Semiconductor device and method for forming the same

Abstract

A semiconductor device and a method for forming the same are disclosed. In a method for forming the semiconductor substrate including a cell region and a peripheral region, a guard pattern defined by an epitaxial growth layer located at the edge part between the cell region and the peripheral region is formed. As the guard pattern is not damaged by an oxidation process, a bias leakage path between an N-well bias and a P-well bias of the peripheral region is prevented from occurring Reliability of a gate oxide film may be increased, resulting in an increased production yield of the semiconductor device and implementation of stable voltage and current characteristics.

1 . A semiconductor device comprising:
 a semiconductor substrate including a cell region and a peripheral region; and   a guard pattern including an growth layer located at a border between the cell region and the peripheral region.   
     
     
         2 . The semiconductor device according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an active region defined by a device isolation layer disposed in the semiconductor substrate.   
     
     
         3 . The semiconductor device according to  claim 2 , further comprising:
 a gate disposed in the device isolation layer or in the active region of the cell region.   
     
     
         4 . The semiconductor device according to  claim 2 , wherein the guard pattern is disposed in the device isolation layer located at the border. 
     
     
         5 . The semiconductor device according to  claim 2 , wherein the guard pattern has substantially the same thickness as that of the device isolation layer. 
     
     
         6 . The semiconductor device according to  claim 1 , wherein the growth layer is generated using the semiconductor substrate as a seed for the growth. 
     
     
         7 . A method for forming a semiconductor device comprising:
 providing a semiconductor substrate including a cell region and a peripheral region;   forming a device isolation layer defining an active region in the semiconductor substrate; and forming a guard pattern in the device isolation layer located at a border between the cell region and the peripheral region, the guard pattern including a growth layer.   
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 7 , further comprising:
 after forming the device isolation layer defining the active region and before forming the guard pattern, performing an ion implantation process to define a well region in the semiconductor substrate.   
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 8 , further comprising:
 after performing the ion implantation process and before forming the guard pattern, etching materials formed over the semiconductor substrate using a mask for opening the peripheral region to expose a portion of the semiconductor substrate that corresponds to the peripheral region.   
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 7 , wherein forming the guard pattern comprises:
 forming a mask pattern to expose a top surface of a portion of the device isolation layer located at the border;   etching the portion of the device isolation layer using the mask pattern as an etch mask until the semiconductor substrate is exposed; and   forming the growth layer in a region where the portion of the device isolation layer is etched using the semiconductor substrate as a seed for the growth.   
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 10 , wherein the growth layer is formed to have substantially the same thickness as that of the device isolation layer. 
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 10 , wherein the mask pattern includes a photoresist film, an oxide film, or a nitride film. 
     
     
         13 . A method for forming a semiconductor device comprising:
 providing a semiconductor substrate including a cell region and a peripheral region;   forming a device isolation layer to define an active region in the cell region and the peripheral region;   exposing a top surface of the semiconductor substrate by etching a portion of the device isolation layer located at the border between the cell region and the peripheral region; and   performing the growth on the exposed semiconductor substrate to form a guard pattern in the device isolation layer located at the border.   
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 13 , wherein the performing of the growth includes generating an epitaxial growth layer to have substantially the same thickness as that of the device isolation layer. 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 13 , wherein the growth is the epitaxial growth.