Oxide film forming method

Abstract

To provide a method for the formation of oxide films to form with advantage a high-quality oxide film having excellent uniformity in film thickness and film quality over the entire wafer. The method for the formation of oxide films comprises: the pretreatment process of forming a protective oxide film on the surface of a wafer positioned in a reaction vessel by performing oxidation treatment with radical oxidative species or an atmosphere containing radical oxidative species under depressurized conditions; and the oxide-film-formation process of forming an oxide film on the wafer by performing oxidation treatment at a predetermined temperature under depressurized conditions. The oxide-film-formation process is preferably performed following the pretreatment process in a continuous manner in the reaction vessel in which the pretreatment process is performed. The pretreatment process is preferably performed at a temperature lower than the temperature for the oxide-film-formation process and also preferably performed under depressurized conditions, the level of the depressurization being higher than the level for the oxide-film-formation process. A high-quality gate-insulating film for a transistor chip can be formed according to this method for the formation of oxide films.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.