Investigation of nickelocene decomposition during chemical vapor deposition of nickel

Density functional theory of bond dissociation energies of the metal-ligand bonds, thermodynamic investigation of the stability of intermediate specie s, and experimental investigation of the composition of the gas phase by on -line mass spectrometry have been performed in order to study the growth me chanisms and the carbon incorporation in nickel films during metallorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) of nickel from nickelocene. A model is pr oposed, according to which nickelocene molecules are adsorbed on the surfac e. Cyclopentadiene is formed from the reaction between two cyclopentadienyl ligands of neighboring molecules, while hydrogen-deficient C-5 rings serve as starting species for carbon incorporation in the films via subsequent d ehydrogenation. The hydrogen atoms available react with nickel cyclopentadi enyl radicals to form hydrogenated intermediate species which are desorbed from the surface. This model is compatible with the data from the literatur e on the different steps of the decomposition process. (C) 2000 The Electro chemical Society. S0013-4651(99)06-115-7, All rights reserved.