As semiconductor technology moves toward reduced feature size, increased device density, and larger diameter wafers, there is increasing need for reliable, economical, in situ, single-wafer processing under low-thermal budget conditions. Two promising techniques to do this are rapid thermal processing and remote plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The integration of such processing techniques together with proper surface preparation has significant potential for meeting the fabrication needs at the deep submicron level. The extension of such in situ processing to include the clustering of multiple processing tools is another step in the development of low-thermal-budget, in situ, single-wafer processing. Such cluster tools require the development of well-controlled high throughput technologies that are cost effective and compatible with high-yield manufacturing.