In-situ monitoring system equipped with FT-IR and QMS, and thermal decomposition of Zr(NCH₃C₂H₅)₄ precursor

Abstract

An in-situ monitoring system equipped with both fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and quadrupole mass spectroscopy (QMS) was introduced to measure the decomposition of tetrakis(ethylmethylamino)zirconium (TEMAZr, Zr(NCH₃C₂H₅)₄), a precursor which is often used in ALD of ZrO₂ films. For the actual influence of the decomposition state of the metalorganic precursor on the properties of the produced film, Zr(NCH₃C₂H₅)4 precursor was heated in the temperature range from 100 °C to 200 °C with steps of 25 °C. The acquisition data from FT-IR and QMS at 500 °C were used as a reference for the fully decomposed precursor, to compare with those obtained at lower temperatures. The increase of the IR peak at 2962 cm⁻¹ due to the asymmetrical C-H stretch mode in CH3 ligands and the appearance of a weak peak around 710 cm⁻¹ due to wagging N-H bonds were useful in monitoring the decomposition of Zr(NCH3C2H5)4, where the latter started to appear as of 125 °C, indicating the onset temperature of decomposition. © 2016 The Electrochemical Society.