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:
Jul. 05, 2011
Filed:
Mar. 29, 2010
Christopher S. Olsen, Fremont, CA (US);
Johanes Swenberg, Los Gatos, CA (US);
Udayan Ganguly, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Theresa Kramer Guarini, San Jose, CA (US);
Yonah Cho, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Christopher S. Olsen, Fremont, CA (US);
Johanes Swenberg, Los Gatos, CA (US);
Udayan Ganguly, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Theresa Kramer Guarini, San Jose, CA (US);
Yonah Cho, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
Methods of forming semiconductor devices are provided herein. In some embodiments, a method of forming a semiconductor device may include providing a substrate having an oxide surface and a silicon surface; forming a nitrogen-containing layer on exposed portions of both the oxide and silicon surfaces; and oxidizing the nitrogen-containing layer to selectively remove the nitrogen-containing layer from atop the oxide surface. In some embodiments, an oxide layer is formed atop a remaining portion of the nitrogen-containing layer formed on the silicon feature. In some embodiments, the oxide surface is an exposed surface of a shallow trench isolate region (STI) disposed adjacent to one or more floating gates of a semiconductor device. In some embodiments, the silicon surface is an exposed surface of a silicon or polysilicon floating gate of a semiconductor device.