METHOD FOR THE GROWTH OF A THIN SILICON OXIDE LAYER ON A SILICON SUBSTRATE SURFACE AND DOUBLE REACTOR MACHINE

摘要

The invention concerns the field of microelectronics and aims at forming a thin silicon oxide layer (31) on a silicon substrate surface (10) oriented along a plane (100), to act in particular as a diffusion barrier for refractory oxides (32) of transistor (15, 16, 21) gate (21). The method consists in cleaning said silicon surface, in producing under vacuum slightly loaded oxidant ions and directing them towards said surface (14) while controlling their kinetic energy so that their speed is substantially null when approaching said surface, so as to cause the Si-Si linkages to open at said surface and to fill up said linkages with oxygen ions, the silicon substrate being maintained at a temperature less than 500 DEG C. The invention is useful for making integrated circuits and storage units with high integration level.