A method for densifying a dielectric film on a substrate includes arranging a substrate including a dielectric film on a substrate support in a substrate processing chamber; supplying a gas mixture including helium and oxygen to the substrate processing chamber; controlling pressure in the substrate processing chamber to a pressure greater than or equal to a predetermined pressure; supplying a first power level at a first frequency to a coil to create plasma in the substrate processing chamber. The coil is arranged around an outer surface of the substrate processing chamber. The method includes densifying the dielectric film for a predetermined period. The pressure and the first power level are selected to prevent sputtering of the dielectric film during densification of the dielectric film.

Plasma processing apparatus and associated methods are provided. In one example, a plasma processing apparatus includes a plasma chamber. The plasma processing apparatus includes a dielectric wall forming at least a portion of the plasma chamber. The plasma processing apparatus includes an inductive coupling element located proximate the dielectric wall. The plasma processing apparatus includes an ultraviolet light source configured to emit an ultraviolet light beam onto a metal surface that faces an interior volume of the plasma chamber. The plasma processing apparatus includes a controller configured to control the ultraviolet light source.

A substrate processing method of forming an air gap includes: forming deposition inhibitor sites in a lower space between a first protrusion and a second protrusion; and forming film-forming sites and an interlayer insulating layer on the first protrusion and the second protrusion, wherein the interlayer insulating layer is selectively formed in an upper space between the first protrusion and the second protrusion by the deposition inhibitor sites and the film-forming layer, and thus an air gap is formed between the first protrusion and the second protrusion.

A method for processing a substrate to create an air gap includes a) providing a substrate including a first trench and a second trench; b) depositing a conformal layer on the substrate; c) performing sputtering to at least partially pinch off an upper portion of the first trench and the second trench at a location spaced from upper openings of the first trench and the second trench; and d) performing sputtering/deposition to seal first and second airgaps in the first trench and the second trench.

A semiconductor device having favorable electrical characteristics is provided. The semiconductor device is manufactured by a first step of forming a semiconductor layer containing a metal oxide, a second step of forming a first insulating layer, a third step of forming a first conductive film over the first insulating layer, a fourth step of etching part of the first conductive film to form a first conductive layer, thereby forming a first region over the semiconductor layer that overlaps with the first conductive layer and a second region over the semiconductor layer that does not overlap with the first conductive layer, and a fifth step of performing first treatment on the conductive layer. The first treatment is plasma treatment in an atmosphere including a mixed gas of a first gas containing an oxygen element but not containing a hydrogen element, and a second gas containing a hydrogen element but not containing an oxygen element.

Improved methods are provided for transferring a photoresist pattern onto one or more underlying layers. In the disclosed embodiments, etch selectivity between a photoresist layer and one or more underlying layers is improved by pre-treating the underlying layer(s) with a plasma before the photoresist layer is deposited and patterned to form a photoresist pattern. The plasma modifies the underlying layer(s) by implanting ions into the underlying layer(s) to form a modified layer. When the modified layer is subsequently etched to transfer the photoresist pattern onto the modified layer, the presence of ions within the modified layer increases the etch rate of the modified layer, compared to the etch rate that the underlying layer(s) would have exhibited without plasma pre-treatment. The increased etch rate of the modified layer improves etch selectivity between the photoresist layer and the modified layer and mitigates defects during the photoresist pattern transfer process.

Techniques herein provide methods for depositing spin-on metal materials for creating metal hard mask (MHM) structures without voids in the deposition. This includes effective spin-on deposition of TiOx, ZrOx, SnOx, HFOx, TaOx, et cetera. Such materials can help to provide differentiation of material etch resistivity for differentiation. By enabling spin-on metal hard mask (MHM) for use with a multi-line layer, a slit-based or self-aligned blocking strategy can be effectively used. Techniques herein include identifying a fill material to fill particular openings in a given relief pattern, modifying a surface energy value of surfaces within the opening such that a contact angle value of an interface between the fill material in liquid form and the sidewall or floor surfaces enables gap-free or void-free filling.

The present disclosure provides a thin film transistor, a display substrate, a method for preparing the same, and a display device including the display substrate. The method for preparing the thin film transistor includes: forming an inorganic insulating film layer in contact with an electrode of the thin film transistor by a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process at power of 9 kW to 25 kW, at a temperature of 190° C. to 380° C. and by using a mixture of gases N.sub.2, NH.sub.3 and SiH.sub.4 in a volume ratio of N.sub.2:NH.sub.3:SiH.sub.4=(10˜20):(5˜10):(1˜2), such that a stress value of the inorganic insulating film layer is reduced to be less than or equal to a threshold, and the inorganic insulating layer comprises silicon nitride.

A method of fabricating a semiconductor device. The method includes forming source/drain features in a substrate on opposite sides of a gate structure, forming an etch stop layer over the source/drain features, and depositing a dielectric layer on the etch stop layer. The method further includes performing a first atomic layer etching (ALE) process having a first operating parameter value on the dielectric layer to form a first part of an opening, and performing a second ALE process having a second operating parameter value to extend the opening to expose the source/drain features. The first operating parameter value is different from the second operating parameter value.

The invention relates to a method of providing a structure by depositing a layer on a substrate in a reactor. The method comprising: introducing a silicon halide precursor in the reactor; introducing a reactant gas comprising oxygen in the reactor; and, providing an energy source to create a plasma from the reactant gas so that the oxygen reacts with the first precursor in a layer comprising silicon dioxide.