Patent ID: 8168548
Filing Date: 2012-05-01
Classification: C23C,H01L

Abstract:
1. A method of forming a semiconductor device, comprising: providing a substrate in a processing chamber of a vacuum processing tool, the processing chamber being pressure-controlled to induce a vacuum, the substrate having a strained Ge-containing layer on the substrate and a Si-containing layer on the strained Ge-containing layer; maintaining the substrate at a temperature less than 700° C.; introducing a process gas through a nozzle into the processing chamber; exposing the process gas to ultra-violet radiation to form oxidation radicals by dissociating the process gas, the ultra-violet radiation being radiated into a region between the nozzle and the substrate by a UV source located outside the vacuum; and exposing the Si-containing layer to the oxidation radicals to form a Si-containing dielectric layer while minimizing oxidation and strain relaxation in the underlying strained Ge-containing layer, wherein substantially no ions are formed in the processing tool during exposure to the ultra-violet radiation.