Deposition of crystalline copper films from tetranuclear copper (II) complexes without application of reducing atmosphere

Crystalline copper films were deposited by aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition (AACVD) in the absence of hydrogen from two newly synthesized complexes [Cu(deae)(TFA)]4·1.25THF (1) and [Cu 4(OAc)6(bdmap)2(H2O) 2]·4H2O (2) [deae = N, N-diethylaminoethanolate, TFA = trifloroacetate, OAc = acetate and bdmap = 1,3-bis(dimethylamino)-2- propanolato]. These precursors were prepared in high yield using mixed ligands and crystallized in tetragonal and triclinic crystal systems with space groups 141/a and P-1. Complexes 1 and 2 thermally decomposed at 290 and 250 °C, respectively, to yield copper films which were characterized by SEM/EDX for their morphology and composition and PXRD for their crystallinity and phase. These films have smooth morphologies with particle sizes within the range of 0.3-0.6 μm and may find applications in fabrication of ultralarge-scale integrated circuits. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.