Semiconductor devices are used in a variety of electronic applications, such as personal computers, cell phones, digital cameras, and other electronic equipment. Semiconductor devices are typically fabricated by sequentially depositing insulating or dielectric layers, conductive layers, and semiconductor layers of material over a semiconductor substrate, and patterning the various material layers using lithography to form circuit components and elements thereon. Many integrated circuits are typically manufactured on single semiconductor wafer, and individual dies on the wafer are singulated by sawing a scribe line between the integrated circuit dies. The individual dies are typically packaged separately, in multi-chip modules, or in other types of packaging for example.
As the semiconductor industry has progressed into nanometer technology process nodes in pursuit of higher device density, higher performance and lower costs, challenges from both fabrication and design issues have resulted in the development of three-dimensional designs, such as the fin field effect transistor (FinFET). FinFETs are fabricated with a thin “fin” or “fin structure” vertically extending from a substrate, and a gate electrode is formed over the fin. Thus, the channel of the FinFET is formed. Advantages of the FinFET may include reducing the short channel effect and higher current flow.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds