US 12,356,617 B2
Microelectronic devices with vertically recessed channel structures and discrete, spaced inter-slit structures, and related methods and systems
Haitao Liu, Boise, ID (US); Litao Yang, Boise, ID (US); Albert Fayrushin, Boise, ID (US); Naveen Kaushik, Boise, ID (US); Jian Li, Boise, ID (US); and Collin Howder, Boise, ID (US)
Assigned to Micron Technology, Inc., Boise, ID (US)
Filed by Micron Technology, Inc., Boise, ID (US)
Filed on Jan. 26, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/158,888.
Prior Publication US 2022/0238548 A1, Jul. 28, 2022
Int. Cl. H10B 43/27 (2023.01); H10B 41/10 (2023.01); H10B 41/27 (2023.01); H10B 43/10 (2023.01)
CPC H10B 43/27 (2023.02) [H10B 41/10 (2023.02); H10B 41/27 (2023.02); H10B 43/10 (2023.02)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A microelectronic device, comprising:
a stack structure comprising a vertically alternating sequence of insulative structures and conductive structures arranged in tiers;
at least one pillar extending through the stack structure, the at least one pillar comprising a channel material;
a source region below the stack structure, the source region comprising a doped material, a vertical extension of the doped material protruding upward to an interface with the channel material at an elevation within the stack structure, the vertical extension of the doped material defining a greater horizontal thickness than a horizontal thickness defined by the channel material above the interface; and
at least one slit structure extending through the stack structure to divide the stack structure into blocks of arrays of the at least one pillar,
at least one individual slit structure, of the at least one slit structure, comprising therein:
a series of discrete, spaced pedestal structures;
a series of inter-slit support structures above the series of discrete, spaced pedestal structures, the inter-slit support structures extending vertically through the stack structure; and
a series of regions of the doped material, the regions of the doped material horizontally alternating with the inter-slit support structures of the series of inter-slit support structures, the doped material of the series of regions of the doped material extending from the source region upward into the at least one individual slit structure.