1. A method for fabricating a transistor, the method comprising:
providing a silicon layer above a substrate, the silicon layer being separated from the substrate by one or more layers;
forming a first layer on and in contact with the silicon layer, the first layer comprising a high dielectric constant material;
forming a second layer and in contact with the first layer, the second layer comprising a metal or metal alloy;
forming a third layer on the second layer, the third layer comprising silicon or polysilicon;
etching the first, second, and third layers so as to form first, second, and third layers of a gate stack;
depositing an encapsulation layer, the encapsulation layer including a horizontal portion in contact with the silicon layer and a vertical portion that is located on and in contact with sidewalls of the gate stack;
after depositing the encapsulation layer, depositing one spacer layer above and in contact with the horizontal portion of the encapsulation layer and adjacent to and in contact with the vertical portion of the encapsulation layer,
wherein depositing the one spacer layer comprises
depositing a first spacer layer above the horizontal portion of the encapsulation layer and adjacent to the vertical portion of the encapsulation layer, and
after depositing the first spacer layer, depositing a second spacer layer;
after depositing the spacer layer, etching the encapsulation layer and the one spacer layer so as to form a spacer and an L-shaped gate encapsulation layer that is disposed on the sidewalls of the gate stack, the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer comprising a vertical portion covering and in contact with the sidewalls of the first, second, and third layers of the gate stack and a horizontal portion covering and in contact with a portion of the silicon layer that is adjacent to the gate stack, and the spacer being above and in contact with the horizontal portion of the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer and adjacent to and in contact with the vertical portion of the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer, the spacer extending from the vertical portion of the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer to the horizontal portion of the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer, the spacer comprising a vertical sidewall extending from a surface of the horizontal portion of the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer to a height above at least the second layer comprising the metal or metal alloy,
wherein etching the encapsulation layer and the at least one spacer layer further comprises
etching the first spacer layer and the second spacer layer so as to form the spacer, the spacer further comprising:
an L-shaped spacer layer that includes a vertical portion covering sidewalls of the vertical portion of the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer, and a horizontal portion covering the horizontal portion of the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer, where the L-shaped spacer layer is formed with a thickness that is less than a thickness of the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer; and
the second spacer layer disposed on sidewalls of the vertical portion of the L-shaped oxide layer and above the horizontal portion of the L-shaped oxide layer, wherein the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer, the L-shaped spacer layer, and the second spacer layer are formed with a combined width that is greater than a width of the gate stack;
after etching the encapsulation layer and the one spacer layer, performing an extension implantation to implant ions so as to form sourcedrain extensions in the silicon layer, the sourcedrain extensions not underlying the gate stack; and
after performing the extension implantation, performing a sourcedrain implantation and performing an anneal to implant and diffuse ions for source and drain regions in the silicon layer,
wherein the extension implantation and the sourcedrain implantation are two separate implantations, and
both the extension implantation and the sourcedrain implantation are performed after etching the encapsulation layer and the one spacer layer and while the spacer is present above the horizontal portion of the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer and adjacent to the vertical portion of the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein a thickness of the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer is less than a thickness of the first layer of the gate stack.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein a thickness of the vertical portion of the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer is substantially equal to a thickness of the horizontal portion of the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein depositing the encapsulation layer comprises performing molecular layer deposition (MLD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD), or rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition (RTCVD) to deposit a layer of nitride.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first spacer layer is an oxide layer, and where the second spacer layer is a nitride layer.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the horizontal portion of the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer directly contacts the silicon layer.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein depositing an encapsulation layer is performed after etching the first, second, and third layers.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein portions of the source and drain regions underlie the spacer.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein etching the first, second, and third layers comprises performing a single etch that etches the first, second, and third layers and stops on the silicon layer, so as to form the gate stack in the single etch.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer consists of a single layer.
11. The method of claim 1,
wherein the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer consists of a single encapsulation layer, the spacer consists of a single spacer layer, and
the single spacer layer of the spacer directly contacts the single encapsulation layer of the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer.
12. The method of claim 1,
wherein
the first spacer layer consists of SiO2.
13. The method of claim 1,
wherein
the first spacer layer does not comprise a high dielectric constant material and the second spacer layer comprises a nitride layer.
14. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium encoded with a program for fabricating a nFET transistor and a pFET transistor, the program comprising instructions for performing:
providing a buried oxide layer on and in contact with a single substrate, where the single substrate comprises an nFET region and a pFET region;
providing a silicon layer on and in contact with the buried oxide layer, the silicon layer being provided across both the nFET and pFET regions of the substrate;
depositing a silicon germanium layer on and in contact with the silicon layer;
forming a first layer on and in contact with the silicon germanium layer, the first layer comprising a high dielectric constant material, the first layer being provided across both the nFET and pFET regions of the substrate;
forming a second layer on and in contact with the first layer, the second layer comprising a metal or metal alloy and being provided across both the nFET and pFET regions of the substrate;
forming a third layer on the second layer, the third layer comprising silicon or polysilicon and being provided across both the nFET and pFET regions of the substrate;
etching the first, second, and third layers so as to form first, second, and third layers of a first gate stack in the nFET region and first, second, and third layers of a second gate stack in the pFET region;
depositing a nitride encapsulation layer, the nitride encapsulation layer including a horizontal portion in contact with the silicon layer and a vertical portion that is located on and in contact with sidewalls of the first and second gate stacks;
after depositing the nitride encapsulation layer, depositing at least one spacer layer above and in contact with the horizontal portion of the nitride encapsulation layer and adjacent to and in contact with the vertical portion of the nitride encapsulation layer,
wherein depositing the one spacer layer comprises
depositing a first spacer layer above the horizontal portion of the encapsulation layer and adjacent to the vertical portion of the encapsulation layer, and
after depositing the first spacer layer, depositing a second spacer layer;
after depositing the at least one spacer layer, etching the nitride encapsulation layer and the at least one spacer layer as part of a single etch, the etching forming a first spacer and a first L-shaped gate encapsulation layer that is disposed on the sidewalls of the first gate stack in the nFET region and a second spacer and a second L-shaped gate encapsulation layer that is disposed on the sidewalls of the second gate stack in the pFET region, the first and second L-shaped gate encapsulation layers each comprising a vertical portion covering the sidewalls of the first, second, and third layers of the first and second gate stacks, respectively, and a horizontal portion covering a portion of the silicon layer that is adjacent to the first and second gate stacks, respectively, and each of the first and second spacers being above and in contact with the horizontal portion of the first and second L-shaped gate encapsulation layers, respectively, and adjacent to and in contact with the vertical portion of the first and second L-shaped gate encapsulation layers, respectively, each of the first and second spacers extending from the vertical portion of the first and second L-shaped gate encapsulation layers, respectively, to the horizontal portion of the first and second L-shaped gate encapsulation layers, respectively, each of the first and second spacers comprising a vertical sidewall extending from a surface of the horizontal portion of the first and second L-shaped gate encapsulation layers, respectively, to a height above at least the second layer comprising the metal or metal alloy,
wherein etching the encapsulation layer and the at least one spacer layer further comprises
etching the first spacer layer and the second spacer layer so as to form the spacer, the spacer further comprising:
an L-shaped spacer layer that includes a vertical portion covering sidewalls of the vertical portion of the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer, and a horizontal portion covering the horizontal portion of the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer, where the L-shaped spacer layer is formed with a thickness that is less than a thickness of the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer; and
the second spacer layer disposed on sidewalls of the vertical portion of the L-shaped oxide layer and above the horizontal portion of the L-shaped oxide layer, wherein the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer, the L-shaped spacer layer, and the second spacer layer are formed with a combined width that is greater than a width of the gate stack;
after etching the nitride encapsulation layer and the at least one spacer layer, performing an extension implantation to implant ions so as to form sourcedrain extensions in the silicon layer, the sourcedrain extensions not underlying the first and second gate stacks; and
after performing the extension implantation, performing a sourcedrain implantation and performing an anneal to implant and diffuse ions for source and drain regions in the silicon layer,
wherein the extension implantation and the sourcedrain implantation are two separate implantations, and
both the extension implantation and the sourcedrain implantation are performed after etching the nitride encapsulation layer and the at least one spacer layer and while the first and second are present above the horizontal portion of the first and second L-shaped gate encapsulation layers, respectively, and adjacent to the vertical portion of the L-shaped gate encapsulation layers, respectively.
15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein a thickness of the first and second L-shaped gate encapsulation layers, respectively, is less than a thickness of the first layer of the gate stack.
16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein a thickness of the vertical portion of the first and second L-shaped gate encapsulation layers, respectively, is substantially equal to a thickness of the horizontal portion of the first and second L-shaped gate encapsulation layers, respectively.
17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein depositing the nitride encapsulation layer comprises performing molecular layer deposition (MLD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD), or rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition (RTCVD) to deposit a layer of nitride.
18. A method for fabricating a transistor, the method comprising:
providing a silicon layer above a substrate, the silicon layer being separated from the substrate by one or more layers;
forming a first layer on and in contact with the silicon layer, the first layer comprising a high dielectric constant material;
forming a second layer on and in contact with the first layer, the second layer comprising a metal or metal alloy;
forming a third layer on the second layer, the third layer comprising a conducting metal;
etching the first, second, and third layers so as to form first, second, and third layers of a gate stack;
depositing an encapsulation layer, the encapsulation layer including a horizontal portion in contact with the silicon layer and a vertical portion that is located on and in contact with sidewalls of the gate stack;
after depositing the encapsulation layer, depositing at least one spacer layer above and in contact with the horizontal portion of the encapsulation layer and adjacent to and in contact with the vertical portion of the encapsulation layer,
wherein depositing the one spacer layer comprises
depositing a first spacer layer above the horizontal portion of the encapsulation layer and adjacent to the vertical portion of the encapsulation layer, and
after depositing the first spacer layer, depositing a second spacer layer;
after depositing the at least one spacer layer, etching the nitride encapsulation layer and the at least one spacer layer so as to form a spacer and an L-shaped gate encapsulation layer that is disposed on the sidewalls of the gate stack, the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer comprising a vertical portion covering and in contact with the sidewalls of the first, second, and third layers of the gate stack and a horizontal portion covering and in contact with a portion of the silicon layer that is adjacent to the gate stack, and the spacer being above and in contact with the horizontal portion of the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer and adjacent to and in contact with the vertical portion of the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer, the spacer extending from the vertical portion of the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer to the horizontal portion of the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer, the spacer comprising a vertical sidewall extending from a surface of the horizontal portion of the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer to a height above at least the second layer comprising the metal or metal alloy,
wherein etching the encapsulation layer and the at least one spacer layer further comprises
etching the first spacer layer and the second spacer layer so as to form the spacer, the spacer further comprising:
an L-shaped spacer layer that includes a vertical portion covering sidewalls of the vertical portion of the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer, and a horizontal portion covering the horizontal portion of the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer, where the L-shaped spacer layer is formed with a thickness that is less than a thickness of the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer; and
the second spacer layer disposed on sidewalls of the vertical portion of the L-shaped oxide layer and above the horizontal portion of the L-shaped oxide layer, wherein the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer, the L-shaped spacer layer, and the second spacer layer are formed with a combined width that is greater than a width of the gate stack;
after etching the encapsulation layer and the at least one spacer layer, performing an extension implantation to implant ions so as to form sourcedrain extensions in the silicon layer, the sourcedrain extensions not underlying the gate stack; and
after performing the extension implantation, performing a sourcedrain implantation and performing an anneal to implant and diffuse ions for source and drain regions in the silicon layer,
wherein the extension implantation and the sourcedrain implantation are two separate implantations, and
both the extension implantation and the sourcedrain implantation are performed after etching the encapsulation layer and the at least one spacer layer and while the spacer is present above the horizontal portion of the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer and adjacent to the vertical portion of the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein the third layer comprises tungsten or aluminum.
20. The method of claim 18, wherein the horizontal portion of the L-shaped gate encapsulation layer directly contacts the silicon layer.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A loudspeaker comprising:
an electro-acoustic transducer for converting electrical audio signals into sound waves;
a housing supporting the electro-acoustic transducer; and
a shutter supported by the housing and displaceable between a first, closed position in which the shutter substantially covers the transducer, and a second, open position in which the transducer is exposed.
2. The loudspeaker of claim 1, wherein the loudspeaker does not include a grille for protecting the transducer.
3. The loudspeaker of claim 1, wherein the shutter comprises at least one moveable blade.
4. The loudspeaker of claim 1, wherein the shutter comprises at least one rotatable blade.
5. The loudspeaker of claim 1, further comprising an electric motor, wherein displacement of the shutter is driven by the electric motor.
6. The loudspeaker of claim 5, further comprising control electronics coupled to the electric motor, wherein the control electronics are configured to receive a signal indicative of a power state of an associated audio system; and to drive the electric motor in response to the signal.
7. The loudspeaker of claim 6, wherein the control electronics comprise:
a processor coupled to the electric motor; and
instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable media that, when executed, cause the processor to:
receive a signal indicative of a power state of an associated audio system; and
drive the electric motor in response to signal.
8. The loudspeaker of claim 7, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to drive the electric motor to open the shutter to expose the electro-acoustic transducer when the processor receives a signal indicating that the associated audio system has been powered on.
9. The loudspeaker of claim 7, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to drive the electric motor to close the shutter when the processor receives a signal indicating that the associated audio system has been powered off.
10. The loudspeaker of claim 1, further comprising a proximity detector for detecting the presence of an object in proximity the electro-acoustic transducer, wherein the loudspeaker is configured to displace the shutter to the first, closed position in response to detecting the presence of an object in proximity to the electro-acoustic transducer.
11. The loudspeaker of claim 1, further comprising:
a proximity sensor for detecting the presence of an object in proximity to the electro-acoustic transducer;
an electric motor for driving displacement of the shutter; and
control electronics coupled to the proximity sensor and to the electric motor,
wherein the control electronics are configured to drive the electric motor to close the shutter when the control electronics receive a signal from the proximity sensor indicating that an object is in proximity to the electro-acoustic transducer.
12. The loudspeaker of claim 11, wherein the control electronics comprise:
a processor coupled to the proximity sensor and to the electric motor; and
instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable media that, when executed, cause the processor to:
drive the electric motor to close the shutter when the processor receives a signal from the proximity sensor indicating that an object is in proximity to the electro-acoustic transducer.
13. The loudspeaker of claim 12, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to automatically shut the electro-acoustic transducer off, such that no audio is rendered via the electro-acoustic transducer, until the shutter opens up again.
14. The loudspeaker of claim 1, wherein the shutter comprises a mechanical iris comprising a plurality of overlapping blades which are displaceable to open and close an aperture formed by the blades.
15. The loudspeaker of claim 1, wherein the loudspeaker is configured such that the shutter automatically opens when an associated audio system is powered on and automatically closes when the associated audio system is powered off.
16. The loudspeaker of claim 1, wherein the shutter is further displaceable between the second, open position and a third, open position, and wherein the loudspeaker is configured such that the shutter moves between the second, open position and the third, open position in response to changes in audio volume.
17. The loudspeaker of claim 16, wherein the loudspeaker is configured such that an aperture defined by the shutter increases in response to an increase in audio volume.
18. A vehicle audio system comprising:
a plurality of loudspeakers;
a head unit;
an audio amplifier for amplifying and filtering entertainment audio received from the head unit for distribution to a plurality of speakers positioned about the vehicle cabin,
wherein at least one of the plurality of loudspeakers is a shuttered loudspeaker comprising:
an electro-acoustic transducer for converting electrical audio signals into sound waves;
a housing supporting the electro-acoustic transducer; and
a shutter supported by the housing and displaceable between a first, closed position in which the shutter substantially covers the transducer, and a second, open position in which the transducer is exposed.
19. The vehicle audio system of claim 18, wherein the shuttered loudspeaker is disposed on an A-pillar in a vehicle cabin.
20. The vehicle audio system of claim 18, wherein the shuttered loudspeaker further comprises:
an electric motor for driving displacement of the shutter; and
a control electronics coupled to the electric motor,
wherein the control electronics are configured to drive the electric motor to control displacement of the shutter in response to signals received from the audio amplifier.
21. The vehicle audio system of claim 20, wherein the control electronics comprise:
a processor coupled to the electric motor; and
instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable media that, when executed, cause the processor to:
drive the electric motor to control displacement of the shutter in response to signals received from the audio amplifier.
22. The vehicle audio system of claim 18, wherein the shuttered loudspeaker further comprises:
a proximity sensor for detecting the presence of an object near the electro-acoustic transducer;
an electric motor for driving displacement of the shutter; and
control electronics coupled to the proximity sensor and to the electric motor,
wherein the control electronics are configured to drive the electric motor to close the shutter when the control electronics receives a signal from the proximity sensor indicating that an object is near the electro-acoustic transducer.
23. The vehicle audio system of claim 22, wherein the control electronics comprise:
a processor coupled to the proximity sensor and to the electric motor; and
instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable media that, when executed, cause the processor to:
drive the electric motor to close the shutter when the processor receives a signal from the proximity sensor indicating that an object is near the electro-acoustic transducer.
24. The vehicle audio system of claim 23, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to automatically shut the electro-acoustic transducer off, such that no audio is rendered via the electro-acoustic transducer, until the shutter opens up again.
25. The vehicle audio system of claim 18, wherein the shutter comprises a mechanical iris comprising a plurality of overlapping blades which are displaceable to open and close an aperture formed by the blades.