Chemical vapor deposition of metal diboride and metal oxide thin films from borohydride-bonded precursors

Metal borohydrides denotes the type of metal complex in which the metals are connected to the surrounding ligands through boron-hydrogen bridge bonds. They are excellent CVD precursors owning to their outstanding volatility and high reactivity. Transition metal diboride and metal oxide thin films suitable for various technological applications are deposited from these novel precursors. In this dissertation, comprehensive investigations of thin film growth rate, composition, and properties as a function of precursor pressure and substrate temperature were carried out for the CVD of HfB2 and MgO. It is determined that their CVD growth kinetics can be well explained with a Langmuir surface reaction mechanism. A structure zone model is proposed to explain the microstructure-process relationship of the CVD thin films in general.; In future generations of microelectronics fabrication, materials need to be deposited into recess features with smaller dimensions and higher aspect ratios. A new approach is developed to obtain super-conformal coating (bottom-up filling) of such high aspect ratio features. The super-conformal growth is demonstrated in the CVD of CrB2 and HfB2 films from the corresponding borohydride precursors with atomic and molecular growth suppressors. Computer simulation is employed to understand the mechanism of the super-conformal deposition.; The high Tc superconductor MgB2 were deposited at low temperatures (T = 300°C--400°C) from a recently developed highly volatile borohydride-bonded Mg precursor, by means of catalyst-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The films are stoichiometric and highly crystallized, however, the lattice constants shift away from the MgB2 structure to the diboride structure of the catalyst metal, suggesting that Mg is partially substituted by the corresponding metals.