A method of nitridation includes cyclically performing the following steps in situ within a processing chamber at a temperature less than about 400° C.: directing an energy flux to a localized region of an unreactive surface of a substrate to convert the localized region of the unreactive surface to a localized reactive region: and selectively nitridating the localized reactive region using a nitrogen-based gas to convert the localized reactive region to a nitride layer.

A method of forming a silicon carbide-containing film on a substrate, includes: heating the substrate; supplying a carbon precursor gas containing an organic compound having an unsaturated carbon bond to the heated substrate; supplying a silicon precursor gas containing a silicon compound to the heated substrate; laminating, on the substrate, a silicon carbide-containing layer to be turned into the silicon carbide-containing film by allowing the organic compound having the unsaturated carbon bond to thermally react with the silicon compound; and supplying plasma to the silicon carbide-containing layer.

A method for activating an exposed layer of a structure including a provision of a structure including an exposed layer, a deposition of a layer based on a material of formula Si.sub.aY.sub.bX.sub.c, with X chosen from among fluorine F and chlorine Cl, and Y chosen from among oxygen O and nitrogen N, a, b and c being non-zero positive integers, a treatment of the layer Si.sub.aY.sub.bX.sub.c by an activation plasma based on at least one from among oxygen and nitrogen, the parameters of the deposition of the layer Si.sub.aY.sub.bX.sub.c being chosen so as to obtain a sufficiently low material density such that the layer Si.sub.aY.sub.bX.sub.c is at least partially consumed by the activation plasma.

Methods for forming a diamond like carbon layer with desired film density, mechanical strength and optical film properties are provided. In one embodiment, a method of forming a diamond like carbon layer includes generating an electron beam plasma above a surface of a substrate disposed in a processing chamber, and forming a diamond like carbon layer on the surface of the substrate. The diamond like carbon layer is formed by an electron beam plasma process, wherein the diamond like carbon layer serves as a hardmask layer in an etching process in semiconductor applications. The diamond like carbon layer may be formed by bombarding a carbon containing electrode disposed in a processing chamber to generate a secondary electron beam in a gas mixture containing carbon to a surface of a substrate disposed in the processing chamber, and forming a diamond like carbon layer on the surface of the substrate from elements of the gas mixture.

A method and apparatus for growing an oxide layer within a feature of a substrate is described herein. The method is suitable for use in semiconductor manufacturing. The oxide layer is formed by exposing a substrate to both a high pressure oxidant exposure and a lower pressure oxygen containing plasma exposure. The high pressure oxidant exposure is performed at a pressure of greater than 10 Torr, while the lower pressure oxygen containing plasma exposure is performed at a pressure of less than about 10 Torr. The features are high-aspect ratio trenches or holes within a stack of silicon oxide and silicon nitride layers.

A low-k dielectric porous silicon oxycarbon layer is formed within an integrated circuit. In one embodiment, a porogen and bulk layer containing silicon oxycarbon layer is deposited, the porogens are selectively removed from the formed layer without simultaneously cross-linking the bulk layer, and then the bulk layer material is cross-linked. In other embodiments, multiple silicon oxycarbon sublayers are deposited, porogens from each sub-layer are selectively removed without simultaneously cross-linking the bulk material of the sub-layer, and the sub-layers are cross-linked separately.

A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor layer, a first electrode located over the semiconductor layer and connected to the semiconductor layer, a second electrode spaced from the first electrode and located over the semiconductor layer and connected to the semiconductor layer, an insulation film located over the semiconductor layer, and a third electrode interposed between the first electrode and the second electrode, and location over a portion of the insulation film. The insulation film includes a first layer located on the semiconductor layer and between the first electrode and the second electrode and comprising silicon nitride, and a second layer located on the first layer and between the first electrode and the third electrode as well as between the second electrode and the third electrode, and comprising silicon nitride and an amount of oxygen larger than the first layer.

Favorable electrical characteristics are provided to a semiconductor device, or a semiconductor device with high reliability is provided. A semiconductor device including a bottom-gate transistor with a metal oxide in a semiconductor layer includes a source region, a drain region, a first region, a second region, and a third region. The first region, the second region, and the third region are each sandwiched between the source region and the drain region along the channel length direction. The second region is sandwiched between the first region and the third region along the channel width direction, the first region and the third region each include the end portion of the metal oxide, and the length of the second region along the channel length direction is shorter than the length of the first region or the length of the third region along the channel length direction.

A method includes forming a first high-k dielectric layer over a first semiconductor region, forming a second high-k dielectric layer over a second semiconductor region, forming a first metal layer comprising a first portion over the first high-k dielectric layer and a second portion over the second high-k dielectric layer, forming an etching mask over the second portion of the first metal layer, and etching the first portion of the first metal layer. The etching mask protects the second portion of the first metal layer. The etching mask is ashed using meta stable plasma. A second metal layer is then formed over the first high-k dielectric layer.

To reduce a hydroxy group in a silicon oxide film formed at a low temperature and obtain a silicon oxide film with an excellent film quality, (a) accommodating a substrate on a surface of which a silicon oxide film formed at a processing temperature of 300° C. or lower is formed in a processing container, (b) plasma-exciting a hydrogen gas, and a step of supplying hydrogen active species generated in (b) to the substrate are performed.