Thin oxide formation by wet chemical oxidation of semiconductor surface when the one component of the oxide is water soluble

Abstract

A method of forming a semiconductor structure is provided. The method comprises mixing a water soluble substance with an aprotic solvent to form a solvent mixture and forming a thin layer of oxide around a semiconductor surface by performing wet chemical oxidation operations on the semiconductor surface with the solvent mixture. The aprotic solvent may comprise propylene carbonate, dimethyl sulfoxide, ethylene carbonate or diethyl carbonate. The water soluble substance may comprise H2O2, O3, or parts per million (ppm) level H2O. The method may further comprise removing the oxide from the semiconductor surface to reduce the roughness of the semiconductor surface. The method may further comprise forming a second thin layer of oxide around the semiconductor surface by performing wet chemical oxidation operations with the solvent mixture and removing the second layer of oxide from the semiconductor surface to smoothen the semiconductor surface.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.