Integrated plasma clean and dielectric passivation deposition processes

A semiconductor processing method comprising:

• performing a treatment operation on a substrate housed within a first processing region of a first semiconductor processing chamber, wherein the substrate comprises a layer of nitrogen-containing material, and wherein the treatment comprises:
• providing an aluminum-containing precursor to a first processing region of a first semiconductor processing chamber;
• and
• contacting the substrate with the aluminum-containing precursor, wherein the contacting forms a layer of aluminum-and-nitrogen-containing material on the substrate;
• transferring the substrate from the first processing region of the first semiconductor processing chamber to a second processing region of a second semiconductor processing chamber;
• providing one or more deposition precursors to the second processing region of the second semiconductor processing chamber;
• and
• depositing a layer of passivation material on the layer of aluminum-and-nitrogen-containing material on the substrate.

A semiconductor processing system comprising:

• a first semiconductor processing chamber defining a first processing region, wherein the first semiconductor processing chamber is operable to perform a treatment operation on a substrate;
• a second semiconductor processing chamber defining a second processing region, wherein the second semiconductor processing chamber is operable to perform a dielectric material deposition operation on the substrate;
• and
• a mainframe connected to both the first semiconductor processing chamber and the second semiconductor processing chamber, wherein the mainframe is operable to transfer the substrate between the first processing region and the second processing region without breaking a vacuum environment.