Deposition of Ceramic Films by A Novel Pulsed-Gas Mocvd Technique

Abstract

ABSTRACTMetal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) is a versatile technique for the deposition of thin films of metals, semiconductors and ceramics. Commonly used hot wall flow-reactor designs suffer from a number of limitations. Chemical processes occurring in these reactors typically include a combination of homogeneous (gas-phase) and heterogeneous (gas-surface) reactions. These complex conditions are difficult to model and are poorly understood. In addition, flow reactors use large quantities of expensive precursor materials and are not well suited to the formation of abrupt interfaces. We report here a novel MOCVD technique which addresses these problems and enables a more thorough mechanistic understanding of the heterogeneous decomposition pathways of metal-organic compounds. This technique, the low-pressure pulsed gas method, has been demonstrated to provide high deposition rates with excellent control over film thickness. The deposition conditions effectively eliminate homogeneous processes allowing surface-mediated reactions to dominate. This decoupling of gas-phase chemistry from film deposition allows a better understanding of reaction mechanisms and provides better control over film growth. Both single metal oxides and binary oxide systems have been investigated on a variety of substrate materials. Effects of precursor chemistry, substrate surface, temperature and pressure on film composition and morphology will be discussed.