This research is being jointly supported by the Office of Special Projects in the Chemistry Division and the Ceramics and Electronic Materials Program in the Division of Materials Research under the Materials Chemistry Initiative at the National Science Foundation. The research under this grant concentrates on the synthesis and use of novel precursor molecules of inorganic and organometallic imido complexes for chemical vapor deposition of Group IV and V transition metal nitride thin films. These molecules have several desirable features which will be explored, e.g. the presence of one preformed metal-nitrogen multiple chemical bond per metal atom, ancillary functional groups which have decomposition pathways at temperatures below 4000 centigrade. The structure and quality of the films are being determined using an electron microprobe for micro- chemical analysis, Rutherford Back-scattering for depth profiling of chemical composition, Auger electron spectroscopy for chemical bonding and chemical analysis, secondary ion mass spectroscopy for chemical analysis, photoelectron spectroscopy for chemical bonding, and x-ray diffraction for crystallographic characterization. The Group IV and V nitrides have unique combinations of properties that make them technologically important. However, their application is limited by the absence of processing techniques to apply thin films of high quality at high rates of deposition and low temperatures. The research being done under this grant will emphasize the discovery and synthesis of precursor compounds that will make organometallic chemical vapor deposition of these nitrides technologically feasible.
