A method includes forming a gate structure and an interlayer dielectric (ILD) layer over a substrate; selectively forming an inhibitor over the gate structure; performing an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process to form a dielectric layer over the ILD layer, wherein in the ALD process the dielectric layer has greater growing rate on the ILD than on the inhibitor; and performing an atomic layer etching (ALE) process to etch the dielectric layer until a top surface of the inhibitor is exposed, in which a portion of the dielectric layer remains on the ILD layer after the ALE process is complete.

A semiconductor package including a first lower stack on a substrate and including first lower semiconductor chips, a redistribution substrate on the first lower stack, a redistribution connector electrically connecting the substrate to the redistribution substrate, a first upper stack on the redistribution substrate and including first upper semiconductor chips, a first upper connector electrically connecting the redistribution substrate to the first upper stack, a second upper stack horizontally spaced apart from the first upper stack and including second upper semiconductor chips, and a second upper connector electrically connecting the redistribution substrate to the second upper stack may be provided. The redistribution connector may be on one side of the redistribution substrate. The first upper connector may be on one side of the first upper stack. The second upper connector may be on one side of the second upper stack.

A semiconductor package including a first lower stack on a substrate and including first lower semiconductor chips, a redistribution substrate on the first lower stack, a redistribution connector electrically connecting the substrate to the redistribution substrate, a first upper stack on the redistribution substrate and including first upper semiconductor chips, a first upper connector electrically connecting the redistribution substrate to the first upper stack, a second upper stack horizontally spaced apart from the first upper stack and including second upper semiconductor chips, and a second upper connector electrically connecting the redistribution substrate to the second upper stack may be provided. The redistribution connector may be on one side of the redistribution substrate. The first upper connector may be on one side of the first upper stack. The second upper connector may be on one side of the second upper stack.

A method of processing a substrate that includes: loading the substrate in a processing system, the substrate including a metal having a metal surface and a first dielectric material having a dielectric material surface, the metal surface and the dielectric material surface being at the same level; etching the metal to form a recessed metal surface below the dielectric material surface; selectively forming a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) on the recessed metal surface using a spin-on process; and depositing a dielectric film including a second dielectric material on the dielectric material surface.

A manufacturing method for a semiconductor structure includes: patterning and etching a semiconductor substrate to form a concave region; forming a first protective layer on a surface of the semiconductor substrate, the surface of the semiconductor substrate being a surface of a non-etched region except the concave region; forming an isolation structure in the concave region; and removing the first protective layer on the surface of the semiconductor substrate.

A manufacturing method for a semiconductor structure includes: patterning and etching a semiconductor substrate to form a concave region; forming a first protective layer on a surface of the semiconductor substrate, the surface of the semiconductor substrate being a surface of a non-etched region except the concave region; forming an isolation structure in the concave region; and removing the first protective layer on the surface of the semiconductor substrate.

Methods and apparatus for processing a substrate are provided herein. For example, a method of processing a substrate comprises a) removing oxide from a metal layer disposed in a dielectric layer on the substrate disposed in a processing chamber, b) selectively depositing a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) on the metal layer using atomic layer deposition, c) depositing a precursor while supplying water to form one of an aluminum oxide (AlO) layer on the dielectric layer or a low-k dielectric layer on the dielectric layer, d) supplying at least one of hydrogen (H.sub.2) or ammonia (NH.sub.3) to remove the self-assembled monolayer (SAM), and e) depositing one of a silicon oxycarbonitride (SiOCN) layer or a silicon nitride (SiN) layer atop the metal layer and the one of the aluminum oxide (AlO) layer on the dielectric layer or the low-k dielectric layer on the dielectric layer.

A semiconductor structure includes a semiconductor substrate, a metal layer, an interlayer dielectric (ILD) layer. The metal layer is disposed over the semiconductor substrate. The ILD layer is over the semiconductor substrate and laterally surrounding the metal layer, in which the ILD layer has a first portion in contact with a first sidewall of the metal layer and a second portion in contact with a second sidewall of the metal layer opposite to the first sidewall of the metal layer, and a width of the first portion of the ILD layer decreases as a distance from the semiconductor substrate increases.

A semiconductor structure includes a semiconductor substrate, a metal layer, an interlayer dielectric (ILD) layer. The metal layer is disposed over the semiconductor substrate. The ILD layer is over the semiconductor substrate and laterally surrounding the metal layer, in which the ILD layer has a first portion in contact with a first sidewall of the metal layer and a second portion in contact with a second sidewall of the metal layer opposite to the first sidewall of the metal layer, and a width of the first portion of the ILD layer decreases as a distance from the semiconductor substrate increases.

The present disclosure provides a method for fabricating a semiconductor structure, including forming a dielectric layer over a first region and a second region of a substrate, wherein the second region is adjacent to the first region, increasing a thickness of the dielectric layer in the first region, including forming an oxygen capturing layer over the dielectric layer in the first region, including forming the oxygen capturing layer over the first region and the second region, and removing the oxygen capturing layer over the second region with a mask layer, performing an oxidizing operation from a top surface of the oxygen capturing layer to increase oxygen concentration of the oxygen capturing layer, removing the oxygen capturing layer over the first region, and forming a gate structure over the dielectric layer.