Atomic layer deposition of TiO2 from tetrakis(dimethylamino) titanium and H2O

The atomic layer deposition (ALD) of TiO2 from tetrakis(dimethylamino) titanium(TDMAT) and water was studied in the substrate temperature (T-S) range of 120 degrees C to 330 degrees C.
The effect of deposition temperatures on the resulting layer microstructure is investigated. Based on the experimental results, possible interaction mechanisms of TDMAT and H2O precursor molecules and the TiO2 surface at different temperatures are discussed. The TiO2 layers were characterized with respect to microstructure, composition and optical properties by glancing angle x-ray diffraction and reflectometry, x-ray fluorescence analysis, photoelectron spectroscopy and spectroscopic ellipsometry. A constant layer growth with increasing number of ALD cycles was achieved for all investigated deposition temperatures, if the inert gas purge time after the H2O pulse was increased from 5 s at temperatures below 250 degrees C to 25 s for T-S >= 320 degrees C. In the investigated temperature range, the growth per cycle varies between 0.33 and 0.67 angstrom/cycle with a minimum at 250 degrees C. The variations of the deposition rate are related to a change from a surface determined decomposition of TDMAT to a gas phase decomposition route above 250 degrees C. At the same temperature, the microstructure of the TiO2 layers changes from amorphous to predominately crystalline, where both anatase and rutile are present.