Methods and apparatuses for selectively depositing silicon oxide on surfaces relative to a metal-containing surface such as copper are provided. Methods involve exposing a substrate having hydroxyl-terminated or dielectric surfaces and copper surfaces to a copper-blocking reagent such as an alkyl thiol to selectively adsorb to the copper surface, exposing the substrate to a silicon-containing precursor for depositing silicon oxide, exposing the substrate to a weak oxidant gas and igniting a plasma, or water vapor without plasma, to convert the adsorb silicon-containing precursor to form silicon oxide. Some methods also involve exposing the substrate to a reducing agent to reduce any oxidized copper from exposure to the weak oxidant gas.

A method of rounding fin-shaped structures includes the following steps. A substrate including fin-shaped structures, and pad oxide caps and pad nitride caps covering the fin-shaped structures from bottom to top are provided. An isolation structure fills between the fin-shaped structures. A removing process is performed to remove a top part of the isolation structure and expose top parts of the fin-shaped structures. An oxidation process is performed to oxidize sidewalls of the top parts of the fin-shaped structures, thereby forming oxidized parts covering sidewalls of the top parts of the fin-shaped structures. The pad nitride caps are removed. The pad oxide caps and the oxidized parts are removed at the same time, thereby forming rounding fin-shaped structures.

A method for forming a semiconductor structure is provided. Multiple fins extending along a first direction are formed in a semiconductor substrate. The multiple fins includes a group of active fins, a pair of protection fins sandwiching about the group the active fins, and at least one dummy fin around the pair of protection fins. A fin cut process is performed to remove the at least one dummy fin around the pair of protection fins. After performing the fin cut process, trench isolation structures are formed within the trenches between the multiple fins. The trench isolation structures are subjected to an anneal process. After annealing the trench isolation structures, the pair of protection fins is removed.

Embodiments of the present invention provide methods for fabricating a semiconductor device with selective oxidation. One method may include providing a semiconductor substrate including a stack of two semiconductor layers; depositing an insulating material on the semiconductor substrate; forming a set of fins; selectively oxidizing one of the semiconductor layers; forming a dummy gate structure and a set of spacers along the sides of the dummy gate structure; forming a source drain region adjacent to the dummy gate structure; removing the dummy gate structure; and releasing the selectively oxidized semiconductor layer.

A method includes forming a semiconductor fin on a semiconductor substrate, the semiconductor fin comprising germanium, silicon, silicon germanium or any of III-V elements; forming a mask layer on a top portion of the semiconductor fin; and trimming the semiconductor fin, wherein trimming the semiconductor fin comprises: immersing the semiconductor substrate in a first electrolyte bath; and laterally removing a first portion of the semiconductor fin by supplying a first voltage to a counter electrode in the electrolyte bath and a second voltage to the semiconductor substrate, wherein the second voltage is negative.

A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device includes forming a semiconductor layer on a substrate, the semiconductor layer including a first semiconductor material and a second semiconductor material, patterning the semiconductor layer to form a preliminary active pattern, oxidizing at least two sidewalls of the preliminary active pattern to form an oxide layer on each of the at least two sidewalls of the preliminary active pattern, at least two upper patterns and a semiconductor pattern being formed in the preliminary active pattern when the oxide layers are formed, the semiconductor pattern being disposed between the at least two upper patterns, and removing the semiconductor pattern to form an active pattern, the active pattern including the at least two upper patterns. A concentration of the second semiconductor material in each of the at least two upper patterns is higher than a concentration of the second semiconductor material in the semiconductor pattern.

The disclosed technology generally relates to semiconductor devices and methods of manufacturing semiconductor devices such as both logic and memory semiconductor devices. In one aspect, a semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate having a channel region between a source and a drain region, a gate structure arranged to control the channel region and a dielectric structure arranged between the channel region and the gate structure. The dielectric structure includes a high-k dielectric layer or a high-k ferroelectric layer and at least one two dimensional (2D) hexagonal boron-nitride (h-BN) layer in direct contact with the high-k dielectric layer or the high-k ferroelectric layer.

A field effect transistor (FET) with an underlying airgap and methods of manufacture are disclosed. The method includes forming an amorphous layer at a predetermined depth of a substrate. The method further includes forming an airgap in the substrate under the amorphous layer. The method further includes forming a completely isolated transistor in an active region of the substrate, above the amorphous layer and the airgap.

Embodiments described herein generally relate to conformal oxidation processes for flash memory devices. In conventional oxidation processes for gate structures, growth rates have become too fast, ultimately creating non-conformal films. To create a preferred growth rate for SiO.sub.2 on SiN.sub.x films, embodiments in this disclosure use a thermal combustion of a ternary mixture of H.sub.2+O.sub.2+N.sub.2O to gain SiO.sub.2 out of Si containing compounds. Using this mixture provides a lower growth in comparison with using only H.sub.2 and O.sub.2, resulting in a lower sticking coefficient. The lower sticking coefficient allows an optimal amount of atoms to reach the bottom of the gate, improving the conformality in 3D NAND SiO.sub.2 oxidation layers, specifically for ONO replacement tunneling gate formation.

A method for forming a semiconductor structure is provided. Multiple fins extending along a first direction are formed in a semiconductor substrate. The multiple fins includes a group of active fins, a pair of protection fins sandwiching about the group the active fins, and at least one dummy fin around the pair of protection fins. A fin cut process is performed to remove the at least one dummy fin around the pair of protection fins. After performing the fin cut process, trench isolation structures are formed within the trenches between the multiple fins. The trench isolation structures are subjected to an anneal process. After annealing the trench isolation structures, the pair of protection fins is removed.