Sticking coefficient and growth rate during Al chemical vapor deposition

Studies of aluminum chemical vapor deposition (CVD) from dimethylethylamine alane on GaAs(100) 2×4 surfaces were used to identify the high-temperature, flux-limited growth regime and determine the effective sticking coefficient α. Following a short induction period, α was found to achieve a largely temperature-independent steady-state value (α=0.13±0.04), substantially lower than expected based on current CVD models. We propose that steric effects—previously ignored in CVD—play a role in determining the upper limit of α and therefore the maximum achievable growth rate.