Method of forming an ultra-thin gate dielectric by soft plasma nitridation
OwnerTuung Luoh, Hans Lin +1inventors
InventorsTuung Luoh, Hans Lin, Yaw-Lin Hwang
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Abstract
A method of forming an ultra-thin gate dielectric by soft nitrogen-containing plasma. The method comprises a pre-nitridation step nitrifying a substrate surface by soft nitrogen-containing plasma, and a thermal oxidation step oxidizing the substrate surface to form an ultra-thin gate dielectric on the substrate surface. The plasma density of the soft nitrogen-containing plasma is about 109-1013 cm−3.
Claims22
A method of forming an ultra-thin gate dielectric by soft nitrogen-containing plasma, the method comprising:
- performing a pre-nitridation step to nitrify a substrate surface by soft nitrogen-containing plasma, a plasma density used in the soft nitrogen-containing plasma is about 109-1013 cm−3;
- and
- performing an oxidation step to oxidize the substrate surface to form a gate dielectric on the substrate surface.
A method for retarding the oxidation rate of a substrate surface by remote plasma nitridation, the method comprising:
- nitrifying a substrate surface by remote plasma nitridation, the remote plasma nitridation using a nitrogen-containing gas to generate plasma and the density of the plasma being about 109-1013 cm−3;
- and
- oxidizing the substrate surface to form a gate dielectric by thermal oxidation.
A method for retarding the oxidation rate of a substrate surface by decoupled plasma nitridation, the method comprising:
- nitrifying a substrate surface by decoupled plasma nitridation, the decoupled plasma nitridation using a nitrogen-containing gas to generate plasma and the density of the plasma being about 109-1013cm−3;
- and
- oxidizing the substrate surface to form a gate dielectric by thermal oxidation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.