Patent ID: 7678710

Claim:
A method of forming a semiconductor device, comprising: forming a dielectric layer having a desired thickness on a surface of a substrate; forming a concentration gradient of a first material within at least a portion of the thickness of the formed dielectric layer using a low energy sputtering process, wherein the low energy sputtering process comprises: pulsing an RE energy delivered at a first RF frequency and a first RF power to a processing region of a low energy sputtering chamber using an RF generator; pulsing a DC voltage delivered from a DC source assembly to a target disposed in the processing region; and synchronizing the pulsed RF energy and the pulsed DC voltage so that an amount of the first material removed from the target can be disposed within the dielectric layer; exposing the dielectric layer and the first material to an RF plasma comprising nitrogen; and depositing a second material over the dielectric layer.