METHOD OF DEPOSITING RARE EARTH OXIDE THIN FILMS
First Claim
1. An atomic layer deposition (ALD) process for depositing rare earth metal oxide thin films on a substrate in a reaction space, comprising the steps of:
- a) feeding a vapor-phase pulse of a rare earth metal source chemical into the reaction space, said metal source chemical being selected from the group consisting of cyclopentadienyl compounds and cyclooctadienyl compounds of the rare earth metal;
b) contacting the vapor-phase pulse of the rare earth metal source chemical with the surface of the substrate;
c) purging the reaction space with the aid of an inert gas;
d) feeding a vapor-phase pulse of an oxygen source chemical into the reaction space;
e) purging the reaction space with the aid of an inert gas; and
f) repeating steps a) through e) to deposit a thin film consisting essentially of rare earth metal oxide.
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Abstract
The present invention concerns a process for depositing rare earth oxide thin films, especially yttrium, lanthanum and gadolinium oxide thin films by an ALD process, according to which invention the source chemicals are cyclopentadienyl compounds or rare earth metals, especially those of yttrium, lanthanum and gadolinium. Suitable deposition temperatures for yttrium oxide are between 200 and 400° C. when the deposition pressure is between 1 and 50 mbar. Most suitable deposition temperatures for lanthanum oxide are between 160 and 165° C. when the deposition pressure is between 1 and 50 mbar.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. An atomic layer deposition (ALD) process for depositing rare earth metal oxide thin films on a substrate in a reaction space, comprising the steps of:
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a) feeding a vapor-phase pulse of a rare earth metal source chemical into the reaction space, said metal source chemical being selected from the group consisting of cyclopentadienyl compounds and cyclooctadienyl compounds of the rare earth metal; b) contacting the vapor-phase pulse of the rare earth metal source chemical with the surface of the substrate; c) purging the reaction space with the aid of an inert gas; d) feeding a vapor-phase pulse of an oxygen source chemical into the reaction space; e) purging the reaction space with the aid of an inert gas; and f) repeating steps a) through e) to deposit a thin film consisting essentially of rare earth metal oxide. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 6, 7)
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8. An atomic layer deposition (ALD) process for depositing a thin film on a substrate in a reaction space comprising:
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feeding a vapor-phase pulse of a metal source chemical into the reaction space; removing unreacted vapor-phase metal source chemical from the reaction space; feeding a vapor-phase pulse of an oxygen source chemical into the reaction space; and removing unreacted vapor-phase oxygen source chemical from the reaction space, wherein the metal source chemical is selected from the group consisting of tris(cyclopentadienyl)yttrium (Cp3Y), tris(methylcyclopentadienyl)yttrium ((CpMe)3Y) and tris(methylcyclopentadienyl)lanthanum ((CpMe)3La), wherein the thin film consists essentially of a rare earth metal oxide. - View Dependent Claims (5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method of growing a thin film on a substrate from vapor-phase reactants comprising alternately introducing vapor-phase pulses of at least one metal source chemical and at least one oxygen source chemical into a reaction space containing a substrate to deposit a thin film consisting essentially of rare earth metal oxide, wherein the metal source chemical is a cyclopentadienyl or cyclooctadienyl compound of a rare earth metal selected from the group consisting of Sc, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb and Lu.
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25. (canceled)
Specification