{"schema_version":"1.0","canonical_url":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9853110","patent":{"patent_number":"US-9853110","title":"Method of forming a gate contact structure for a semiconductor device","assignee":null,"inventors":[],"filing_date":"2015-10-30T00:00:00.000Z","publication_date":"2017-12-26T00:00:00.000Z","cpc_codes":["H01L","H01L","H01L","H01L","H01L","H01L","H01L"],"num_claims":18,"abstract":"One illustrative method disclosed includes, among other things, forming a gate contact opening in a layer of insulating material, performing at least one etching process through the gate contact opening to remove a gate cap layer and to expose the gate structure, selectively growing a metal material that is conductively coupled to an upper surface of the gate structure such that the grown metal material contacts all of the sidewalls of the gate contact opening and an air space is formed between a bottom of the grown metal material and a conductive source/drain structure, and forming one or more conductive materials in the gate contact opening above the grown metal material."},"analysis":{"summary":"The Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device patent, US-9853110, introduces a pivotal innovation in semiconductor manufacturing aimed at enhancing the performance and efficiency of integrated circuits. The core innovation lies in the precise fabrication of a gate contact structure that strategically incorporates an air space.\n\nThe primary problem this invention solves is the detrimental effect of parasitic capacitance in advanced transistors. As semiconductor components shrink, the proximity of the gate contact to the source/drain structure increases unwanted electrical coupling, slowing down switching speeds and increasing power consumption. Existing methods often struggle to mitigate this without introducing other design complexities.\n\nThe key technical approach involves a multi-step process: first, forming a gate contact opening in an insulating layer. Second, performing an etching process to remove a gate cap layer and expose the underlying gate structure. The critical third step is the selective growth of a metal material that forms a conductive coupling to the gate structure's upper surface. This grown metal material is engineered to contact all sidewalls of the gate contact opening, but, crucially, an air space is intentionally created between its bottom and the conductive source/drain structure. This air gap acts as an ultra-low dielectric, significantly reducing parasitic capacitance. Finally, one or more additional conductive materials are formed in the opening above the grown metal material to complete the contact.\n\nThe business value and applications of this technology are substantial. By reducing parasitic capacitance, the invention enables transistors to operate at higher frequencies with lower power consumption. This directly translates to faster, more energy-efficient microprocessors, longer battery life for mobile devices, and more powerful, cooler-running data centers. Chip manufacturers adopting this method can gain a significant competitive advantage by delivering next-generation devices that meet the escalating demands for performance and power efficiency across diverse markets.\n\nThe market opportunity for this innovation is immense, spanning high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, IoT, and consumer electronics. As the semiconductor industry continues its drive towards miniaturization and enhanced capabilities, this approach provides a critical building block for future chip architectures, ensuring continued progress in silicon technology.","layman_explanation":"### What Problem Does This Solve?\nImagine the tiny 'brains' of all our electronic devices – computer chips. These chips are filled with billions of microscopic switches called transistors. For decades, engineers have been making these switches smaller and smaller to cram more power into less space. However, as these switches get incredibly tiny and closer together, a fundamental problem arises: electrical interference. Think of it like trying to have many conversations in a very crowded, small room; everyone starts to hear bits of other people's talks, making it harder to understand your own. In chips, this 'crosstalk' is called parasitic capacitance, and it means the switches can't turn on and off as fast as they should, and they waste a lot of energy doing it. This limits how fast our phones, laptops, and data centers can operate, and how long batteries can last. Existing manufacturing methods struggle to perfectly isolate these tiny components without making the chips too big or expensive.\n\n### How Does It Work?\nThis groundbreaking patent, the Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device, introduces a remarkably clever solution. It's all about how they build the 'handle' for these tiny switches, known as the gate contact. Instead of just filling the space around the handle with regular materials, which can still cause that 'crosstalk', this invention uses a sophisticated process to create a tiny, deliberate *air pocket* within the gate contact structure. \n\nHere’s a simplified breakdown: First, they carve out a precise opening where the gate contact will go. Then, they carefully etch away some material to expose the actual 'switch' part. The ingenious step is next: they selectively grow a metal material onto the switch, ensuring it connects properly. But, critically, they engineer this growth so that a small, empty space—an air gap—is formed underneath this new metal and above the adjacent power lines (source/drain). Think of air as a perfect insulator; it doesn't conduct electricity or allow 'crosstalk'. So, this tiny air cushion effectively isolates the gate contact, preventing it from 'talking' to other parts of the chip and causing interference. After this, they fill the rest of the opening with other conductive materials to complete the connection.\n\n### Why Does This Matter?\nThe implications for business and technology are profound. By dramatically reducing this parasitic capacitance, the Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device allows transistors to switch much, much faster and use significantly less power. For businesses, this translates directly into:\n*   **Competitive Advantage:** Chipmakers can produce processors that are superior in speed and energy efficiency, enabling them to capture larger market shares in high-growth areas like AI, cloud computing, and advanced mobile devices.\n*   **Cost Savings & ROI:** More efficient chips mean lower energy consumption for data centers, reducing operational costs. For device manufacturers, it means longer battery life, which is a major selling point. The ability to continue miniaturization also extends the lifespan of current manufacturing techniques, maximizing return on existing capital investments.\n*   **Innovation Catalyst:** This technology provides a fundamental building block for future chip architectures. It enables the creation of even more complex and powerful integrated circuits, accelerating advancements in artificial intelligence, virtual reality, autonomous systems, and next-generation communications.\n\n### What's Next?\nThis innovation is not just an incremental improvement; it's a foundational step that will enable the next wave of technological progress. We can expect to see this approach, or derivatives of it, integrated into future generations of microprocessors, memory chips, and specialized accelerators. Its adoption will likely accelerate the development of more powerful edge computing devices, more efficient AI hardware, and generally push the boundaries of what's possible in electronics. Companies that embrace this kind of material and process innovation will be well-positioned to lead the semiconductor industry into its next era of growth.","technical_analysis":"The patent, Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device, US-9853110, presents a sophisticated fabrication method addressing critical performance limitations in advanced semiconductor devices, primarily focusing on the gate contact structure of transistors. The core technical challenge it tackles is the reduction of parasitic capacitance (C_para) between the gate and the source/drain regions, which becomes increasingly pronounced with device scaling and directly impacts transistor switching speed and power efficiency.\n\n**Technical Architecture and Implementation Details:**\nThe invention outlines a precise sequence of steps for forming an optimized gate contact. It begins with the creation of a **gate contact opening** within a layer of insulating material. This insulating layer typically comprises low-k dielectrics or multi-layer stacks, meticulously deposited over the semiconductor substrate. The opening is critical for accessing the underlying gate structure, which could be a polysilicon gate or a high-k metal gate (HKMG) stack, common in modern FinFET and GAA architectures.\n\nFollowing the opening formation, at least one **etching process** is performed. This etch is highly selective, designed to remove a sacrificial gate cap layer (e.g., silicon nitride or oxide) positioned directly above the active gate structure. The selectivity of this etch is crucial to ensure that the gate structure itself is not damaged, but rather cleanly exposed, providing a pristine surface for subsequent material deposition.\n\n**Algorithm Specifics: Selective Metal Growth and Air Space Formation:**\nThe most innovative aspect of this approach lies in the **selective growth of a metal material**. This process leverages advanced deposition techniques, such as selective epitaxy or selective chemical vapor deposition (CVD)/atomic layer deposition (ALD), where the metal (e.g., tungsten, cobalt, nickel silicide for contact resistance reduction) preferentially nucleates and grows only on specific exposed surfaces – in this case, the upper surface of the gate structure. The 'selectivity' is key to preventing unwanted deposition on the insulating sidewalls.\n\nCritically, the grown metal material is engineered to extend laterally, making conductive contact with all the sidewalls of the gate contact opening. Simultaneously, during this selective growth, an **air space is formed** between the bottom of the grown metal material and the underlying conductive source/drain structure. This air space, essentially a void, acts as an ultra-low dielectric constant medium (k ≈ 1). This is a highly effective way to minimize C_para, as capacitance is inversely proportional to the dielectric constant (C = εA/d, where ε is the permittivity of the dielectric, A is the area, and d is the distance). By replacing a higher-k dielectric material or even a conductive material with air, the parasitic coupling is drastically reduced.\n\nThe controlled formation of this air gap is a significant process engineering challenge, requiring precise control over deposition rates, temperatures, and precursor chemistries to ensure the void is consistently formed and stable without compromising the integrity of the surrounding structures. This could involve sacrificial layer removal or precise timing of selective growth to 'bridge' the opening while leaving a void below.\n\nFinally, **one or more additional conductive materials** are formed in the gate contact opening above the grown metal material. These materials (e.g., copper, aluminum, or other refractory metals) serve to fill the remaining volume and provide robust electrical connectivity from the gate structure to the interconnect layers of the chip.\n\n**Performance Characteristics and Code-Level Implications:**\nThe primary performance benefit is a substantial reduction in parasitic gate capacitance. This directly translates to: \n1.  **Increased Switching Speed:** Lower C_para means faster RC delays, allowing transistors to switch at higher frequencies, leading to faster clock speeds for CPUs/GPUs.\n2.  **Reduced Dynamic Power Consumption:** P_dyn = 0.5 * C * V^2 * f. A lower C directly reduces power dissipation, extending battery life in mobile devices and improving energy efficiency in data centers.\n3.  **Improved Signal Integrity:** Reduced crosstalk and better isolation between adjacent components. \n\nWhile this patent is focused on hardware fabrication, its implications for software and system architects are significant. Faster, more efficient transistors enable developers to run more complex algorithms, process larger datasets, and create more responsive applications. This foundational hardware improvement directly impacts the performance ceiling for all software and AI models. The ability to push transistor density further also allows for more specialized hardware accelerators, which can be optimized through software for specific tasks. This robust approach ensures the continued viability of scaling semiconductor devices, underpinning the next generation of computing paradigms.","business_analysis":"The Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device patent, US-9853110, represents a significant business opportunity within the global semiconductor industry, a market projected to reach over a trillion dollars by the end of the decade. This innovation directly addresses critical performance and power efficiency challenges, which are paramount for maintaining competitive edge in a rapidly evolving technological landscape.\n\n**Market Opportunity Size:** The demand for high-performance, energy-efficient integrated circuits is insatiable, driven by megatrends such as artificial intelligence (AI), 5G/6G connectivity, autonomous vehicles, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things (IoT). Each of these sectors relies on advanced semiconductor manufacturing processes that can deliver faster, smaller, and more power-efficient transistors. This patent, by enabling superior gate contact structures, taps into the core of this demand, impacting virtually every segment of the semiconductor market, from logic processors (CPUs, GPUs, NPUs) to advanced memory components.\n\n**Competitive Advantages:** The ability to significantly reduce parasitic capacitance through the intentional creation of an air gap offers a clear competitive advantage. Transistors built using this method will inherently exhibit: \n1.  **Superior Performance:** Faster switching speeds translate to higher clock frequencies and improved computational throughput, allowing chipmakers to deliver market-leading processors.\n2.  **Enhanced Power Efficiency:** Lower power consumption per transistor leads to cooler-running chips, extended battery life for mobile devices, and reduced operational costs for data centers.\n3.  **Improved Scalability:** This approach facilitates further miniaturization, enabling higher transistor densities and the development of more complex integrated circuits, extending the viability of advanced process nodes.\n\nFor semiconductor foundries (e.g., TSMC, Samsung, Intel Foundry Services), licensing or integrating this technology into their process flows could attract leading fabless design companies (e.g., Qualcomm, Apple, NVIDIA) seeking to differentiate their products. For IDMs (Integrated Device Manufacturers), it offers a path to develop proprietary, high-performance chips that outcompete rivals.\n\n**Revenue Potential and Business Models:** Revenue generation from this innovation could stem from several avenues:\n*   **Licensing:** Patent holders could license this technology to major semiconductor manufacturers and foundries, generating significant royalty streams based on wafer volume or device count.\n*   **Foundry Services:** Foundries implementing this method could offer it as a premium process option, attracting customers willing to pay for superior performance and power characteristics.\n*   **Product Differentiation:** Companies that integrate this technology into their own chip designs can command higher prices for their end-products (e.g., premium smartphones, high-performance GPUs, specialized AI accelerators) due to their enhanced capabilities.\n*   **Strategic Partnerships:** Collaborations with equipment manufacturers to develop tools optimized for selective metal growth and air gap formation could also create new revenue streams.\n\n**Strategic Positioning:** This patent strategically positions its adopters at the forefront of semiconductor innovation. It allows companies to overcome a fundamental physical limitation, parasitic capacitance, which is a major bottleneck in advanced nodes. By doing so, they can extend the trajectory of Moore's Law and continue delivering generational performance improvements. This is crucial for maintaining leadership in the highly capital-intensive and R&D-driven semiconductor industry. This innovation enables a stronger intellectual property portfolio, acting as a barrier to entry for competitors and strengthening negotiation power.\n\n**ROI Projections:** The return on investment for implementing or licensing this technology is expected to be substantial. The ability to produce chips with superior power-performance characteristics can lead to increased market share, higher average selling prices (ASPs), and reduced manufacturing costs (due to potentially higher yields and extended node longevity). For a typical advanced process node, even a few percentage points improvement in performance or power efficiency can translate into billions of dollars in market value. The Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device offers a tangible and measurable improvement that directly impacts the bottom line and long-term strategic viability.","faqs":[{"answer":"The Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device (US-9853110) is a groundbreaking patent that describes an innovative fabrication process for creating a crucial component in semiconductor devices: the gate contact structure. This invention focuses on enhancing the performance and efficiency of transistors, which are the tiny on-off switches that power all modern electronics.\n\nAt its core, the method introduces a novel approach to minimize electrical interference within the transistor. It achieves this by strategically incorporating a microscopic air space within the gate contact. This air gap acts as an ultra-efficient insulator, dramatically reducing unwanted electrical coupling that traditionally slows down transistors and increases power consumption.\n\nThis technology is a significant step forward in semiconductor manufacturing, enabling the creation of faster, more energy-efficient microchips. It addresses a fundamental challenge in scaling down transistor dimensions while improving overall device performance and reliability. The Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device represents a key innovation for the next generation of computing.","question":"What is Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device?"},{"answer":"The Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device works through a precise, multi-step fabrication process designed to create an optimized gate contact with an integrated air gap. The process begins by forming a gate contact opening in an insulating layer of the semiconductor device.\n\nNext, an etching process is performed to remove a protective cap layer and expose the upper surface of the underlying gate structure. This step is critical for preparing a clean surface for subsequent material deposition. The most innovative part of the method involves the selective growth of a metal material. This metal is grown specifically on the exposed gate structure, forming a conductive path.\n\nCrucially, as this metal material grows, it is engineered to contact the sidewalls of the gate contact opening while simultaneously creating a deliberate air space between its bottom surface and the conductive source/drain structure. Air, with a very low dielectric constant, acts as an excellent electrical insulator, effectively decoupling the gate contact from adjacent components. Finally, one or more additional conductive materials are formed in the opening above the selectively grown metal to complete the electrical connection, ensuring robust performance and reduced parasitic capacitance.","question":"How does Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device work?"},{"answer":"The Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device primarily solves the problem of **parasitic capacitance** in advanced semiconductor transistors. As transistors are continually miniaturized to pack more computing power into smaller chips, their components (like the gate contact and source/drain) come into extremely close proximity. This close spacing leads to unwanted electrical coupling, or 'chatter,' between these components, which is known as parasitic capacitance.\n\nThis parasitic capacitance has several detrimental effects: it significantly slows down the transistor's switching speed, limiting the overall operating frequency of the chip. It also increases dynamic power consumption, leading to shorter battery life in mobile devices and higher energy costs for data centers. Traditional fabrication methods struggle to effectively mitigate this issue without introducing other complexities or compromising the structural integrity of the tiny components. The Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device directly addresses this by introducing an ultra-low dielectric (air) to minimize this unwanted electrical interaction, thereby enhancing speed and efficiency.","question":"What problem does Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device solve?"},{"answer":"The patent for the Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device (US-9853110) does not list specific inventors or an assignee in the provided data. Typically, such patents are filed by corporations that employ research and development teams, and the invention is often a collaborative effort of multiple engineers and scientists working within that organization.\n\nIn the semiconductor industry, companies invest heavily in R&D to develop proprietary manufacturing processes and device architectures. Innovations like this are usually the result of years of research, experimentation, and refinement by dedicated teams. The absence of specific names in the provided abstract or description is common for publicly available patent data summaries, but the underlying work would have been performed by skilled professionals in materials science, electrical engineering, and process technology. The Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device is a testament to the ongoing ingenuity within the semiconductor research community.","question":"Who invented Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device?"},{"answer":"The Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device offers several critical benefits that are poised to significantly impact the performance and efficiency of future electronic devices:\n\n1.  **Enhanced Transistor Speed:** By dramatically reducing parasitic capacitance through the strategic use of an air gap, transistors can switch on and off much faster. This directly translates to higher clock speeds for microprocessors, leading to quicker processing and more responsive devices.\n2.  **Lower Power Consumption:** Less parasitic capacitance means less wasted energy during switching operations. This results in significantly lower dynamic power consumption, extending battery life for mobile devices and reducing energy costs and heat generation in data centers and high-performance computing systems.\n3.  **Improved Scalability and Miniaturization:** This method enables engineers to continue shrinking transistor dimensions without hitting the performance wall caused by parasitic capacitance. It provides a viable path for advanced process nodes, facilitating higher transistor densities and more powerful chips in smaller packages.\n4.  **Robust Electrical Isolation and Signal Integrity:** The air gap provides superior electrical isolation between the gate contact and other device components, minimizing crosstalk and improving the overall reliability and signal integrity of complex integrated circuits. These benefits make the Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device a foundational innovation for next-generation electronics.","question":"What are the key benefits of Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device?"},{"answer":"The Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device differentiates itself from prior art primarily through its innovative use of **selective metal growth** and the deliberate creation of an **air space** within the gate contact structure.\n\nPrior art methods typically involved filling the gate contact opening entirely with solid dielectric materials, even if they were low-k, or with conductive materials that inherently contributed to parasitic capacitance due to their physical presence and dielectric properties. While efforts were made to reduce capacitance, a fundamental limit existed due to the use of solid materials with dielectric constants greater than one. This patent's approach is revolutionary because it engineers a void (air, with a dielectric constant of ~1) as the primary insulating medium in a critical region.\n\nFurthermore, the selective growth technique ensures precise material placement, contrasting with more conventional blanket deposition followed by complex etch-back processes. This combination allows the Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device to achieve an unprecedented reduction in parasitic capacitance, leading to superior electrical performance that was not practically achievable with previous manufacturing techniques. It represents a fundamental shift in how gate contacts are designed and fabricated for optimal performance.","question":"How is Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device different from prior art?"},{"answer":"The Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device has the potential to impact a wide array of industries that rely heavily on advanced semiconductor technology. Its core benefits of faster, more power-efficient, and smaller chips will ripple across the entire digital ecosystem.\n\nKey impacted industries include:\n\n1.  **High-Performance Computing (HPC) and Data Centers:** Will benefit from faster processors and significantly reduced energy consumption, leading to more powerful and environmentally friendly supercomputers and cloud infrastructure.\n2.  **Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning:** Enables the development of more efficient AI accelerators and neural processing units, crucial for training complex models and performing real-time inference at the edge.\n3.  **Consumer Electronics:** Smartphones, laptops, tablets, and wearable devices will see improved performance, extended battery life, and enhanced capabilities.\n4.  **Automotive:** Drives advancements in autonomous driving systems, in-car infotainment, and vehicle safety features through more powerful and reliable control units.\n5.  **Telecommunications (5G/6G):** Supports the development of high-speed, low-latency network infrastructure and devices, crucial for next-generation wireless communication.\n6.  **Internet of Things (IoT):** Enables smaller, more power-efficient sensors and edge devices, expanding the reach and capabilities of connected environments.\n\nEssentially, any industry driven by computational power and energy efficiency stands to benefit from the foundational improvements offered by the Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device.","question":"What industries will Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device impact?"},{"answer":"The patent for the Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device, identified as US-9853110, was officially filed on **October 30, 2015**. This marks the initial date when the application was submitted to the patent office, establishing its priority date for the invention described.\n\nFollowing the examination process, the patent was subsequently granted and published on **December 26, 2017**. This publication date signifies when the patent was officially issued, making its details publicly available and granting the patent holder exclusive rights to the invention for a specified period. The time between filing and publication allows for thorough review by patent examiners to ensure novelty, non-obviousness, and utility. The Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device thus entered the public domain as a granted patent in late 2017, ready for potential licensing, implementation, or further research and development.","question":"When was Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device filed/granted?"},{"answer":"The commercial applications of the Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device are extensive, primarily centered around enhancing the core performance metrics of semiconductor chips, which are critical for virtually all electronic products. Any product or system requiring high-speed, low-power processing stands to benefit.\n\nKey commercial applications include:\n\n1.  **High-Performance Microprocessors:** Enabling the creation of faster CPUs and GPUs for servers, personal computers, and gaming consoles, leading to more powerful and responsive computing platforms.\n2.  **Specialized AI Accelerators:** Developing highly efficient Neural Processing Units (NPUs) for AI workloads, both in large-scale data centers and compact edge AI devices, boosting machine learning capabilities.\n3.  **Advanced Mobile Processors:** Integrating into System-on-Chips (SoCs) for smartphones and tablets, resulting in longer battery life, snappier applications, and improved multitasking performance.\n4.  **Memory Devices:** Potentially enhancing the performance and efficiency of certain types of memory, contributing to faster data access and lower power consumption in memory modules.\n5.  **Network Processors:** Improving the speed and efficiency of chips used in networking equipment, crucial for the rollout and performance of 5G/6G infrastructure.\n6.  **Automotive Chips:** Powering advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and future autonomous vehicles with more reliable and higher-performance computing capabilities.\n\nCompanies that license or integrate the Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device into their manufacturing processes can gain a significant competitive advantage, offering products with superior power-performance characteristics and capturing larger market shares in these high-growth sectors.","question":"What are the commercial applications of Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device?"},{"answer":"The Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device lays a foundational principle that will likely influence future developments in semiconductor technology for years to come. Expected future developments will focus on refining and extending the core concepts of this patent:\n\n1.  **Integration with Next-Generation Transistors:** We can anticipate further integration of the air gap concept into advanced transistor architectures beyond current FinFETs, such as Gate-All-Around (GAA) and nanosheet FETs. These 3D structures inherently present greater parasitic capacitance challenges, making the air gap even more critical for performance.\n2.  **Advanced Material Science:** Research will likely explore new selective deposition chemistries and materials that can enable even more precise air gap formation, potentially in more complex geometries or with greater reliability. Novel barrier layers or encapsulation techniques for the air gap might also emerge.\n3.  **Process Optimization and Yield Enhancement:** As with any new technology, there will be continuous efforts to optimize the manufacturing process for higher yields, lower costs, and seamless integration into existing fabrication lines. This includes improved metrology for in-situ monitoring of air gap formation.\n4.  **Application in Heterogeneous Integration:** The ability to create highly efficient, low-capacitance contacts will be crucial for advanced packaging techniques like 3D stacking and chiplet integration. Future developments might focus on extending this method to inter-die connections within heterogeneous integration schemes.\n5.  **Exploring Other Device Types:** While currently focused on gate contacts, the principle of using precisely engineered air gaps as ultra-low-k dielectrics could be explored for other critical regions within semiconductor devices to further enhance performance and efficiency.\n\nThe Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device provides a robust framework for continued innovation, ensuring that the semiconductor industry can overcome physical limitations and deliver the next wave of computing power.","question":"What are the future developments expected for Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device?"}],"topics":["semiconductor device","gate contact structure","air gap technology","parasitic capacitance","chip fabrication","semiconductor","industry","perpetual"],"tech_cluster":null},"seo":{"title":"Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device - US-9853110","description":"Discover how the Method of Forming a Gate Contact Structure for a Semiconductor Device reduces parasitic capacitance with an air gap for faster, more efficient chips. Full patent analysis.","keywords":["semiconductor device","gate contact structure","air gap technology","parasitic capacitance","chip fabrication","transistor performance","microchip innovation","semiconductor manufacturing","low power electronics","advanced logic","patent US-9853110","selective metal growth","integrated circuits","semiconductor patent","US-9853110"]},"attribution":{"source":"Patentable","source_url":"https://patentable.app","canonical_url":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9853110","license":"CC-BY-4.0-like","license_terms":"AI-generated analysis on this page (summary, layman_explanation, technical_analysis, business_analysis, faqs) may be reused with attribution and a visible link back to the canonical URL above. Patent abstracts, claims, and bibliographic data are USPTO public domain.","required_link":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9853110","citation_suggestion":"Patentable. \"Method of forming a gate contact structure for a semiconductor device\" (US-9853110). https://patentable.app/patents/US-9853110","copyright_holder":"Nomic Interactive Technology LLC"},"links":{"html":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9853110","json":"https://patentable.app/api/llm-context/US-9853110","site":"https://patentable.app","llms_txt":"https://patentable.app/llms.txt"},"generated_at":"2026-06-06T06:58:56.589Z"}