Patent ID: 8329262

Claim:
A method of forming a silicon-and-nitrogen-containing layer on a substrate in a substrate processing region in a substrate processing chamber, the method comprising: flowing gas into a plasma region to produce excited effluents, wherein the combination of all gases in the plasma region during deposition consist essentially of inert gases which do not form chemical bonds within the silicon-and-nitrogen-containing layer; combining a carbon-free silicon-containing precursor with the plasma effluents in the substrate processing region, wherein the excited effluents cause a reaction in the carbon-free silicon-containing precursor; and depositing a silicon-and-nitrogen-containing layer on the substrate curing the silicon-and-nitrogen-containing layer by maintaining a temperature of the substrate at a curing temperature less than or about 400° C. in an ozone-containing atmosphere and raising a temperature of the substrate to an oxygen anneal temperature above or about 600° C. in an oxygen-containing atmosphere to convert the silicon-and-nitrogen-containing layer into a silicon-and-oxygen-containing layer.