Thin film silicon nitride or silicon oxynitride gate dielectric forming method

摘要

An embodiment of the present invention is a method of forming a dielectric layer, the method comprising: providing a semiconductor substrate (substrate 12) having a surface; Forming an oxygen-containing layer (layer 14) on the semiconductor substrate; And the step of exposing the oxygen-containing layer to a nitrogen-containing plasma (plasma 16) so that nitrogen enters the oxygen-containing layer (see regions 18, 19 and 20) or forms a nitride layer on the surface of the substrate (region 22). With this embodiment of the present invention, the dielectric layer can be substantially free of hydrogen. Preferably, the oxygen-containing layer is SiO₂Layer or an oxygen and nitrogen (preferably an oxynitride layer). The plasma is preferably a high density plasma. Preferably, a source of nitrogen is introduced into the plasma to form a nitrogen containing plasma. The source of nitrogen is preferably N₂, NH₃, NO, N₂O, or a mixture thereof.