On the Significance of DR/FM Parameter in RF Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition of Ge/C Films from Organogermanium Precursor Compounds

摘要

A combined parameter DR/FM,where DR denotes deposition rate expressed in mass per unit area,F denotes molar flow rate of a precursor compound,and M denotes the molecular weight of this compound,has been examined throughout the process of the parallel-plate,rf plasma deposition of Ge/C films from two different tetraalkylgermanium compounds,namely tetramethylgermanium and tetraethylgermanium.The application of this parameter allowed us to generalize different deposition conditions for the same precursor compound and to distinguish cases where ablative phenomena decrease its deposition rate.The use of this parameter,understood as differential deposition yield,enabled a comparison of the film-making tendencies of both compounds,of which tetraethylgermanium turned out to be more efficient in terms of a mass balance.The total efficiency of the process may be calculated from this parameter by means of its integration over the entire surface deposited.