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:
Aug. 26, 2003
Filed:
Jun. 20, 2001
Applicant:
Inventors:
Hiroaki Niimi, Richardson, TX (US);
Sunil Hattangady, McKinney, TX (US);
Rajesh Khamankar, Coppell, TX (US);
Assignee:
Texas Instruments Incorporated, Dallas, TX (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H07L 2/1469 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
H07L 2/1469 ;
Abstract
A method of forming an ultra-thin dielectric layer, including the steps of: providing a substrate having a semiconductor surface; forming an oxygen-containing layer on the semiconductor surface; exposing the oxygen-containing layer to a nitrogen-containing plasma to create a uniform nitrogen distribution throughout the oxygen-containing layer; and re-oxidizing and annealing the layer to stabilize the nitrogen distribution, heal plasma-induced damage, and reduce interfacial defect density.