Methods and apparatus for forming a high dielectric film and the dielectric film formed thereby

A method of forming a dielectric film in the fabrication of semiconductor devices, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing an amount of atomic oxygen for use in the formation of a high dielectric oxide film on a surface, the high dielectric oxide film having a dielectric constant greater than about 4;
• providing a vaporized precursor for use in the formation of the high dielectric oxide film;
• and
• forming the high dielectric oxide film using the atomic oxygen and the vaporized precursor, the amount of atomic oxygen being controlled as a function of the amount of atomic oxygen necessary to reduce the leakage current levels to below a predetermined level.

A method of forming a dielectric film in the fabrication of semiconductor devices, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing atomic oxygen for use in the formation of a Ta2O5 film on a surface;
• providing a vaporized tantalum precursor for use in the formation of the Ta2O5 film;
• and
• forming the Ta2O5 film using the atomic oxygen and the vaporized tantalum precursor while simultaneously performing an in situ oxygen anneal of the Ta2O5 film.

An apparatus for forming a high dielectric oxide film, the apparatus comprising:

• a controllable atomic oxygen source;
• a vaporized precursor source;
• a deposition chamber for receiving the atomic oxygen from the atomic oxygen source and vaporized precursor from the vaporized precursor source, the deposition chamber for locating a structure for deposition of the high dielectric oxide film on a surface thereof, the high dielectric oxide film having a dielectric constant greater than about 4;
• and
• a detection mechanism for detecting a characteristic of the deposition of the high dielectric oxide film on the surface of the structure, the controllable atomic oxygen source being controlled as a function of the characteristic detected.