Same Precursor, Two Different Products: Comparing the Structural Evolution of In-Ga-O "Gel-Derived" Powders and Solution-Cast Films Using Pair Distribution Function Analysis.

Amorphous metal oxides are central to a variety of technological applications. In particular, indium gallium oxide has garnered attention as a thin-film transistor channel layer material. In this work we examine the structural evolution of indium gallium oxide gel-derived powders and thin films using infrared vibrational spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and pair distribution function (PDF) analysis of X-ray total scattering from standard and normal incidence thin-film geometries (tfPDF).

High-κ Lanthanum Zirconium Oxide Thin Film Dielectrics from Aqueous Solution Precursors.

Metal oxide thin films are critical components in modern electronic applications. In particular, high-κ dielectrics are of interest for reducing power consumption in metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) field-effect transistors. Although thin-film materials are typically produced via vacuum-based methods, solution deposition offers a scalable and cost-efficient alternative.

Amorphous Mixed-Metal Oxide Thin Films from Aqueous Solution Precursors with Near-Atomic Smoothness.

Thin films with tunable and homogeneous composition are required for many applications. We report the synthesis and characterization of a new class of compositionally homogeneous thin films that are amorphous solid solutions of AlO and transition metal oxides (TMO) including VO, CrO, MnO, FeO, CoO, NiO, CuO, and ZnO. The synthesis is enabled by the rapid decomposition of molecular transition-metal nitrates TM(NO) at low temperature along with precondensed oligomeric Al(OH)(NO) cluster species, both of which can be processed from aq solution.

Lanthanum aluminum oxide thin-film dielectrics from aqueous solution.

Amorphous LaAlO3 dielectric thin films were fabricated via solution processing from inorganic nitrate precursors. Precursor solutions contained soluble oligomeric metal-hydroxyl and/or -oxo species as evidenced by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and Raman spectroscopy. Thin-film formation was characterized as a function of annealing temperature using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray reflectivity (XRR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and an array of electrical measurements.