Pre-clean of silicon germanium for pre-metal contact at source and drain and pre-high k at channel

1. A method for processing a substrate, comprising:

exposing a surface of the substrate to hydrogen radical species;

exposing the surface of the substrate to a plasma formed from a first fluorine-containing precursor and a first hydrogen-containing precursor;

annealing the substrate;

exposing the surface of the substrate to a plasma formed from a second fluorine-containing precursor and a second hydrogen-containing precursor in a first processing chamber; and

forming an epitaxial layer on the surface of the substrate.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrate is silicon germanium having a concentration of germanium in silicon above about 30%.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hydrogen radical species are formed by exposing a hydrogen-containing gas to a hot wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) source.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hydrogen radical species are formed by exposing a hydrogen-containing gas to a UV light.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein exposing the surface of the substrate to hydrogen radical species is performed in the first processing chamber.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the hydrogen radical species are formed in a remote plasma source separated from the first processing chamber.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the exposing a surface of the substrate to a plasma formed from a first fluorine-containing precursor and a first hydrogen-containing precursor is performed in the first processing chamber.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the exposing a surface of the substrate to a plasma formed from a first fluorine-containing precursor and a first hydrogen-containing precursor is performed in a second processing chamber.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the forming an epitaxial layer on the surface of the substrate is performed in a third processing chamber.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises doped silicon, undoped silicon, polysilicon, crystalline silicon, silicon oxide, strained silicon, silicon germanium, doped polysilicon, germanium, sapphire (Al 2 O 3 ), silicon carbide (SiC), spinel, zinc oxide, gallium-arsenide (GaAs), lithium gallate, indium phosphide (InP), single-crystal GaN, aluminum nitride (AlN), GdScO 3 (GSO), MoSe 2 , Ge 2 Sb 2 Te 5 (GST), or combinations thereof.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second fluorine-containing precursors comprise one or more of nitrogen trifluoride (NF 3 ), hydrogen fluoride (HF), diatomic fluorine (F 2 ), monatomic fluorine (F) and fluorine-substituted hydrocarbons, or combinations thereof.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the substrate is transferred between the first, second, and third processing chambers within one processing system without breaking vacuum.

13. A method for processing a substrate, comprising:

exposing a surface of the substrate to a plasma formed from a first fluorine-containing precursor and a first hydrogen-containing precursor;

exposing the surface of the substrate to hydrogen radical species;

exposing the surface of the substrate to a plasma formed from a second fluorine-containing precursor and a second hydrogen-containing precursor; and then

forming an epitaxial layer on the surface of the substrate.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

between the exposing a surface of the substrate to a plasma formed from a first fluorine-containing precursor and a first hydrogen-containing precursor and the exposing the surface of the substrate to hydrogen radical species, annealing the substrate.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the substrate is silicon germanium having a concentration of germanium in silicon above about 30%.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein the hydrogen radical species are formed by exposing a hydrogen-containing gas to a hot wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) source.

17. The method of claim 13 , wherein the hydrogen radical species are formed by exposing a hydrogen-containing gas to a UV light.