Semiconductor structure formation

A method, comprising:

• exposing a structural material for a semiconductor device to an element from group 13 of a periodic table of elements, wherein the structural material comprises an orthosilicate derived oligomer having a number of oxygen (O) atoms each chemically bonded to one of a corresponding number of silicon (Si) atoms;
• forming a chemical bond between the element and the number of O atoms of the orthosilicate derived oligomer as a result of movement of the element through a surface of the structural material;
• crosslinking chains of the orthosilicate derived oligomer to a depth of the movement below the surface;
• and
• increasing mechanical strength of the structural material to the depth of the crosslinking relative to the structural material formed without the crosslinking.

A system, comprising:

• a processing apparatus configured to enable movement of materials into and out of a chamber for processing a semiconductor device;
• and
• a controller configured to receive instructions from a host and, based on the instructions, direct the processing apparatus to:
• tunably expose a structural material of the semiconductor device to an element in a gaseous state, wherein the structural material comprises a selectable orthosilicate derived oligomer having a number of oxygen (O) atoms each chemically bonded to one of a corresponding number of silicon (Si) atoms and wherein the element is selectable from group 13 of a periodic table of elements;
• tunably form chemical bonds between a number of atoms of the element that is selected and a corresponding number of the O atoms of the orthosilicate derived oligomer that is selected in order to crosslink chains of the selected orthosilicate derived oligomer to a selectable depth of diffusion of the atoms of the selected element through a surface of, and into, the structural material;
• and
• tunably increase mechanical strength of the structural material to a depth selected for the diffusion relative to the structural material formed without exposure to the selectable element.