# US 9,040,393 B2 · Method of forming semiconductor structure

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- Number: US 9,040,393 B2
- Document ID: US9040393B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 13/242,090
- Filed: 2011-09-23
- Published: 2012-01-19
- Granted: 2015-05-26
- Earliest claimed: 2010-01-14
- Assignees: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
- Applicants: Liang-Gi Yao; Chia-Cheng Chen; Ta-Ming Kuan; Jeff J. Xu; Clement Hsingjen Wann
- Inventors: Liang-Gi Yao; Chia-Cheng Chen; Ta-Ming Kuan; Jeff J. Xu; Clement Hsingjen Wann
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9040393B2

## CPC

- H10P 30/21: {of electrically active species}
- H10D 30/797: {being in source or drain regions, e.g. SiGe source or drain}
- H10D 64/01348: {with substrate doping, e.g. N, Ge or C implantation, before formation of the insulator}
- H10D 64/667: {the conductor comprising a layer of alloy material, compound material or organic material contacting the insulator, e.g. TiN workfunction layers (having lateral variation H10D64/671)}
- H10D 64/691: {comprising metallic compounds, e.g. metal oxides or metal silicates (insulators comprising nitrogen H10D64/693)}
- H10D 84/013: {Manufacturing their source or drain regions, e.g. silicided source or drain regions}
- H10D 84/038: {using silicon technology, e.g. SiGe}
- H10P 14/3602: {In-situ cleaning}
- H10P 30/204: {into Group IV semiconductors}
- H10P 30/208: {of electrically inactive species}
- H10D 30/0227: {having both lightly-doped source and drain extensions and source and drain regions self-aligned to the sides of the gate, e.g. lightly-doped drain [LDD] MOSFET or double-diffused drain [DDD] MOSFET}
- H10D 30/601: {having lightly-doped drain or source extensions, e.g. LDD IGFETs or DDD IGFETs (lightly doped source or drain extensions for TFTs H10D30/6715)}
- H10D 64/01318: {the conductor comprising a layer of alloy material, compound material or organic material contacting the insulator, e.g. TiN (comprising a layer of alloys of Si, Ge or C H10D64/01314)}
- H10D 64/01342: {by deposition, e.g. evaporation, ALD or laser deposition (H10D64/01344 takes precedence)}
- H10P: GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H10D: INORGANIC ELECTRIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES

## Abstract

A method of forming a semiconductor device includes chemically cleaning a surface of a substrate to form a chemical oxide material on the surface. At least a portion of the chemical oxide material is removed at a removing rate of about 2 nanometer/minute (nm/min) or less. Thereafter, a gate dielectric layer is formed over the surface of the substrate.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of forming a semiconductor device, the method comprising:
chemically cleaning a surface of a substrate to form a chemical oxide material on the surface;
removing at least a portion of the chemical oxide material at a removing rate of about 2 nanometer/minute (nm/min) or less, wherein removing at least a portion of the chemical oxide material comprises:
rotating the substrate; and
providing a hydrogen fluoride (HF)-containing gas to remove at least a portion of the chemical oxide material; and
forming a gate dielectric layer over the surface of the substrate after the removing the at least a portion of the chemical oxide material.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein chemically cleaning the surface of the substrate includes at least one of a standard RCA cleaning process, a SPM cleaning process, a standard cleaning 1 (SC1) process, and a standard cleaning 2 (SC2) process.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the removing rate is about 1 nm/min or less.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein rotating the substrate has a rotational speed of about 100 rounds per minute (RPM) or less.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein providing the HF-containing gas comprises:
providing a first carrier gas to a first tank containing an HF-containing acid so as to carry the HF-containing gas from the first tank.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The method of claim 5, further comprising:
providing a second carrier gas to a second tank containing a solvent so as to carry a solvent vapor gas from the second tank, wherein the solvent vapor is provided to dilute the HF-containing gas.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The method of claim 6, further comprising:
diluting the HF-containing vapor by increasing a flowing rate of at least one of the first carrier gas and the second carrier gas.

### Claim 8

A method of forming a semiconductor device, the method comprising:
chemically cleaning a surface of a substrate to form a chemical oxide material on the surface;
removing at least a portion of the chemical oxide material at a removing rate of about 2 nanometer/minute (nm/min) or less, wherein removing the at least a portion of the chemical oxide comprises exposing the chemical oxide to a mixture of hydrogen fluoride (HF) and isopropyl alcohol (IPA); and
forming a gate dielectric layer over the surface of the substrate after the removing the at least a portion of the chemical oxide material.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8, wherein removing the at least one portion of the chemical oxide comprises exposing the chemical oxide to the mixture having a HF:IPA weight ratio ranging from 0.5:1 to 10:1.

### Claim 10 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8, wherein removing the at least one portion of the chemical oxide comprises exposing the chemical oxide to the mixture further comprising an inert carrier gas.

### Claim 11 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8, further comprising forming a fluorine-passivated surface on at least one of the substrate or the chemical oxide, wherein the fluorine-passivated surface has an atomic concentration of fluorine greater than 2%, and forming the gate dielectric layer over the fluorine-passivated surface.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11, further comprising baking the fluorine-passivated surface at a temperature ranging from 50° C. to 200° C.

### Claim 13 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8, further comprising forming an interfacial layer between the substrate and the gate dielectric layer.

### Claim 14 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8, further comprising forming a gate structure over the substrate, wherein the gate structure comprises:
a fluorine-passivated surface;
an interfacial layer over the fluorine-passivated surface;
the gate dielectric layer over the interfacial layer; and
a gate electrode layer over the gate dielectric layer.

### Claim 15 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein providing the HF-containing gas comprises:
providing a first carrier gas to a first tank containing an HF-containing acid so as to carry the HF-containing gas from the first tank; and
providing a second carrier gas to a second tank containing a solvent so as to carry a solvent vapor gas from the second tank, wherein the solvent vapor is provided to dilute the HF-containing gas.

### Claim 16 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising:
diluting the HF-containing gas by increasing a flowing rate of at least one of the first carrier gas and the second carrier gas.

### Claim 17 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein rotating the substrate has a rotational speed of about 10 rounds per minute (RPM) to about 100 RPM.