Low-temperature CVD of iron, cobalt, and nickel nitride thin films from bis[di(tert-butyl)amido]metal(II) precursors and ammonia

Thin films of late transition metal nitrides (where the metal is iron, cobalt, or nickel) are grown by low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition from bis[di(tert-butyl)amido]metal(II) precursors and ammonia. These metal nitrides are known to have useful mechanical and magnetic properties,...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of vacuum science & technology. A, Vacuum, surfaces, and films Vacuum, surfaces, and films, 2014-03, Vol.32 (2)
Main Authors: Cloud, Andrew N., Davis, Luke M., Girolami, Gregory S., Abelson, John R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
AMIDES
AMMONIA
CARBON
CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION
COBALT
CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
IRON
MAGNETIC PROPERTIES
MORPHOLOGY
NICKEL
NITRIDES
NITROGEN
PARTIAL PRESSURE
PRECURSOR
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0065-0273 K
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0273-0400 K
THIN FILMS
X-RAY PHOTOELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Thin films of late transition metal nitrides (where the metal is iron, cobalt, or nickel) are grown by low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition from bis[di(tert-butyl)amido]metal(II) precursors and ammonia. These metal nitrides are known to have useful mechanical and magnetic properties, but there are few thin film growth techniques to produce them based on a single precursor family. The authors report the deposition of metal nitride thin films below 300 °C from three recently synthesized M[N(t-Bu)2]2 precursors, where M = Fe, Co, and Ni, with growth onset as low as room temperature. Metal-rich phases are obtained with constant nitrogen content from growth onset to 200 °C over a range of feedstock partial pressures. Carbon contamination in the films is minimal for iron and cobalt nitride, but similar to the nitrogen concentration for nickel nitride. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicates that the incorporated nitrogen is present as metal nitride, even for films grown at the reaction onset temperature. Deposition rates of up to 18 nm/min are observed. The film morphologies, growth rates, and compositions are consistent with a gas-phase transamination reaction that produces precursor species with high sticking coefficients and low surface mobilities.
ISSN:0734-2101
1520-8559
DOI:10.1116/1.4865903