High voltage MOS transistor with gate extension

Details High voltage MOS transistor with gate extension High voltage MOS transistor with gate extension

2002-10-15

2004-09-28

Cao, Phat X. (Department: 2814)

Semiconductor device manufacturing: process

Making field effect device having pair of active regions...

On insulating substrate or layer

C438S267000, C438S270000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06797549

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to apparatus and methods for high voltage transistors. More specifically, this invention relates to apparatus and methods for high voltage MOS transistors with a gate extension.
Many applications for semiconductor devices require MOS transistors that can operate with high voltages (e.g., greater than 40 volts) at their terminals. At a high drain-to-source voltage and a low gate voltage, the voltage drop between the drain and the gate of an MOS transistor across the gate oxide can produce a large electric field in the portion of the drain that is underneath the gate. If the gate overlaps the drain in a small area and the gate oxide layer is thin, the large electric field can cause a high impact generation rate of carriers that may result in hot carrier injection and breakdown. Hot carrier injection can cause carriers to become trapped in the gate oxide causing the threshold voltage of the transistor to change, which is undesirable. Breakdown may cause undesirable parasitic currents and device failure. A large electric field can also increase stress on the gate oxide layer increasing the chances of a device failure.
One previously known high voltage MOS transistor
10
is shown in FIG.
1
A. In transistor
10
, thick field oxide
11
is formed over N-type drain region
13
, and a portion of gate
12
of transistor
10
is formed along the upper edge of thick field oxide
11
as shown in FIG.
1
A. Thick field oxide
11
reduces the electric field in N-type drain region
13
below gate
12
to reduce the high impact generation rate of carriers. However, thick field oxide
11
causes transistor
10
to have undesirably large device dimensions. Thick field oxide
11
also increases the resistance between the drain-to-source (R
DS-ON
) which is also undesirable, because field oxide
11
encroaches down into N-type drain region
13
. A further disadvantage of transistor
10
is that the N-type doping concentration in N-type drain region
13
is higher near bird's beak
11
A of thick oxide
11
than the N-type doping concentration near the lower boundary
11
B of thick oxide
11
. This effect causes an increased electric field under the gate which is also undesirable.
Another previously known high voltage MOS transistor
20
is shown in FIG.
1
B. Transistor
20
has N-type extension region
22
which is an extension of the drain region of the transistor. N-extension
22
has a lower N-type doping concentration than highly doped N+ drain region
24
. N-extension
22
increases the drain-to-body breakdown voltage in transistor
20
. However, the peak electric field on the drain side is high at a high drain-to-source voltage. The high electric field in N-extension
22
may cause hot carrier injection in gate oxide
26
.
Another previously known high voltage MOS transistor
30
is shown in FIG.
1
C. Transistor
30
has gate oxide
36
and gate
32
. Gate oxide
36
has a thick portion
36
A that extends over N-extension region
22
as shown in FIG.
1
C. Gate
32
of transistor
30
has a stepped portion
32
A that extends over a portion of thick portion
36
A of gate oxide
36
. Transistor
30
has a reduced electric field and a reduced impact generation rate of carriers in N-extension
22
at high drain voltages. Transistor
30
requires additional process steps relating to the formation of thick oxide portion
36
A that are not typically used in standard CMOS and BiCMOS processes. These additional steps increase the complexity and time associated with the fabrication of MOS transistor
30
.
It would, however, be desirable to provide a MOS transistor that can operate at high voltages with a reduced peak electric field in the drain so that the impact generation rate is not high enough to cause breakdown or substantial hot carrier injection. It would further be desirable to provide a high voltage MOS transistor that can be fabricated with process steps that are standard in CMOS and BiCMOS processes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a MOS transistor that can operate at high voltages with a reduced peak electric field in the drain so that the impact generation rate is not high enough to cause breakdown or substantial hot carrier injection.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a high voltage transistor that can be fabricated with process steps that are standard in CMOS and BiCMOS processes.
These and other objects of the present invention are provided by high voltage transistors with a gate extension. The present invention also includes methods for using and making high voltage transistors with a gate extension. The high voltage transistor with gate extension of the present invention includes a first and second gate layers, and a dielectric layer between the gate layers. The first and second gate layers are electrically coupled together by being in direct physical contact with each other or through another electrically conducting layer such as a metal contact. The first and second gate layers form the gate of the transistor. The first and second gate layers may be electrically coupled together over the active area of the device or over the field oxide region.
The first gate layer is disposed on the gate oxide layer. The second gate layer is disposed above at least a portion of the first gate layer. The second gate layer extends over the drain of the transistor above the dielectric and gate oxide layers to form the gate extension. The thickness of the gate extension can be reduced to form a stepped gate extension. The gate extension reduces the peak electric field in the drain near the gate by providing a wide area for the voltage to drop between the drain and the gate of the transistor. The dielectric layer also contributes to reducing the peak electric field in the gate side of the drain by providing insulation between the gate and the drain. The dielectric layer also reduces the parasitic gate-to-drain capacitance.
Many analog CMOS and BiCMOS processes provide dual polysilicon layers and a dielectric layer that can be used to form linear capacitors with low voltage coefficients. The two polysilicon layers and the dielectric layer in these CMOS and BiCMOS processes may be selectively patterned in the manner discussed below (with respect to
FIGS. 2A-2G
,
3
A-
3
C,
4
, and
5
) to fabricate high voltage transistors of the present invention. Therefore, high voltage transistors of the present invention may be fabricated without additional processing steps when using analog CMOS and BiCMOS processes that use dual polysilicon layers.


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