ARTICLE IN PRESS3590Y.S. W<strong>on</strong> et al. / Journal <strong>of</strong> Crystal Growth 311 (2009) 3587–3591N2Selected b<strong>on</strong>d lengths and angles4. C<strong>on</strong>clusi<strong>on</strong>sN1TaTa-N1 (Å) 2.00 (avg.)Ta-N2 ( Å) 1.78N1-Ta-N2 ( ° ) 109.35 (avg.)ΔH ° 298 (kcal/mol)Ta-N1 93.0Ta-N2 138.9Fig. 4. Optimized geometry <strong>of</strong> Ta(NH 2 ) 3 (NH) following complete transaminati<strong>on</strong>.N1 denotes nitrogen in the amido ligand and N2 denotes nitrogen in the imidoligand.<strong>of</strong> related precursors <strong>with</strong> NH 3 in TaN ALD executed at even lowertemperature (250 1C) [1,6–8]. However, the relatively higherbarrier for the eliminati<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> tert-butylamine via transaminati<strong>on</strong>is c<strong>on</strong>sistent <strong>with</strong> the observati<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> residual carb<strong>on</strong> c<strong>on</strong>tent(15 at%) in the TaN ALD films using TBTDET and NH 3 at 250 1C[1,8]. The lack <strong>of</strong> difference in the carb<strong>on</strong> c<strong>on</strong>tent (15 at%) in theALD films using the same MO source (TBTDET) <strong>with</strong> H 2 plasma[1,8] also indirectly supports the slower transaminati<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> tertbutylimidoligand as a cause <strong>of</strong> residual carb<strong>on</strong>. ALD experimentsusing PEMAT and NH 3 , in c<strong>on</strong>trast, produced much lower carb<strong>on</strong>c<strong>on</strong>tent (7–8 at%) in the deposited films 1 because the fiveequivalent alkylamido ligands <strong>of</strong> PEMAT are exchanged easilyvia transaminati<strong>on</strong> <strong>with</strong> NH 3 .To evaluate how Ta–N b<strong>on</strong>ds were affected by transaminati<strong>on</strong>,the optimized geometry <strong>of</strong> the (NH 3 ) 3 Ta(NH), in which all theligands have been exchanged via transaminati<strong>on</strong>, and its calculatedb<strong>on</strong>d dissociati<strong>on</strong> enthalpies are shown in Fig. 4. Theincrease <strong>of</strong> b<strong>on</strong>d dissociati<strong>on</strong> enthalpies by 12–16 kcal/mol up<strong>on</strong>transaminati<strong>on</strong> is c<strong>on</strong>sistent <strong>with</strong> survival <strong>of</strong> the imido ‘‘Ta–N’’fragment (Ta–N2 in Fig. 4) during depositi<strong>on</strong> but the str<strong>on</strong>geramido Ta–N b<strong>on</strong>ds (Ta–N1 in Fig. 4) could also have a greatertendency to be carried <strong>on</strong> the film depositi<strong>on</strong>. A dielectric TaN xfilm (x41, e.g., Ta 3 N 5 ) <strong>with</strong> very high resistivity would then bemore likely to result if amm<strong>on</strong>ia is employed [2,9,10]. The nature<strong>of</strong> TaN x has been c<strong>on</strong>firmed to range from highly c<strong>on</strong>ductive (Tarich)to insulating (N-rich) according its stoichiometry [9,10,29].As the film grows, NH 2 ligands resulting from transaminati<strong>on</strong>are expected to be easily redistributed over vacant sites <strong>on</strong> thesurface to provide the ligands for chemisorpti<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> additi<strong>on</strong>al Taspecies to the surface. The thermal stability <strong>of</strong> NH 2 (ad) <strong>on</strong> the Si(10 0) rec<strong>on</strong>structured surface was computati<strong>on</strong>ally dem<strong>on</strong>stratedby Widjaja and Musgrave [30] using the Si clusterapproximati<strong>on</strong>. The remnant Ta–N b<strong>on</strong>d was then preserved todeposit metallic TaN films. The adatoms, NH 2 (ad)s, however,c<strong>on</strong>tribute to the depositi<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> dielectric N-rich Ta 3 N 5 films [2].The c<strong>on</strong>centrati<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> NH 2 (ad) adatoms <strong>on</strong> the surface would besufficiently high for them to be incorporated into the depositedfilms in the absence <strong>of</strong> an additi<strong>on</strong>al reducing agent. It is notedthat NH 3 is also a source <strong>of</strong> NH 2 (ad) adatoms by the dissociati<strong>on</strong>into NH 2 (ad) and H(ad) [30]. TaN films grown by MOALD as wellas MOCVD generally dem<strong>on</strong>strated high film resistivity, whichcircumvents their usefulness as diffusi<strong>on</strong> barriers. The ALD <strong>of</strong> TaNfilms using TBTDET and H 2 plasma (instead <strong>of</strong> NH 3 ) dem<strong>on</strong>strateda huge improvement in the film resistivity [1] possibly due to theadditi<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> active reducing H 2 radicals. The amorphous phaseformati<strong>on</strong> <strong>with</strong> the use <strong>of</strong> NH 3 in TaN MOALD [1] is also likelyattributed to the presence <strong>of</strong> stable NH 2 (ad) adatoms <strong>on</strong> thesurface especially at the low temperature employed in ALD,occupying active reacti<strong>on</strong> sites and blocking the properly stackedadsorpti<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> Ta MO species.The transaminati<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> alkylamide ligands in MO precursors<strong>with</strong> NH 3 for the film growth <strong>of</strong> transiti<strong>on</strong> metal nitrides wascalculated to be facile under MOCVD c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s and would beaccessible at the very low temperature employed in MOALD aswell. Transaminati<strong>on</strong> is a likely pathway for removal <strong>of</strong> carb<strong>on</strong>c<strong>on</strong>tainingligands. The calculated strength <strong>of</strong> Ta–NH 2 b<strong>on</strong>ds wasincreased after the transaminati<strong>on</strong> c<strong>on</strong>sistent <strong>with</strong> an increasednitrogen c<strong>on</strong>tent and depositi<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> N-rich dielectric films in thepresence <strong>of</strong> NH 3 .AcknowledgementL.M.-W. and T.J.A. thank the Nati<strong>on</strong>al Science Foundati<strong>on</strong> forsupport under NSF-CRC grant CHE-0304810.Appendix 1. Supporting Informati<strong>on</strong>Supplementary data associated <strong>with</strong> this article can be foundin the <strong>on</strong>line versi<strong>on</strong> at doi:10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2009.05.003.References[1] H. Kim, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 21 (6) (2003) 2231.[2] M.H. Tsai, S.C. Sun, H.T. Chiu, C.E. Tsai, S.H. Chuang, Appl. Phys. Lett. 67 (8)(1995) 1128.[3] M.H. Tsai, S.C. Sun, C.P. Lee, H.T. Chiu, C.E. Tsai, S.H. Chuang, S.C. 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