This award is made by the Office of Special Projects in the Chemistry Division under the Materials Synthesis and Processing Initiative. Organometallic complexes combining transition metals and main group metals will be synthesized to serve as precursors for Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) of thermodynamically stable and lattice-matched semiconductor interfaces for III-V compound semiconductors. Such interfaces are essential in forming active Schottky barriers or Ohmic contacts in solid-state circuits. The research will consist of organometallic synthesis, followed by CVD screening and characterization of the composition and structure of the film and the interface region. Electrical properties will also be determined. Deposition of intermetallic films will also be attempted from the joined gas streams of separate single metal precursors. The composition of the films will be controlled by selective deposition of intermediate molecular addition compounds with Group III acceptor molecules. %%% This research will provide fundamental new information on the formation and decomposition of mixed-metal organometallic complexes while also providing new routes to thermodynamically stable mixed-metal films on compound semiconductors.
