Patent ID: 7569502

Claim:
A method of forming a gate dielectric in an integrated processing system, comprising: doping the silicon oxide film with nitrogen formed on a silicon substrate by heating a structure comprising the silicon oxide film in an atmosphere comprising NH 3 to a temperature between about 700° C. and about 1100° C. in a first processing chamber of the integrated processing system, wherein substantially no oxygen is incorporated into the structure while heating the structure in an atmosphere comprising NH 3 ; transferring the structure to a second processing chamber of the integrated processing system; cooling the doped structure to less than about 100 degrees Celsius; transferring the chamber to a third processing chamber; and exposing the structure to a plasma comprising a nitrogen source in the third processing chamber, wherein exposing the structure to the plasma comprising a nitrogen source incorporates more nitrogen into the silicon oxide film and forms a silicon oxynitride gate dielectric on the substrate.