There is provided a technique that includes: forming a film on a substrate in a process chamber by performing a cycle a predetermined number of times, the cycle including non-simultaneously performing: (a) supplying a precursor from a first supplier to the substrate and exhausting the precursor from an exhaust port installed opposite to the first supplier with the substrate interposed between the exhaust port and the first supplier; and (b) supplying a reactant from a second supplier to the substrate and exhausting the reactant from the exhaust port, wherein in (a), inert gas is supplied into the process chamber from a third supplier installed at a region, which is a region on a side of the exhaust port among a plurality of regions partitioned in the process chamber by a bisector perpendicular to straight line connecting the first supplier and the exhaust port in a plane view.

A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device is provided. The method includes the following. A substrate is provided. A stacked structure is formed on the substrate. The stacked structure includes first material layers and gate layers that are alternatively stacked. The stacked structure includes a giant block (GB) region and a stair-step region. A third material layer is formed on an upper surface of the GB region and an upper surface of the stair-step region. A fourth material layer filling the stair-step region and covering the GB region is formed. At least one contact structure is located in the stair-step region. Each of the at least one contact structure penetrates the third material layer and is connected with a respective one of the gate layers.

There is provided a technique that includes: forming a nitride film on a substrate by performing a cycle a predetermined number of times, the cycle including: (a) supplying a precursor to the substrate; (b) supplying a nitriding agent to the substrate; and (c) supplying an active species X, which is generated by plasma-exciting an inert gas, to the substrate, wherein a stress of the nitride film is controlled to be between a tensile stress and a compressive stress or is controlled to be the compressive stress by controlling an amount of exposure of the active species X to a surface of the substrate in (c).

A solar cell and a photovoltaic module are provided. The solar cell includes an N-type substrate having a front surface and a rear surface, a passivation stack disposed on the front surface, and a tunneling oxide layer and a doped conductive layer disposed on the rear surface. The passivation stack includes an oxygen-containing dielectric layer including a metal oxide material, a first passivation layer including an oxygen-containing silicon nitride material, and a second passivation layer including a silicon oxynitride material. A thickness of the oxygen-containing dielectric layer is in a range of 1 nm to 15 nm in a direction perpendicular to the front surface, a thickness of the first passivation layer is in a range of 30 nm to 60 nm in the direction perpendicular to the front surface, and a thickness of the second passivation layer is in a range of 20 nm to 40 nm in the direction perpendicular to the front surface.

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes depositing a dielectric layer over a substrate, performing a first patterning to form an opening in the dielectric layer, and depositing an oxide film over and contacting the dielectric layer and within the opening in the dielectric layer. The oxide film is formed from multiple precursors that are free of O.sub.2, and depositing the oxide film includes forming a plasma of a first precursor of the multiple precursors.

A method includes forming a semiconductor layer over a substrate; etching a portion of the semiconductor layer to form a first recess and a second recess; forming a first masking layer over the semiconductor layer; performing a first thermal treatment on the first masking layer, the first thermal treatment densifying the first masking layer; etching the first masking layer to expose the first recess; forming a first semiconductor material in the first recess; and removing the first masking layer.

In an embodiment, a method for nitriding a substrate is provided. The method includes flowing a nitrogen-containing source and a carrier gas into a plasma processing source coupled to a chamber such that a flow rate of the nitrogen-containing source is from about 3% to 20% of a flow rate of the carrier gas; generating an inductively-coupled plasma (ICP) in the plasma processing source by operating an ICP source, the ICP comprising a radical species formed from the nitrogen-containing source, the carrier gas, or both; and nitriding the substrate within the chamber, wherein nitriding includes operating a heat source within the chamber at a temperature from about 150 C. to about 650 C. to heat the substrate; maintaining a pressure of the chamber from about 50 mTorr to about 2 Torr; introducing the ICP to the chamber; and adjusting a characteristic of the substrate by exposing the substrate to the radical species.

The present disclosure relates to methods and apparatuses for selective deposition on a surface. In particular, a silicon-containing inhibitor can be used to selectively bind to a first region, thus inhibiting deposition of a material on that first region.

A method of manufacturing a structure for power electronics which includes epitaxially growing a GaN semiconductor layer is provided. The method includes growing buffer layers formed of AlN and Al.sub.xGa.sub.(1-x)N, wherein 0<x<1, on a Si substrate before growing the semiconductor layer on the buffer layers. The method also includes growing deformation compensation layers formed of SiO.sub.2, SiC.sub.xN.sub.(1-x), SiN, SiC.sub.xO.sub.(1-x), SiC, SiN.sub.xO.sub.(1-x), Al.sub.2O.sub.3, and/or Cr.sub.2O.sub.3, wherein 0<x<1, on the substrate opposite the semiconductor layer. The deformation compensation layers compensate for deformation of the structure that occurs while growing the semiconductor and buffer layers and deformation that occurs while cooling the structure. The method further includes estimating epitaxial growth stress, interface stress, and thermal stress of the structure, and adjusting the temperature and or thickness of the layers based on the estimated epitaxial growth stress, interface stress, and/or thermal stress.

A substrate processing method includes preparing a substrate having a target film including silicon, carbon, and nitrogen on a surface of the substrate; supplying hydrogen gas and oxygen gas to the target film to oxidize a surface layer of the target film and form an oxide film; and etching the oxide film.