Semiconductor structure and forming method thereof are provided. The forming method includes: providing a substrate; forming a plurality of initial composite layers on a portion of the substrate; forming a plurality of source and drain layers on surfaces of the plurality of channel layers exposed by a first opening and grooves by using a selective epitaxial growth process, the plurality of source and drain layers being parallel to a first direction and distributed along a second direction, the second direction being parallel to a normal direction of the substrate, and gaps being between adjacent source and drain layers; forming contact layers on surfaces of the plurality of source and drain layers and in the gaps; and forming a conductive structure on a surface of a contact layer on a source and drain layer of the plurality of source and drain layers.

An etching method includes preparing a substrate including a first region containing a first material and a second region containing a second material different from the first material; and etching the second region with a plasma generated from a processing gas containing a tungsten-containing gas. In the etching, a flow rate of the tungsten-containing gas is the largest among all gases contained in the processing gas except for an inert gas.

Exemplary semiconductor processing methods may include providing a silicon-containing precursor to a processing region of a semiconductor processing chamber. A substrate may be disposed within the processing region of the semiconductor processing chamber. The methods may include forming a plasma of the silicon-containing precursor in the processing region and forming a first layer of material on the substrate. The first layer of material may include silicon oxide. The methods may include providing a germanium-containing precursor to the processing region of the semiconductor processing chamber and forming a plasma of the germanium-containing precursor in the processing region. Forming the plasma of the germanium-containing precursor may be performed at a plasma power of greater than or about 500 W. The methods may include forming a second layer of material on the substrate. The second layer of material may include germanium oxide.

A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor layer of a first conductivity type. A well region that is a second conductivity type well region is formed on a surface layer portion of the semiconductor layer and has a channel region defined therein. A source region that is a first conductivity type source region is formed on a surface layer portion of the well region. A gate insulating film is formed on the semiconductor layer and has a multilayer structure. A gate electrode is opposed to the channel region of the well region where a channel is formed through the gate insulating film.

Image sensors and methods of manufacturing image sensors are provided herein. In an embodiment, a method of manufacturing an image sensor includes forming a structure having a front side and a back side. The structure includes a semiconductor layer extending between the front side and the back side of the structure, and a capacitive insulation wall extending through the semiconductor layer between the front side and the back side of the structure. The capacitive insulation wall includes first and second insulating walls separated by a region of a conductive or semiconductor material. The method further includes selectively etching, from the back side of the structure, portions of the semiconductor layer and the region of conductive or semiconductor material, while retaining adjacent portions of the first and second insulating walls.

A substrate processing method includes: a carry-in step of carrying a substrate having a silicon-containing film on a surface of the substrate into a processing container; a first step of forming an adsorption layer by supplying an oxygen-containing gas into the processing container and causing the oxygen-containing gas to be adsorbed on a surface of the silicon-containing film; a second step of forming a silicon oxide layer by supplying an argon-containing gas into the processing container and causing the adsorption layer and the surface of the silicon-containing film to react with each other with plasma of the argon-containing gas; and a third step of forming a graphene film on the silicon oxide layer by supplying a carbon-containing gas into the processing container with plasma of the carbon-containing gas.

Provided is a manufacturing method for a semiconductor device including forming a first electrode layer on a front surface of a wafer, implanting, into an outer peripheral region of the front surface of the wafer, a heavy ion of an element in third and subsequent rows of a periodic table, forming an oxide film in the outer peripheral region into which the heavy ion has been implanted, and forming a second electrode layer on the first electrode layer by plating. A dose of the heavy ion may be 1E15 cm.sup.−2 or more. A depth of an implantation range of the heavy ion into the wafer may be 0.02 μm or more. The heavy ion may be an As ion, a P ion, or an Ar ion.

The present disclosure describes a method to form a semiconductor device with air inner spacers. The method includes forming a semiconductor structure on a first side of a substrate. The semiconductor structure includes a fin structure having multiple semiconductor layers on the substrate, an epitaxial structure on the substrate and in contact with the multiple semiconductor layers, a gate structure wrapped around the multiple semiconductor layers, and an inner spacer structure between the gate structure and the epitaxial structure. The method further includes removing a portion of the substrate from a second side of the substrate to expose the epitaxial structure and the inner spacer structure, forming an oxide layer on the epitaxial structure on the second side of the substrate, and removing a portion of the inner spacer structure to form an opening. The second side is opposite to the first side of the substrate.

In an embodiment, a method for nitriding a substrate is provided. The method includes flowing a nitrogen-containing source and a carrier gas into a plasma processing source coupled to a chamber such that a flow rate of the nitrogen-containing source is from about 3% to 20% of a flow rate of the carrier gas; generating an inductively-coupled plasma (ICP) in the plasma processing source by operating an ICP source, the ICP comprising a radical species formed from the nitrogen-containing source, the carrier gas, or both; and nitriding the substrate within the chamber, wherein nitriding includes operating a heat source within the chamber at a temperature from about 150° C. to about 650° C. to heat the substrate; maintaining a pressure of the chamber from about 50 mTorr to about 2 Torr; introducing the ICP to the chamber; and adjusting a characteristic of the substrate by exposing the substrate to the radical species.

A method for forming a silicon oxide film on a step formed on a substrate includes: (a) designing a topology of a final silicon oxide film by preselecting a target portion of an initial silicon nitride film to be selectively deposited or removed or reformed with reference to a non-target portion of the initial silicon nitride film resulting in the final silicon oxide film; and (b) forming the initial silicon nitride film and the final silicon oxide film on the surfaces of the step according to the topology designed in process (a), wherein the initial silicon nitride film is deposited by ALD using a silicon-containing precursor containing halogen, and the initial silicon nitride film is converted to the final silicon oxide film by oxidizing the initial silicon nitride film without further depositing a film wherein a Si—N bond in the initial silicon nitride film is converted to a Si—O bond.