Cyclical physical vapor deposition of dielectric layers

A method of forming a gate dielectric, the method comprising:

• determining a thickness appropriate for the gate dielectric;
• forming a first dielectric sub-layer by depositing a first metal layer above a substrate and oxidizing the first metal layer;
• forming another dielectric sub-layer above the first dielectric sub-layer by depositing another metal layer above the first dielectric sub-layer and oxidizing the another metal layer;
• determining if a total thickness of all dielectric sub-layers has reached the thickness appropriate for the gate dielectric;
• and
• if not, then repeating the above step of forming another dielectric sub-layer to form additional dielectric sub-layers until the total thickness of all dielectric sub-layers reaches the thickness appropriate for the gate dielectric.

A method of forming a transistor, the method comprising:

• forming a gate dielectric layer above a substrate, wherein forming the gate dielectric layer comprises
• determining a desired thickness of the gate dielectric layer'
• forming a first dielectric sub-layer having a thickness less than the desired thickness, wherein forming the first dielectric sub-layer comprises depositing a first metal layer above a substrate and oxidizing the first metal layer, and
• forming n additional dielectric sub-layers above the first dielectric sub-layers so that a combined thickness of all dielectric sub-layers is approximately equal to the desired thickness, wherein n is a number greater than 1 and each of the additional dielectric sub-layers is formed by depositing an additional metal layer above the preceding dielectric sub-layer and oxidizing the additional metal layer;
• forming a gate electrode layer above the gate dielectric layer;
• etching the gate electrode layer and the gate dielectric layer to form a gate having sidewalls;
• forming a spacer on the sidewalls of the gate;
• and
• forming a source/drain region in the substrate adjacent to the spacer.