Activated species generator for rapid cycle deposition processes

A method for depositing films on a substrate surface, comprising:

• delivering a gas to be activated into a plasma generator;
• activating the gas to create a volume of one or more reactive species;
• and
• sequentially pulsing a fraction of the one or more reactive species and a second reactive compound into a processing region to deposit a film on the substrate surface while maintaining at least a portion of the activated gas remaining in the plasma generator in an activated state.

A method for depositing films on a substrate surface, comprising:

• delivering a first gas to be activated into a first plasma generator;
• activating at least a portion of the first gas to create a volume of one or more first reactive species;
• providing a second gas to be activated into a second plasma generator;
• activating at least a portion of the second gas to create a volume of one or more second reactive species;
• and
• sequentially pulsing a fraction of the one or more first reactive species and a fraction of the one or more second reactive species to a processing region to deposit a film on the substrate surface, while maintaining at least a portion of the at least one of said first and second gases in an activated state between pulses.

A method for depositing a film on a substrate surface comprising:

• delivering first and second gases to first and second plasma generators;
• activating at least a portion of the first and second gases in the plasma generators to create first and second volumes of reactive species;
• positioning a substrate in a processing region;
• and
• alternately pulsing into the processing region a purge gas, a fraction of the volume of the first reactive species, a purge gas, and a fraction of the volume of the second reactive species in a repetitive sequence until a film of the desired thickness is deposited on the substrate surface, while maintaining at least a portion of the at least one of said first and second gases in an activated state between pulses.