A semiconductor device includes a gate extraction portion extracted from a gate electrode and extending from an active region to an outer peripheral region so as to be disposed above an end portion of a field insulating film. The end portion of the gate field insulating film above which the gate extraction portion is disposed is inclined in such a manner that a thickness of the field insulating film increases in a direction from the active region toward the outer peripheral region.

A method of forming a partially silicided element is provided. A silicided structure including a silicide layer on a base structure is formed. A dielectric region is formed over the silicided structure. The dielectric region is etched to form a contact opening exposing a first area of the silicide layer and a tub opening exposing a second area of the silicide layer. A conformal metal is deposited to (a) fill the contact opening to define a contact and (b) form a cup-shaped metal structure in the tub opening. Another etch is performed to remove the cup-shaped metal structure in the tub opening, to remove the underlying silicide layer second area and to expose an underlying area of the base structure, wherein the silicide layer first area remains intact. The base structure with the intact silicide layer first area and removed silicide layer second area defines the partially silicided element.

The present disclosure provides a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device. The method includes: providing a semiconductor structure, in which the semiconductor structure includes alternatively disposed first nitride portions and second nitride portions wrapping portions of an oxide layer, a dielectric layer disposed between one of the first nitride portions and one of the second nitride portions, a top nitride surrounded by the one of the first nitride portions or the one of the second nitride portions, a filling material, and a cap layer disposed on the filling material; forming a plurality of trenches to expose the portions of the oxide layer wrapped by the first nitride portions and the second nitride portions; forming air gaps by removing the portions of the oxide layer; and conformally forming an encapsulating layer on inner sidewalls of the trenches to encapsulate the air gaps.

Generally, the present disclosure provides example embodiments relating to conductive features, such as metal contacts, vias, lines, etc., and methods for forming those conductive features. In a method embodiment, a dielectric layer is formed on a semiconductor substrate. The semiconductor substrate has a source/drain region. An opening is formed through the dielectric layer to the source/drain region. A silicide region is formed on the source/drain region and a barrier layer is formed in the opening along sidewalls of the dielectric layer by a same Plasma-Enhance Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) process.

An in-chamber plasma source in a deposition reactor system includes an array of microcavity or microchannel plasma devices having a first electrode and a second electrode isolated from plasma in microcavities or microchannels. An inlet provides connection to deposition precursor. A region interacts deposition precursor with plasma. An outlet directs precursor dissociated with the plasma onto a substrate for deposition. A reactor system includes a substrate holder across from the outlet, a chamber enclosing the in-chamber plasma source and the substrate holder, an exhaust from the chamber, and conduit supplying precursors from sources or bubblers to the inlet. A reactor system can conduct plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition at high pressures and is capable of forming a complete layer in a single cycle.

A plasma processing apparatus for generating plasma from a processing gas using microwaves and performing plasma processing on a substrate is provided. The apparatus includes a processing chamber having a substrate support on which the substrate is placed; a plurality of microwave radiation units arranged at a central portion and an outer peripheral portion of a ceiling wall of the processing chamber and configured to radiate microwaves; and a controller configured to complete microwave radiation from the microwave radiation unit in the central portion upon completion of plasma processing of the substrate and then complete microwave radiation from the microwave radiation units in the outer peripheral portion.

Described herein is a technique capable of uniformizing a quality of a film even when a processing environment changes. According to one aspect thereof, there is provided a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, including: (a) loading a substrate into a process chamber; (b) supplying a gas to the substrate in the process chamber through a dispersion plate of a shower head while heating the dispersion plate by a shower head heater and exhausting the gas; (c) unloading the substrate; (d) measuring a temperature of the shower head before loading a subsequent substrate; and (e) comparing the temperature of the shower head after (d) with a pre-set temperature, and operating the shower head heater to control the temperature of the shower head to become close to the pre-set temperature when a difference between the temperature of the shower head and the pre-set temperature is greater than a predetermined value.

Methods and systems of forming treated silicon-carbon material are disclosed. Exemplary methods include depositing silicon-carbon material onto a surface of the substrate and treating the silicon-carbon material. The step of treating can include a first treatment step followed by a second treatment step, wherein the first treatment step includes providing first reductant gas activated species and the second treatment step includes providing one or more of a first oxidant gas activated species and a second reductant gas activated species.

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.

In one embodiment, a system for controlling a matching network of a semiconductor manufacturing system is disclosed. The matching network comprises an electronically variable reactance element (EVRE) that varies its total reactance using different match configurations. A plasma chamber carries out a process upon a substrate, the process comprising process steps including at least a first process step and a second process step. A memory, for each process step, stores instructions for carrying out the process step. A control circuit, while continuously carrying out each of the process steps of the process, upon anticipation that the plasma chamber will be transitioning from the first process step to the second process step, alters the match configuration to a new match configuration based on the instructions for carrying out the second process step.