The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 18, 2025
Filed:
May. 01, 2024
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Fredrick Fishburn, Aptos, CA (US);
Hao Zhang, San Diego, CA (US);
Zhijun Chen, San Jose, CA (US);
Johanes Swenberg, Los Gatos, CA (US);
Christopher S. Olsen, Fremont, CA (US);
Hansel Lo, San Jose, CA (US);
Kristopher Mikael Koskela, San Jose, CA (US);
Hoi-Sung Chung, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Chang Seok Kang, San Jose, CA (US);
Raghuveer Satya Makala, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
APPLIED MATERIALS, INC., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A method for forming an oxide layer includes forming a protective interlayer oxide on sidewalls of a trench formed on a substrate, forming a silicon nitride layer on the protective interlayer oxide, by a plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PE ALD) process utilizing nitrogen-containing process gas, the silicon nitride layer having a concentration gradient of nitrogen varying from high concentration away from the protective interlayer oxide to low concentration near the protective interlayer oxide, and performing a conversion process to oxidize the formed silicon nitride layer to at least partially convert the formed silicon nitride layer to a silicon oxide layer.