In-situ control of film properties during atomic layer deposition

A method for processing substrates, the method comprising:

• providing a semiconductor substrate to a reaction chamber;
• performing n cycles of atomic layer deposition to deposit a silicon-containing film, each cycle comprising:
• introducing a first reactant in vapor phase into the reaction chamber to adsorb the first reactant onto a surface of the semiconductor substrate,
• introducing a dose of a second reactant in vapor phase into the reaction chamber for a dose time, and
• generating a first plasma in the reaction chamber while the second reactant in vapor phase is in the reaction chamber;
• after every n cycles of the atomic layer deposition, exposing the deposited silicon-containing film to a second plasma;
• and
• introducing fluorine-containing reactive species to form a fluorine-terminated silicon surface.