Patent ID: 6841006

Claim:
An apparatus for forming a first porous dielectric layer and a second capping layer on a semiconductor substrate, the apparatus comprising: (a) an atmospheric chemical vapor deposition chamber; (b) a plasma system associated with the atmospheric chemical vapor deposition chamber; (c) a spin coating chamber coupled to the atmospheric chemical vapor deposition chamber; (d) a curing station coupled to the atmospheric chemical vapor deposition chamber; and (e) a substrate handling system adapted to transfer substrates between the atmospheric chemical vapor deposition chamber, the spin coating chamber, and the curing station, wherein the spin coating chamber comprises a first material comprising a sol-gel solution used to form the first porous dielectric layer and wherein the atmospheric chemical vapor deposition chamber comprises a second material used to form the second capping layer, and wherein the curing chamber is capable of curing the sol-gel solution to form the first porous dielectric layer, wherein all processing stations in the apparatus are at atmospheric pressure and no vacuum pumps are present in the apparatus.