Composition and microstructure of cobalt oxide thin films obtained from a novel cobalt(II) precursor by chemical vapor deposition

The present work reports the synthesis and the characterization of cobalt o xide thin films obtained by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on indium tin o xide (ITO) substrates, using a cobalt(II) beta -diketonate as precursor. Th e complex is characterized by electron impact mass spectrometry (EI-MS) and thermal analysis in order to investigate its decomposition pattern. The de positions are carried out in a cold wall reactor in the temperature range 3 50-500 degreesC at different oxygen pressures, to tailor film composition f rom CoO to CO3O4. The crystalline nanostructure is evidenced by X-ray diffr action (XRD), while the surface and in-depth chemical composition is studie d by X-ray photoelectron (XPS) and X-ray excited auger electron spectroscop y (XE-AES). Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is employed to analyze the surfac e morphology of the films and its dependence on the synthesis conditions. R elevant results concerning the control of composition and microstructure of Co-O thin films are presented and discussed.