A new STI process based on selective oxide deposition [for CMOS logic]

A new shallow trench isolation (STI) process with a planarization concept based on a selective oxide deposition (SELOX) is presented. Different oxide growth rates on pad nitride and silicon result in good global planarity after the trench fill process. The straightforward concept of the SELOX process requires a minimum of process steps, making it particularly interesting for cost and throughput optimization in manufacturing. Electrical parameters are comparable to those achieved with common STI processes.