Patent ID: 8318608

Claim:
A method of fabricating a nonvolatile charge trap memory device, comprising: subjecting, in a first process chamber of a cluster tool, a substrate to a first radical oxidation process to form a first dielectric layer; depositing, in a second process chamber of the cluster tool, a charge-trapping layer above the first dielectric layer; and subjecting, in the first process chamber of the cluster tool, the charge-trapping layer to a second radical oxidation process to form a second dielectric layer above the charge-trapping layer by oxidizing a portion of the charge-trapping layer, wherein at least the second radical oxidation process comprises flowing hydrogen (H 2 ) and oxygen (O 2 ) gas into the first process chamber, forming radicals at a surface of the charge-trapping layer without an ignition event to pyrolyze the H 2 and O 2 , and consuming a portion of the charge-trapping layer, to form a second dielectric layer.