The invention provides a semiconductor structure, the semiconductor structure includes a substrate, two shallow trench isolation structures are located in the substrate, a first region, a second region and a third region are defined between the two shallow trench isolation structures, the second region is located between the first region and the third region. Two thick oxide layers are respectively located in the first region and the third region and directly contact the two shallow trench isolation structures respectively, and a thin oxide layer is located in the second region, the thickness of the thick oxide layer in the first region is greater than that of the thin oxide layer in the second region.

Semiconductor devices and methods of manufacturing the same are provided. The semiconductor devices may have a non-volatile memory (NVM) transistor including a charge-trapping layer and a blocking dielectric, a field-effect transistor (FET) of a first type including a first gate dielectric having a first thickness, a FET of a second type including a second gate dielectric having a second thickness, and a FET of a third type including a third gate dielectric having a third thickness. In some embodiments, the first, second, and third gate dielectric includes a high dielectric constant (high-K) dielectric layer, and the first thickness is greater than the second thickness, the second thickness is greater than the third thickness. Other embodiments are also described.

A semiconductor device includes a first semiconductor layer formed of a nitride semiconductor, on a substrate; a second semiconductor layer formed of a nitride semiconductor, on the first semiconductor layer; a source electrode and a drain electrode formed on the second semiconductor layer; a first insulating film formed on the second semiconductor layer; a second insulating film formed on the first insulating film; and a gate electrode formed on the second insulating film. The first insulating film includes a nitride film formed on a side of the second semiconductor layer, and an oxynitride film formed on the nitride film, and the second insulating film is formed of an oxide.

A method and apparatus for growing an oxide layer within a feature of a substrate is described herein. The method is suitable for use in semiconductor manufacturing. The oxide layer is formed by exposing a substrate to both a high pressure oxidant exposure and a lower pressure oxygen containing plasma exposure. The high pressure oxidant exposure is performed at a pressure of greater than 10 Torr, while the lower pressure oxygen containing plasma exposure is performed at a pressure of less than about 10 Torr. The features are high-aspect ratio trenches or holes within a stack of silicon oxide and silicon nitride layers.

A system and method for treating a substrate in a reaction chamber. A transfer chamber is arranged between a first lock and a second lock, wherein the second lock is provided between the transfer chamber and the reaction chamber. A substrate is transferred into the transfer chamber through the first lock, and the first lock is closed. In a next step, the transfer chamber is flooded with the same gas as in the reaction chamber and the pressure and temperature of the gaseous atmosphere in the transfer chamber is controlled to be the same as in the reaction chamber. Then, the second lock is opened and the substrate is transferred from the transfer chamber into the reaction chamber to treat the substrate. A computer program product for carrying out the above method.

The present disclosure is generally related to semiconductor devices, and more particularly to a dielectric material formed in semiconductor devices. The present disclosure provides methods for forming a dielectric material layer by a cyclic spin-on coating process. In an embodiment, a method of forming a dielectric material on a substrate includes spin-coating a first portion of a dielectric material on a substrate, curing the first portion of the dielectric material on the substrate, spin-coating a second portion of the dielectric material on the substrate, and thermal annealing the dielectric material to form an annealed dielectric material on the substrate.

According to one embodiment, a semiconductor memory device includes a stacked body including a plurality of electrode members and a plurality of insulating members, each of the electrode members and each of the insulating members being stacked alternately in a first direction on the substrate. The semiconductor memory device also includes a memory hole that extends in the stacked body in the first direction and a semiconductor member that is disposed to extend in the memory hole in the first direction. The semiconductor memory device also includes a memory member that is disposed between the semiconductor member and the plurality of electrode members. The plurality of electrode members including a first electrode member and a second electrode member, a thickness of the memory member at the position of the first electrode member being greater than a thickness of the memory member at the position of the second electrode member.

A semiconductor structure and a method of fabricating the semiconductor structure are provided. The semiconductor structure includes a substrate; a metal gate structure on the substrate; and a spacer next to the metal gate structure having a skirting part extending into the metal gate structure and contacting the substrate. The metal gate structure includes a high-k dielectric layer and a metal gate electrode on the high-k dielectric layer.

Thin AlN films are oxidatively treated in a plasma to form AlO and AlON films without causing damage to underlying layers of a partially fabricated semiconductor device (e.g., to underlying metal and/or dielectric layers). The resulting AlO and AlON films are characterized by improved leakage current compared to the AlN film and are suitable for use as etch stop layers. The oxidative treatment involves contacting the substrate having an exposed AlN layer with a plasma formed in a process gas comprising an oxygen-containing gas and a hydrogen-containing gas. In some implementations oxidative treatment is performed with a plasma formed in a process gas including CO.sub.2 as an oxygen-containing gas, H.sub.2 as a hydrogen-containing gas, and further including a diluent gas. The use of a hydrogen-containing gas in the plasma eliminates the oxidative damage to the underlying layers.

A method for preferential oxidation of silicon in substrates containing silicon (Si) and germanium (Ge) is described. According to one embodiment, the method includes providing a substrate containing Si and Ge, forming a plasma containing H.sub.2 gas and O.sub.2 gas, and exposing the substrate to the plasma to preferentially oxidize the Si relative to the Ge. The substrate may be further processed by removing the oxidized Si from the substrate.