We discuss the effects of growth temperature (T_g) on the structural and chemical properties of thin NiO films deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD). Thin NiO films were grown on Si(100) using Ni(Cp)₂ (Cp=cyclopentadienyl, C₅H₅) or Ni(EtCp)₂ [EtCp=ethylcyclopentadienyl, (C₂H₅)C₅H₄)] and ozone as precursors in the 150-300 ^oC temperature range. Neither Ni(Cp)₂ nor Ni(EtCp)₂ combined with water as oxygen source generates any film. The prepared films were characterized using X-ray reflectivity (XRR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and time of flight-secondary ion mass spectroscopy (ToF-SIMS). The behavior of films deposited using Ni(Cp)₂ and Ni(EtCp)₂ has been compared and discussed. NiO films with good composition are obtained at T_g = 250 ^oC or above. At a fixed T_g, the growth rate for NiO films deposited using Ni(Cp)₂ is higher than for those deposited using Ni(EtCp)₂. The electronic density of NiO films deposited at 300 ^oC is close to the one of bulk NiO. According to XRD and FTIR, films deposited at T_g ≥ 200 ^oC have a cubic polycrystalline structure. Impurities in NiO films decrease with increasing T_g, as detected by ToF-SIMS. Based on the structural and chemical properties, we selected Ni(Cp)₂ to grow NiO films on metal substrates. Metal-NiO-metal devices were fabricated to explore the resistive switching properties of this material.

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1. The international VAMAS project “X-ray reflectivity measurements for evaluation of thin films and multilayers” for X-Ray metrology
2. In-situ investigation of the early stages of the growth by ALD of high-k dielectrics on silicon and high mobility-substrates