Chemical Vapor Deposition of CeO2 Films Using a Liquid Metallorganic Source

Cerium dioxide films were deposited on silicon substrates by chemical vapor deposition using tetrakis (3-methyl-3-pentoxy) cerium. The deposited films were found to have a columnar structure when viewed cross-sectionally with the scanning electron microscope. The lateral variation of the film thickness was measured by an optical interference meter. The deposition rate increased with increasing substrate temperature following the simple Arrhenius behavior with an activation energy of 50.2 kJ/mol, whereas when the temperature exceeded 350°C, the rate decreased rapidly. The rate increased with the increase of the source gas supply, but tended to become saturated at higher gas flow rates.