Catalyst-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition of Yttrium Oxide

High-quality yttrium oxide thin films can be prepared from [Y(thd) 3 ] ( 1, thd = 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedionato) under mild conditions by the catalyst-enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique using oxygen as carrier gas. Several palladium compounds, such as [Pd(acac) 2 ] (acac = 2,4-pentadionato), [Pd(η 3 -C 3 H 5 )(η 5 -C 5 H 5 )] (C 3 H 5 = allyl), and [Pd(η 3 -C 4 H 7 )(acac)] (C 4 H 7 = 2-methylallyl), have been used as catalyst precursors. The films of yttria have open, amorphous structures, as characterized using XPS, SEM, EDX, and XRD techniques. The volatile products of the chemical vapor deposition reactions are analyzed and give evidence for the catalytic chemical vapor deposition.