Chemical Vapor Deposition of Iron, Iron Carbides, and Iron Nitride Films from Amidinate Precursors

Iron bis( -diisopropylacetamidinate) and iron bis( -di- tert -butylacetamidinate) were used as precursors for the metallorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) of iron-containing compounds including pure iron, iron carbides, and , and iron nitrides . Their decomposition mechanism involves hydrogen migration followed by dissociation of the Fe–N bond and the release of free hydrogenated ligand (HL) and radicals. Surface intermediates are either released or decomposed on the surface providing Fe–N or Fe–C bonds. MOCVD experiments were run at 10 Torr, in the temperature ranges of with and with . Films prepared from contain Fe, , and . Those prepared from contain Fe, , and also or , depending on the temperature and hydrogen to precursor ratio (H/P) in the input gas. The room-temperature coercive field of films processed from is 3 times higher than that of the high temperature processed films.