Patent ID: 7550816

Claim:
A filled trench isolation structure formed in a semiconductor device comprising: a semiconductor substrate; at least one trench formed in said semiconductor substrate, said at least one trench being defined by a pair of sidewalls and a bottom wall and being filled with first and second deposited layers of trench-filling materials formed by: placing said semiconductor substrate in a process chamber; creating a first plasma in said process chamber, wherein said first plasma comprises a silicon precursor gas, an oxygen precursor gas and a first inert gas selected from the group consisting of helium, neon, argon, and krypton and combinations thereof; exposing said semiconductor substrate to said first plasma to cause deposition of said first layer of trench-filling material into said trench so as to partially fill said trench; purging said process chamber of said first inert gas; creating a second plasma in said process chamber, wherein said second plasma comprises a silicon precursor gas, an oxygen precursor gas and second inert gas selected from the group consisting of helium, neon, argon, and krypton and combinations thereof; exposing said semiconductor substrate to said second plasma to cause deposition of said second layer of trench-filling material on said first layer of trench-filling material substantially filling said trench such that said filled trench is substantially free of voids.