Semiconductor device and process

Abstract

The characteristic of semiconductor devices is satisfactorily maintained because the planarization of a dielectric film of a semiconductor device is carried out at a lower flow temperature. In the case of a silicon dioxide film being a dielectric film, a network structure is composed of atoms of silicon which serve as a main constituent, and of atoms of oxygen which serve as a sub-constituent of a matrix of the dielectric film. These oxygen atoms are replaced by non-bridging constituents such as atoms of halogen including fluorine. This breaks a bridge, via an oxygen atom, between the silicon atoms, at a position where such a replacement takes place. In consequence, the viscosity of the dielectric film falls with the flow temperature. If, for example, part of the oxygen in a BPSG film is substituted by fluorine, this allows the dielectric film to flow at a lower temperature of 850.degree. C. The short channel effects can be suppressed.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.