Patent ID: 8557716

Claim:
A semiconductor device manufacturing method comprising: exposing a substrate placed in a process chamber to a source gas; stopping an exposure of the substrate to the source gas and purging the source gas; exposing the substrate to a catalyst and a modification gas comprising an oxidizing gas or a nitriding gas, wherein an atom has electronegativity different from that of another atom in molecules of the oxidizing gas or the nitriding gas; and stopping an exposure of the substrate to the catalyst and the modification gas, and purging the catalyst and the modification gas, wherein the exposure of the substrate to the source gas and the exposure of the substrate to the catalyst and the modification gas are performed while heating the substrate, so as to form an oxide or nitride film on the substrate, and wherein the process chamber is kept at a pressure lower than a vapor pressure of a byproduct corresponding to a surface temperature of the substrate during the exposure of the substrate to the catalyst and the modification gas, the byproduct being produced by a reaction between the catalyst and the source gas and starting to sublimate at the vapor pressure.