Deposition Study of Indium Trisguanidinate as a Possible Indium Nitride Precursor

A time-resolved chemical vapor deposition process for indium nitride (InN) is reported using tris-N,N-dimethyl-N’,N”-diisopropylguanidinatoindium(III) (1) and ammonia plasma at 200 °C. The deposition was self-limiting with respect to the pulse time of 1, indicative of a surface-controlled deposition chemistry. The films were confirmed to be InN by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and film thicknesses of 10 nm were measured by X-ray reflectivity (XRR), corresponding to a deposition rate of 0.1 nm/cycle. Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) showed a hexagonal polycrystalline film with a preferred (002) orientation. Morphology studies suggest an island growth mode. The poor thermal stability of 1, previously discussed in the literature, prevented full characterization of the deposition process and the deposition of thicker films. It is concluded that while 1 can act as an In precursor for InN, its poor thermal stability prevents its practical use.