Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
Platinum thin films were deposited on SiO2/Si(100) by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition using Pt(acetylacetonate) and Pt(hexaflouroacetylacetonate) as precursors. The films were characterized in terms of orientation, surface roughness and morphology. As expected, Pt(111) was the preferred orientation. Higher substrate temperatures led to higher growth rates and increased surface roughness. The presence of oxygen during deposition decreased the minimum substrate temperature required for platinum deposition, indicating that oxygen played a role in the decomposition of these metalorganic compounds. Annealing platinum films at 550°C in an oxygen ambient resulted in hillock formation. Resistivity measurements showed that films deposited without oxygen were more resistive. Conformal coverage of platinum on patterned SiO2/Si substrates was investigated, and a side wall film thickness to top film thickness ratio of 0.6 for growth at 400°C was obtained. These Pt films produced by MOCVD displayed greater surface roughnesses than films grown by evaporation or sputtering.