THE USE OF CE(FOD)(4) AS A PRECURSOR FOR THE GROWTH OF CERIA FILMS BYMETAL-ORGANIC CHEMICAL-VAPOR-DEPOSITION

We report the growth of thin films of cerium oxide using the metal-org anic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) technique. The homoleptic comp lex, Ce(fod)(4), where fod-H is ,2,2,3,3-heptafluoro-7,7-dimethyloctan e-4,6-dione, was used as a precursor. Silicon wafers with a (100) orie ntation were used as substrates. This work can be considered a feasibi lity study of this precursor as a potential source of ceria for the ev entual production of solid solutions with a stoichiometry of Ce0.9Gd0. 1O1.95. These ceramic films are intended for use as electrolytes in so lid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). In this paper, the difficulties associat ed with CVD growth of oxide films using solid phase precursors such as Ce(fod), which contain fluorinated ligands are discussed as well as t he methods used to eliminate such problems, The variation of important CVD parameters such as moist oxygen flow rate are discussed in terms of their effect on the growth rate and the elemental composition of th e deposited films. Analysis was carried out using techniques such as s canning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ra y fluorescence.