Thermal decomposition of V(NEt(2))(4) in an MOCVD reactor: A low-temperature route to vanadium carbonitride coatings

Carbon-rich vanadium carbonitride films have been grown by MOCVD at low temperature using the tetrakis (diethylamido) vanadium complex V(NEt(2))(4) as a single-source precursor. The main volatile byproducts formed during its thermal decomposition were identified by NMR and on-line mass spectrometric analyses. Under the growth conditions, an equimolecular ratio of HNEt(2) and EtN=CHMe was found in addition to CH3CN and C2H4. From these results, an elimination mechanism of the NEt(2) ligands is proposed. It accounts for their high lability and therefore the low nitrogen content of the films. The possible origin of the incorporation of the metalloid elements is also discussed.