Method and system for controlling the presence of fluorine in refractory metal layers

A method for forming a layer on a substrate disposed in a processing chamber, said method comprising:

• serially exposing said substrate to first and second reactive gases, with said first reactive gas having a first compound associated therewith and said second reactive gas having a second compound associated therewith, to form alternating monolayers of said first compound and said second compound, with said second compound having fluorine atoms associated therewith;
• controlling a quantity of said fluorine atoms associated with the monolayer of said second compound by introducing into said processing chamber a carrier gas along with said first and second reactive gases, wherein said first and second compounds are introduced with the same carrier gas;
• and
• purging said processing chamber following chemisorption of each of the alternating monolayers by introducing a purge gas, wherein the purge gas and the carrier gas have differing constituents and are not introduced at the same time.

A method for forming a layer on a substrate disposed in a processing chamber, said method comprising:

• serially exposing said substrate to first and second reactive gases to deposit monolayers on the substrate, with said first reactive gas having fluorine atoms associated therewith;
• controlling a quantity of said fluorine atoms associated with the monolayers by introducing into said processing chamber hydrogen (H2) as a carrier gas along with said first and second reactive gases;
• and
• purging said processing chamber following deposition of each of the monolayers by introducing a purge gas, wherein the purge gas and the carrier gas have differing constituents and are not introduced at the same time.