On the Fragmentation of Ni(II) β-Diketonate-Diamine Complexes as Molecular Precursors for NiO Films: A Theoretical and Experimental Investigation

NiO-based nanomaterials have attracted considerable interest for different applications, which have stimulated the implementation of various synthetic approaches aimed at modulating their chemico-physical properties. In this regard, their bottom-up preparation starting from suitable precursors plays an important role, although a molecular-level insight into their reactivity remains an open issue to be properly tackled. In the present study, we focused on the fragmentation of Ni(II) diketonate-diamine adducts, of interest as vapor-phase precursors for Ni(II) oxide systems, by combining electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) with multiple collisional experiments (ESI-MSn) and theoretical calculations. The outcomes of this investigation revealed common features in the fragmentation pattern of the target compounds: (i) in the first fragmentation, the three complexes yield analogous base-peak cations by losing a negatively charged diketonate moiety; in these cations, Ni-O and Ni-N interactions are stronger and the Ni positive charge is lower than in the parent neutral complexes; (ii) the tendency of ligand electronic charge to migrate towards Ni further increases in the subsequent fragmentation, leading to the formation of a tetracoordinated Ni environment featuring an interesting cation-π intramolecular interaction.

Atomic layer deposition of CoF2, NiF2 and HoF3 thin films

The present study describes atomic layer deposition (ALD) processes and characterization of CoF₂, NiF₂, and HoF₃ thin films. For CoF₂ deposition CoCl₂(TMEDA) (TMEDA = N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethylenediamine) and NH₄F were used as precursors. CoF₂ deposition was studied at 180-275 °C, resulting in a growth per cycle (GPC) of 0.7 to 1.2 Å. All the films consist of tetragonal CoF₂ according to XRD. The impurity contents were measured with ToF-ERDA and less than 1 at% of N and Cl were detected in the films, indicating effective reactions. In addition, the F/Co ratio is close to 2 as measured by the same method. The saturation of the GPC with respect to precursor pulses and purges was verified at 250 °C. The common feature of ALD metal fluoride films - remarkable roughness - is encountered also in this process. However, the films became smoother as the deposition temperature was increased. CoF₂ deposition was also demonstrated on graphite substrates. NiF₂ deposition was studied at 210-250 °C by using Ni(thd)₂ and TaF₅ or a new fluoride source NbF₅ as the precursors. Tetragonal NiF₂ was obtained, but the oxygen and hydrogen contents in the films were remarkable, up to ∼11 at%, as measured by ToF-ERDA. This was observed also when the films were in situ capped with YF₃. NbF₅ was shown to be a potential fluoride precursor by combining it with Ho(thd)₃ to deposit HoF₃ films. Orthorhombic HoF₃ was obtained at deposition temperatures of 200-275 °C. The films deposited at 235-275 °C are pure, and the Nb contents in films deposited at 250 and 275 °C are only 0.21 and 0.15 at%. The main impurity in both films is oxygen, but the contents are only 1.5 and 1.6 at%. The saturation of the GPC with respect to precursor pulses was verified at 250 °C. The GPC is ∼1 Å.

Interplay between coordination sphere engineering and properties of nickel diketonate-diamine complexes as vapor phase precursors for the growth of NiO thin films

NiO-based films and nanostructured materials have received increasing attention for a variety of technological applications. Among the possible strategies for their fabrication, atomic layer deposition (ALD) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD), featuring manifold advantages of technological interest, represent appealing molecule-to-material routes for which a rational precursor design is a critical step. In this context, the present study is focused on the coordination sphere engineering of three heteroleptic Ni(II) β-diketonate-diamine adducts of general formula [NiL₂TMEDA] [L = 1,1,1-trifluoro-2,4-pentanedionate (tfa), 2,2-dimethyl-6,6,7,7,8,8,8-heptafluoro-3,5-octanedionate (fod) or 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedionate (thd), and TMEDA = N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethylenediamine]. Controlled variations in the diketonate structure are pursued to investigate the influence of steric hindrance and fluorination degree on the chemico-physical characteristics of the compounds. A multi-technique investigation supported by density functional calculations highlights that all complexes are air-insensitive and monomeric and that their thermal properties and fragmentation patterns are directly dependent on functional groups in the diketonate ligands. Preliminary thermal CVD experiments demonstrate the precursors' suitability for the obtainment of NiO films endowed with flat and homogeneous surfaces, paving the way to future implementation for CVD end-uses.

Atomic/molecular layer deposition of Ni-terephthalate thin films

Atomic/molecular layer deposition (ALD/MLD) is currently strongly emerging as an intriguing route for novel metal-organic thin-film materials. This approach already covers a variety of metal and organic components, and potential applications related to e.g. sustainable energy technologies. Among the 3d metal components, nickel has remained unexplored so far. Here we report a robust and efficient ALD/MLD process for the growth of high-quality nickel terephthalate thin films. The films are deposited from Ni(thd)₂ (thd: 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedionate) and terephthalic acid (1,4-benzenedicarboxylic acid) precursors in the temperature range of 180-280 °C, with appreciably high growth rates up to 2.3 Å per cycle at 200 °C. The films are amorphous but the local structure and chemical state of the films are addressed based on XRR, FTIR and RIXS techniques.

Chemical vapour deposition (CVD) of nickel oxide using the novel nickel dialkylaminoalkoxide precursor [Ni(dmamp′)2] (dmamp′ = 2-dimethylamino-2-methyl-1-propanolate)

Nickel oxide (NiO) has good optical transparency and wide band-gap, and due to the particular alignment of valence and conduction band energies with typical current collector materials has been used in solar cells as an efficient hole transport-electron blocking layer, where it is most commonly deposited via sol–gel or directly deposited as nanoparticles. An attractive alternative approach is via vapour deposition. This paper describes the chemical vapour deposition of p-type nickel oxide (NiO) thin films using the new nickel CVD precursor [Ni(dmamp′)₂], which unlike previous examples in literature is synthesised using the readily commercially available dialkylaminoalkoxide ligand dmamp′ (2-dimethylamino-2-methyl-1-propanolate). The use of vapour deposited NiO as a blocking layer in a solar-cell device is presented, including benchmarking of performance and potential routes to improving performance to viable levels.

We describe CVD of nickel oxide (NiO) thin films using a new precursor [Ni(dmamp′)₂], synthesised using a readily commercially available dialkylaminoalkoxide ligand (dmamp′), which is applied to synthesis of a hole transport-electron blocking layer.

Atomic Layer Deposition of Transparent p-Type Semiconducting Nickel Oxide Using Ni(tBu2DAD)2 and Ozone

A novel atomic layer deposition (ALD) process for nickel oxide (NiO) is developed using a recently reported diazadienyl complex, Ni(^tBu2DAD)₂, and ozone. A window of constant growth per cycle is found between 185 and 200 °C at 0.12 nm/cycle, among the highest reported for ALD NiO. For films deposited at 200 °C, grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction indicates a randomly oriented polycrystalline cubic NiO phase. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy shows good agreement with bulk NiO reference spectra and no detectable impurities. Atomic force microscopy reveals low root mean square roughness of 0.6 nm for an 18 nm thick film. The refractive index of 2.36 and an electronic bandgap of 3.78 eV, as determined by variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry, are close to reported values for bulk and thin film NiO. Finally, fabricated Ag/NiO/n-Si/In heterojunction diodes show a current-voltage asymmetry of 1.27 × 10⁴ at 2.3 V and an ideality factor of 3.5, confirming the intrinsic p-type semiconducting behavior of transparent NiO.

Atomic Layer Deposition of NiO to Produce Active Material for Thin-Film Lithium-Ion Batteries

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) provides a promising route for depositing uniform thin-film electrodes for Li-ion batteries. In this work, bis(methylcyclopentadienyl) nickel(II) (Ni(MeCp)2) and bis(cyclopentadienyl) nickel(II) (NiCp2) were used as precursors for NiO ALD. Oxygen plasma was used as a counter-reactant. The films were studied by spectroscopic ellipsometry, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray reflectometry, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results show that the optimal temperature for the deposition for NiCp2 was 200–300 °C, but the optimal Ni(MeCp)2 growth per ALD cycle was 0.011–0.012 nm for both precursors at 250–300 °C. The films deposited using NiCp2 and oxygen plasma at 300 °C using optimal ALD condition consisted mainly of stoichiometric polycrystalline NiO with high density (6.6 g/cm3) and low roughness (0.34 nm). However, the films contain carbon impurities. The NiO films (thickness 28–30 nm) deposited on stainless steel showed a specific capacity above 1300 mAh/g, which is significantly more than the theoretical capacity of bulk NiO (718 mAh/g) because it includes the capacity of the NiO film and the pseudo-capacity of the gel-like solid electrolyte interface film. The presence of pseudo-capacity and its increase during cycling is discussed based on a detailed analysis of cyclic voltammograms and charge–discharge curves (U(C)).

Properties of Plasmon-Induced Photoelectric Conversion on a TiO2/NiO p-n Junction with Au Nanoparticles

We have successfully fabricated all-solid-state plasmonic photoelectric conversion devices composed of titanium dioxide (TiO2)/nickel oxide (NiO) p-n junctions with gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) as prototype devices for a plasmonic solar cell. The characteristics of the crystal structures and the photoelectric properties of the all-solid-state devices were demonstrated. We observed that the crystalline structure of the NiO thin film and the interfacial structure of TiO2/Au-NPs/NiO changed significantly during an annealing treatment. Furthermore, the photoelectric conversion devices exhibited plasmon-induced photocurrent generation in the visible-wavelength region. The photocurrent may result from plasmon-induced charge separation. The photoelectric conversion properties via plasmon-induced charge separation were strongly correlated with the morphology of the TiO2/Au-NPs/NiO interface. The long-term stability of the plasmonic photoelectric conversion device was found to be very high because a stable photocurrent was observed even after irradiation for 3 days.

Influence of Water on Chemical Vapor Deposition of Ni and Co thin films from ethanol solutions of acetylacetonate precursors

In chemical vapor deposition experiments with pulsed spray evaporation (PSE-CVD) of liquid solutions of Ni and Co acetylacetonate in ethanol as precursors, the influence of water in the feedstock on the composition and growth kinetics of deposited Ni and Co metal films was systematically studied. Varying the water concentration in the precursor solutions, beneficial as well as detrimental effects of water on the metal film growth, strongly depending on the concentration of water and the β-diketonate in the precursor, were identified. For 2.5 mM Ni(acac)₂ precursor solutions, addition of 0.5 vol% water improves growth of a metallic Ni film and reduces carbon contamination, while addition of 1.0 vol% water and more leads to significant oxidation of deposited Ni. By tuning the concentration of both, Ni(acac)₂ and water in the precursor solution, the fraction of Ni metal and Ni oxide in the film or the film morphology can be adjusted. In the case of Co(acac)₂, even smallest amounts of water promote complete oxidation of the deposited film. All deposited films were analyzed with respect to chemical composition quasi in situ by XPS, their morphology was evaluated after deposition by SEM.

Atomic layer deposited molybdenum nitride thin film: a promising anode material for Li ion batteries

Molybdenum nitride (MoNx) thin films are deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) using molybdenum hexacarbonyl [Mo(CO)6] and ammonia [NH3] at varied temperatures. A relatively narrow ALD temperature window is observed. In situ quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) measurements reveal the self-limiting growth nature of the deposition that is further verified with ex situ spectroscopic ellipsometry and X-ray reflectivity (XRR) measurements. A saturated growth rate of 2 Å/cycle at 170 °C is obtained. The deposition chemistry is studied by the in situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) that investigates the surface bound reactions during each half cycle. As deposited films are amorphous as observed from X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy electron diffraction (TEM ED) studies, which get converted to hexagonal-MoN upon annealing at 400 °C under NH3 atmosphere. As grown thin films are found to have notable potential as a carbon and binder free anode material in a Li ion battery. Under half-cell configuration, a stable discharge capacity of 700 mAh g(-1) was achieved after 100 charge-discharge cycles, at a current density of 100 μA cm(-2).