A method and apparatus that is useful for forming a high
quality gate dielectric layer in MOS TFT devices using a
high density plasma oxidation (HDPO) process. The HDPO process forms a good interface and then a second layer, which has good bulk electrical properties, is deposited at a higher
deposition rate over the HDPO layer. In one embodiment a thin HDPO process layer is formed over the channel, source and drain regions to form a high quality
dielectric interface and then one or more
dielectric layers are deposited on the HDPO layer to form a high
quality gate dielectric layer. The HDPO process generally entails using an inductively and / or capacitively coupled RF energy transmitting device to generate and control the
plasma generated over the surface of the substrate and injecting a gas containing an oxidizing source to grow the interfacial layer. A second
dielectric layer may then be deposited on the surface of the substrate using a CVD or
plasma enhanced CVD
deposition process. Aspects of the present invention also provide a cluster tool that contains at least one specialized
plasma processing chamber that is capable of depositing a high
quality gate dielectric layer. The cluster tool is advantageous because it supports both the pre-
processing steps, such as, preheating the substrate, pre-cleaning the surface of the substrate prior to
processing, and cool down after
processing, all in a single controlled environment.