63 results about "Thermal nitridation" patented technology

A semiconductor structure includes thin gate dielectrics that have been selectively nitrogen enriched. The amount of nitrogen introduced is sufficient to reduce or prevent gate leakage and dopant penetration, without appreciably degrading device performance. A lower concentration of nitrogen is introduced into pFET gate dielectrics than into nFET gate dielectrics. Nitridation may be accomplished selectively by various techniques, including rapid thermal nitridation (RTN), furnace nitridation, remote plasma nitridation (RPN), decoupled plasma nitridation (DPN), well implantation and / or polysilicon implantation.

A gas barrier film comprising a resin substrate provided thereon at least one layer of a ceramic film, wherein the density ratio Y (=ρf / ρb) satisfies 1≧Y≧0.95 and the ceramic film has a residual stress being a compression stress of 0.01 MPa or more and 100 Mpa or less, wherein ρf is the density of the ceramic film and ρb is the density of a comparative ceramic film being formed by thermal oxidation or thermal nitridation of a metal as a mother material of the ceramic film so as to being the same composition ratio of the ceramic film.

A nitrogen precursor that has been activated by exposure to a remotely excited species is used as a reactant to form nitrogen-containing layers. The remotely excited species can be, e.g., N2, Ar, and / or He, which has been excited in a microwave radical generator. Downstream of the microwave radical generator and upstream of the substrate, the flow of excited species is mixed with a flow of NH3. The excited species activates the NH3. The substrate is exposed to both the activated NH3 and the excited species. The substrate can also be exposed to a precursor of another species to form a compound layer in a chemical vapor deposition. In addition, already-deposited layers can be nitrided by exposure to the activated NH3 and to the excited species, which results in higher levels of nitrogen incorporation than plasma nitridation using excited N2 alone, or thermal nitridation using NH3 alone, with the same process temperatures and nitridation durations.

The present invention provides methods for forming semiconductor FET devices having reduced gate edge leakage current by using plasma or thermal nitridation and low-temperature plasma re-oxidation processes post gate etch.

The present invention is to possible to avoid an inconvenience at a coupling portion between a barrier metal film obtained by depositing a titanium nitride film on a titanium film and thus having a film stack structure and a metal film filled, via the barrier metal film, in a connecting hole opened in an insulating film. The manufacturing method of a semiconductor device includes the steps of: forming a contact hole and exposing a nickel silicide layer from the bottom of the contact hole; forming a thermal reaction Ti film by a thermal reaction using a TiCl4 gas, forming a plasma reaction Ti film by a plasma reaction using a TiCl4 gas, carrying out plasma treatment with an H2 gas to decrease the chlorine concentration of the plasma reaction Ti film and at the same time to reduce an oxide film on the surface of the nickel silicide layer; forming a nitrogen-rich TiN film over the surface of the plasma reaction Ti film and at the same time reducing the oxide film on the surface of the nickel silicide layer by thermal nitridation treatment with an NH3 gas and plasma treatment with an NH3 gas.

A method and structure for an improved shallow trench isolation (STI) structure for a semiconductor device. The STI structure incorporates an oxynitride top layer of the STI fill. Optionally, the STI structure incorporates an oxynitride margin of the STI fill adjacent the silicon trench walls. A region of the oxynitride margin near the upper edges of the silicon trench walls includes oxynitride corners that are relatively thicker and contain a higher concentration of nitrogen as compared to the other regions of the oxynitride margin. The oxynitride features limit the STI fill height loss and also reduce the formation of divots in the STI fill below the level of the silicon substrate cause by hydrofluoric acid etching and other fabrication processes. Limiting STI fill height loss and the formation of divots improves the functions of the STI structure. The method of forming the STI structure is particularly compatible with standard semiconductor device fabrication processes, including chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), because the method incorporates the use of a pure silicon dioxide STI fill and plasma and thermal nitridation processes to form the oxynitride top layer and oxynitride margin, including the oxynitride corners, of the STI fill.

A method and structure for an improved shallow trench isolation (STI) structure for a semiconductor device. The STI structure incorporates an oxynitride top layer of the STI fill. Optionally, the STI structure incorporates an oxynitride margin of the STI fill adjacent the silicon trench walls. A region of the oxynitride margin near the upper edges of the silicon trench walls includes oxynitride corners that are relatively thicker and contain a higher concentration of nitrogen as compared to the other regions of the oxynitride margin. The oxynitride features limit the STI fill height loss and also reduce the formation of divots in the STI fill below the level of the silicon substrate cause by hydrofluoric acid etching and other fabrication processes. Limiting STI fill height loss and the formation of divots improves the functions of the STI structure. The method of forming the STI structure is particularly compatible with standard semiconductor device fabrication processes, including chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), because the method incorporates the use of a pure silicon dioxide STI fill and plasma and thermal nitridation processes to form the oxynitride top layer and oxynitride margin, including the oxynitride corners, of the STI fill.