Mattson Technology, Inc

Georg Roters

Zsolt Nenyei

Ashok K Sinha

Stephen E Savas

Paul Janis Timans

Ignaz Eisele

Wilfried Lerch

Bruce W Peuse

Guangcai Xing

Sing-Pin Tay

Alexandra Ludsteck

Jörg Schulze

Waltraud Dietl

Yaozhi Hu

Plasma assisted low temperature radical oxidation is described. The oxidation is selective to metals or metal oxides that may be present in addition to the silicon being oxidized. Selectivity is achieved by proper selection of process parameters, mainly the ratio of H2 to O2 gas. The process window may be enlarged by injecting H2O steam into the plasma, thereby enabling oxidation of silicon in the presence of TiN and W, at relatively low temperatures. Selective oxidation is improved by the use of an apparatus having remote plasma and flowing radicals onto the substrate, but blocking ions from reaching the substrate.

Method and apparatus for growing thin oxide films on silicon while minimizing impact on existing structures

A process for forming and/or modifying dielectric films on semiconductor substrates is disclosed. According to the present invention, a semiconductor wafer is exposed to a process gas containing a reactive component. The temperature to which the semiconductor wafer is heated and the partial pressure of the reactive component are selected so that, sometime during the process, diffusion of the reactive components occurs through the dielectric film to the film/semiconductor substrate interface. Further, diffusion also occurs of semiconductor atoms through the dielectric film to an exterior surface of the film. The process of the present invention has been found well suited to forming and/or modifying very thin dielectric films, such as films having a thickness of less than 8 nm.

Method of forming and/or modifying a dielectric film on a semiconductor surface

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Duelmen, Germany

Georg Roters