Technique for elimination of pitting on silicon substrate during gate stack etch

摘要

A method for forming a gate stack which minimizes or eliminates damage to the gate dielectric layer and/or silicon substrate during the gate stack formation by the reduction of the temperature during formation. The temperature reduction prevents the formation of silicon clusters within the metallic silicide film in the gate stack which has been found to cause damage during the gate etch step. The present invention also includes methods for dispersing silicon clusters prior to the gate etch step.