Method of forming a conductive contact on a substrate and method of processing a semiconductor substrate using an ozone treatment

A method of forming a conductive contact on a substrate, comprising:

• reacting oxygen with silicon to form oxides of silicon over a contact node location on a substrate, the oxides of silicon comprising stoichiometric silicon dioxide and substoichiometric silicon dioxide;
• exposing the stoichiometric silicon dioxide and substoichiometric silicon dioxide to ozone and H2O to transform at least some of the substoichiometric silicon dioxide proximate the contact node location to stoichiometric silicon dioxide;
• and
• after the exposing, forming a conductive material on the oxides of silicon over the contact node location.

A method of forming a conductive contact on a substrate, comprising:

• forming an insulating material over a substrate;
• forming an opening into the insulating material over a node location on the substrate to which electrical connection is desired;
• forming oxides of silicon within the opening over the node location, the oxides of silicon comprising stoichiometric silicon dioxide and substoichiometric silicon dioxide;
• exposing the stoichiometric silicon dioxide and the substoichiometric silicon dioxide to ozone and H2O to transform at least some of the substoichiometric silicon dioxide to stoichiometric silicon dioxide;
• and
• after the exposing, forming a conductive material in electrical connection with the contact node location within the opening.

A method of processing a semiconductor substrate, comprising:

• reacting oxygen with silicon to form a layer of oxides of silicon over a semiconductor a substrate, the oxides of silicon comprising stoichiometric silicon dioxide and substoichiometric silicon dioxide;
• exposing the stoichiometric silicon dioxide and substoichiometric silicon dioxide of the layer to ozone and H2O to transform at least some of the substoichiometric silicon dioxide proximate the contact node location to stoichiometric silicon dioxide;
• and
• after the exposing, removing all of layer of the oxides of silicon from the semiconductor substrate.

A method of forming a conductive contact on a substrate, comprising:

• reacting oxygen with silicon to form oxides of silicon over a contact node location on a substrate, the oxides of silicon comprising stoichiometric silicon dioxide and substoichiometric silicon dioxide;
• exposing the stoichiometric silicon dioxide and substoichiometric silicon dioxide to ozone in a non-plasma environment within a reaction chamber to transform at least some of the substoichiometric silicon dioxide proximate the contact node location to stoichiometric silicon dioxide, the exposing to ozone comprising feeding pure ozone into the reaction chamber;
• after the exposing, removing the oxides of silicon from over the node location;
• and
• after the exposing, forming a conductive material in electrical connection with the contact node location.

A method of forming a conductive contact on a substrate, comprising:

• forming an insulating material over a substrate;
• forming an opening into the insulating material over a node location on the substrate to which electrical connection is desired;
• forming oxides of silicon within the opening over the node location, the oxides of silicon comprising stoichiometric silicon dioxide and substoichiometric silicon dioxide;
• exposing the stoichiometric silicon dioxide and the substoichiometric silicon dioxide to ozone in a non-plasma environment to transform at least some of the substoichiometric silicon dioxide to stoichiometric silicon dioxide, the exposing to ozone comprising exposing to ozone and oxygen where the volumetric flow rate of ozone is from about 30% to about 50% of the combined volumetric flow rate of ozone and oxygen;
• and
• after the exposing, forming a conductive material in electrical connection with the contact node location within the opening.

A method of forming a conductive contact on a substrate, comprising:

• reacting oxygen with silicon to form oxides of silicon over a contact node location on a substrate, the oxides of silicon comprising stoichiometric silicon dioxide and substoichiometric silicon dioxide;
• exposing the stoichiometric silicon dioxide and substoichiometric silicon dioxide to ozone to transform at least some of the substoichiometric silicon dioxide proximate the contact node location to stoichiometric silicon dioxide, the exposing to ozone comprising exposing to ozone and oxygen where the volumetric flow rate of ozone is from about 30% to about 50% of the combined volumetric flow rate of ozone and oxygen;
• after the exposing, removing the oxides of silicon from over the node location;
• and
• forming a conductive material in electrical connection with the contact node location.

A method of processing a semiconductor substrate, comprising:

• reacting oxygen with silicon to form a layer of oxides of silicon over a semiconductor a substrate, the oxides of silicon comprising stoichiometric silicon dioxide and substoichiometric silicon dioxide;
• exposing the stoichiometric silicon dioxide and substoichiometric silicon dioxide of the layer to ozone to transform at least some of the substoichiometric silicon dioxide proximate the contact node location to stoichiometric silicon dioxide, the exposing to ozone comprising exposing to ozone and oxygen where the volumetric flow rate of ozone is from about 30% to about 50% of the combined volumetric flow rate of ozone and oxygen;
• and
• after the exposing, removing all of layer of the oxides of silicon from the semiconductor substrate.

A method of forming a conductive contact on a substrate, comprising:

• forming a layer of insulating material over a silicon comprising substrate;
• forming an opening through the insulating material over a node location of the silicon comprising substrate;
• forming an oxide material within the opening, the oxide material comprising SiOx where x is greater than 0 and less than 2;
• after forming the oxide material, converting at least some of the SiOx to SiO2, the converting comprising exposing the oxide material to ozone;
• after the converting, removing the oxide material within the opening;
• depositing a metal within the opening, a first portion of the metal reacting with silicon of the substrate to form a silicide and a second portion of the metal remaining non-silicide;
• and
• removing the second portion of metal from within the opening.