Expanding the zinc precursor toolbox: a comparative study of precursors for thermal ALD of ZnO thin films

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftForschungsartikelBeigetragenBegutachtung

Beitragende

  • Jorit Obenlüneschloß - , Ruhr-Universität Bochum (Autor:in)
  • Rajesh Pathak - , Argonne National Laboratory (Autor:in)
  • Vepa Rozyyev - , Argonne National Laboratory (Autor:in)
  • Anil U. Mane - , Argonne National Laboratory (Autor:in)
  • Thomas Gemming - , Leibniz-Institut für Festkörper- und Werkstoffforschung Dresden (Autor:in)
  • Detlef Rogalla - , Ruhr-Universität Bochum (Autor:in)
  • Jeffrey W. Elam - , Argonne National Laboratory (Autor:in)
  • Anjana Devi - , Professur für Materialchemie (gB/IFW), Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Leibniz-Institut für Festkörper- und Werkstoffforschung Dresden, Fraunhofer-Institut für Mikroelektronische Schaltungen und Systeme (Autor:in)

Abstract

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) of zinc oxide (ZnO) has been widely researched using diethyl zinc (DEZ)-based methods. The significant importance of thin films of ZnO as transparent conductive oxides (TCO) in optoelectronic devices and photovoltaics warrants examining alternative Zn precursors for ZnO ALD as potential replacements for the pyrophoric DEZ. In this study, we investigated three alternative Zn precursors: Zn(EEKI)2, Zn(DMP)2, ZnEt(HMDS), in the process development for high-quality ZnO thin films and compared them to DEZ. The ALD processes were studied using in situ spectroscopic ellipsometry. The properties of the ALD ZnO films were characterized using ex situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Rutherford backscattering spectrometry and nuclear reaction analysis (RBS/NRA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and ultraviolet-visible (UV/Vis) spectrophotometry. These measurements confirmed the formation of pure, stoichiometric, and polycrystalline ZnO films using all four Zn precursors. Although the selected precursors are chemically diverse Zn compounds, they all yielded saturating ALD processes and high-quality ZnO thin films at 200 °C. This study highlights the potential benefits of alternative zinc precursors in designing ALD processes for ZnO thin films.

Details

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Seiten (von - bis)3853-3865
Seitenumfang13
FachzeitschriftDalton transactions
Jahrgang55
Ausgabenummer9
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - 3 März 2026
Peer-Review-StatusJa

Externe IDs

PubMed 41685411

Schlagworte

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete