Method of semiconductor integrated circuit fabrication

摘要

A method of fabricating a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) and the corresponding device are disclosed. A high-k/metal gate (HK/MG) and a conductive feature are disposed over a substrate, separated by a first dielectric layer. A global hard mask (GHM) layer is formed over the HK/MG, the conductive feature and the first dielectric layer. A second dielectric layer is then formed over the GHM layer. The second dielectric layer is etched to form a first opening to expose a portion of the HK/MG and a second opening to expose a portion of the conductive feature, by using the GHM layer as an etch stop layer. The GHM layer in the first opening and the second opening is then removed.

主权项

1. A method for fabricating a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC), the method comprising:
providing a device precursor, including:
a high-k/metal gate (HK/MG) over a substrate, the HK/MG including a mask component;a source/drain region with a conductive feature connected thereto; anda first dielectric layer surrounding the HK/MG and the conductive feature; removing the mask component from the HK/MG to expose a conductive portion of the HK/MG; forming an etch stop layer over the device precursor after removing the mask component; forming a second dielectric layer over the etch stop layer; simultaneously forming first and second openings in the second dielectric layer, extending to the conductive feature and the conductive portion, respectively, wherein the forming the first and second openings includes etching the second dielectric layer to form the first opening to expose a portion of the HK/MG and the second opening to expose a portion of the conductive feature, using the etch stop layer.