USING PHTHALOCYANINE PRECURSORS TO PREPARE OXIDE THIN-FILMS - DECOUPLING THE GROWTH-RATE FROM THE EVAPORATION RATE

Major challenges concerning the use of chemical beam epitaxy depositio n techniques are posed by the lack of reliable in situ composition con trol and well-behaved metal-organic precursors. To circumvent these sh ortcomings, we propose the use of a different type of metal-organic pr ecursors, namely molecules resistant to high temperatures, for the gro wth of thin films. As these molecules cannot be decomposed by the subs trate temperature, they are subjected to a chemical reaction with a be am of activated species. The major advantages of this novel deposition process are listed and illustrated by the growth of CuO and YBa2Cu3O7 thin films. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.