Yttrium tris(N,N‘-diisopropylacetamidinate) Y(iPr2amd)3 (combined with H2O as oxygen source) has been successfully applied as precursor for the ALD growth of thin Y2O3
layers (a promising dielectric for advanced electronic applications in nanoscale devices). Y(iPr2amd)3 precursor is volatile (the precursor was vaporised at 130°C/0.4mbar), thermally stable and highly reactive with water. Very pure (C, N < 0.5 at. %)
smooth Y2O3 films with cubic polycrystalline structure having refractive index of 1.8 were obtained at growth rate 0.8 Å/cycle in the wide temperature range (150−280 °C); in profiled substrates (having 40:1 aspect ratio) high quality Y2O3 were
grown as well. The grown Y2O3 layers adsorbed H2O upon air exposure had an increased oxygen ratio (O/Y > 1.5) and −OH bonds in (as was determined by RBS and XPS). Capacitors prepared from Al2O3 (10 Å)/Y2O3/n-Si structures exhibited relatively
high permittivity (12), low leakage current density (<10-7 cm2 at 2 MV/cm) and high electrical breakdown field (5 MV/cm), whereas uncapped Y2O3 films had increased leakage current and flatband voltage shifts of 1 V prior to annealing. [[i]]
[i] Philippe de Rouffignac, Jin-Seong Park, Roy G. Gordon, Chem. Mater., 2005, 17 (19), pp 4808–4814, DOI: 10.1021/cm050624+], “Atomic Layer Deposition of Y2O3 Thin Films from Yttrium Tris(N,N‘-diisopropylacetamidinate) and Water”