping technique, self-aligned double patterning (SADP) for critical patterning layers, and air-gapped interconnects at performance-critical layers is described. The transistors feature rectangular fins with 8nm fin width and 42nm fin height, 4th generation high-k metal gate, and 6th-generation strained silicon, resulting in the highest drive currents yet reported for 14nm technology. This technology is in high-volume manufacturing.

Effectiveness of reverse body bias for leakage control in scaled dual Vt CMOS ICs

Examines the effectiveness of opportunistic use of reverse body bias (RBB) to reduce leakage power during active operation, burn-in, and standby in 0.18 /spl mu/m single-V/sub t/ and 0.13 /spl mu/m dual-V/sub t/ logic process technologies. Investigates its dependencies on channel length, target V/sub t/, temperature and technology generation. Shows that RBB becomes less effective for leakage reduction at shorter channel lengths and lower V/sub t/ at both high and room temperatures, especially when target intrinsic leakage currents are high. RBB effectiveness also diminishes with technology scaling primarily because of worsening short-channel effects (SCE), particularly when target V/sub t/ values are low. A model is given that relates different transistor leakage components to full-chip leakage current, and is validated through test-chip measurements across a range of RBB values.

High performance 32nm logic technology featuring 2 nd generation high-k + metal gate transistors

A 32nm logic technology for high performance microprocessors is described. 2nd generation high-k + metal gate transistors provide record drive currents at the tightest gate pitch reported for any 32nm or 28nm logic technology. NMOS drive currents are 1.62mA/um Idsat and 0.231mA/um Idlin at 1.0V and 100nA/um Ioff. PMOS drive currents are 1.37mA/um Idsat and 0.240mA/um Idlin at 1.0V and 100nA/um Ioff. The impact of SRAM cell and array size on Vccmin is reported.