Trimethylboron as Single-Source Precursor for Boron–Carbon Thin Film Synthesis by Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition | Zendy

Mewlude Imam | Zendy; Carina Höglund | Zendy; J. Jensen | Zendy; Susann Schmidt | Zendy; Ivan G. Ivanov | Zendy; R. Hall-Wilton | Zendy; Jens Birch | Zendy; Henrik Pedersen | Zendy

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Trimethylboron as Single-Source Precursor for Boron–Carbon Thin Film Synthesis by Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition

Author(s) -

Mewlude Imam,

Carina Höglund,

J. Jensen,

Susann Schmidt,

Ivan G. Ivanov,

R. Hall-Wilton,

Jens Birch,

Henrik Pedersen

Publication year - 2016

Publication title -

the journal of physical chemistry c

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 1.401

H-Index - 289

eISSN - 1932-7455

pISSN - 1932-7447

DOI - 10.1021/acs.jpcc.6b06529

Subject(s) - boron , chemical vapor deposition , thin film , amorphous solid , carbon film , carbon fibers , plasma , materials science , analytical chemistry (journal) , deposition (geology) , substrate (aquarium) , amorphous carbon , chemical engineering , chemistry , nanotechnology , crystallography , organic chemistry , composite material , paleontology , physics , oceanography , quantum mechanics , sediment , geology , composite number , biology , engineering

Boron–carbon (BxC) thin films are potential neutron converting layers for 10B-based neutron detectors. However, as common material choices for such detectors do not tolerate temperatures above 500 °C, a low temperature deposition route is required. Here, we study trimethylboron B(CH3)3 (TMB) as a single-source precursor for the deposition of BxC thin films by plasma CVD using Ar plasma. The effect of plasma power, TMB/Ar flow ratio and total pressure, on the film composition, morphology, chemical bonding, and microstructures are investigated. Dense and boron-rich films (B/C = 1.9) are achieved at high TMB flow under a low total pressure and high plasma power, which rendered an approximate substrate temperature of ∼300 °C. Films mainly contain B–C bonds with the presence of B–O and C–C, which is attributed to be the origin of formed amorphous carbon in the films. The high H content (15 ± 5 at. %) is almost independent of deposition parameters and contributed to lower the film density (2.16 g/cm3). The plasma compositional analysis shows that the TMB molecule decomposes to mainly atomic H, C2, BH, and CH. A plasma chemical model for the decomposition of TMB with BH and CH as the plausible film depositing species in the plasma is proposed.

Funding Agencies|European Spallation Source ERIC; Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation; BrightnESS project (Horizon) [676548]; Carl Tryggers Foundation for Scientific Research [CTS 14:431]

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