Abstract: A titanium layer is formed on a dielectric layer. A TiN layer is formed on the titanium layer to act as a barrier layer. A rapid thermal annealing is performed. A tungsten layer is deposited by useing chemical vapor deposition with N.sub.2 plasma treatment. In a preferred embodiment, the temperature of the deposition ranges from 300 to 500 degrees centigrade. The gas pressure of the process is about 2 to 4 torr. The power of the plasma is about 300 to 800 Further, the treatment time of the N.sub.2 plasma ranges from 50 to 150 seconds. An etching back step is carried to etch a portion of the tuugsten layer.

Abstract: A thermal annealing method for forming a nitride layer within an integrated circuit. There is first provided a substrate. There is then formed over the substrate a nitride forming material layer. The nitride forming material layer is then annealed through a thermal annealing method in the presence of an atmosphere of activated nitrogen to yield a nitride layer. The method is particularly useful for forming titanium nitride barrier layers and titanium nitride adhesion promoter layers within integrated circuits.