Wafer treatment for achieving defect-free self-assembled monolayers

A system comprising:

• a central transfer station comprising a robot configured to move a substrate between chambers connected to the central transfer station;
• a pre-cleaning chamber connected to the central transfer station, the pre-cleaning chamber comprising one or more of a heater, and one or more of a radical source or a plasma source, the pre-cleaning chamber in fluid communication with an activating agent;
• and
• a control system coupled to the central transfer station and the pre-cleaning chamber, the control system comprising a first configuration to control heating a substrate to a first temperature, a second configuration to control cleaning contaminants from the substrate, a third configuration to control activating a first surface of the substrate to promote formation of a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) on the first surface by exposing the substrate to an activating agent that generates hydroxyl terminations on the first surface, and a fourth configuration to control movement of the substrate from the central transfer station to and from the pre-cleaning chamber using the robot.

A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions, that when executed by a control system of a processing chamber, cause the processing chamber to perform operations of:

• heating a substrate to a first temperature;
• cleaning contaminants from the substrate;
• generating hydroxyl terminations on a first surface of the substrate;
• and
• exposing the substrate to a SAM molecule at a second temperature.