Patent ID: 8101531

Claim:
In a semiconductor processing apparatus including a process station, a method for forming a thin conformal film on a substrate positioned in the process station, the method comprising: in a first phase: generating precursor radicals off of a surface of the substrate by igniting a plasma using only an inert gas flow prior to introduction of a precursor flow to the plasma in the semiconductor processing apparatus, the plasma configured to crack the precursor molecules into precursor radicals, and then adsorbing the precursor radicals to the surface to form surface active species, wherein the precursor flow comprises at least one of an orthosilicate, an alkoxysilane, an alkylsilane, a cyclic siloxane, and an alkynyl silane; in a first purge phase, purging residual precursor radicals from the process station; in a second phase, supplying a reactive oxygen plasma to the surface, the reactive oxygen plasma being configured to react with the surface active species and generate the thin conformal film; and in a second purge phase, purging residual reactant from the process station.