Solution-phase reactivity as a guide to the low-temperature chemical vapor deposition of early-transition-metal nitride thin films

Recently there has been an interest in using inorganic and organometallic compounds as precursors for the synthesis of inorganic thin films by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). In the CVD process, reactions are thought to occur both in the gas phase and at the gas phase-substrate surface interface. Herein the authors show that solution-phase chemistry is applicable to a CVD system by synthesizing thin films of M{sub 3}N{sub 4} (M = Zr, Nb) from M(NR{sub 2}){sub 4} and ammonia precursors at low temperatures. They also describe the synthesis of films with stoichiometries Mo{sub 2}N{sub 3} and VN from M(NMe{sub 2}){sub 4} and ammonia.