Unsymmetrical Tellurides as Novel Metalorganic Chemical Vapor Deposition Reagents for Tellurium Alloys

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This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is in the general area of materials chemistry and in the subfield metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The goal of this activity is the development of volatile MOCVD reagents for use in the fabrication of tellurium alloy thin films. Mercury cadmium telluride (MCT) has important potential applications as a material for passive infrared detectors. MOCVD of MCT necessitates development of new tellurium element source reagents with increased volatility and lower growth temperatures. During the tenure of Phase I research under NSF grant ISI-8860518, a new class of compounds, trifluoromethyl(alkyl)tellurides, was synthesized via a novel ligand exchange reaction. These compounds were shown to have a significantly higher volatility and comparable decomposition temperatures to the best reagents currently available. In this Phase II study, large scale syntheses of these compounds will be developed and they will be used as Te source reagents for the growth of CdTe films. The physical and electrical properties of the films will be determined. Simultaneously, further work will be done to elucidate the pyrolysis mechanisms of the trifluoromethyl(alkyl)tellurides and the mechanism of the ligand exchange reaction. This information, combined with the film growth studies, should allow determination of the optimum source reagent and the development of a large scale, high purity synthesis of that compound.