Patent attributes
An annealing system is provided that includes a chamber body that defines a chamber, a support to hold a workpiece and a robot to insert the workpiece into the chamber. The annealing system also includes a first gas supply to provide a hydrogen gas, a pressure source coupled to the chamber to raise a pressure in the chamber to at least 5 atmospheres, and a controller configured to cause the robot to transport a workpiece having a metal film thereon into the chamber, where the metal film contains fluorine on a surface or embedded within the metal film, to cause the first gas supply to supply the hydrogen gas to the chamber and form atomic hydrogen therein, and to cause the pressure source to raise a pressure in the chamber to at least 5 atmospheres while the workpiece is held on the support in the chamber.