Patent ID: 8357435

Claim:
A method of depositing and curing a dielectric material on a substrate, the method comprising the steps of: providing a processing chamber partitioned into a first plasma region and a second plasma region; delivering the substrate to the processing chamber, wherein the substrate occupies a portion of the second plasma region; forming a first plasma in the first plasma region while forming little or no plasma in the second plasma region, wherein the first plasma does not directly contact with the substrate; depositing the dielectric material on the substrate to form a dielectric layer, wherein one or more reactants excited by the first plasma react with a silicon-containing precursor to deposit the dielectric material, wherein the silicon-containing precursor further comprises carbon and is supplied directly to the second plasma region; and curing the dielectric layer by forming a second plasma in the second plasma region, wherein one or more carbon-containing species is removed from the dielectric layer.