Use of a New Non-Pyrophoric Liquid Aluminum Precursor for Atomic Layer Deposition
1
Department of Chemistry, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AJ, UK
2
Department of Chemical Engineering, University College London, Torrington Place, London WC1E 7JE, UK
3
Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Materials 2019, 12(9), 1429; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12091429
Received: 2 April 2019
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Revised: 15 April 2019
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Accepted: 30 April 2019
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Published: 2 May 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Chemical Vapor Deposition)
An Al2O3 thin film has been grown by vapor deposition using different Al precursors. The most commonly used precursor is trimethylaluminum, which is highly reactive and pyrophoric. In the purpose of searching for a more ideal Al source, the non-pyrophoric aluminum tri-sec-butoxide ([Al(OsBu)3], ATSB) was introduced as a novel precursor for atomic layer deposition (ALD). After demonstrating the deposition of Al2O3 via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and ‘pulsed CVD’ routes, the use of ATSB in an atomic layer deposition (ALD)-like process was investigated and optimized to achieve self-limiting growth. The films were characterized using spectral reflectance, ellipsometry and UV-Vis before their composition was studied. The growth rate of Al2O3 via the ALD-like process was consistently 0.12 nm/cycle on glass, silicon and quartz substrates under the optimized conditions. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy images of the ALD-deposited Al2O3 films deposited on complex nanostructures demonstrated the conformity, uniformity and good thickness control of these films, suggesting a potential of being used as the protection layer in photoelectrochemical water splitting.
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Keywords:
chemical vapor deposition; atomic layer deposition; aluminum oxide; aluminum tri-sec-butoxide; thin film
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MDPI and ACS Style
Xia, X.; Taylor, A.; Zhao, Y.; Guldin, S.; Blackman, C. Use of a New Non-Pyrophoric Liquid Aluminum Precursor for Atomic Layer Deposition. Materials 2019, 12, 1429. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12091429
AMA Style
Xia X, Taylor A, Zhao Y, Guldin S, Blackman C. Use of a New Non-Pyrophoric Liquid Aluminum Precursor for Atomic Layer Deposition. Materials. 2019; 12(9):1429. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12091429
Chicago/Turabian StyleXia, Xueming, Alaric Taylor, Yifan Zhao, Stefan Guldin, and Chris Blackman. 2019. "Use of a New Non-Pyrophoric Liquid Aluminum Precursor for Atomic Layer Deposition" Materials 12, no. 9: 1429. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12091429
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