Challenges and Recent Developments in Device Isolation Technology

This contribution briefly reviews the current status on device isolation technology. Starting with conventional shallow-trench-isolation (STI), the challenges introduced by this approach are outlined. Based on this discussion, the concept of the recently developed extended trench isolation gate technology (EXTIGATE) is presented. It will be shown that EXTIGATE not only provides a relief from the drawbacks of conventional STI processing, but also offers promising alternatives for front-end process integration, device optimization and specific applications.