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. 07, 2006
Filed:
Jul. 29, 2004
Steven M. Smith, Gilbert, AZ (US);
Diana J. Convey, Laveen, AZ (US);
Andy E. Hooper, Phoenix, AZ (US);
Yi Wei, Chandler, AZ (US);
Steven M. Smith, Gilbert, AZ (US);
Diana J. Convey, Laveen, AZ (US);
Andy E. Hooper, Phoenix, AZ (US);
Yi Wei, Chandler, AZ (US);
Freescale Semiconductor, Inc., Austin, TX (US);
Abstract
A method for preparing a semiconductor substrate surface () for semiconductor device fabrication, includes providing a semiconductor substrate () having a pure Ge surface layer () or a Ge-containing surface layer (), such as SiGe. The semiconductor substrate () is cleaned using a first oxygen plasma process () to remove foreign matter () from the surface () of the substrate (). The substrate surface () is next immersed in a hydrochloric acid solution () to remove additional foreign matter () from the surface () of the substrate (). The immersion step is followed by a second oxygen plasma etch process (), passivate the surface with a passivation layer (), and provide for an atomically smooth surface for subsequent epitaxial or gate dielectric growth.