Chemical vapor deposition of Ni-C films from bis-(ethylcyclopentadienyl) nickel.

Metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) is widely used for deposition of various nickel-containing coatings, such as catalytic nickel thin films and nanoparticles, nickel silicide alloys and magnetic carbon-nickel nanocomposite layers. Here we report preliminary results from an attempt to use bis-(ethylcyclopentadienyl) nickel [(EtCp)2Ni] as a precursor for MOCVD of Ni-C thin films in the (EtCp)2Ni-Ar and (EtCp)2Ni-H2-Ar reaction systems. Mechanism of precursor fragmentation was proposed on the basis of the results from a study of gaseous reaction products in the exhaust line of the reactor by means of mass-spectrometry. It was found that an introduction of hydrogen in the gas phase led to an increase in conversion rate of the precursor. Deposited films were analyzed by means of atomic force microscope (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XFS). The effect of hydrogen on growth rate, composition, and morphology of the deposited Ni-C films were experimentally studied.