This award in the Inorganic, Bioinorganic, and Organometallic Program supports the work of Dr. David V. Baxter, Physics Department, and Drs. Kenneth G. Caulton and Malcolm H. Chisholm, Chemistry Department, Indiana University. They will develop precursors for chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of thin films of tungsten carbide, early transition metal nitrides, and some metal oxides and carbides. Metal oxides, nitrides, and carbides will be formed from metal alkoxides, amides, and organometallics, respectively. Specifically targeted for study are the barium alkoxides, whose substituents will be modifed to test the "steric pressure" on thin film properties; fluoroalkoxides of thallium, barium and calcium; metal alkoxides of Mo, W, Al, and alkali metals; and mixed alkoxides containing sodium and tungsten or potassium and zirconium. Emphasis will be placed on optimizing the volatility and hydrolytic insensitivity of precursors, continuing studies of the mechanism of transformation of precursors into solid state materials, and studying the role of precursor design in the properties of the final product. %%% The development of new electronic materials depends on the ability to control the composition of the material, its purity, and its effective and economic deposition. In this study, the influence of the starting material prior to deposition will be investigated for a variety of materials, as well as the mechanism of deposition. Emphasis will be placed on the chemical synthesis and modification of new precursors in order to produce high quality thin films.
