Versatile system for forming uniform wafer surfaces
AssigneeTexas Instruments Incorporated
InventorsZhiqiang Jeff Wu, Mark S. Rodder, Manoj Mehrotra
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Abstract
A system for fabricating an integrated circuit is disclosed that includes providing a semiconductor substrate (10), and forming a gate oxide layer (12) on an active area on the substrate. A polysilicon gate (14) is formed, on top of the gate oxide, by etching. Etch damage (16) on the substrate surface is repaired by anneal in an inert gas environment—e.g., He, Ne, N2, Ar gas, or combinations thereof.
Claims20
A method of fabricating an integrated circuit comprising the steps of:
- providing a semiconductor substrate having an active area and a surface containing said active area;
- forming a gate insulator layer on said active area on said substrate;
- forming a polysilicon gate layer over said gate insulator by forming a layer of polysilicon over said gate insulator layer;
- patterning a polysilicon gate region over said gate layer;
- etching said gate layer and said insulator layer to said substrate surface to form said polysilicon gate region and create etch damage at and beneath the exposed substrate surface;
- and
- then repairing said etch damage by a repair anneal in an inert environment.
A method of fabricating a semiconductor device comprising the steps of:
- providing a semiconductor substrate having an active area and a surface containing said active area;
- forming a gate insulator layer on said active area on said substrate;
- providing and patterning a polysilicon gate layer over said gate insulator layer and etching said gate layer and said insulator layer to said substrate to create etch damage at and beneath the exposed substrate surface;
- and
- then repairing etch damage on the substrate surface by a repair anneal in an inert environment.
A method of producing a uniform surface during the fabrication of an integrated circuit, comprising the steps of:
- providing a semiconductor substrate having an active area and a surface containing said active area;
- forming a gate insulator layer on said active area on an upper surface portion of the substrate;
- forming a polysilicon gate layer over said gate insulator layer by forming a layer of polysilicon over said gate insulator layer, patterning a gate region over said gate layer and etching said gate layer and said insulator layer to said substrate surface to form said polysilicon gate region and create etch damage at and beneath the exposed substrate surface;
- and
- than repairing etch damage on the upper surface portion by a repair anneal in an inert environment while injecting increasing amounts of oxygen during the repair anneal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.