Mechanism-Based Design of Precursors for MOCVD

A chemistry-based approach to designing precursors for the CVD of inorganic films1 requires consideration of the physical properties of the precursor compound (e.g., volatility for transport in the reactor) and the probable decomposition pathways for the compound, both in the gas phase and on the surface during growth. Complicating the decomposition issue is the possibility of reactions with the carrier gas,2 as well as unimolecular reaction pathways of the precursor. Although a substantial body of literature on the reaction pathways of organometallic complexes can be found, most of the data have been obtained in solution at or below room temperature. At the conditions used in CVD (gas/surface reaction at temperatures ≥ 300 °C), not only are the typical solution-phase organometalli