Semiconductor device, and method and apparatus for manufacturing the same

A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising the steps of

• forming a gate insulation film over a semiconductor substrate;
• performing post-annealing on the gate insulation film;
• and
• forming a conductive film over the gate insulation film,
• said step of forming the gate insulation film comprising the steps of forming a first insulation film, and forming over the first insulation film a second insulation film composed of a nitride or an oxynitride using a material gas containing carbon, wherein
• said step of performing the post-annealing comprises the steps of:
• performing a first annealing in an atmosphere selected from at least one of the group consisting of an oxidizing atmosphere and an oxynitriding atmosphere at a first temperature;
• and
• performing a second annealing in a nitriding atmosphere at a second temperature higher than the first temperature,
• further comprising, between said step of forming the first insulation film and said step of forming the second insulation film, the step of forming a high dielectric constant film over the first insulation film, and
• the second insulation film is formed over the high dielectric constant film.