Ozone‐Based Atomic Layer Deposition of Gd2O3 from Tris(isopropyl‐cyclopentadienyl)gadolinium: Growth Characteristics and Surface Chemistry

Abstract

The atomic layer deposition (ALD) of Gd2O3 from tris(isopropyl‐cyclopentadienyl) gadolinium (Gd(iPrCp)3) and O3 is studied as a function of the O2/N2 ratio used to generate O3. ALD using O3 with low N2 content leads to the formation of a hydroxyl‐terminated surface after combustion reactions during O3 exposure followed by proton transfer and ligand release during the Gd(iPrCp)3 half cycle. This condition leads to the presence of parasitic chemical vapor deposition (CVD) due to the hygroscopicity of Gd2O3. By contrast, long O3 pulses with high N2 content lead to the dehydroxylation of the surface and to the suppression of both the proton transfer during the Gd(iPrCp)3 half cycle as well as the parasitic CVD reactions.