Selective-area and lateral overgrowth of chromium dioxide (CrO2) films by chemical vapor deposition

Selective-area growth has been utilized to deposit chromium dioxide (CrO2) films in specific regions of a prepatterned surface using atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition from CrO3 precursor. For films deposited on single crystal TiO2 substrates covered with patterned SiO2 thin film, epitaxial growth occurs selectively in the windows exposed to the substrate with no deposition in the regions masked by SiO2. The substrate provides a crystallographic template for the initial vertical growth of CrO2 in the patterned stripe windows. With increasing film thickness, lateral epitaxial overgrowth of CrO2 takes place over the masked regions, with the growth rate and facet formation behavior dependent on the orientation of the stripe openings. Selective growth of polycrystalline CrO2 has also been achieved on prepatterned titanium films deposited on oxidized silicon wafers. In this case, the titanium film is oxidized prior to deposition, with localized growth of CrO2 occurring only on top of the oxidized titanium and not on the SiO2. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(99)01242-5].