Abstract:
A method is disclosed which includes implanting an inert species in a layer of a gate electrode material (205A), the gate electrode material being formed above a substrate (201) and having a P-doped layer portion and an N-doped layer portion, forming a first gate electrode (205P) from the P-doped layer portion and a second gate electrode (205N) from the N-doped layer portion, performing a wet chemical cleaning process, and forming a first transistor (200B) on the basis of the first gate electrode (205P) and a second transistor (200A) on the basis of the second gate electrode (205N).
Abstract:
In a dual stress liner approach, an intermediate etch stop material (234) may be provided on the basis of a plasma-assisted oxidation process (250) rather than by deposition so the corresponding thickness (234T) of the etch stop material (234) may be reduced. Consequently, the resulting aspect ratio may be less pronounced compared to conventional strategies, thereby reducing deposition-related irregularities which may translate into a significant reduction of yield loss, in particular for highly scaled semiconductor devices (200).
Abstract:
A contact element may be formed on the basis of a hard mask (233), which may be patterned on the basis of a first resist mask (210) and on the basis of a second resist mask (211), so as to define an appropriate intersection area (234) which may represent the final design dimensions of the contact element. Consequently, each of the resist masks may be formed on the basis of a photolithography process with less restrictive constraints since at least one of the lateral dimensions may be selected as a non-critical dimension in each of the two resist masks.