An example embodiment of the present disclosure involves a method for semiconductor device fabrication. The method comprises providing a structure that includes a conductive component and an interlayer dielectric (ILD) that includes silicon and surrounds the conductive component, and forming, over the conductive component and the ILD, an etch stop layer (ESL) that includes metal oxide. The ESL includes a first portion in contact with the conductive component and a second portion in contact with the ILD. The method further comprises baking the ESL to transform the metal oxide located in the second portion of the ESL into metal silicon oxide, and selectively etching the ESL so as to remove the first portion of the ESL but not the second portion of the ESL.

A semiconductor device manufacturing method includes providing a first layer having a first surface, providing a second layer including a trench that exposes the first surface, onto the first layer, forming a first polymer layer that fills the trench, and performing a heat treatment process on the first polymer layer to form a second polymer layer. A second surface of the second layer is exposed by the trench, the first polymer layer includes a first portion being in contact with the first surface, and a second portion being in contact with the second surface, when the heat treatment process is performed, the first portion of the first polymer layer is decomposed, when the heat treatment process is performed, the second portion of the first polymer layer is cross-linked to form the second polymer layer, and physical properties of the first layer are different from physical properties of the second layer.

A method may include providing a substrate having, on a first surface of the substrate, a low dielectric constant layer characterized by a layer thickness. The method may include heating the substrate to a substrate temperature in a range of 200° C. to 550° C.; and directing an ion implant treatment to the low dielectric constant layer, while the substrate temperature is in the range of 200° C. to 550° C. As such, the ion implant treatment may include implanting a low weight ion species, at an ion energy generating an implant depth equal to 40% to 175% of the layer thickness.

Methods and techniques for deposition of amorphous carbon films on a substrate are provided. In one example, the method includes depositing an amorphous carbon film on an underlayer positioned on a susceptor in a first processing region. The method further includes implanting a dopant or the inert species into the amorphous carbon film in a second processing region. The implant species, energy, dose & temperature in some combination may be used to enhance the hardmask hardness. The method further includes patterning the doped amorphous carbon film. The method further includes etching the underlayer.

A semiconductor device, and a method of manufacturing, is provided. A dummy gate is formed on a semiconductor substrate. An interlayer dielectric (ILD) is formed over the semiconductor fin. A dopant is implanted into the ILD. The dummy gate is removed and an anneal is performed on the ILD. The implantation and the anneal lead to an enhancement of channel resistance by a reduction in interlayer dielectric thickness and to an enlargement of critical dimensions of a metal gate.

Disclosed are methods for etching a silicon-containing film to form a patterned structure, methods for reinforcing and/or strengthening and/or minimizing damage of a patterned mask layer while forming a patterned structure and methods for increasing etch resistance of a patterned mask layer in a process of forming a patterned structure. The methods include using an activated iodine-containing etching compound having the formula C.sub.nH.sub.xF.sub.yI.sub.z, wherein 4≤n≤10, 0≤x≤21, 0≤y≤21, and 1≤z≤4 as an etching gas. The activated iodine-containing etching compound produces iodine ions, which are implanted into the patterned hardmask layer, thereby strengthening the patterned mask layer.

Negative capacitance field-effect transistor (NCFET) and ferroelectric field-effect transistor (FE-FET) devices and methods of forming are provided. The gate dielectric stack includes a ferroelectric gate dielectric layer. An amorphous high-k dielectric layer and a dopant-source layer are deposited sequentially followed by a post-deposition anneal (PDA). The PDA converts the amorphous high-k layer to a polycrystalline high-k film with crystalline grains stabilized by the dopants in a crystal phase in which the high-k dielectric is a ferroelectric high-k dielectric. After the PDA, the remnant dopant-source layer may be removed. A gate electrode is formed over remnant dopant-source layer (if present) and the polycrystalline high-k film.

The embodiments of mechanisms for doping wells of finFET devices described in this disclosure utilize depositing doped films to dope well regions. The mechanisms enable maintaining low dopant concentration in the channel regions next to the doped well regions. As a result, transistor performance can be greatly improved. The mechanisms involve depositing doped films prior to forming isolation structures for transistors. The dopants in the doped films are used to dope the well regions near fins. The isolation structures are filled with a flowable dielectric material, which is converted to silicon oxide with the usage of microwave anneal. The microwave anneal enables conversion of the flowable dielectric material to silicon oxide without causing dopant diffusion. Additional well implants may be performed to form deep wells. Microwave anneal(s) may be used to anneal defects in the substrate and fins.

A method includes: forming a dummy gate dielectric layer over a channel region of a fin structure; forming a dummy gate over the dummy gate dielectric layer; removing the dummy gate and a first portion of the dummy gate dielectric layer to expose the channel region of the fin structure; removing a first nanowire of the fin structure above a second nanowire of the fin structure to remain the second nanowire of the fin structure; forming an interfacial layer surrounding the second nanowire; forming a material layer comprising dopants over the interfacial layer; and performing an annealing process to drive the dopants of the material layer into the interfacial layer, thereby forming a doped interfacial layer surrounding the second nanowire.

Embodiment methods for performing a high pressure anneal process during the formation of a semiconductor device, and embodiment devices therefor, are provided. The high pressure anneal process may be a dry high pressure anneal process in which a pressurized environment of the anneal includes one or more process gases. The high pressure anneal process may be a wet anneal process in which a pressurized environment of the anneal includes steam.