Metallic Materials Deposition: Metal‐Organic PrecursorsBased in part on the article Metallic Materials Deposition: Metal–Organic Precursors by Herbert D. Kaesz, Alfred Zinn, & Lutz Brandt which appeared in theEncyclopedia of Inorganic Chemistry, First Edition.

Abstract

This review describes metal‐organic precursors for the growth of metal‐containing thin films by chemical vapor deposition methods. The major emphasis is on precursors that have been reported since 1994, and corresponds to a time of major growth in this field. Progress in the development of metal‐organic precursors is documented for the main group, lanthanide, and group 4–11 elements. In the main group elements, there has been considerable research activity directed toward the identification of strontium and barium precursors, due both to the technological importance of mixed oxide phases and the inherent difficulties in obtaining volatile, complexes of these large metal ions. Aluminum, gallium, and indium have also been the subject of intense investigation, owing to the importance of many phases containing these elements. The group 4 and 5 elements titanium, zirconium, hafnium, niobium, and tantalum have been the subject of considerable precursor development activity, owing to the importance of several mixed oxide phases and the importance of zirconium and hafnium oxide for high permittivity gate materials in microelectronics devices. Growth of metal nitride films of these elements has also been an active area of research for use as barrier materials in microelectronics devices. The deposition of copper metal films from metal‐organic precursors is driven by the urgent need for copper metallization procedures in microelectronics device manufacturing. The current state of metal‐organic precursor development is presented for each of the other metallic elements.