The kinetics of copper deposition by the hydrogen-assisted reduction of
bis(2,2,7- trimethyloctane-3,5-dionato)copper in supercritical carbon
dioxide was studied as a function of temperature and precursor
concentration. The growth rate was found to be as high as 31.5 nm/min.
Experiments between 220 °C and 270 °C indicated an apparent activation
energy of 51.9 kJ/mol. The deposition kinetics were zero order with respect
to precursor at 250 °C and 134 bar and precursor concentrations between
0.016 and 0.38 wt.% in CO2. Zero order kinetics over this large
concentration interval likely contributes to the exceptional step coverage
obtained from Cu depositions from supercritical fluids.