New Growth Chemistries for Metalorganic Chemical Deposition of III-V Materials

Conventional growth chemistries for deposition of high quality III/V semiconductor thin films by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) involve use of arsine and phosphine as the Group V reactants. However, both of these hydrides are extremely toxic high-pressure gases and exposure in the low ppm range can be lethal. To develop a safer CVD process we have investigated alternative MOCVD chemistries in which alkyl-substituted As-precursors from the series R sub n AsH sub (3-n) (n=1-3) were used as replacements for arsine. These included methyl, ethyl and butyl-based compounds. In this paper we present a direct comparison of the thermochemistry, toxicity and growth properties of the alkylarsines and arsine.