Erbium tris(isopropylxanthate) Er(S2COiPr)3(THF)2 was synthesized by reaction of erbium chloride ErCl3 with potassium isopropylxanthate K[S2COiPr] in tetrahydrofuran at room temperature. Single crystal X-ray analysis revealed monomeric Er(S2COiPr)3(THF)2 structure with two tetrahydrofuran ligands.
Er(S2COiPr)3(THF)2 appeared
to be volatile (sublimes at 180 °C/0.05 torr) and is therefore potentially applicable as erbium MOCVD/ALD precursor for the growth of erbium-doped metal sulfide materials. However, as many erbium precursors contain oxygen, they produce heavily oxygen-contaminated
layers, which leads to worse crystallinity and lower luminescence efficiency of the lanthanide ions. Xanthate ligands yielded erbium complexes with lanthanide-sulfur bonds, thus potentially strongly reducing oxygen contamination if using them as MOCVD precursors
for Er-containing layers [[i]]
[i] C.H. Winter, ADA429770, Final report 1 May 2001-31 Oct 2004, WAYNE STATE UNIV DETROIT MI DEPT OF CHEMISTRY, « New Lanthanide Precursors for Doping Semiconductor Films », http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA429770