The goals of the research are the design and synthesis of a new class of precursor compounds for III/V compound semiconductor materials, growth of films with these precursors and developoment of an understanding of the relationships between precursor structure, film growth reactions and film properties. Conventional OMCVD of III/V compound materials has a number of inherent safety and processing problems associated with the group III alkyl and group V hydride sources. Our approach to these problems is the synthesis of a single precursor with a fixed III:V stoichiometry and a direct two center, two electron sigma III V bond., These, compounds have the general formula,[R2M(R 2 E)] 2 and R2M(R 2 E) 2M R2 (MM = Al, Ga, In; E=P, As; R, R = alkyl, aryl). The III V bond in these compounds is stronger than the other bonds and the minium deposition temperature can be controlled by employing subsituents that undergo facile hydrocarbon elimination.
A typical example is the use of [Me 2Ga(µ t Bu 2 As)] 2 as the single source for GaAs films. The organometallic precursor is a solid crystalline powder which is maintained at 130°C to generate enough vapor for OMCVD. Typical film growth conditions involve the use of H2 or He as the carrier gas, substrate temperatures of 500 to 700°C, and a total system pressure of 0.0002 Torr. GaAs(100), Si(100) (As doped 30 off toward (011) and quartz have been used as substrates. Film composition has been established with XPS. The Ga 3d, As 3d, and C ls signals at 18.8, 40.9, and 284.6 eV, respectively, reveal the films to be 1:1 Ga:As and void of carbon. The carbon levels are less than 1000 ppm. X ray diffraction and SEM results suggest polycrystalline GaAs on quartz and epitaxial GaAs on GaAs(100) and Si(100). (2 K) photoluminescence measurements on GaAs, grown on semi insulating GaAs(100) and Si doped GaAs(0 100) at 570 C. produce PL signals indicating that crystalline domains are present, the measurements indicate degeneratively n doped material and show that good Ga:As ratios and low levels (ca. 1 ppm) of impurities are present. Growth rates:∼ 1.0 mm/hour.