Method of ONO stack formation

1. A method, comprising:

forming a dielectric stack including a layer comprising nitride on a substrate;

patterning the dielectric stack to form a gate stack of a non-volatile memory (NVM) transistor in a first region of the substrate while concurrently removing the dielectric stack in a second region of the substrate; and

performing a two-step oxidation process to oxidize at least a portion of the layer comprising nitride to form a blocking oxide on the gate stack of the NVM transistor while concurrently forming a gate oxide of at least one metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistor in the second region,

wherein the gate oxide of the at least one MOS transistor is formed during both a first oxidation step and a second oxidation step of the two-step gate oxidation process.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein, during the first oxidation step of the two-step oxidation process, the layer comprising nitride of the gate stack remains substantially unchanged, both stoichiometrically and chemically.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein after the first oxidation step of the two-step oxidation process, the gate oxide of the at least one MOS transistor is grown to a first thickness, and wherein during the second oxidation step of the two-step oxidation process, the gate oxide continues to be grown to a second thickness, wherein the second thickness is greater than the first thickness.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first oxidation step of the two-step oxidation process includes a dry rapid thermal oxidation (RTO) process.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the second oxidation step of the two-step oxidation process includes a wet oxidation process.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein the second oxidation step of the two-step oxidation process includes an in-situ steam generation (ISSG) process.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first oxidation step of the two-step oxidation process includes a rapid molecular oxidation.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the layer comprising nitride is divided into a first portion and a second portion, wherein the blocking oxide of the gate stack is formed by consuming at least the first portion.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and the second oxidation steps of the two-step oxidation process are both performed in an in-situ steam generation (ISSG) processing chamber, and wherein only oxygen is introduced to the ISSG processing chamber during the first oxidation step, and wherein both oxygen and hydrogen is introduced during the second oxidation step.

10. A method, comprising:

forming a dielectric stack including a charge-trapping layer on a substrate;

patterning the dielectric stack to form a gate stack of a non-volatile memory (NVM) transistor in a first region of the substrate while concurrently removing the dielectric stack in a second region of the substrate;

performing an oxidation process to oxidize at least a portion of the dielectric stack to form a blocking oxide on the charge-trapping layer while concurrently forming a gate oxide of at least one metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistor in the second region, wherein the oxidation process comprises a two-step oxidation process, and wherein the gate oxide of the at least one MOS transistor is formed during both a first oxidation step and a second oxidation step of the two-step gate oxidation process; and

forming a nitride structure disposed over the gate stack,

wherein the nitride structure changes energy levels of charge traps configured to be formed in the charge-trapping layer to increase charge retention of the charge-trapping layer.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the nitride structure induces a tensile strain, in the charge-trapping layer.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the nitride structure induces a Compressive strain, in the charge-trapping layer.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein, during the first oxidation step of the two-step oxidation process, the portion of the dielectric stack remains substantially unchanged, both stoichiometrically and chemically.

14. A method comprising:

forming a dielectric stack on a substrate, the dielectric stack including a tunneling dielectric overlying the substrate and a charge-trapping layer overlying the tunneling dielectric;

patterning the dielectric stack to form a non-volatile (NV) gate stack of a non-volatile memory (NVM) transistor in a first region of the substrate and to remove the dielectric stack from a second region of the substrate; and

performing a two-step oxidation process to concurrently oxidize at least a first portion of the dielectric stack of the NV gate stack to form a blocking oxide and form a gate oxide of at least one metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistor in the second region,

wherein during a first oxidation step of the oxidation process, the dielectric stack of the NV gate stack remains substantially unchanged, both stoichiometrically and chemically.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the gate oxide of the at least one MOS transistor is formed during both the first oxidation step and a second oxidation step of the two-step oxidation process.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the dielectric stack further comprises a cap layer overlying the charge-trapping layer, and wherein the second oxidation step of the two-step oxidation process consumes substantially all of the cap layer.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the second oxidation step of the two-step oxidation process consumes at least a portion of the charge-trapping layer.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the cap layer comprises a stoichiometry different from the charge-trapping layer.

19. The method of claim 15 , wherein the first and the second oxidation steps of the two-step oxidation process are both performed in an in-situ steam generation (ISSG) processing chamber, and wherein only oxygen is introduced to the ISSG processing chamber during the first oxidation step.