US-20260130228-A1 - METHOD FOR FABRICATING SEMICONDUCTOR STRUCTURE

Abstract

A method for fabricating a semiconductor structure is provided. The method includes providing a plurality of chip regions on a substrate. The method includes forming a plurality of scribe line regions among the chip regions on the substrate. The scribe line regions each include a testing region having a plurality of testing patterns and a dicing region around the test region. The dicing region has a dummy band adjacent to the testing region, and a plurality of dummy patterns are formed in the dummy band and electrically isolated from the testing patterns. The method also includes separating the chip regions along the dicing region of the scribe line regions.

Inventors

• Chien-Hsun Lin

Assignees

• TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20241107

Claims (20)

1. 1 . A method for fabricating a semiconductor structure, comprising: providing a plurality of chip regions on a substrate; forming a plurality of scribe line regions among the chips on the substrate, wherein the scribe line regions each comprise: a testing region having a plurality of testing patterns; and a dicing region around the test region, wherein the dicing region has a dummy band adjacent to the testing region, and a plurality of dummy patterns are formed in the dummy band and electrically isolated from the testing patterns; and separating the chip regions along the dicing region of the scribe line regions.
2. 2 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the dicing region comprises a blank band adjacent to the dummy band, and the blank band is free from the dummy patterns.
3. 3 . The method as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the dummy band is grounded through a via contact in the substrate.
4. 4 . The method as claimed in claim 3 , further comprising: forming an epitaxial structure in an isolation structure over the substrate, wherein the via contact is formed over the epitaxial structure.
5. 5 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a height of the dummy patterns is substantially equal to a height of the testing patterns.
6. 6 . The method as claimed in claim 5 , wherein a spacing between the dummy patterns and the testing patterns varies in a normal direction of the substrate.
7. 7 . A method for fabricating a semiconductor structure, comprising: providing a plurality of chip regions on a substrate; forming a seal ring around each of the chip regions; forming a plurality of scribe line regions among the chip regions on the substrate, wherein the scribe line regions comprise a dicing region around the seal ring, wherein the dicing region has a first dummy band adjacent to the seal ring, and a plurality of first dummy patterns are formed in the first dummy band and electrically isolated from the seal ring; and separating the chip regions.
8. 8 . The method as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the scribe line regions comprise a testing region having a plurality of testing patterns and adjacent to the dicing region, the dicing region having a second dummy band adjacent to the testing region, and a plurality of second dummy patterns are formed in the second dummy band and electrically isolated from the testing patterns.
9. 9 . The method as claimed in claim 8 , wherein a width of the first dummy band is less than or equal to a width of the second dummy band.
10. 10 . The method as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the dicing region comprises a blank band between the first dummy band and the second dummy band, and the blank band is free from the first dummy patterns and the second dummy patterns.
11. 11 . The method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein a width of the first dummy band is less than a width of the blank band.
12. 12 . The method as claimed in claim 7 , further comprising: forming a plurality of via contacts in the substrate, wherein the first dummy patterns and the second dummy patterns are grounded through the via contacts.
13. 13 . The method as claimed in claim 7 , further comprising: forming a plurality of metal patterns in the seal ring, wherein a spacing between the first dummy patterns and the metal patterns varies in a normal direction of the substrate.
14. 14 . A method for fabricating a semiconductor structure, comprising: forming an active region, a plurality of channel structures, and a testing device region over a substrate, wherein the channel structures are located between the active region and the testing device region; forming a first isolation structure among the channel structures; forming a gate structure and an epitaxial structure over the channel structures; forming a via contact over the epitaxial structure; forming a plurality of dummy patterns over the via contact, wherein the dummy patterns are electrically isolated from the active region and the testing device region, and are grounded through the via contact; and separating the active region and the testing device region along a blank band of a scribe line region, wherein the blank band is spaced apart from the dummy patterns.
15. 15 . The method as claimed in claim 14 , further comprising: forming an interconnect structure over the active region to form a chip region, wherein the interconnect structure is electrically isolated from the dummy patterns.
16. 16 . The method as claimed in claim 15 , wherein a spacing between the dummy patterns and the interconnect structure varies in a normal direction of the substrate.
17. 17 . The method as claimed in claim 14 , further comprising: forming a plurality of testing patterns over the testing device region in the scribe line region, wherein the testing patterns are electrically isolated from the dummy patterns.
18. 18 . The method as claimed in claim 17 , wherein a spacing between the dummy patterns and the testing patterns varies in a normal direction of the substrate.
19. 19 . The method as claimed in claim 14 , further comprising: forming a plurality of second isolation structures over the first isolation structure and directly below the dummy patterns, wherein one of the second isolation structures passes through the gate structure, and an extending direction of the second isolation structures is substantially perpendicular to an extending direction of the gate structure.
20. 20 . The method as claimed in claim 14 , further comprising: forming a plurality of second isolation structures over the first isolation structure and directly below the dummy patterns, wherein one of the second isolation structures passes through the via contact, and an extending direction of the second isolation structures is substantially perpendicular to an extending direction of the via contact.

Description

BACKGROUND 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 semiconductive 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 a single semiconductor wafer, and individual dies on the wafer are singulated by sawing between the integrated circuits along a scribe line. The individual dies are typically packaged separately, in multi-chip modules, for example, or in other types of packaging. Although existing methods of fabricating semiconductor structures have generally been adequate for their intended purposes, they have not been entirely satisfactory in all respects. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Aspects of the present disclosure are best understood from the following detailed description when read with the accompanying figures. It should be noted that, in accordance with standard practice in the industry, various features are not drawn to scale. In fact, the dimensions of the various features may be arbitrarily increased or reduced for clarity of discussion. FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic view of the semiconductor structure in accordance with some embodiments. FIG. 2A illustrates a partial cross-sectional view of the semiconductor structure in accordance with some embodiments. FIG. 2B illustrates an enlarged view of the region A shown in FIG. 3A in accordance with some embodiments. FIG. 3A illustrates a partial cross-sectional view of the semiconductor structure in accordance with some embodiments. FIG. 3B illustrates an enlarged view of the region B shown in FIG. 4A in accordance with some embodiments. FIG. 4 illustrates an enlarged view of the dummy band and the seal ring shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B in accordance with some embodiments. FIG. 5 illustrates an enlarged view of the dummy band and the testing region shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B in accordance with some embodiments. FIGS. 6A through 6J illustrates cross-sectional views of intermediate steps during a process for fabricating a semiconductor structure in accordance with some embodiments. FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic top view of the semiconductor structure in accordance with some embodiments. FIG. 8 illustrates a partial cross-sectional view of the semiconductor structure in accordance with some embodiments. FIGS. 9A through 9C illustrates schematic views of cut patterns in the semiconductor structure in accordance with some embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The following disclosure provides many different embodiments, or examples, for implementing different features of the subject matter provided. Specific examples of components and arrangements are described below to simplify the present disclosure. These are, of course, merely examples and are not intended to be limiting. For example, the formation of a first feature over or on a second feature in the description that follows may include embodiments in which the first and second features are formed in direct contact, and may also include embodiments in which additional features may be formed between the first and second features, such that the first and second features may not be in direct contact. In addition, the present disclosure may repeat reference numerals and/or letters in the various examples. This repetition is for the purpose of simplicity and clarity and does not in itself dictate a relationship between the various embodiments and/or configurations discussed. Some variations of the embodiments are described. Throughout the various views and illustrative embodiments, like reference numbers are used to designate like elements. It should be understood that additional operations can be provided before, during, and after the method, and some of the operations described can be replaced or eliminated for other embodiments of the method. Embodiments of methods for fabricating the semiconductor structure are provided. The method includes forming a plurality of scribe lines among the chips on the substrate. The scribe lines each include a testing region and a dicing region around the testing region. Generally, the dicing region includes a wide empty area for the separation process. However, such empty area may be over-polished (or dishing) during the planarization processes, causing negative impact to the topography of neighboring test patterns in the testing region or even the chips. Thus, abnormal data may be obtained during electrical tests, degrading the yield of the semiconductor structure. In order to solve the dishing issue, the dicing region has a dummy band adjacent to the testing region, and a plurality of dummy patterns are formed in the dummy band and electrically isolated from the te