A low cost test vehicle for embedded DRAM capacitor: Investigation and monitoring of the process

A test vehicle for embedded DRAM capacitor is developed with a low cost approach. This test vehicle allows us to get planar DRAM capacitors for process investigation and monitoring. The test vehicle capacitor gives electrical characteristics similar to the capacitor of the product test structure. A Design Of Experiment (DOE) has been performed to get a process window of the DRAM capacitor. For the first time, we show that in-line AFM is a monitoring tool for Hemispherical Silicon Grain (HSG) deposition. We show that the leakage of the DRAM capacitor is linked to its intrinsic reliability.