Aluminum Gap Fill Challenge and Evolution for Metal Gate

Abstract

High-κ metal gates have become the new paradigm in volume production of high-performance logic devices since the 45nm node. At the same time, aluminum is used for gap fill in the metal gate trench. As the technology node shrinks from 32/28nm to less than 20nm, the gate CD (critical dimension) has become smaller and aluminum gap fill has become the big process integration challenge. This paper addresses the aluminum gap fill challenge and extendibility solutions.