Examples are disclosed relate to using an inhibitor with a silicon oxide ALD deposition process to refill recesses in STI regions. One example provides a method of processing a substrate. The method comprises depositing an inhibitor on the substrate, wherein a concentration of the inhibitor on a gate structure of the substrate is greater relative to the concentration of the inhibitor on a recessed shallow trench isolation (STI) region of the substrate. The method further comprises depositing a layer of silicon oxide on the substrate, the inhibitor inhibiting growth of the layer of silicon oxide such that the layer of silicon oxide is thicker on the recessed STI region and thinner on the gate structure.

Various embodiments of methods are provided to control formation of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) used in an area-selective deposition (ASD) process, and thus, prevent defects in the ASD process. In the disclosed embodiments, a SAM structure is formed via a spin-on process that includes: (a) a spin coating step for coating a surface of a semiconductor substrate with a liquid solution containing SAM-forming molecules, the semiconductor substrate having a target material and a non-target material exposed on the substrate surface, and (b) an anneal step for heat treating the semiconductor substrate to chemically bond the SAM-forming molecules to the non-target material exposed on the substrate surface. By controlling and/or varying process parameter(s) utilized during the anneal step, the embodiments disclosed herein improve the selectivity of the SAM structure to the non-target material and prevent defects from occurring when a film is subsequently deposited onto the target material.

A substrate processing method includes: preparing a substrate having a recess on a surface thereof; supplying chlorine gas to the substrate, thereby forming an adsorption-inhibiting layer in the recess; supplying a source gas to the substrate, thereby forming a molecular layer of the source gas in the recess; and supplying a nitriding gas to the substrate, thereby nitriding the molecular layer formed in the recess. The source gas is a gas that is inhibited by the adsorption-inhibiting layer from the formation of the molecular layer in the recess. The formation of the adsorption-inhibiting layer includes: retaining, in a retaining portion, the chlorine gas before being supplied to the substrate, and generating chlorine radicals from the chlorine gas by irradiating, with an ultraviolet ray, the chlorine gas inside the retaining portion.

A topology-selective deposition method is disclosed. An exemplary method includes providing an inhibition agent comprising a first nitrogen-containing gas, providing a deposition promotion agent comprising a second nitrogen-containing gas to form an activated surface on one or more of a top surface, a bottom surface, and a sidewall surface relative to one or more of the other of the top surface, the bottom surface, and the sidewall surface, and providing a precursor to react with the activated surface to thereby selectively form material comprising a nitride on the activated surface.

A method includes forming a conductive material on a first dielectric layer, exposing the conductive material to aniline to produce a passivated surface of the conductive material, and after exposing the conductive material to aniline, forming a second dielectric layer on the first dielectric layer using a deposition process. The deposition process is a water-free and plasma-free deposition process, and the second dielectric layer does not form on the passivated surface of the conductive material.