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Iron-Terephthalate Coordination Network Thin Films Through In-Situ Atomic/Molecular Layer Deposition
1Department of Chemistry and Materials Science, Aalto University, P.O. Box 16100, FI-00076, Aalto, Finland.
Scientific Reports
|June 14, 2018
Summary
Iron terephthalate coordination network thin films were grown using atomic/molecular layer deposition (ALD/MLD). The choice of iron precursor (FeCl3 vs. Fe(acac)3) critically determined film crystallinity, yielding crystalline or amorphous structures, respectively.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Nanotechnology
- Chemical Engineering
Background:
- Coordination network thin films offer diverse applications.
- Iron is an abundant and safe transition metal for film fabrication.
- Atomic/molecular layer deposition (ALD/MLD) enables controlled thin film growth.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the in-situ growth of iron terephthalate coordination network thin films using ALD/MLD.
- To explore the influence of different iron precursors on film properties.
- To characterize the composition and structure of the resulting films.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of iron terephthalate thin films via gas-phase ALD/MLD.
- Utilizing iron(III) chloride (FeCl3) and iron(III) acetylacetonate (Fe(acac)3) as iron precursors.
- Characterization using Grazing-Incidence X-ray Diffraction (GIXRD), X-ray Reflectivity (XRR), Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS).
Main Results:
- Crystalline iron terephthalate films were successfully obtained using FeCl3 as the metal precursor.
- Amorphous films resulted from depositions using the Fe(acac)3 precursor.
- ALD/MLD provides a controlled method for fabricating these inorganic-organic hybrid films.
Conclusions:
- The selection of the metal precursor is crucial for achieving crystalline inorganic-organic thin films via ALD/MLD.
- FeCl3 is a suitable precursor for crystalline iron terephthalate film growth, while Fe(acac)3 leads to amorphous structures.
- This study highlights the precursor-dependent nature of ALD/MLD for coordination network synthesis.
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