Research Areas
We are interested in applications of organometallic chemistry to problems in materials deposition. Our research focuses on mechanism-based design and synthesis of organometallic precursors appropriate for different deposition techniques. Current projects include precursors for:
- Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of metal oxide films for use as hole injection layers in OLED devices
- CVD of metal sulfide films for applications in electronics, sensing and batteries
- Focused electron and ion beam-induced deposition (FEBID and FIBID) of metal nanostructures for electronics and catalysis
- Low temperature photochemical CVD of metals on patterned substrates as a model system for metallizing organic electronics
In addition to characterization by standard small molecule techniques such as multinuclear NMR, IR, X-ray crystallography and DFT calculations, we screen our precursors for appropriate properties for the specific deposition technique. These experiments include thermogravimetric analysis, pyrolysis, determination of sublimation conditions, tandem mass spectrometry and determination of photochemical quantum yields. Our precursors are then tested under actual growth conditions and the resulting materials are characterized. For chemical vapor deposition (CVD), we do the materials growth in our own labs. For FEBID/FIBID and photoassisted CVD, we collaborate with other researchers who are experts in these techniques.