Chemical vapour deposition of copper using copper(II) alkoxides

Copper metal thin films were grown via a CVD process on SiO2/Si substrates using different copper(II) dialkylamino alkoxides of the general type (Cu[OCH(R)CH2NR2'](2) where R = R ' = CH3 (1); R = CH3, R ' = CH2CH3 (2); R = CH2NMe2, R ' = CH3 (3) as precursors. The solid state structure of the new compound 2 was determined by x-ray single crystal analysis. Thermal analysis of the potential precursors gave information on their thermal decomposition characteristics and copper films deposited via hotwall CVD, using compound 1 as precursor, were analyzed by XPS, XRD, AFM and SEM, confirming elemental copper as the only product obtained on the substrate. NMR analysis of the gaseous products collected in the cooling trap proved the oxidation of one ligand molecule by the copper.