Patent ID: 11915976
Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY LTD.
Field: Semiconductors (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 0:
1. A tool, comprising:
one or more devices configured to:
provide ammonia gas and nitrogen fluoride gas into a processing chamber to cause an ammonium fluoride gas to form at a rate satisfying a threshold rate;
form, based on providing the ammonia gas and the nitrogen fluoride gas, the ammonium fluoride gas in the processing chamber at the rate to cause a chemical reaction between the ammonium fluoride gas and an oxide layer on an insulating cap, a dielectric layer, and a source or drain region of a semiconductor device in the processing chamber,
wherein the chemical reaction causes a protection layer to form on the source or drain region to protect the source or drain region during a pre-clean process; and

remove the protection layer from the source or drain region.