Manganese(II) Molecular Sources for Plasma-Assisted CVD of Mn Oxides and Fluorides: From Precursors to Growth Process

A viable route to manganese-based materials of high technological interest is
plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition (PA-CVD), offering various degrees of freedom
for the growth of high-purity nanostructures from suitable precursors. In this regard,
fluorinated ?-diketonate diamine Mn(II) complexes of general formula Mn(dik)2·TMEDA
[TMEDA = N,N,N?,N?-tetramethylethylenediamine; Hdik = 1,1,1,5,5,5-hexafluoro-2,4-
pentanedione (Hhfa), or 1,1,1-trifluoro-2,4-pentanedione (Htfa)] represent a valuable
option in the quest of candidate molecular sources for PA-CVD environments. In this
work, we investigate and highlight the chemico-physical properties of these compounds of
importance for their use in PA-CVD processes, through the use of a comprehensive
experimental-theoretical investigation. Preliminary PA-CVD validation shows the
possibility of varying the Mn oxidation state, as well as the system chemical composition
from MnF2 to MnO2, by simple modulations of the reaction atmosphere, paving the way to
a successful utilization of the target compounds in the growth of manganese-containing
nanomaterials for different technological applications.