Patent 12068388 was granted and assigned to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company on August, 2024 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Semiconductor devices and methods of manufacturing semiconductor devices are provided. In embodiments a passivation process is utilized in order to reduce dangling bonds and defects within work function layers within a gate stack. The passivation process introduces a passivating element which will react with the dangling bonds to passivate the dangling bonds. Additionally, in some embodiments the passivating elements will trap other elements and reduce or prevent them from diffusing into other portions of the structure.