Method of reducing carbon incorporation into films produced by chemical vapor deposition involving organic precursor compounds

A chemical vapor deposition method of providing a layer of material atop a semiconductor wafer, the method comprising the following steps:

• positioning a wafer within a chemical vapor deposition reactor;
• injecting an organic precursor to within the reactor having the wafer positioned therein, and maintaining the reactor at a temperature and a pressure which in combination are effective to deposit a first layer of material onto the wafer which incorporates carbon from the organic precursor in the form of a carbide;
• and
• after depositing the first layer, injecting hydrogen gas and a reactive gas into the reactor, and generating a reactive hydrogen plasma from the hydrogen within the reactor against the first layer, the hydrogen effectively diffusing into the first layer to react with carbon of the carbide in the first layer to produce gaseous products which diffuse outwardly of the first layer and are expelled from the reactor, the reactive gas providing a non-metallic bonding component which replaces and substitutes for the carbon displaced from the carbide in the first layer.

A semiconductor processing method comprising the following steps:

• positioning a wafer within a reactor;
• forming a layer on the wafer, the layer comprising carbon in the form of a carbide;
• and
• after forming the layer, injecting hydrogen gas and a reactive gas into the reactor;
• generating a reactive hydrogen plasma from the hydrogen gas, the hydrogen diffusing into the layer to react with the carbon of the carbide to produce gaseous products which diffuse outwardly of the layer, the reactive gas providing a bonding component, the bonding component replacing the carbon displaced from the layer.