Patent ID: 7989360

Claim:
A semiconductor processing method, comprising: providing a semiconductor substrate within a heating apparatus, said heating apparatus having a chamber which receives the semiconductor substrate, having a sidewall around the chamber, and having one or more heating modules that heat the sidewall; the semiconductor substrate having a central region radially surrounded by an outer region; increasing a temperature within the chamber, the increasing of the temperature comprising passing heat from the sidewall to the semiconductor substrate; the heat migrating from the outer region to the central region; while the outer region is not in thermal equilibrium with the central region such that a temperature gradient exists between the outer region and central region with the outer region being warmer than the central region, utilizing multiple separate and substantially discrete steps of a deposition sequence to form a composition that extends across at least a portion of the outer region of the semiconductor substrate and across at least a portion of the central region of the semiconductor substrate; and wherein the deposition sequence comprises a combination of atomic layer deposition and chemical vapor deposition, with the chemical vapor deposition being more prevalent along the outer region of the semiconductor substrate than along the central region of the semiconductor substrate; and wherein the non-equilibrium conditions across the outer and central regions of the semiconductor substrate lead to a decrease in a rate of deposition across the outer region relative to a rate of deposition across the central region, and thereby generate a more uniform layer of the composition across the outer and central regions than would be obtained if the outer and central regions were in thermal equilibrium with one another.