Loading patent…
AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorsBencherki Mebarki, Joung Joo Lee, Yi Xu, Yu Lei, Xianmin Tang, Kelvin Chan, Alexander Jansen, Philip A. Kraus
Estimating the term…
Method for selectively oxidizing the dielectric surface of a substrate surface comprising a dielectric surface and a metal surface are discussed. Method for cleaning a substrate surface comprising a dielectric surface and a metal surface are also discussed. The disclosed methods oxidize the dielectric surface and/or clean the substrate surface using a plasma generated from hydrogen gas and oxygen gas. The disclosed method may be performed in a single step without the use of separate competing oxidation and reduction reactions. The disclosed methods may be performed at a constant temperature and/or within a single processing chamber.
A method comprising exposing a substrate surface comprising a damaged dielectric surface and a reduced metal surface to a plasma formed from a plasma gas comprising hydrogen gas and oxygen gas to oxidize the damaged dielectric surface without substantially oxidizing the reduced metal surface,
A method of selectively oxidizing a dielectric surface, the method comprising exposing a substrate surface comprising a silicon nitride surface and a tungsten surface to a microwave plasma formed from a plasma gas comprising hydrogen gas, oxygen gas and argon to selectively oxidize the silicon nitride surface without oxidizing the tungsten surface, the microwave plasma having a power in a range of about 2500 W to about 3000 W, the plasma gas having an argon concentration of greater than or equal to about 95% on a molar basis, a ratio of hydrogen gas to oxygen gas being in a range of about 1:1 to about 1:10, the substrate surface maintained at a temperature of about 400° C.,
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.