Patent ID: 7410913

Claim:
A method of forming a silicon rich oxide (SRO) layer on a substrate comprising: a) introducing the substrate into a reaction chamber; b) introducing a first silicon source gas into the reaction chamber under conditions whereby a portion of the first silicon source gas is absorbed on a first substrate surface to form a first silicon source layer, the first silicon source gas being substantially free of oxygen; c) introducing a first reaction gas into the reaction chamber under conditions sufficient to form an oxidizing plasma; d) reacting the first silicon source layer and the oxidizing plasma to form a silicon oxide layer on the first substrate surface; e) introducing a second silicon source gas into the reaction chamber under conditions whereby a portion of the second silicon source gas is absorbed on a surface of the silicon oxide layer to form a second silicon source layer, the second silicon source gas being substantially free of oxygen; f) introducing a second reaction gas into the reaction chamber under conditions sufficient to form a reducing plasma; and g) reacting the second silicon source layer and the reducing plasma to form a silicon layer, wherein the combination of the silicon oxide layer and the silicon layer comprise the SRO layer.