An examination of organometallic thermal stability and its relevance to low-temperature MOCVD growth of HgCdTe

Abstract

A well-established stability model for hydrocarbon molecules is reviewed and then applied to organometallic compounds used in the epitaxial growth of HgCdTe films. For hydrocarbon molecules, the strength of carbon-hydrogen bonds is modified by neighboring organic groups. The mechanism for this effect is delocalization of the free radical electronic charge by the neighboring groups. The delocalization effect is present in organometallic compounds and is illustrated for tellurium, mercury, and cadmium compounds. An important application of the delocalization effect is the development of a low-temperature approach for pyrolytic metalorganic growth of HgCdTe.