Semiconductor device and method of fabricating the same

Abstract

According to the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor device comprising: a gate insulating film selectively formed on a predetermined region of a semiconductor substrate; a gate electrode formed on said gate insulating film; and a source region and drain region formed, in a surface portion of said semiconductor substrate, on two sides of a channel region positioned below said gate electrode, wherein a carbon concentration in an interface where said gate insulating film is in contact with said gate electrode is not more than 5×10 22 atoms/cm 3 .

1 - 17 . (canceled) 
   
   
       18 . A semiconductor device fabrication method, comprising:
 transferring a semiconductor substrate from a transfer chamber or a transfer box to a film formation chamber;   forming, in the film formation chamber, a first insulating film containing at least a metal and oxygen on a surface of the semiconductor substrate;   transferring the semiconductor substrate from the film formation chamber to a nitriding chamber;   forming, in the nitriding chamber, a second insulating film containing at least a metal, oxygen, and nitrogen by nitriding the first insulating film by doping nitrogen into it;   transferring the semiconductor substrate from the nitriding chamber to an annealing chamber;   performing predetermined annealing on the second insulating film in the annealing chamber; and   transferring the semiconductor substrate from the annealing chamber to the transfer chamber or the transfer box,   transferring the semiconductor substrate from the transfer chamber or the transfer box to a gate insulating film/gate electrode formation chamber;   depositing, in the gate insulating film/gate electrode formation chamber, a gate electrode material on the second insulating film to form a film,   wherein at least when the semiconductor substrate is transferred from the film formation chamber to the nitriding chamber and when the semiconductor substrate is transferred from the nitriding chamber to the annealing chamber, an ambient selected from the group consisting of a reduced-pressure ambient at about 10 −3  Torr, an inert gas ambient, and a nitrogen ambient is formed in the transfer chamber or the transfer box:   
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein a temperature on the semiconductor substrate before being transferred to the gate insulating film/gate electrode formation chamber is set lower than the temperature on the semiconductor substrate when the gate electrode material is deposited. 
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein when performing predetermined annealing on the second insulating film, the annealing is performed under nitrogen atmosphere. 
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 transferring the semiconductor substrate to the annealing chamber before the semiconductor substrate is transferred from the film formation chamber to the nitriding chamber; and   transferring the semiconductor substrate to the nitriding chamber after predetermined annealing is performed on the first insulating film.   
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein when the first insulating film is formed, the first insulating film containing a metal, oxygen, and silicon is formed on the surface of the semiconductor substrate in the film formation chamber. 
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein when the first insulating film is formed, a hafnium silicate film is formed on the surface of the semiconductor substrate in the film formation chamber, and when the second insulating film is formed, a hafnium silicon oxynitride film is formed in the nitriding chamber by nitriding the hafnium silicate film by doping nitrogen into it. 
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein when the second insulating film is formed, the first insulating film is nitrided by doping nitrogen by using a nitrogen-containing plasma. 
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein when the second insulating film is formed, the second insulating film having a specific dielectric constant higher than that of a silicon dioxide film is formed.