Patent ID: 7723237

Claim:
A method of treating a dielectric film on a substrate, comprising: disposing said substrate having said dielectric film and a capping layer overlying said dielectric film in a treatment system, wherein a pattern has been transferred to said capping layer and said dielectric film in order to form a feature through said capping layer and within said dielectric film, and wherein a surface layer of said dielectric film has been exposed to an etching plasma during a pattern transfer; and performing a dry non-plasma removal process on said capping layer and said dielectric film to remove an exposed surface layer of said dielectric film and a portion of said capping layer, said dry non-plasma removal process comprising: exposing said exposed surface layer of said dielectric film and said portion of said capping layer to a process gas comprising HF or NH 3 or a combination thereof in order to chemically alter said exposed surface layer of said dielectric film and said portion of said capping layer; and thermally treating said chemically altered exposed surface layer of said dielectric film and said chemically altered portion of said capping layer in order to desorb said chemically altered exposed surface layer and said chemically altered portion, wherein said performing said dry non-plasma removal process avoids formation of an overhang within said feature, and wherein said capping layer comprises at least one of silicon oxide, silicon nitride, and carbon.