Integrated circuit having vertical transistor and semiconductor device including the integrated circuit

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2016-0171669, filed on Dec. 15, 2016, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

Inventive concepts relate to an integrated circuit, and more particularly, to an integrated circuit having a vertical transistor and a semiconductor device including the integrated circuit.

A vertical transistor is a transistor that includes a channel through which charges pass between two electrodes of the transistor in a stacking direction. For example, in a vertical field-effect transistor (VFET), a source/drain region, a channel region, and a source/drain region may be stacked on one another in the given order and a gate electrode may surround the channel region at a level between the source region and the drain region. That is, the channel region may be formed to vertically penetrate the gate electrode. Such a vertical transistor may have different structures and different features from a planar transistor. Thus an integrated circuit including a vertical transistor needs to be designed differently from an, integrated circuit including a planar transistor.

Inventive concepts relate to an integrated circuit having a vertical transistor, and more particularly, an integrated circuit having a layout designed in consideration of a structure of a vertical transistor and a semiconductor device including the integrated circuit.

According to some example embodiments of inventive concepts, an integrated circuit having a vertical transistor may include a first gate line, a second gate line, a third gate line, and a fourth gate line extending in a first direction and sequentially arranged in parallel with each other; a first top active region over the first gate line through the third gate line and insulated from the second gate line, the first top active region forming a first transistor and a third transistor with the first gate line and the third gate line respectively; and a second top active region over the second gate line through the fourth gate line and insulated from the third gate line, the second top active region forming a second transistor and a fourth transistor with the second gate line and the fourth gate line respectively.

According to some example embodiments of inventive concepts, an integrated circuit having a vertical transistor may include: a first partial gate line and a second partial gate line extending in a first direction and arranged in parallel with each other; a third partial gate line and a fourth partial gate line extending in alignment with the first partial gate line and the second partial gate line in the first direction, respectively, and arranged in parallel with each other; a first top active region and a second top active region respectively forming a first transistor and a second transistor with the first partial gate line and the second partial gate line; a third top active region and a fourth top active region respectively forming a third transistor and a fourth transistor with the third partial gate line and the fourth partial gate line; and a first bottom active region shared by the first transistor through the fourth transistor; a first connection structure connecting the first partial gate line and the fourth partial gate line; and a second connection structure intersecting the first connection structure, the second connection structure connecting the second partial gate line and the third partial gate line to each other.

According to some example embodiments of inventive concepts, an integrated circuit having a vertical transistor including: first and second partial gate lines extending in a first direction and arranged in parallel with each other; third and fourth partial gate lines extending in alignment with the first and second partial gate lines in the first direction, respectively, and arranged in parallel with each other; first and second top active regions respectively forming first and second transistors with the first and second partial gate lines; third and fourth top active regions respectively forming third and fourth transistors with the third and fourth partial gate lines; and a first bottom active region under the first and fourth partial gate lines and through which charges traveling between the first and fourth partial gate lines pass, wherein a connection between the first and fourth partial gate lines and a connection between the second and third gate lines that intersect each other.

According to some example embodiments, an integrated circuit having a vertical transistor may include a first partial gate line and a second partial gate line extending in a first direction and arranged in parallel with each other; a third partial gate line and a fourth partial gate line extending in alignment with the first partial gate line and the second partial gate line in the first direction, respectively, and arranged in parallel with each other; a first top active region and a second top active region respectively forming a first transistor and a second transistor with the first partial gate line and the second partial gate line; a third top active region and a fourth top active region respectively forming a third transistor and a fourth transistor with the third partial gate line and the fourth partial gate line; a first bottom active region under the first partial gate line and the fourth partial gate line; a first connection structure connecting the first partial gate line and the fourth partial gate line; and a second connection structure intersecting the first connection structure. The second connection structure may connect the second gate line and the third gate line. The first bottom active region may be configured to pass charges traveling between the first partial gate line and fourth partial gate line.

Inventive concepts will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view and a circuit diagram of an integrated circuit according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 2 is a partial circuit diagram of an integrated circuit according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a layout of an integrated circuit having a planar transistor, according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 4A is a plan view of a layout of an integrated circuit having a vertical transistor, according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view of the layout of FIG. 4A taken along line X 4 -X 4 ′;

FIG. 5A is a plan view of a layout of an integrated circuit having a vertical transistor, according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view of the layout of FIG. 5A taken along line X 5 -X 5 ′;

FIG. 6A is a plan view of a layout of an integrated circuit having a vertical transistor, according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 6B is a cross-sectional view of the layout of FIG. 6A taken along line X 6 -X 6 ′;

FIG. 7A is a plan view of a layout of an integrated circuit having a vertical transistor, according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIGS. 7B and 7C are example cross-sectional views of the layout of FIG. 7A taken along line X 7 -X 7 ′;

FIG. 8A is a plan view of a layout of an integrated circuit having a vertical transistor, according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 8B is a cross-sectional view of the layout of FIG. 8A taken along line X 8 -X 8 ′;

FIG. 9A is a plan view of a layout of an integrated circuit having a vertical transistor, according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 9B is a cross-sectional view of the layout of FIG. 9A taken along line X 9 -X 9 ′;

FIG. 10A is a plan view of a layout of an integrated circuit having a vertical transistor, according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 10B is a cross-sectional view of the layout of FIG. 10A taken along line X 10 -X 10 ′;

FIG. 11A is a plan view of a layout of an integrated circuit having a vertical transistor, according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIGS. 11B and 11C are cross-sectional views of the layout of FIG. 11A taken along line X 11 b -X 11 b ′ and line X 11 c -X 11 c′;

FIG. 12A is a plan view of a layout of an integrated circuit having a vertical transistor, according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 12B is a perspective view of a part of the layout of FIG. 12A ;

FIGS. 12C through 12E are cross-sectional views of the layout of FIG. 12A taken along line X 12 c -X 12 e , line X 12 d -X 12 d ′, and line X 12 e -X 12 e ′, respectively;

FIG. 13A is a plan view of a layout of an integrated circuit having a vertical transistor, according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 13B is a cross-sectional view of the layout of FIG. 13A taken along line X 13 -X 13 ′;

FIG. 14A is a plan view of a layout of an integrated circuit having a vertical transistor; according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 14B is a cross-sectional view of the layout of FIG. 14A taken along line X 14 -X 14 ′;

FIG. 15A is a plan view of a layout of an integrated circuit having a vertical transistor, according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 15B is a cross-sectional view of the layout of FIG. 15A taken along line X 15 -X 15 ′;

FIG. 16A is a plan view of a layout of an integrated circuit having a vertical transistor, according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 16B is a cross-sectional view of the layout of FIG. 16A taken along line X 16 -X 16 ′;

FIG. 17 is a flowchart of a method of designing a layout of an integrated circuit having a vertical transistor, according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts; and

FIG. 18 is a block diagram of a system-on-chip (SoC) according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view and a circuit diagram of an integrated circuit 10 according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts. In more detail, as illustrated in FIG. 1 , the integrated circuit 10 may include two transistors, wherein each of the two transistors may be a vertical transistor.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the integrated circuit 10 may also include five layers L 1 through L 5 sequentially stacked in a third direction. As illustrated in FIG. 1 , a first layer L 1 may include a substrate and a bottom active region, and a second layer L 2 may include a gate line, a channel region, and a gate dielectric layer. A third layer L 3 may include a top active region, and a fourth layer L 4 may include a contact. A fifth layer L 5 may include a via and a metal pattern.

The contact may electrically connect the bottom active region, the gate line, and the top active region to the via. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1 , a bottom contact BC may electrically connect the bottom active region to the via, a top contact TC may electrically connect the top active region to the via, and a gate contact GC may electrically connect the gate line to the via. Also, the bottom active region and the gate line may be electrically connected to the via through two or more contacts. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1 , the bottom active region may be electrically connected to the via through a bottom contact BC′ formed in the second and third layers L 2 and L 3 and the top contact TC stacked on the bottom contact BC′ in the third direction. Each region of the integrated circuit 10 may be electrically connected to the via to receive or emit charges through a metal pattern or the like.

The integrated circuit 10 having a vertical transistor may need a space to electrically connect the bottom active region to the via. Referring to FIG. 1 , since the channel region, the gate line, the top active region, and the like are stacked on the bottom active region, a space for disposing the contact BC or BC′ for electrically connecting the bottom active region to the via may be required. Due to a structure of a vertical transistor, vertical transistors may be arranged densely, and thus, securing a space for a contact contacting the bottom active region may be an important element in designing the integrated circuit 10 having a vertical transistor.

A vertical transistor may refer to a transistor that includes a channel through which charges pass between two electrodes of the transistor in a stacking direction. (or a vertical direction) (e.g., the third direction in FIG. 1 ), As an example of a vertical transistor, a vertical field-effect transistor (VFET) or a vertical tunneling field-effect transistor (VTFET) may include or be formed by a bottom active region (or a bottom source/drain region), a channel region, and a top active region (or a top source/drain region) that are stacked on one another in the given order and superimposed in a stacking direction (e.g., the third direction in FIG. 1 ) and a gate line surrounding the channel region at a level between the source region and the drain region. In other words, the VFET may include a bottom active region, a gate line, and a top active region stacked in the given order and superimposed in a stacking direction (e.g., the third direction in FIG. 1 ) and a channel region penetrating the gate line and contacting the bottom active region and the top active region. A gate dielectric layer may be disposed between the channel region and the gate line to form a path of charges passing through the channel region or to block charges depending on a potential of the gate line. The channel region may also be referred to as a nanowire.

Hereinafter, some example embodiments of inventive concepts will be described with reference to the integrated circuit having the VFET as illustrated in FIG. 1 , but are not limited thereto.

As illustrated in FIG. 1 , a first node N 1 may be formed as a gate line in the integrated circuit 10 , and may be electrically connected to the via through the gate contact GC. A second node N 2 and a fourth node N 4 may each be formed as a top active region over a channel region and may be electrically connected to the via through the top contact TC. A third node N 3 and a fifth node N 5 may each be formed as a bottom active region under the channel region and may be electrically connected to the via through the bottom contact BC or BC′ in a portion not overlap the channel region in the third direction. A structure of the vertical transistor illustrated in FIG. 1 may be different from that of a planar transistor described later with reference to FIG. 3 . Thus, when the integrated circuit 10 having vertical transistors is designed by placing and routing transistors like in an integrated circuit having a planar transistor, the integrated circuit 10 may have an inefficient structure.

As described later below with reference to following drawings, an integrated circuit having a vertical transistor may be designed to have an efficient structure by being designed in consideration of a structure of the vertical transistor according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts. Thus, waste of space may be limited and/or prevented, routing may be facilitated, and design freedom may be improved. As a result, an integrated circuit with low cost and high performance may be designed.

FIG. 2 is a partial circuit diagram of an integrated circuit 20 according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts. As illustrated in FIG. 2 , the integrated circuit 20 may include a plurality of transistors TR 1 through TR 8 and each of the plurality of transistors TR 1 through TR 8 may be a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor.

Referring to FIG. 2 , each of three electrodes of a transistor, that is, a source, a drain, and a gate may be electrically interconnected with an electrode of another transistor. As described below with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 , such interconnections may be variously implemented in a layout of the integrated circuit 20 . For example, gates of a first transistor TR 1 and a fourth transistor TR 4 may be electrically connected to each other via a gate line, as illustrated in FIG. 2 . In the layout of the integrated circuit 20 , a structure of the interconnections may be determined according to an arrangement of the transistors TR 1 through TR 8 , and the arrangement of the transistors TR 1 through TR 8 may be determined according to the structure of the interconnections. Various layouts of an integrated circuit illustrated in the following drawings may correspond to the circuit diagram of the integrated circuit 20 of FIG. 2 . That is, nodes A through E in FIG. 2 may coincide with nodes illustrated in the following drawings showing layouts. For convenience of illustration, reference numerals of power nodes VDD and VSS are not illustrated in the drawings showing layouts, and some interconnections for forming some nodes may be omitted.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a layout of an integrated circuit 30 having a planar transistor, according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts. As illustrated in FIG. 3 , the layout of the integrated circuit 30 may include two active regions R 31 and R 32 that are separated from each other and extend in a second direction and a plurality of gate lines G 31 through G 34 extending in parallel in a first direction.

Referring to FIG. 3 , the transistors of the integrated circuit 20 of FIG. 2 may be implemented by using four continuously arranged gate lines G 31 through G 34 . That is, each of the gate lines G 31 to G 34 may be used to form a transistor in a region overlapping the active regions R 31 and R 32 . For example, the active regions R 31 and R 32 may be respectively doped to have different conductivity types, PMOS transistors may be formed by using the gate lines G 31 through G 34 overlapping the active region R 31 , and NMOS transistors may be formed by using the gate lines G 31 through G 34 overlapping the region R 32 .

Each of the first and fourth gate lines G 31 and G 34 may be used to integrally form a pair of PMOS transistor and NMOS transistor while the second and third gate lines G 32 and G 33 are separated from each other by a first cutting region CT 31 including an insulator. For example, the second gate line G 32 may be divided into two partial gate lines G 32 _ 1 and G 32 _ 2 by the first cutting region CT 31 , and the third gate line G 33 may be divided into two partial gate lines G 33 _ 1 and G 33 _ 2 by the first cutting region CT 31 . Gates of transistors (e.g., TR 2 and TR 7 ) connected to the node B of FIG. 2 may be respectively formed by the partial gate line G 32 _ 1 of the second gate line G 32 and the partial gate line G 33 _ 2 of the third gate line G 33 , and as illustrated in FIG. 3 , the partial gate lines G 32 _ 1 and G 33 _ 2 may be electrically connected to each other through contacts, vias, and a second metal pattern M 32 . Similarly, gates of transistors (e.g., TR 3 and TR 6 ) connected to the node C of FIG. 2 may be respectively formed by the partial gate line G 32 _ 2 of the second gate line G 32 and the partial gate line G 33 _ 1 of the third gate line G 33 , and as illustrated in FIG. 3 , the partial gate lines G 32 _ 2 and G 33 _ 1 may be electrically connected to each other through a contact C 31 .

The same as with regard the second and third gate lines G 32 and G 33 of FIG. 3 , the layout of the integrated circuit 30 may include a structure in which transistors (e.g., a pair of a PMOS transistor and an NMOS transistor) having gates connected to an identical node are formed by two adjacent gate lines or two gate lines having at least one gate located between the two gate lines instead of being formed by an integral gate line in the integrated circuit 30 , and such a structure may be referred to as a cross-coupled structure (referred to as a cross-coupled construct). Transistors arranged and connected to one another according to the cross-coupled structure may be referred to as cross-coupled transistors. The cross-coupled structure may be generated from a plurality of logic circuits, such as flip-flops, multiplexers, latches, etc., and an area of the layout may be reduced due to the cross-coupled structure. As a result, integration density of the integrated circuit may be increased.

As illustrated in FIG. 3 , due to the contact C 31 and the second metal pattern M 32 used to interconnect (or route) the cross-coupled transistors, a first metal pattern M 31 may be formed to bypass the second metal pattern M 32 as an interconnection to form the node E. That is, the cross-coupled structure may cause routing congestion, and thus there is a need to place transistors and route the placed transistors to reduce the routing congestion while having a reduced area. Referring to the following drawings, examples for effectively implementing a cross-coupled structure in a layout of an integrated circuit having a vertical transistor will be described according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts.

FIG. 4A is a plan view of a layout of an integrated circuit 40 having a vertical transistor, according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts, and FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view of the layout of the integrated circuit 40 of FIG. 4A taken along line X 4 -X 4 ′.

Referring to FIGS. 4A and 4B , the layout of the integrated circuit 40 may include first through fourth gate lines G 41 through G 44 extending in parallel in a first direction. The first through fourth gate lines G 41 through G 44 may form transistors in a region vertically overlapping top and bottom active regions (e.g., in a third direction of FIG. 4B ). For example, a seventh transistor TR 7 may be formed in a region where the second gate line G 42 , a first bottom active region B 41 , and a second top active region T 42 are all vertically overlapped (e.g., in the third direction), by a channel region penetrating the second gate line G 42 with a gate insulating film therebetween.

According to some example embodiments of inventive concepts, a cross-coupled structure may be formed by routing transistors using a top active region. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 4A , a first top active region T 41 may be over the first through third gate lines G 41 to G 43 , and the first top active region T 41 may form the fourth and third transistors TR 4 and TR 3 with the first and third gate lines G 41 and G 43 respectively and may be insulated from the second gate line G 42 . That is, as illustrated in FIG. 4B , the first top active region T 41 may be over the second gate line G 42 due to a structure of the vertical transistor, and accordingly, may cross the second gate line G 42 without interfering with the second gate line G 42 . Similarly, the second top active region T 42 may be over the second through fourth gate lines G 42 through G 44 , and the second and fourth gate lines G 42 and G 44 may respectively correspond to the seventh and eighth transistors TR 7 and TR 8 and may be insulated from the third gate line G 43 . Therefore, the third and fourth transistors TR 3 and TR 4 may be electrically connected to each other through the first top active region T 41 and the seventh and eighth transistors TR 7 and TR 8 may be electrically connected to each other through the second top active region T 42 . In the layout of FIG. 4A , the contact C 31 and the second metal pattern M 32 included in the layout of FIG. 3 may be omitted to connect partial gate line pairs forming a connection which intersects with a connection of other partial gate line pairs.

The vertical transistors may share bottom active regions as well as top active regions. That is, as illustrated in FIG. 4A , the second, third, sixth, and seventh transistors TR 2 , TR 3 , TR 6 , and TR 7 may share the first bottom active region B 41 forming the node E. Accordingly, a contact or a metal pattern for connecting the second, third, sixth, and seventh transistors TR 2 , TR 3 , TR 6 , and TR 7 to the node E may be omitted. As illustrated in FIG. 4A , the first bottom active region B 41 may be electrically connected to a via through a first contact C 41 disposed between the second and third gate lines G 32 and G 43 . The first contact C 41 may include the bottom contact BC of FIG. 1 and may include the bottom contact BC′ and the top contact TC of FIG. 1 overlapping each other. The integrated circuit 40 may include a third top active region T 43 , which may form a first transistor TR 1 with the first gate line G 41 and a second transistor TR 2 with the second gate line G 42 . The integrated circuit 40 may include a fourth top active region 144 , which may form a fifth transistor TR 5 with the fourth gate line G 44 and a sixth transistor TR 6 with the third gate line G 43 .

FIG. 5A is a plan view of a layout of an integrated circuit 50 having a vertical transistor, according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts, and FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view of the layout of the integrated circuit 50 of FIG. 5A taken along line X 5 -X 5 ′.

Referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B , the layout of the integrated circuit 50 may include first through fourth gate lines G 51 through G 54 extending in parallel in a first direction and the first through fourth gate lines G 51 through G 54 may form the transistors TR 1 through TR 8 in a region vertically overlapping all top and bottom active regions (e.g., in a third direction of FIG. 5B ) by a gate dielectric layer and a channel region. The transistors TR 1 through TR 8 may share a first bottom active region B 51 forming the node E. Transistors TR 3 and TR 4 may be connected to each other through a first top active region 151 . Transistors TR 7 and TR 8 may be connected to each other through a second top active region T 52 .

According to some example embodiments of inventive concepts, a bottom active region may be electrically connected to a via through a contact formed in a cutting region that removes a gate line. For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B , the layout of the integrated circuit 50 may include a first cutting region CT 51 , and the first bottom active region B 51 may be connected to a via through a first contact C 51 penetrating the first cutting region CT 51 and being over the first bottom active region B 51 . When compared to a planar transistor, a vertical transistor may occupy a relatively small area in a plane formed in first and second directions. Thus, vertical transistors may be densely arranged as illustrated in FIG. 5A . A cutting region (e.g., the first cutting region CT 51 ) may be disposed in a region where vertical transistors are not disposed and a bottom active region (e.g., the first bottom active region B 51 ) may be electrically connected to a via through a contact (e.g., the first contact C 51 ) that penetrates the cutting region.

FIG. 6A is a plan view of a layout of an integrated circuit 60 having a vertical transistor, according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts, and FIG. 6B is a cross-sectional view of the layout of the integrated circuit 60 of FIG. 6A taken along line X 6 -X 6 ′.

Referring to FIGS. 6A and 6B , the layout of the integrated circuit 60 may include first through fourth gate lines G 61 through G 64 extending in parallel in a first direction and the first through fourth gate lines G 61 through G 64 may form the transistors TR 1 through TR 8 in a region vertically overlapping top and bottom active regions (e.g., in a third direction of FIG. 6B ) by a gate dielectric layer and a channel region.

According to some example embodiments of inventive concepts, transistors formed by using an identical gate line may not share a bottom active region. For example, the layout of the integrated circuit 60 may include first and second bottom active regions B 61 and B 62 separated from each other, and the second and sixth transistors TR 2 and TR 6 may share the first bottom active region B 61 and the third and seventh transistors TR 3 and TR 7 may share the second bottom active region B 62 . Referring to FIG. 6A , the second and sixth transistors TR 2 and TR 6 sharing the first bottom active region B 61 may be PMOS transistors and the third and seventh transistors TR 2 and TR 7 sharing the second bottom active region B 62 may be NMOS transistors. That is, a bottom active region may be shared by transistors of an identical type.

Referring to FIG. 6A , the first and second bottom active regions B 61 and B 62 may be electrically connected to each other through first and second contacts C 61 and C 62 disposed between the second and third gate lines G 62 and G 63 and a first metal pattern M 61 . Referring to FIG. 6B , the first bottom active region B 61 may be electrically connected to the second bottom active region B 62 through the first contact C 61 , a via, the first metal pattern M 61 , a via, and the second contact C 62 . Each of the first and second contacts C 61 and C 62 may include bottom and top contacts, as illustrated in FIG. 6B . The integrated circuit 60 includes a first top active region T 61 and a second top active region T 62 . The integrated circuit 40 may include a third top active region T 63 , which may form a first transistor TR 1 with the first gate line G 61 and a second transistor TR 2 with the second gate line G 62 . The integrated circuit 60 may include a fourth top active region T 64 , which may form a fifth transistor TR 5 with the fourth gate line G 44 and a sixth transistor TR 6 with the third gate line G 63 .

FIG. 7A is a plan view of a layout of an integrated circuit 70 having a vertical transistor, according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts, and FIGS. 7B and 7C are example cross-sectional views of the layout of the integrated circuit 70 of FIG. 7A taken along line X 7 -X 7 ′.

Referring to FIG. 7A , the layout of the integrated circuit 70 may include first through fourth gate lines G 71 through G 74 extending in parallel in a first direction and the first through fourth gate lines G 71 through G 74 may form the transistors TR 1 through TR 8 in a region vertically overlapping top and bottom active regions (e.g., in a third direction of FIG. 7B ) by a gate dielectric layer and a channel region. The layout of the integrated circuit 70 of FIG. 7A may include a first cutting region CT 71 for separating the second and third gate lines G 72 and G 73 from each other similarly to the layout of the integrated circuit 30 of FIG. 3 .

Each of the first and fourth gate lines G 71 and G 74 may be used to integrally form pairs of PMOS transistors (e.g., TR 1 and TR 5 ) and NMOS transistors (e.g., TR 4 and TR 8 ), and the second and third gate lines G 72 and G 73 may be separated from each other by the first cutting region CT 71 including an insulator. For example, the first cutting region CT 71 may divide (or remove) a part of the second gate line G 72 and a part of the third gate lines G 73 such that the second gate line G 72 and the third gate line G 73 do not extend into the first cutting region. For example, the second gate line G 72 may be divided into two partial gate lines G 72 _ 1 and G 72 _ 2 by the first cutting region CT 71 , and the third gate line G 73 may be divided into two partial gate lines G 73 _ 1 and G 73 _ 2 by the first cutting region CT 71 . As a result, the partial gate lines G 72 _ 1 and G 72 _ 1 may be aligned in a first direction and the partial gate lines G 73 _ 1 and G 73 _ 2 may also be aligned in a first direction. The gates of the transistors (e.g., TR 2 and TR 7 ) connected to the node B of FIG. 2 may include the partial gate line G 72 _ 1 of the second gate line G 72 and a third gate line G 73 _ 2 of the third gate line G 73 , and as illustrated in FIG. 7A , the partial gate lines G 72 _ 1 and G 73 _ 2 may be electrically connected to each other through a first contact C 71 . The first contact C 71 may be referred to as a first connection structure. Similarly, the gates of the transistors TR 3 and TR 6 ) connected to the node C of FIG. 2 may be respectively formed by the partial gate line G 72 _ 2 of the second gate line G 72 and the partial gate line G 73 _ 1 of the third gate line G 73 , and as illustrated in FIG. 7A , the partial gate lines G 72 _ 2 and G 73 _ 1 may be electrically connected to each other through contacts, vias, and a first metal pattern M 71 . The first metal pattern M 71 may be referred to as a second connection structure.

The second, third, sixth, and seventh transistors TR 2 , TR 3 , TR 6 , and TR 7 may share a first bottom active region B 71 forming the node E. Accordingly, a contact or a metal pattern for connecting the second, third, sixth, and seventh transistors TR 2 , TR 3 , TR 6 , and TR 7 to the node E may be omitted. As illustrated in FIG. 7A , the first bottom active region 1371 may be electrically connected to a via through a second contact C 72 disposed between the second and third gate lines G 72 and G 73 .

Referring to FIG. 7B , the first contact C 71 forming the node B and connecting the partial gate lines G 72 _ 1 and G 73 _ 2 may have the same height (e.g., a length in the third direction) as a contact electrically connecting the second or third gate line G 72 or G 73 with the via. That is, the first contact C 71 may be formed through a single patterning process.

Referring to FIG. 7C , the first contact C 71 forming the node B and connecting the partial gate lines G 72 _ 1 and G 73 _ 2 may include a contact C 71 a electrically connecting a top active region to the via and a contact C 71 b electrically connecting the contact C 71 a to the gate lines. That is, the first contact C 71 may be formed through a patterning process for forming the contact C 71 b and a patterning process for forming the contact C 71 a.

FIG. 8A is a plan view of a layout of an integrated circuit 80 having a vertical transistor, according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts, and FIG. 8B is a cross-sectional view of the layout of the integrated circuit 80 of FIG. 8A taken along line X 8 -X 8 ′.

Referring to FIG. 8A , the layout of the integrated circuit 80 may include first through fourth gate lines G 81 through G 84 extending in parallel in a first direction and the first through fourth gate lines G 81 through G 84 may form the transistors TR 1 through TR 8 in a region vertically overlapping top and bottom active regions (e.g., in a third direction of FIG. 8B ) by a gate dielectric layer and a channel region. The layout of the integrated circuit 80 of FIG. 8A may include a first cutting region CT 81 for separating the second and third gate lines G 82 and G 83 from each other similarly to the layout of the integrated circuit 70 of FIGS. 7A and 7B .

According to some example embodiments of inventive concepts, a contact for electrically connecting partial gate lines may not be disposed between the transistors. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 8A , a partial gate line G 82 _ 2 of the second gate line G 82 and a partial gate line G 83 _ 1 of the third gate line G 83 may be electrically connected to each other through contacts, vias, and a first metal pattern M 81 while a partial gate line G 82 _ 1 of the second gate line G 82 and a partial gate line G 83 _ 2 of the third gate line G 83 are electrically connected to each other through a first contact C 81 . As illustrated in FIGS. 8A and 8B , a second contact C 82 for contacting the node C to the partial gate line G 83 _ 1 of the third gate line G 83 may not be disposed between the sixth transistor TR 6 and the seventh transistor TR 7 , and thus the second contact C 82 may be disposed farther from a second active region T 82 than a first active region T 81 . As described above, when compared to a planar transistor, a vertical transistor may occupy a relatively small area in a plane formed in first and second directions, and accordingly, as illustrated in FIGS. 8A and 8B , a contact contacting a gate line may not be disposed between pairs of PMOS transistors and NMOS transistors and routing congestion between the pairs of PMOS transistors and NMOS transistors may be reduced. The first contact C 81 may be referred to as a first connection structure. The first metal pattern M 81 may be referred to as a second connection structure.

FIG. 9A is a plan view of a layout of an integrated circuit 90 having a vertical transistor, according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts, and FIG. 9B is a cross-sectional view of the layout of the integrated circuit 90 of FIG. 9A taken along line X 9 -X 9 ′.

Referring to FIG. 9A , the layout of the integrated circuit 90 may include first through fourth gate lines G 91 through G 94 extending in parallel in a first direction and the first through fourth gate lines G 91 through G 94 may be used to form the transistors TR 1 through TR 8 in a region vertically overlapping top and bottom active regions (e.g., in a third direction of FIG. 9B ) by a gate dielectric layer and a channel region. The layout of the integrated circuit 90 of FIG. 9A may include a first cutting region CT 91 for separating the second and third gate lines G 92 and G 93 from each other similarly to the layout of the integrated circuit 70 of FIGS. 7A and 7B . The integrated circuit 90 includes a first top active region 91 and a second top active region T 92 .

According to some example embodiments of inventive concepts, a top active region may be used to electrically connect partial gate lines. That is, a top active region may be used to electrically connect gates of cross-coupled transistors. For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 9A and 9B , a partial gate line G 92 _ 1 of the second gate line G 92 and a partial gate line G 93 _ 2 of the third gate line G 93 may be connected to a third top active region T 93 . The third top active region T 93 may be electrically connected to the partial gate lines G 92 _ 1 and G 93 _ 2 through a contact. For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 9A and 9B , the partial gate line G 92 _ 1 of the second gate line G 92 may be electrically connected to the third top active region T 93 through a first contact C 91 .

FIG. 10A is a plan view of a layout of an integrated circuit 100 having a vertical transistor, according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts, and FIG. 10B is a cross-sectional view of the layout of the integrated circuit 100 of FIG. 10A taken along line X 10 -X 10 ′.

Referring to FIG. 10A , the layout of the integrated circuit 100 may include first through fourth gate lines G 101 through G 104 extending in parallel in a first direction and the first through fourth gate lines G 101 through G 104 may be used to form the transistors TR 1 through TR 8 in a region vertically overlapping top and bottom active regions (e.g., in a third direction of FIG. 10B ) by a gate dielectric layer and a channel region. A partial gate line G 102 _ 1 of the second gate line G 102 and a partial gate line G 103 _ 2 of the third gate line G 103 may be electrically connected to each other through a third top active region T 103 similarly to the layout of the integrated circuit 90 of FIGS. 9A and 9B . In addition, the layout of the integrated circuit 100 of FIG. 10A may include first and second bottom active regions B 101 and B 102 separated from each other. The integrated circuit 100 includes a first top active region T 101 and a second top active region T 102 .

According to some example embodiments of inventive concepts, a channel region may be used to electrically connect a gate line and a top active region. That is, a gate line and a top active region may be electrically connected to each other by a channel region that contacts the gate line (e.g., without forming a gate dielectric layer between the gate line and the channel region) and penetrates through the gate line. For example, referring to FIGS. 10A and 10B , a first channel region H 101 contacting and penetrating the partial gate line G 102 _ 1 of the second gate line G 102 may be disposed, and a second channel region H 102 contacting and penetrating the partial gate line G 103 _ 2 of the third gate line G 103 may be disposed. Although FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate that the first and second channel regions H 101 and H 102 have a smaller cross-sectional area than channel regions forming transistors on a plane formed by first and second directions, the inventive concept is not limited thereto.

A channel region for electrically connecting a gate line and a top active region may not vertically overlap a bottom active region. That is, the bottom active region under the channel region may be removed to limit and/or prevent unnecessary electrical connection with the bottom active region. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 10B , a bottom active region may not be disposed under the first channel region H 101 electrically connecting the partial gate line G 102 _ 1 of the second gate line G 102 and the third top active region T 103 .

FIG. 11A is a plan view of a layout of an integrated circuit 110 having a vertical transistor, according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts, and FIGS. 11B and 11C are cross-sectional views of the layout of FIG. 11A taken along line X 11 b -X 11 b ′ and line X 11 c -X 11 c′.

Referring to FIG. 11A , the layout of the integrated circuit 110 may include first through fourth gate lines G 111 through G 114 extending in parallel in a first direction and the first through fourth gate lines G 111 through G 114 may be used to form the transistors TR 1 through TR 8 in a region vertically overlapping top and bottom active regions (e.g., in a third direction of FIG. 11B ) by a gate dielectric layer and a channel region. The layout of the integrated circuit 110 of FIG. 11A may include a first cutting region CT 111 for separating the second and third gate lines G 112 and G 113 from each other similarly to the layout of the integrated circuit 70 of FIGS. 7A and 7B . In addition, the layout of the integrated circuit 110 of FIG. 11A may include first and second bottom active regions B 111 and B 112 separated from each other. The integrated circuit 110 includes a plurality of top active regions (e.g., T 111 , T 112 , T 113 , and T 114 ).

According to some example embodiments of inventive concepts, a bottom active region may be used to electrically connect partial gate lines. That is, a bottom active region may be used to electrically connect gates of cross-coupled transistors. For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 11A and 11B , a partial gate line G 112 _ 1 of the second gate line G 112 and a partial gate line G 113 _ 2 of the third gate line G 113 may be connected to a third bottom active region B 113 .

A bottom active region may be electrically connected to gate lines through a channel region similarly to a top active region used to connect gate lines. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 11B , the partial gate line G 112 _ 1 of the second gate line G 112 and the third bottom active region B 113 may be electrically connected to each other through a first channel region H 111 . A top active region on a channel region may be removed to limit and/or prevent unnecessary electrical connection with the top active region. That is, as illustrated in FIG. 11B , a top active region may not be over the first channel region H 111 . The integrated circuit 120 includes a plurality of top active regions (e.g., T 121 , T 122 , T 123 , T 124 , and T 125 ).

A bottom active region may be electrically connected to gate lines through a contact similarly to a top active region used to connect gate lines. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 11C , the partial gate line G 113 _ 2 of the third gate line G 113 and the third bottom active region B 113 may be electrically connected to each other through a third contact C 113 .

FIG. 12A is a plan view of a layout of an integrated circuit 120 having a vertical transistor, according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts, FIG. 12B is a perspective view of a part of the layout of the integrated circuit 120 of FIG. 12A , and FIGS. 12C through 12E are cross-sectional views of the layout of the integrated circuit 120 of FIG. 12A taken along line X 12 c -X 12 c ′, line X 12 d -X 12 d ′, and line X 12 e -X 12 e ′, respectively.

Referring to FIG. 12A , the layout of the integrated circuit 120 may include first through fourth gate lines G 121 through GI 24 extending in parallel in a first direction and the first through fourth gate lines G 121 through G 124 may form the transistors TR 1 through TR 8 in a region vertically overlapping top and bottom active regions (e.g., in a third direction of FIG. 12B ) by a gate dielectric layer and a channel region. The layout of the integrated circuit 120 of FIG. 12A may include a first cutting region CT 121 for separating the second and third gate lines G 122 and G 123 from each other similarly to the layout of the integrated circuit 70 of FIGS. 7A and 7B . In addition, the layout of the integrated circuit 120 of FIG. 12A may include first and second bottom active regions B 121 and B 122 separated from each other.

According to some example embodiments of inventive concepts, a top active region and a bottom active region may be used together to electrically connect partial gate lines. That is, a top active region and a bottom active region may be used together to electrically connect gates of cross-coupled transistors. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 12A , a partial gate line G 122 _ 2 of the second gate line G 122 and a partial gate line G 133 _ 2 of a third gate line G 133 may be electrically connected to each other through a third top active region T 123 , and the partial gate line G 122 _ 2 of the second gate line G 122 and a partial gate line G 133 _ 1 of the third gate line G 133 may be electrically connected to each other through a third bottom active region B 123 .

Referring to the perspective view of FIG. 12B , the third bottom active region B 123 , partial gate lines G 122 _ 1 , G 122 _ 2 , G 123 _ 1 , and G 123 _ 2 , and the third top active region T 123 may be stacked on one another in the given order in a third direction. Since the third bottom active region B 123 and the third top active region T 123 are formed at different levels (e.g., heights in the third direction), respectively, the third bottom active region B 123 and the third top active region T 123 may be used to independently route gate lines (or partial gate lines). As illustrated in FIG. 12D , the third bottom active region B 123 and the third top active region may be separated from each other in a region where the third bottom active region B 123 and the third top active region T 123 are overlapped with each other in the third direction. Furthermore, as illustrated in FIG. 12B , gate lines, a top and bottom active regions for connecting the gate lines may not be vertically overlapped (e.g., in the third direction).

A top active region and a bottom active region may be electrically connected to gate lines through a channel region. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 12C , the partial gate line G 122 _ 1 of the second gate line G 122 and the third bottom active region B 123 may be electrically connected to each other through a first channel region H 121 , and a top active region on the first channel region H 121 may be removed to limit and/or prevent unnecessary electrical connection with the top active region. In addition, the partial gate line G 122 _ 2 of the second gate line G 122 and the third top active region T 123 may be electrically connected to each other through a second channel region H 122 , and a bottom active region under the second channel region H 122 may be removed to limit and/or prevent unnecessary electrical connection with the bottom active region.

Similarly, as illustrated in FIG. 12E , the partial gate line G 123 _ 1 of the third gate line G 123 and the third top active region T 123 may be electrically connected to each other through a third channel region H 123 , and a bottom active region under the third channel region H 123 may be removed to limit and/or prevent unnecessary electrical connection with the bottom active region. In addition, the partial gate line G 123 _ 2 of the third gate line G 123 and the third bottom active region B 123 may be electrically connected to each other through a fourth channel region H 124 , and a top active region on the fourth channel region H 124 may be removed to limit and/or prevent unnecessary electrical connection with the top active region.

FIG. 13A is a plan view of a layout of an integrated circuit 130 having a vertical transistor, according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts, and FIG. 13B is a cross-sectional view of the layout of the integrated circuit 130 of FIG. 13A taken along line X 13 -X 13 ′.

Referring to FIG. 13A , the layout of the integrated circuit 130 may include first through fourth gate lines G 131 through G 134 extending in parallel in a first direction and the first through fourth gate lines G 131 through G 134 may form the transistors TR 1 through TR 8 in a region vertically overlapping top and bottom active regions (e.g., in a third direction of FIG. 13B ) by a gate dielectric layer and a channel region. The layout of the integrated circuit 130 of FIG. 13A may include a first cutting region CT 131 for separating the second and third gate lines G 132 and G 133 from each other similarly to the layout of the integrated circuit 70 of FIGS. 7A and 7B , wherein a first directional length of the first cutting region CT 131 in FIG. 13A may be equal to or greater than that of the first cutting region CT 71 of FIG. 7A . For example, the first cutting region CT 131 may divide (or remove) a part of the second gate line G 132 and a part of the third gate lines G 133 such that the second gate line G 132 and the third gate line G 133 do not extend into the first cutting region CT 131 .

According to some example embodiments of inventive concepts, a contact contacting a bottom active region may be disposed in a cutting region disposed to form a cross-coupled structure, e.g., a region between a region including partial gate lines G 132 _ 1 and G 133 _ 1 and a region including partial gate lines G 132 _ 2 and G 133 _ 2 . That is, a cutting region may be used for electrical connection between a bottom active region and a via as well as insulation of gate lines for a cross-coupled structure. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 13A , the second gate line G 132 may be divided into the two partial gate lines G 132 _ 1 and G 132 _ 2 by the first cutting region CT 131 , and the third gate line G 133 may be divided into the two partial gate lines G 133 _ 1 and G 133 _ 2 by the first cutting region CT 131 . A first bottom active region B 131 shared by the transistors TR 2 , TR 3 , TR 6 , and TR 7 formed by the partial gate lines G 132 _ 1 , G 132 _ 2 , G 133 _ 1 and G 133 _ 2 may be electrically connected to the via through a second contact C 132 , and as illustrated in FIG. 13B , the second contact C 132 may vertically penetrate the first cutting region CT 131 (e.g., in the third direction).

FIG. 14A is a plan view of a layout of an integrated circuit 140 having a vertical transistor, according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts, and FIG. 14B is a cross-sectional view of the layout of the integrated circuit 140 of FIG. 14A taken along line X 14 -X 14 ′.

Referring to FIG. 14A , the layout of the integrated circuit 140 may include first through fifth gate lines G 141 through G 145 extending in parallel in a first direction and the first, second, fourth, and fifth gate lines G 141 , G 142 , G 144 , and G 145 may form the transistors TR 1 through TR 8 in a region vertically overlapping top and bottom active regions (e.g., in a third direction of FIG. 14B ) by a gate dielectric layer and a channel region. A third gate line G 143 may be disposed between the second and fourth gate lines G 142 and G 144 forming a transistor as a dummy gate line. Similar to the layout of the integrated circuit 40 of FIG. 4A , the layout of the integrated circuit 140 of FIG. 14A may form a cross-coupled structure by a first top active region T 141 across the second gate line G 142 and a second top active region T 141 across the fourth gate line G 144 .

According to some example embodiments of inventive concepts, a cutting region that removes a part of a dummy gate line may be disposed, and a bottom active region may be electrically connected to a via through a contact penetrating the cutting region. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 14A , the third gate line G 143 which is a dummy gate line may be divided into partial gate lines G 143 _ 1 and G 143 _ 2 by a first cutting region CT 141 . Referring to FIG. 14B , a first contact C 141 may be on a first bottom active region B 141 , and may electrically connect the first bottom active region B 141 to the via by vertically penetrating the first cutting region CT 141 (e.g., in the third direction). The integrated circuit 140 includes a second top active region T 142 .

FIG. 15A is a plan view of a layout of an integrated circuit 150 having a vertical transistor, according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts, and FIG. 15B is a cross-sectional view of the layout of the integrated circuit 150 of FIG. 15A taken along line X 15 -X 15 ′.

Referring to FIG. 15A , the layout of the integrated circuit 150 may include first through fifth gate lines G 151 through G 155 extending in parallel in a first direction and the first, second, fourth, and fifth gate lines G 151 , G 152 , G 154 , and G 155 may form the transistors TR 1 through TR 8 in a region vertically overlapping top and bottom active regions (e.g., in a third direction of FIG. 15B ) by a gate dielectric layer and a channel region. A third gate line G 153 may be disposed between the second and fourth gate lines G 152 and G 154 forming a transistor as a dummy gate line. The layout of the integrated circuit 150 of FIG. 15A may include a first cutting region CT 151 for separating the second through fourth gate lines G 152 through G 154 from each other similarly to the layout of the integrated circuit 70 of FIGS. 7A and 7B . The first cutting region CT 151 may divide (or remove) a part of the second through fourth gate lines G 152 through G 154 such that the second through fourth gate lines G 152 through G 154 do not extend into the first cutting region CT 151 .

According to some example embodiments of inventive concepts, in order to electrically connect a bottom active region to a via, a channel region penetrating a dummy gate line may be used and a contact electrically connecting the dummy gate line to the via may be used. For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 15A and 15B , the third gate line G 153 which is a dummy gate line may be divided into partial gate lines G 153 _ 1 and G 153 _ 2 by the first cutting region CT 151 , and first and second channel regions H 151 and H 152 respectively penetrating the partial gate lines G 153 _ 1 and G 153 _ 2 of the third gate line G 153 may be over the first bottom active region B 151 . As described above with reference to FIG. 12B and the like, a gate dielectric layer between the first and second channel regions H 151 and H 152 and the partial gate lines G 153 _ 1 and G 153 _ 2 of the third gate line G 153 may be removed. Thus, the first bottom active region B 151 and the partial gate lines G 153 _ 1 and G 153 _ 2 of the third gate line G 153 may have an identical potential. As a result, as illustrated in FIGS. 15A and 15B , the first bottom active region B 151 may be electrically connected to the via by a contact electrically connecting gate lines to the via, that is, a second contact C 152 . Thus, a layout of a cross-coupled structure may be implemented by using a dummy gate line without waste of area for electrically connecting the first bottom active region B 151 to the via.

FIG. 16A is a plan view of a layout of an integrated circuit 160 having a vertical transistor, according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts, and FIG. 16B is a cross-sectional view of the layout of the integrated circuit 160 of FIG. 16A taken along line X 16 -X 16 ′.

Referring to FIG. 16A , the layout of the integrated circuit 160 may include first through fifth gate lines G 161 through G 165 extending in parallel in a first direction and the first through fifth gate lines G 161 through G 165 may form the transistors TR 1 through TR 8 in a region vertically overlapping top and bottom active regions (e.g., in a third direction of FIG. 16B ) by a gate dielectric layer and a channel region. In the layout 160 of the integrated circuit 160 of FIG. 16A , the second and fourth gate lines G 162 and G 164 may each form only one transistor and may be separated from each other by the first and second cut regions CT 161 and CT 162 , respectively.

Different from the layouts of the integrated circuits illustrated in FIGS. 7A and 7B and the like, a cross-coupled structure may be implemented by interconnection across one gate line. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 16A , the third and sixth transistors TR 3 and TR 6 connected to the node C may include the third gate line G 163 which is not cut, and the second and seventh transistors TR 2 and TR 7 connected to the node B may include the second and fourth gate lines G 162 and G 164 , respectively. The second and fourth gate lines G 162 and G 164 may be separated into the partial gate lines G 162 _ 1 , G 162 _ 2 , G 164 _ 1 , and G 164 _ 2 by the first and second cutting regions CT 161 and CT 162 , and the partial gate line G 162 _ 1 of the second gate line G 162 forming the second transistor TR 2 and the partial gate line G 164 _ 2 of the fourth gate line G 164 forming the seventh transistor TR 7 may be electrically connected to a first contact C 161 . Thus, the partial gate lines G 162 _ 2 and G 164 _ 1 , which are dummy gate lines, may be generated. The integrated circuit 160 includes a first top active region T 161 and a second top active region T 162 .

Similar to the layout of the integrated circuit 150 of FIGS. 15A and 15B , a channel region penetrating a dummy gate line may be used to electrically connect a bottom active region to a via. Furthermore, a contact that electrically connects the channel region to the via may also be used. For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 16A and 16B , a first channel region H 161 penetrating the partial gate line G 162 _ 2 , which is a dummy gate line, may be disposed to contact on a first bottom active region B 161 . A second contact C 162 may be over the first channel region H 161 so that the first bottom active region B 161 may be electrically connected to the via through the first channel region H 161 and the second contact C 162 . Thus, a layout of a cross-coupled structure may be implemented by using a dummy gate line without waste of area for electrically connecting the first bottom active region B 161 to the via.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart of a method of designing a layout of an integrated circuit having a vertical transistor, according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts. As illustrated in FIG. 17 , a standard cell library D 50 may include information about a plurality of standard cells, such as function information, characteristic information, layout information, and the like, and a layout of the standard cells may include a cross-coupled structure according to the above-described some example embodiments of inventive concepts.

Referring to FIG. 17 , in operation S 10 , a logic synthesis operation for generating netlist data D 20 from RTL data D 10 may be performed. For example, a semiconductor design tool (for example, a logic synthesis tool) may be used to generate the netlist data D 20 including a bitstream or netlist, from the RTL data D 10 written in a VHDL and an HDL like Verilog, by performing the logic synthesis operation with reference to the standard cell library D 50 . According to some example embodiments of inventive concepts, the semiconductor design tool, with reference to the standard cell library D 50 including characteristic information of standard cells including a vertical transistor in a logic synthesis process, may select standard cells including a vertical transistor and include an instance of the standard cells in an integrated circuit.

In operation S 20 , a place and routing (P&R) operation for generating layout data D 30 from the netlist data D 20 may be performed. For example, the semiconductor design tool (for example, a P&R tool) may be used to generate the layout data D 30 having a format like GDSII, from the netlist data D 20 , by placing and routing a plurality of standard cells with reference to the standard cell library D 50 . According to some example embodiments of inventive concepts, the semiconductor design tool may place and route a standard cell including a vertical transistor and a standard cell including a cross-coupled structure as a standard cell. Accordingly, the semiconductor design tool may be used to perform a routing operation with a high degree of freedom. As a result, performance of an integrated circuit according to a layout generated by using the semiconductor design tool may be improved.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram of a system-on-chip (SoC) 200 according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts. The SoC 200 , which is a semiconductor device, may include an integrated circuit according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts. The SoC 200 implements complicated function blocks (for example, intellectual property (IP)) exhibiting various functions therein. A layout of a cross-coupled structure including a vertical transistor according to some example embodiments of inventive concepts may be included in each of the function blocks of the SoC 200 , and thus, performance of the SoC 200 may be improved.

Referring to FIG. 18 , the SoC 200 may include a modem 220 , a display controller 230 , a memory 240 , an external memory controller 250 , a central processing unit (CPU) 260 , a transaction unit 270 , a power management integrated circuit (PMIC) 280 , and a graphics processing unit (GPU) 290 , and the function blocks of the SoC 200 may communicate with each other via a system bus 210 .

The CPU 260 generally controlling operations of the SoC 200 may control operations of the other function blocks 220 , 230 , 240 , 250 , 270 , 280 , and 290 . The modem 220 may demodulate a signal received from outside the SoC 200 , or may modulate a signal generated in the SoC 200 and transmit the signal outside. The external memory controller 250 may control transmitting and receiving operations of data to/from an external memory device connected to the SoC 200 . For example, a program and/or data stored in the external memory device may be provided to the CPU 260 or GPU 290 under the control of the external memory controller 250 . The GPU 290 may execute program instructions related to graphics processing. The GPU 290 may receive graphic data through the external memory controller 250 , and may also transmit the graphic data processed by the GPU 290 outside the SoC 200 through the external memory controller 250 . The transaction unit 270 may monitor data transaction of each of the function blocks, and the PMIC 280 may control power supplied to each of the function blocks according to control of the transaction unit 270 . The display controller 230 may control a display (or a display device) outside the SoC 200 and may transmit data generated in the SoC 200 to the display.

The memory 240 may include, as a nonvolatile memory, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a flash memory, a phase change random access memory (PRAM), a resistive random access memory (RRAM), a nano-floating gate memory (NFGM), a polymer random access memory (PoRAM), a magnetic random access memory (MRAM), or a ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM), and may include, as a volatile memory, a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), a static RAM (SRAM), a mobile DRAM, a double data rate synchronous DRAM (DDR SDRAM), a low power DDR (LPDDR), a graphic DDR (GDDR) SDRAM, or a rambus DRAM (RDRAM).

While some example embodiments of inventive concepts have been described, it will be understood that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the following claims.