Monolithic three dimensional NAND strings and methods of making. The method includes both front side and back side processing. Using the combination of front side and back side processing, a NAND string can be formed that includes an air gap between the floating gates in the NAND string. The NAND string may be formed with a single vertical channel. Alternatively, the NAND string may have a U shape with two vertical channels connected with a horizontal channel.
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1. A method of making a monolithic three dimensional NAND string, comprising:
forming a stack of alternating layers of a first material and a second material over a substrate, wherein the first material comprises a conductive or semiconductor control gate material and wherein the second material comprises a first sacrificial material;
etching the stack to form a back side opening in the stack;
depositing a second sacrificial material in the back side opening;
etching the stack to form a front side opening in the stack;
selectively removing the second material through the front side opening to form first recesses;
forming a first blocking dielectric in the first recesses to partially fill the first recesses;
forming a plurality of spaced apart dummy layer segments separated from each other in remaining unfilled portions of the first recesses over the first blocking dielectric;
forming a charge storage material layer over the first blocking dielectric in the front side opening;
forming a tunnel dielectric layer over the charge storage material layer in the front side opening;
forming a semiconductor channel layer over the tunnel dielectric layer in the front side opening;
selectively removing the second sacrificial layer from the back side opening;
selectively removing the plurality of dummy layer segments through the back side opening to expose the first recesses in the back side opening;
selectively removing portions of the charge storage material layer through the back side opening and the first recesses to form a plurality of spaced apart charge storage segments; and
forming a second blocking dielectric in the first recesses and between the spaced apart charge storage segments through the back side opening.
0. 16. A method of making a monolithic three dimensional NAND string which is located in a monolithic, three dimensional memory device comprising a plurality of monolithic three dimensional NAND strings wherein a first control gate electrode of the monolithic three dimensional NAND string is located in a first device level and a second control gate electrode of the monolithic three dimensional NAND string is located in a second device level over a major surface of a silicon substrate and below the first device level, wherein the method of making the monolithic three dimensional NAND string comprises:
providing the silicon substrate having an integrated circuit comprising a driver circuit for the memory device located on the silicon substrate;
forming a stack of alternating layers of a first material and a second material over the silicon substrate, wherein the first material comprises a conductive or semiconductor control gate material and wherein the second material comprises a first sacrificial material;
etching the stack to form a back side opening in the stack;
depositing a second sacrificial material in the back side opening;
etching the stack to form a front side opening in the stack;
selectively removing the second material through the front side opening to form first recesses;
forming a first blocking dielectric in the first recesses to partially fill the first recesses;
forming a plurality of spaced apart dummy layer segments separated from each other in remaining unfilled portions of the first recesses over the first blocking dielectric;
forming a charge storage material layer over the first blocking dielectric in the front side opening;
forming a tunnel dielectric layer over the charge storage material layer in the front side opening;
forming a semiconductor channel layer over the tunnel dielectric layer in the front side opening;
selectively removing the second sacrificial layer from the back side opening;
selectively removing the plurality of dummy layer segments through the back side opening to expose the first recesses in the back side opening;
selectively removing portions of the charge storage material layer through the back side opening and the first recesses to form a plurality of spaced apart charge storage segments; and
forming a second blocking dielectric in the first recesses and between the spaced apart charge storage segments through the back side opening.
2. The method of
3. The method of
etching second recesses in the second sacrificial material through the first recesses after the step of selectively removing the second material;
forming the first blocking dielectric in the second recesses during the step of forming the first blocking dielectric in the first recesses;
selectively removing the first blocking dielectric from the second recesses through the back side opening after the step of selectively removing the second sacrificial layer from the back side opening and before the step of selectively removing the plurality of dummy layer segments; and
performing a channel grain boundary passivation anneal in at least one of hydrogen, oxygen or nitrogen containing ambient after the step of selectively removing portions of the charge storage material, such that the ambient reaches the channel through the back side opening and through the first recesses.
4. The method of
forming an etch stop layer over the first blocking dielectric and the plurality of dummy layer segments in the front side opening prior to the step of forming the charge storage material layer, such that the step of forming the charge storage material layer forms the charge storage material layer on the etch stop layer in the front side opening; and
selectively removing portions of the etch stop layer through the back side opening after the step of selectively removing the plurality of dummy layer segments and before the step of selectively removing portions of the charge storage material layer.
5. The method of
at least one end portion of the semiconductor channel extends vertically in a substantially perpendicular direction to a major surface of the substrate; and
the plurality of spaced apart charge storage segments comprise a plurality of vertically spaced apart floating gates or a plurality of vertically spaced apart dielectric charge storage segments.
6. The method of
7. The method of
8. The method of
9. The method of
10. The method of
11. The method of
the conductive or semiconductor control gate material comprises doped polysilicon of a first conductivity type;
the first sacrificial material comprises silicon germanium or intrinsic polysilicon;
the semiconductor channel layer comprises lightly doped or intrinsic polysilicon;
the second sacrificial material comprises silicon oxide or silicon nitride;
the plurality of spaced apart dummy layer segments comprise titanium nitride or doped polysilicon of a second conductivity type; and
the charge storage material layer comprises doped polysilicon of the second conductivity type.
12. The method of
forming a sacrificial feature over the substrate prior to the step of forming the stack, such that the stack is formed over the sacrificial feature;
etching the stack to form a second back side opening in the stack;
depositing the second sacrificial material in the second back side opening during the step of depositing the second sacrificial material;
etching the stack to form a second front side opening in the stack;
selectively removing the second material through the second front side opening to form third recesses;
forming the first blocking dielectric in the third recesses to partially fill the third recesses;
forming a second plurality of spaced apart dummy layer segments separated from each other in remaining unfilled portions of the third recesses over the first blocking dielectric;
selectively removing the sacrificial feature to form a hollow region extending substantially parallel to a major surface of the substrate which connects front side opening to the second front side opening to form a hollow U-shaped pipe space comprising the front side opening and the second front side opening extending substantially perpendicular to the major surface of the substrate connected by the hollow region;
forming the charge storage material layer over the first blocking dielectric in the second front side opening and in the hollow region;
forming the tunnel dielectric layer over the charge storage material layer in the second front side opening and in the hollow region;
forming the semiconductor channel layer over the tunnel dielectric layer in the second front side opening and in the hollow region;
selectively removing the second sacrificial layer from the second back side opening;
selectively removing the second plurality of dummy layer segments through the second back side opening to expose the third recesses in the second back side opening;
selectively removing portions of the charge storage material layer through the second back side opening and the third recesses to form a second plurality of spaced apart charge storage segments; and
forming a second blocking dielectric in the third recesses and between the second spaced apart charge storage segments through the second back side opening.
13. The method of
14. The method of
forming a source electrode contacting the semiconductor channel layer located in the front side opening;
forming a drain electrode contacting the semiconductor channel layer located in the second front side opening; and
forming a body contact electrode below the stack, wherein the body contact electrode contacts a portion of the semiconductor channel layer located in the hollow region.
0. 15. The method of claim 1, wherein:
the monolithic three dimensional NAND string is located in a monolithic, three dimensional memory device comprising a plurality of monolithic three dimensional NAND strings;
the substrate comprises a silicon substrate;
a first control gate electrode of the monolithic three dimensional NAND string is located in a first device level and a second control gate electrode of the monolithic three dimensional NAND string is located in a second device level over the major surface of the silicon substrate and below the first device level; and
an integrated circuit comprising a driver circuit for the memory device is located on the silicon substrate.
0. 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of forming the second blocking dielectric between the spaced apart charge storage segments partially fills spaces between the spaced apart charge storage segments to leave an air gap between adjacent charge storage segments.
0. 18. The method of claim 16, further comprising:
etching second recesses in the second sacrificial material through the first recesses after the step of selectively removing the second material;
forming the first blocking dielectric in the second recesses during the step of forming the first blocking dielectric in the first recesses;
selectively removing the first blocking dielectric from the second recesses through the back side opening after the step of selectively removing the second sacrificial layer from the back side opening and before the step of selectively removing the plurality of dummy layer segments; and
performing a channel grain boundary passivation anneal in at least one of hydrogen, oxygen or nitrogen containing ambient after the step of selectively removing portions of the charge storage material, such that the ambient reaches the channel through the back side opening and through the first recesses.
0. 19. The method of claim 16, further comprising:
forming an etch stop layer over the first blocking dielectric and the plurality of dummy layer segments in the front side opening prior to the step of forming the charge storage material layer, such that the step of forming the charge storage material layer forms the charge storage material layer on the etch stop layer in the front side opening; and
selectively removing portions of the etch stop layer through the back side opening after the step of selectively removing the plurality of dummy layer segments and before the step of selectively removing portions of the charge storage material layer.
0. 20. The method of claim 16, wherein:
at least one end portion of the semiconductor channel extends vertically in a substantially perpendicular direction to a major surface of the silicon substrate; and
the plurality of spaced apart charge storage segments comprise a plurality of vertically spaced apart floating gates or a plurality of vertically spaced apart dielectric charge storage segments.
0. 21. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of forming the semiconductor channel layer in the front side opening completely fills the front side opening with the semiconductor channel layer.
0. 22. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of forming the semiconductor channel layer in the front side opening forms the semiconductor channel layer on a side wall of the front side opening but not in a central part of the front side opening such that the semiconductor channel layer does not completely fill the front side opening.
0. 23. The method of claim 22, further comprising forming an insulating fill material in the central part of the front side opening to completely fill the front side opening.
0. 24. The method of claim 16, furthering comprising forming an upper electrode over the semiconductor channel.
0. 25. The method of claim 24, furthering comprising providing a lower electrode below the semiconductor channel layer prior to forming the stack.
0. 26. The method of claim 16, wherein:
the conductive or semiconductor control gate material comprises doped polysilicon of a first conductivity type;
the first sacrificial material comprises silicon germanium or intrinsic polysilicon;
the semiconductor channel layer comprises lightly doped or intrinsic polysilicon;
the second sacrificial material comprises silicon oxide or silicon nitride;
the plurality of spaced apart dummy layer segments comprise titanium nitride or doped polysilicon of a second conductivity type; and
the charge storage material layer comprises doped polysilicon of the second conductivity type.
0. 27. The method of claim 16, further comprising:
forming a sacrificial feature over the silicon substrate prior to the step of forming the stack, such that the stack is formed over the sacrificial feature;
etching the stack to form a second back side opening in the stack;
depositing the second sacrificial material in the second back side opening during the step of depositing the second sacrificial material;
etching the stack to form a second front side opening in the stack;
selectively removing the second material through the second front side opening to form third recesses;
forming the first blocking dielectric in the third recesses to partially fill the third recesses;
forming a second plurality of spaced apart dummy layer segments separated from each other in remaining unfilled portions of the third recesses over the first blocking dielectric;
selectively removing the sacrificial feature to form a hollow region extending substantially parallel to a major surface of the silicon substrate which connects front side opening to the second front side opening to form a hollow U-shaped pipe space comprising the front side opening and the second front side opening extending substantially perpendicular to the major surface of the silicon substrate connected by the hollow region;
forming the charge storage material layer over the first blocking dielectric in the second front side opening and in the hollow region;
forming the tunnel dielectric layer over the charge storage material layer in the second front side opening and in the hollow region;
forming the semiconductor channel layer over the tunnel dielectric layer in the second front side opening and in the hollow region;
selectively removing the second sacrificial layer from the second back side opening;
selectively removing the second plurality of dummy layer segments through the second back side opening to expose the third recesses in the second back side opening;
selectively removing portions of the charge storage material layer through the second back side opening and the third recesses to form a second plurality of spaced apart charge storage segments; and
forming a second blocking dielectric in the third recesses and between the second spaced apart charge storage segments through the second back side opening.
0. 28. The method of claim 27, wherein the semiconductor channel layer has a cross section above the hollow space of two circles when viewed from above.
0. 29. The method of claim 28, furthering comprising:
forming a source electrode contacting the semiconductor channel layer located in the front side opening;
forming a drain electrode contacting the semiconductor channel layer located in the second front side opening; and
forming a body contact electrode below the stack, wherein the body contact electrode contacts a portion of the semiconductor channel layer located in the hollow region.
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The present invention relates generally to the field of semiconductor devices and specifically to three dimensional vertical NAND strings and other three dimensional devices and methods of making thereof.
Three dimensional vertical NAND strings are disclosed in an article by T. Endoh, et. al., titled “Novel Ultra High Density Memory With A Stacked-Surrounding Gate Transistor (S-SGT) Structured Cell”, IEDM Proc. (2001) 33-36. However, this NAND string provides only one bit per cell. Furthermore, the active regions of the NAND string is formed by a relatively difficult and time consuming process involving repeated formation of sidewall spacers and etching of a portion of the substrate, which results in a roughly conical active region shape.
An embodiment relates to a method of making a monolithic three dimensional NAND string. The method includes forming a stack of alternating layers of a first material and a second material over a substrate in which the first material comprises a conductive or semiconductor control gate material and the second material comprises a first sacrificial material. The method also includes etching the stack to form a back side opening in the stack, depositing a second sacrificial material in the back side opening, etching the stack to form a front side opening in the stack and selectively removing the second material through the front side opening to form first recesses. The method also includes forming a first blocking dielectric in the first recesses to partially fill the first recesses, forming a plurality of spaced apart dummy layer segments separated from each other in remaining unfilled portions of the first recesses over the first blocking dielectric, forming a charge storage material layer over the first blocking dielectric in the front side opening and forming a tunnel dielectric layer over the charge storage material layer in the front side opening. The method further includes forming a semiconductor channel layer over the tunnel dielectric layer in the front side opening, selectively removing the second sacrificial layer from the back side opening, selectively removing the plurality of dummy layer segments through the back side opening to expose the first recesses in the back side opening, selectively removing portions of the charge storage material layer through the back side opening and the first recesses to form a plurality of spaced apart charge storage segments and forming a second blocking dielectric in the first recesses and between the spaced apart charge storage segments through the back side opening.
Another embodiment relates to a monolithic three dimensional NAND string. The NAND string includes a semiconductor channel with at least one end portion of the semiconductor channel extending substantially perpendicular to a major surface of a substrate. The NAND string also includes a plurality of control gate electrodes having a strip shape extending substantially parallel to the major surface of the substrate. The plurality of control gate electrodes include at least a first control gate electrode located in a first device level and a second control gate electrode located in a second device level located over the major surface of the substrate and below the first device level. The NAND string also includes a blocking dielectric comprising a plurality of first blocking dielectric segments. Each of the plurality of first blocking dielectric segments is located in contact with a respective one of the plurality of control gate electrodes. The NAND string further includes a plurality of spaced apart charge storage segments. The plurality of spaced apart charge storage segments comprise at least a first spaced apart charge storage segment located in the first device level and a second spaced apart charge storage segment located in the second device level. Further, the first spaced apart charge storage segment is separated from the second spaced apart charge storage segment by an air gap. The NAND string also includes a tunnel dielectric located between each one of the plurality of the spaced apart charge storage segments and the semiconductor channel.
Embodiments include monolithic three dimensional NAND strings and methods of making three dimensional NAND strings. The methods include both front side and back side processing as will be explained below. Using the combination of front side and back side processing, a NAND string can be formed that includes an air gap between the floating gates in the NAND string. In an embodiment, the NAND string may be formed with a single vertical channel. In one aspect, the vertical channel has a solid, rod shape as shown in
In some embodiments, the monolithic three dimensional NAND string 180 comprises a semiconductor channel 1 having at least one end portion extending substantially perpendicular to a major surface 100a of a substrate 100, as shown in
In some embodiments, the semiconductor channel 1 may be a solid semiconductor rod, such as a cylinder or rod, as shown in
The substrate 100 can be any semiconducting substrate known in the art, such as monocrystalline silicon, IV-IV compounds such as silicon-germanium or silicon-germanium-carbon, III-V compounds, II-VI compounds, epitaxial layers over such substrates, or any other semiconducting or non-semiconducting material, such as silicon oxide, glass, plastic, metal or ceramic substrate. The substrate 100 may include integrated circuits fabricated thereon, such as driver circuits for a memory device.
Any suitable semiconductor materials can be used for semiconductor channel 1, for example silicon, germanium, silicon germanium, indium antimonide, or other compound semiconductor materials, such as III-V or II-VI semiconductor materials. The semiconductor material may be amorphous, polycrystalline or single crystal. The semiconductor channel material may be formed by any suitable deposition methods. For example, in one embodiment, the semiconductor channel material is deposited by low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD). In some other embodiments, the semiconductor channel material may be a recyrstallized polycrystalline semiconductor material formed by recrystallizing an initially deposited amorphous semiconductor material.
The insulating fill material 2 may comprise any electrically insulating material, such as silicon oxide, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, or other high-k insulating materials.
The monolithic three dimensional NAND string further comprise a plurality of control gate electrodes 3, as shown in
A blocking dielectric 7 is located adjacent to and may be surrounded by the control gate(s) 3. The blocking dielectric 7 may comprise a plurality of blocking dielectric segments located in contact with a respective one of the plurality of control gate electrodes 3, for example a first dielectric segment 7a located in device level A and a second dielectric segment 7b located in device level B are in contact with control electrodes 3a and 3b, respectively, as shown in
As used herein a “clam” shape is a side cross sectional shape configured similar to an English letter “C”. A clam shape has two segments which extend substantially parallel to each other and to the major surface 100a of the substrate 100. The two segments are connected to each other by a third segment which extends substantially perpendicular to the first two segments and the surface 100a. Each of the three segments may have a straight shape (e.g., a rectangle side cross sectional shape) or a somewhat curved shape (e.g., rising and falling with the curvature of the underlying topography). The term substantially parallel includes exactly parallel segments as well as segments which deviate by 20 degrees or less from the exact parallel configuration. The term substantially perpendicular includes exactly perpendicular segments as well as segments which deviate by 20 degrees or less from the exact perpendicular configuration. The clam shape preferably contains an opening bounded by the three segments and having a fourth side open. The opening may be filled by another material or layer.
The monolithic three dimensional NAND string also comprise a plurality of discrete charge storage segments 9 located between the channel 1 and the blocking dielectric 7. Similarly, the plurality of discrete charge storage segments 9 comprise at least a first discrete charge storage segment 9a located in the device level A and a second discrete charge storage segment 9b located in the device level B.
The tunnel dielectric 11 of the monolithic three dimensional NAND string is located between each one of the plurality of the discrete charge storage segments 9 and the semiconductor channel 1. In embodiments described in more detail below, the tunnel dielectric 11 has a uniform thickness and/or a straight sidewall.
The blocking dielectric 7 and the tunnel dielectric 11 may be independently selected from any one or more same or different electrically insulating materials, such as silicon oxide, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, or other high-k insulating materials.
The discrete charge storage segments 9 may comprise a conductive (e.g., metal or metal alloy such as titanium, platinum, ruthenium, titanium nitride, hafnium nitride, tantalum nitride, zirconium nitride, or a metal silicide such as titanium silicide, nickel silicide, cobalt silicide, or a combination thereof) or semiconductor (e.g., polysilicon) floating gate, conductive nanoparticles, or a discrete charge storage dielectric (e.g., silicon nitride or another dielectric) feature. For example, in some embodiments, the discrete charge storage segments 9 are discrete charge storage dielectric features, each of which comprises a nitride feature 9, where the silicon oxide blocking dielectric segment 7, the nitride feature 9 and the silicon oxide tunnel dielectric 11 form oxide-nitride-oxide discrete charge storage structures of the NAND string. In some of the following description, a polysilicon floating gate is used as a non-limiting example. However, it should be understood that a dielectric charge storage feature or other floating gate material may be used instead.
Referring to
In this embodiment, the first layers 121 comprise a first conductive (e.g., metal or metal alloy) or semiconductor (e.g., heavily doped n+ or p+ polysilicon) control gate material, and the second layers 132 comprise a first sacrificial material. The term heavily doped includes semiconductor materials doped n-type or p-type to a concentration of above 1018 cm−3. Any sacrificial material 132 that can be selectively etched compared to material 121 may be used, such as conductive or insulating or semiconducting material. For example, the sacrificial material 132 may be silicon-germanium or intrinsic polysilicon when material 121 is p+ polysilicon.
The deposition of layers 121, 132 is followed by etching the stack 120 to form at least one back side opening 84 and at least one front side opening 81 in the stack 120. The openings 81, 84 may be formed by forming a mask (e.g., a photoresist mask) by photolithography followed by etching unmasked areas. The opening 84 may be in the shape of a cut traversing more than one NAND string as illustrated in
Next, as shown in
An optional second selective etch may be performed to extend the first recesses 62 into the second sacrificial layer 134. Alternatively, the first selective etch process is continued rather than performing a second selective etch if the etchant is capable of selectively etching the first and second sacrificial materials 132, 134 relative to the first conductive material 121. In this case, the top of the second sacrificial layer 134 is covered by a mask during etching.
A blocking dielectric 7 (also known as an inter-poly dielectric, IPD) is then formed in the openings 81 such that the blocking dielectric coats the sides of the first recesses 62, resulting in a structure as shown in
Next, as illustrated in
In the next step, illustrated in
A semiconductor channel material 1 is then formed in the front side opening 81. The channel may comprise any suitable semiconductor material, such as silicon, germanium, silicon germanium, indium antimonide or any other compound semiconductor material. In some embodiments, the semiconductor channel material 1 completely fills the opening 81 with a semiconductor channel material, as shown in
The semiconductor channel 1 may be formed by any desired methods. For example, the semiconductor channel material 1 may be formed by depositing semiconductor (e.g., polysilicon) material in the opening 81 and over the stack 120, followed by a step of removing the upper portion of the deposited semiconductor layer by chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) or etchback using top surface of the stack 120 as a polish stop or etch stop.
In some embodiments, a single crystal silicon or polysilicon vertical channel 1 may be formed by metal induced crystallization (“MIC”, also referred to as metal induced lateral crystallization) without a separate masking step. The MIC method provides full channel crystallization due to lateral confinement of the channel material in the opening 81.
In the MIC method, an amorphous or small grain polysilicon semiconductor (e.g., silicon) layer can be first formed in the at least one opening 81 and over the stack 120, followed by forming a nucleation promoter layer over the semiconductor layer. The nucleation promoter layer may be a continuous layer or a plurality of discontinuous regions. The nucleation promoter layer may comprise any desired polysilicon nucleation promoter materials, for example but not limited to nucleation promoter materials such as Ge, Ni, Pd, Al or a combination thereof.
The amorphous or small grain semiconductor layer can then be converted to a large grain polycrystalline or single crystalline semiconductor layer by recrystallizing the amorphous or small grain polycrystalline semiconductor. The recrystallization may be conducted by a low temperature (e.g., 300 to 600° C.) anneal.
The upper portion of the polycrystalline semiconductor layer and the nucleation promoter layer can then be removed by CMP or etchback using top surface of the stack 120 as a stop, resulting in the structure as shown in
The second sacrificial layer 134 is then removed from the back side openings 84 exposing the third sacrificial layers 136 in the recesses 62. Further, the third sacrificial layers 136 are removed from the recesses 62 through the back side openings 84. The resulting structure is illustrated in
In the next step, illustrated in
Thus, all NAND layers except insulating layer 302 and air gap 300 are formed by front side (i.e., channel side) processing through front side opening 81 while insulating layer 302 (and thus the air gap 300) are formed via back side processing through back side opening 84.
An upper electrode 202 may be formed over the semiconductor channel 1, resulting in a structure shown in
In the U-shaped channel embodiments, the source/drain electrodes of the NAND string can both be formed over the semiconductor channel 1 and the channel 1 has a U-shape, for example as shown in
As used herein a “U-shape” side cross sectional shape configured similar to an English letter “U”. This shape has two segments (referred to herein as “wing portions”) which extend substantially parallel to each other and substantially perpendicular to the major surface 100a of the substrate 100. The two wing portions are connected to each other by a connecting segment or portion which extends substantially perpendicular to the first two segments and substantially parallel to the surface 100a. Each of the three segments may have a straight shape (e.g., a rectangle side cross sectional shape) or a somewhat curved shape (e.g., rising and falling with the curvature of the underlying topography). The term substantially parallel includes exactly parallel segments as well as segments which deviate by 20 degrees or less from the exact parallel configuration. The term substantially perpendicular includes exactly perpendicular segments as well as segments which deviate by 20 degrees or less from the exact perpendicular configuration.
The substrate 100 shown in
First, a sacrificial feature 89 may be formed in and/or over the substrate 100, prior to the step of forming the stack 120 of alternating layers of the first material and second materials over the at least one sacrificial feature 89. The sacrificial feature 89 may be formed of any suitable sacrificial material which may be selectively etched compared to the other materials in the stack 120 and in the NAND string, such as an organic material, silicon nitride, tungsten, etc. Feature 89 may have any suitable shape which is similar to the desired shape of the connecting segment of the U-shape as will be described below.
An insulating protective layer 108 may be formed between the sacrificial feature 89 and the stack 120. For example, layer 108 may comprise silicon oxide if feature 89 comprises silicon nitride. Further, at least two front side openings 81 and 82 are then formed in the stack 120, resulting in a structure shown in
The same or similar methods described above in the single vertical channel embodiments and illustrated in
Turning to
After forming the U-shaped space 80, a NAND string 180 may fabricated as follows. A charge storage material layer 9 is formed over the first blocking dielectric 7 in the first and second front side openings 81, 82 and in the hollow region 83. A tunnel dielectric layer 11 is then deposited over the charge storage material layer 9 in the first and second front side openings 81, 82 and in the hollow region 83. The semiconductor channel layer 1 is then formed over the tunnel dielectric layer 11, similar to steps shown in
Next the second sacrificial layer 134 is selectively removed from the back side openings 84 followed by selectively removing the dummy layer segments of third sacrificial layer 136 through the back side opening 84 to expose the recesses 62 via the second back side openings 84 similar to the steps shown in
In an embodiment, the semiconductor channel layer 1 has a cross section above the hollow space of two circles when viewed from above, as shown in
In an embodiment, the semiconductor channel material 1 completely fills the openings 81 and 82, as shown in
Although the foregoing refers to particular preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is not so limited. It will occur to those of ordinary skill in the art that various modifications may be made to the disclosed embodiments and that such modifications are intended to be within the scope of the invention. All of the publications, patent applications and patents cited herein are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
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