Patent ID: 8828855

Claim:
A method of fabricating a semiconductor device, comprising: performing ion implantation into a silicon substrate of the semiconductor device, wherein said ion implantation introduces damage in a core active area of the silicon substrate; after performing the ion implantation, reducing said damage in the core active area of the silicon substrate using a two-step thermal treatment including: performing a first thermal treatment procedure on the semiconductor device, wherein the first thermal treatment procedure comprises a N 2 and O 2 based anneal at a first temperature and a first duration of approximately 30 seconds; and consecutively performing a second thermal treatment procedure using at least one process condition distinct from said first thermal treatment on the semiconductor device, wherein the first thermal treatment procedure and the second thermal treatment procedure are performed prior to forming any gate dielectric, and wherein the second thermal treatment is an oxidation in O 2 and N 2 performed at a second temperature distinct from said first temperature and a second duration of approximately 10 seconds; and after reducing the damage using the two-step thermal treatment, forming an I/O gate dielectric and forming a core gate dielectric.