Lanthanide fluoride thin films have gained interest as materials for various optical applications, including electroluminescent displays and mid-IR lasers. However, the number of atomic layer deposition (ALD) processes for lanthanide fluorides has remained low. In this work, we present an ALD process for TbF₃ using tris(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedionato)terbium and TiF₄ as precursors. The films were grown at 175–350 °C. The process yields weakly crystalline films at the lowest deposition temperature, whereas strongly crystalline, orthorhombic TbF₃ films are obtained at higher temperatures. The films deposited at 275–350 °C are exceptionally pure, with low contents of C, O, and H, and the content of titanium is below the detection limit (<0.1 at. %) of time-of-flight elastic recoil detection analysis (ToF-ERDA). Due to the lack of titanium impurities, the films show high transmittance down to short UV wavelengths.

中文翻译：

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TbF3薄膜的原子层沉积

氟化镧薄膜作为各种光学应用的材料已引起人们的兴趣，包括电致发光显示器和中红外激光。但是，镧系氟化物的原子层沉积（ALD）工艺数量仍然很少。在这项工作中，我们提出了使用三（2,2,6,6-四甲基-3,5-庚二酮基）ter和TiF ₄作为前体的TbF ₃的ALD工艺。薄膜在175–350°C下生长。该方法在最低的沉积温度下产生弱结晶膜，而强结晶的斜方晶TbF ₃在更高的温度下获得薄膜。在275–350°C的温度下沉积的薄膜非常纯净，C，O和H的含量低，并且钛的含量低于飞行时间弹性反冲检测的检测极限（<0.1 at。％）分析（ToF-ERDA）。由于缺乏钛杂质，薄膜在短紫外线波长下仍显示出高透射率。