a process for selective deposition of a refractory metal such as tungsten at high temperatures and low pressure via chemical vapor deposition during semiconductor device manufacturing is provided . a dielectric layer is nitrided by chemical deposition of a nitrogen bearing gas prior to lpcvd deposition of tungsten for purposes such as contact metallization of current conducting electrodes and current controlling electrodes of transistors . since nitridation of the dielectric is a surface chemical reaction and not an addition of material to the dielectric , no additional complexity is introduced into the lpcvd process . the refractory metal does not substantially deposit on the nitrided dielectric thereby providing selective metal deposition .