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:
May. 12, 2009
Filed:
Oct. 30, 2007
Craig R. Metzner, Fremont, CA (US);
Shreyas S. Kher, Campbell, CA (US);
Shixue Han, Milpitas, CA (US);
Craig R. Metzner, Fremont, CA (US);
Shreyas S. Kher, Campbell, CA (US);
Shixue Han, Milpitas, CA (US);
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A method of forming a dielectric stack on a pre-treated surface. The method comprises pre-cleaning a semiconductor wafer to remove native oxide, such as by applying hydrofluoric acid to form an HF-last surface, pre-treating the HF-last surface with ozonated deionized water, forming a dielectric stack on the pre-treated surface and providing a flow of NHin a process zone surrounding the wafer. Alternately, the method includes pre-treating the HF-last surface with NH, forming the stack after the pre-treating, and providing a flow of Nin a process zone surrounding the wafer after the forming. The method also includes pre-treating the HF-last surface using an in-situ steam generation process, forming the stack on the pre-treated surface, and annealing the wafer after the forming. The pre-treating includes providing an inert gas flow in a process zone surrounding the HF-last surface, reacting hydrogen with an oxidizer in the process zone for a very short duration, and providing an inert gas flew in the process zone after the reacting.