Patent ID: 7531452

Claim:
A method of depositing a strained metal silicon nitride film on a substrate in a process chamber, comprising: exposing the substrate to a gas comprising a metal precursor; exposing the substrate to a gas comprising a silicon precursor; exposing the substrate to a gas comprising a nitrogen precursor activated by a plasma source at a first level of plasma power and configured to react with the metal precursor or the silicon precursor with a first reactivity characteristic; and exposing the substrate to a gas comprising the nitrogen precursor activated by the plasma source at a second level of plasma power different from the first level and configured to react with the metal precursor or the silicon precursor with a second reactivity characteristic such that a property of the metal silicon nitride film formed on the substrate changes to provide the strained metal silicon nitride film, wherein the exposing the substrate to a gas comprising a nitrogen precursor activated by a plasma source at a first level of plasma power further comprises providing a dilution gas in a first dilution ratio with the nitrogen precursor, and wherein the exposing the substrate to a gas comprising the nitrogen precursor activated by the plasma source at a second level of plasma power further comprises providing the dilution gas in a second dilution ratio with the nitrogen precursor different from the first dilution ratio.