Ultrahigh Vacuum Metalorganic Chemical Vapor Deposition and in Situ Characterization of Nanoscale Titanium Dioxide Films

Ultrahigh Vacuum Metalorganic Chemical Vapor Deposition and in Situ Characterization of Nanoscale Titanium Dioxide Films
Author: Polly Wanda Chu
Publisher:
Total Pages: 434
Release: 1994
Genre:
ISBN:

Thin titanium dioxide films were produced by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on sapphire(0001) in an ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) chamber. A method was developed for producing controlled submonolayer depositions from titanium isopropoxide precursor. Film thickness ranged from 0.1 to 2.7 nm. In situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to determine film stoichiometry with increasing thickness. The effect of isothermal annealing on desorption was evaluated. Photoelectron peak shapes and positions from the initial monolayers were analyzed for evidence of interface reaction. Deposition from titanium isopropoxide is divided into two regimes: depositions below and above the pyrolysis temperature. This temperature was determined to be 300 deg C. Controlled submonolayers of titanium oxide were produced by cycles of dosing with titanium isopropoxide vapor below and annealing above 300 deg C. Precursor adsorption below the pyrolysis temperature was observed to saturate after 15 minutes of dosing. The quantity absorbed was shown to have an upper limit of one monolayer. The stoichiometry of thin films grown by the cycling method were determined to be TiO2. Titanium dioxide film stoichiometry was unaffected by isothermal annealing at 700 deg C. Annealing produced a decrease in film thickness. This was explained as due to desorption. Desorption ceased at approximately 2.5 to 3 monolayers, suggesting bonding of the initial monolayers of film to sapphire is stronger than to itself. Evidence of sapphire reduction at the interface by the depositions was not observed. The XPS O is peak shifted with increased film thickness. The shifts were consistent with oxygen in sapphire and titanium dioxide having different O is photoelectron peak positions. Simulations showed the total shifts for thin films ranging in thickness of 0.1 to 2.7 nm to be -0.99 to -1.23 eV. Thick films were produced for comparison.

Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition and Atomic Layer Deposition of Strontium Oxide Films on Silicon Surfaces

Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition and Atomic Layer Deposition of Strontium Oxide Films on Silicon Surfaces
Author: Amalia C. Cuadra
Publisher:
Total Pages: 164
Release: 2007
Genre:
ISBN:

Epitaxial oxide films like strontium titanate (SrTiO3) grown on silicon have a wide range of potential applications, including high k-dielectric devices, ferroelectrics, optoelectronics, and buffer layers for the heteroepitaxy of III-V semiconductor as well other pervoskites and high-Tc superconductors. The crystalline structure of SrTiO3 consists of alternating sublayers of SrO and TiO2. The epitaxy of SrTiO3 on Si(100) must be initiated with the nucleation of the SrO sublayer first. This thesis presents the methodology used for growing SrO on Si(100) surfaces via metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) and atomic layer deposition (ALD). Sr(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedionate) 2 [Sr(thd)2] is the beta-diketonate precursor used to conduct these film growth studies, but the use of this class of metal organic sources comes with several challenges. First, their thermal properties change with atmospheric exposure. Second, successful control of vapor delivery is challenging because beta-diketonates have low vapor pressures and their decomposition temperature is close to their vaporization temperature. Additionally, film growth results are difficult to reproduce because these compounds degrade with time. To overcome these challenges, we developed a Sr(thd)2 delivery scheme using a novel source vaporizer that successfully controls the vaporization and vapor transport to the growth surface under steady vapor pressure while preventing the decomposition of the solid source. This vaporization scheme has been able to grow SrO films on Si(100) with high uniformity and low carbon contamination, as shown with ex-situ Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy (TOF-SIMS). The MOCVD experiments provided enough evidence to encourage ALD investigations which incorporated the integration of the controlled vaporization with a ultra high vacuum (UHV) reaction chamber that provided the ability to conduct growth experiments on functionalized Si(100) surfaces. The ability to tune the chemistry on the Si(100)-2x1 surface can aid in guiding surface reactions of the metal organic precursor with the growth surface. Our goal has been to hydroxyl terminate the Si(100)-2x1 surface in order to nucleate SrO monolayers. Following the desorption of a protective chemical oxide layer, dissociative chemisorption of H2O is carried out in UHV to hydroxyl terminated Si(100)-2x1. Metal oxide growth can be correlated to the concentration of hydroxyl groups on the silicon surface due to the facilitation of ligand exchange from the surface. Furthermore, hydroxyl-terminated surfaces initiate two-dimensional nucleation of the metal oxide while avoiding incubation periods common to the ALD of metal oxide. In-situ AES and low energy electron diffraction LEED were used to investigate the crystalline quality of the nucleated monolayers and the epitaxial orientation of SrO films on Si(100)-2x1 surfaces. The results of the ALD experiments were, unfortunately, inconsistent. Nonetheless, the focus of this thesis is to show the methodology for developing growth protocols that can be used in ALD reactions on functionalized Si(100)-2x1 surfaces for the epitaxy of metal oxides.

Titanium Dioxide

Titanium Dioxide
Author: Hafiz Muhammad Ali
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
Total Pages: 246
Release: 2022-03-02
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1839694750

This book presents a comprehensive overview of titanium dioxide, including recent advances and applications. It focuses on the compound’s uses in environmental remediation, photocatalytic materials, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, thin films, energy storage, semiconductors, and much more. This volume is a useful resource for researchers, scientists, engineers, and students.