Porogen accumulation in a UV-cure chamber is reduced by removing outgassed porogen through a heated outlet while purge gas is flowed across a window through which a wafer is exposed to UV light. A purge ring having specific major and minor exhaust to inlet area ratios may be partially made of flame polished quartz to improve flow dynamics. The reduction in porogen accumulation allows more wafers to be processed between chamber cleans, thus improving throughput and cost.

A method is presented for forming a fully aligned via (FAV) structure. The method includes depositing a first dielectric adjacent a conductive material, forming a surface aligned monolayer (SAM) over the conductive material, the SAM defining a long chain SAM formed by a layer-by-layer growth technique, depositing a second dielectric over the SAM and the first dielectric, performing chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) to planarize the second dielectric, and etching the SAM to form the FAV structure.

A method of depositing a silicon-containing material is disclosed. Some embodiments of the disclosure provide films which fill narrow CD features without a seam or void. Some embodiments of the disclosure provide films which form conformally on features with wider CD. Embodiments of the disclosure also provide superior quality films with low roughness, low defects and advantageously low deposition rates.

A method for forming ultraviolet (UV) radiation responsive metal-oxide containing film is disclosed. The method may include, depositing an UV radiation responsive metal oxide-containing film over a substrate by, heating the substrate to a deposition temperature of less than 400° C., contacting the substrate with a first vapor phase reactant comprising a metal component, a hydrogen component, and a carbon component, and contacting the substrate with a second vapor phase reactant comprising an oxygen containing precursor, wherein regions of the UV radiation responsive metal oxide-containing film have a first etch rate after UV irradiation and regions of the UV radiation responsive metal oxide-containing film not irradiated with UV radiation have a second etch rate, wherein the second etch rate is different from the first etch rate.

A method and composition for producing a porous low k dielectric film via chemical vapor deposition includes the steps of: providing a substrate within a reaction chamber; introducing into the reaction chamber gaseous reagents including at least one structure-forming precursor comprising an silacyclic compound, and with or without a porogen; applying energy to the gaseous reagents in the reaction chamber to induce reaction of the gaseous reagents to deposit a preliminary film on the substrate, wherein the preliminary film contains the porogen, and the preliminary film is deposited; and removing from the preliminary film at least a portion of the porogen contained therein and provide the film with pores and a dielectric constant of 3.0 or less. In certain embodiments, the structure-forming precursor further comprises a hardening additive.

The present disclosure is generally related to semiconductor devices, and more particularly to a dielectric material formed in semiconductor devices. The present disclosure provides methods for forming a dielectric material layer by a cyclic spin-on coating process. In an embodiment, a method of forming a dielectric material on a substrate includes spin-coating a first portion of a dielectric material on a substrate, curing the first portion of the dielectric material on the substrate, spin-coating a second portion of the dielectric material on the substrate, and thermal annealing the dielectric material to form an annealed dielectric material on the substrate.

According to a chemical vapor deposition method for depositing an organosilicate film on a substrate, a gaseous organosilicate composition is introduced into a vacuum chamber. The gaseous organosilicate composition includes a first silicon-containing precursor selected from an organosilane and an organosiloxane, and further includes at least one second silicon-containing precursor selected from compounds represented by the structure of Formula I:
R.sup.1.sub.nSi(OR.sup.2).sub.4-n   (I), in which R.sup.1 is a linear, branched, or cyclic C.sub.2-C.sub.6 alkyl group; n=1-3; and R.sup.2 is a linear, branched, or cyclic C.sub.1-C.sub.6 alkyl group. A first energy source is applied to the gaseous organosilicate composition in the vacuum chamber to induce reaction of the first silicon-containing precursor and the at least one second silicon-containing precursor and thereby deposit the organosilicate film on at least a portion of the substrate.

A semiconductor device is provided, which includes providing an active region, a source region, a drain region, a dielectric layer, a gate structure and a nitrogen-infused dielectric layer. The source region and the drain region are formed in the active region. The dielectric layer is disposed over the source region and the drain region. The gate structure formed in the dielectric layer is positioned between the source region and the drain region. The nitrogen-infused dielectric layer is disposed over the dielectric layer and over the gate structure.

In accordance with some embodiments herein, methods and apparatuses for flowable deposition of thin films are described. Some embodiments relate to cyclical processors for gap-fill in which deposition is followed by a thermal anneal and ultraviolet treatment and repeated. In some embodiments, the deposition, thermal anneal, and ultraviolet treatment are carried out in separate stations. In some embodiments, a second station is heated to a higher temperature than a first station. In some embodiments, a separate module is used for curing.

A chuck assembly for holding a plate comprises a member configured to hold the plate, the member including a flexible portion configured to have a central opening, and a first cavity formed by the flexible portion, wherein the plate is held by the flexible portion by reducing pressure in the first cavity, a light-transmitting member covering the central opening of the member, and a fluid path in communication with a second cavity defined by the member, the plate held by the member and the light-transmitting member for pressurizing the second cavity.