A Study of Established Methods of Thin Films for Fabrication with Energy Materials

PHYSICS

With the continued miniaturization of the electronic devices applicable in our daily lives, thin films of various functional materials used in such devices are increasingly preferred over the traditional bulk components. Various gas-phase methods have been found to be capable of depositing thin films of good quality and are well-established across the coatings’ industry. However, they are associated with ultrahigh vacuum systems and complicated and expensive instrumentation, and may involve toxic or corrosive chemical precursors. Alternative fabrication methods such as the electrospray deposition, the sol-gel method, and the molecular precursor method have been devised and represent active research areas. The molecular precursor method is relatively new. However, it has been found to be capable of effectively fabricating thin films of various metal oxides and of metals. In this chapter, some methods employed in the fabrication of the thin films are discussed in detail. The ease of practical application and relative cost-effectiveness associated with each method, the quality, and type of the fabricated thin films are also discussed. Based on the recent results by the present authors, the fabrication and characterization of a highly conductive and well-adhered thin film of metallic copper by using the molecular precursor method are presented.

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