Patent ID: 11923441
Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
Field: Semiconductors (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H  C  B | IPC C  H

Claim 0:
1. A processing tool for forming a semiconductor device, the processing tool comprising:
a central transfer station having a plurality of processing chambers disposed around the central transfer station;
a robot within the central transfer station configured to move a substrate between the plurality of processing chambers;
a first processing chamber connected to the central transfer station, the first processing chamber configured to perform an enhanced in situ steam generation (eISSG) process to deposit a thermal oxide layer at a pressure below 20 Torr;
a metrology station within the processing tool accessible to the robot, the metrology station comprising one or more of a scatterometer, a refractometer, an ellipsometer, or an e-beam configured to determine a thickness of the thermal oxide layer on a substrate;
a second processing chamber connected to the central transfer station, the second processing chamber configured to perform an atomic layer deposition process;
a third processing chamber connected to the central transfer station, the third processing chamber configured to perform a passivation process and/or a densification process; and
a controller connected to the central transfer station, the robot, the first processing chamber, the metrology station, the second processing chamber, and the third processing chamber, the controller comprising a first configuration to move a substrate on the robot between the plurality of processing chambers and metrology station; a second configuration to perform the enhanced in situ steam generation (eISSG) process to deposit a thermal oxide layer on a substrate in the first processing chamber; a third configuration to perform an analysis to determine the thickness of the thermal oxide layer in the metrology station; a fourth configuration to perform an atomic layer deposition process in the second processing chamber, the atomic layer deposition adjusted for the thickness of the thermal oxide layer, and a fifth configuration to perform the passivation process and/or the densification process.