"Tailored" organometallics as precursors for the chemical vapor deposition of high-purity palladium and platinum thin films

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The fabrication of electronic devices by chemical vapor deposition is a rapidly expanding area of great current interest. Metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) routes to the preparation of semiconductor thin films, such as GaAs from GaMe/sub 3/ and AsH/sub 3/, are becoming increasingly attractive, due largely to the high growth rates, high purity, high crystal quality, and ease of process control that are characteristic of the MOCVD method. However, despite the intensive study of the synthesis of main-group materials by MOCVD, relatively few studies of the deposition of thin films that contain transition metals have been reported, largely because suitably volatile and reactive molecular CVD precursors are scarce. For example, palladium films are of interest as a potential replacement for gold as an electrical contact material in integrated circuits. This interest arises from its high electrical conductivity, its resistance to oxidation, and its economic advantages over gold. While palladium films have been made by electroplating, vacuum sputtering, and laser direct-write metallization, no CVD methods have been reported to date, despite the advantages offered by this technique. Here they report the synthesis of high-quality Pd and Pt films by MOCVD from tailored organometallic precursors under mild conditions.