New Liquid Precursors for Chemical Vapor Deposition

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This project is co-funded by Chemical and Transport Systems and the Chemistry Division. The goal of this project is to develop new chemical vapor deposition (CVD) processes for selected metals. Practical CVD processes are generally based on turning liquid precursors into vapors that react to form the coatings. The use of liquids, rather than dissolved solids, may be advantageous in terms of chemical compatibility, mixing, handling, and vaporization. The approach is to synthesize novel precursor mixtures containing randomly substituted alkyl groups that keep the material in liquid form at room temperature. These new liquid precursor materials will be purified, characterized, and vaporized as CVD reactants. The deposited materials will be fully characterized for composition, structure, thickness, electrical resistance, surface morphology, and step coverage. This approach will be tested and applied to selected metals and their compounds. The CVD of materials containing several different metals may be more practical with this approach because the precursor liquids are chemically compatible and can be safely mixed. The liquid precursors developed and characterized will facilitate the deposition of mixed metal oxides such as barium strontium titanate, a material with the potential to increase information storage on computer chips. Studies of the mechanisms of precursor reactions will be useful in designing effective CVD reactors and providing rational control for the processes. The insights gained into the reaction mechanisms of these novel chemical precursors will add to the fundamental knowledge base of chemistry.