Durable conformal wear-resistant carbon-doped metal oxide-comprising coating

Abstract

The present invention is related to carbon-doped metal oxide films. A method of depositing a low friction metal oxide film on a substrate is provided, including: using an atomic layer deposition technique, wherein said metal oxide film is deposited using at least an organo-metallic precursor, and wherein said substrate is at a temperature of 150° C. or lower during deposition of said metal oxide film, whereby a carbon-doped metal oxide film is obtained. The carbon-doped metal oxide films provide a low coefficient of friction, for example ranging from about 0.05 to about 0.4. In addition, the carbon-doped metal oxide films provide anti-stiction properties, where the measured work of adhesion is less than 10 μJ/m 2 . In addition, the carbon-doped metal oxide films provide unexpectedly good water vapor transmission properties. The carbon content in the carbon-doped metal oxide films ranges from about 5 atomic % to about 20 atomic %.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of depositing a low friction metal oxide film on a substrate, said method comprising:
 using an atomic layer deposition technique, wherein said metal oxide film is deposited using at least an organo-metallic precursor, and wherein said substrate is at a temperature of 150° C. or lower during deposition of said metal oxide film, whereby a carbon-doped metal oxide film is obtained.   
     
     
         2 . A method in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein said metal oxide film is deposited using an organo-metallic precursor and a water vapor precursor. 
     
     
         3 . A method in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein said substrate temperature ranges from about 25° C. to about 150° C. 
     
     
         4 . A method in accordance with  claim 3 , wherein said substrate temperature ranges from about 25° C. to about 120° C. 
     
     
         5 . A method in accordance with  claim 4 , wherein said substrate temperature ranges from about 55° C. to about 80° C. 
     
     
         6 . A method in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein said organo-metallic precursor contains a metal selected from the group consisting of aluminum, indium, titanium, zirconium, hafnium, tantalum, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         7 . A method in accordance with  claim 6 , wherein said metal is selected from the group consisting of aluminum, titanium, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         8 . A method in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein a pressure in a processing chamber in which said carbon-doped metal oxide film is deposited ranges from about 0.01 Torr to about 1 Torr during the deposition of said organo-metallic precursor upon said substrate and ranges from about 0.01 Torr to about 5 Torr during the deposition of said water vapor precursor. 
     
     
         9 . A method in accordance with  claim 8 , wherein the time duration of exposure of said substrate to each precursor ranges from about 0.05 seconds to about 30 seconds. 
     
     
         10 . A method in accordance with  claim 9 , wherein deposition of an organometallic precursor followed by deposition of a water vapor precursor is considered to comprise one cycle, and wherein the number of cycles carried out to form said low friction carbon-doped metal oxide film ranges from about 10 to about 100. 
     
     
         11 . A method of depositing a film providing a coefficient of friction less than or equal to about 0.4 on a substrate, said method comprising:
 depositing a carbon-doped metal oxide film by an atomic layer deposition technique, wherein said carbon-doped metal oxide film is deposited using at least an organo-metallic precursor, and wherein said substrate is at a temperature of 150° C. or lower during deposition of said metal oxide film;   wherein said metal is selected from the group consisting of aluminum, indium, titanium, zirconium, hafnium, tantalum, and combinations thereof;   wherein a carbon content of said carbon-doped metal oxide film ranges from about 5 atomic % to about 20 atomic %;   wherein the carbon-doping provides for a measured work of adhesion less than or equal to 10 μJ/m 2 .   
     
     
         12 . A method in accordance with  claim 11 , wherein said coefficient of friction ranges from about 0.05 to about 0.4. 
     
     
         13 . A method in accordance with  claim 11 , wherein said metal is selected from the group consisting of aluminum, titanium, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         14 . A method in accordance with  claim 11 , wherein said carbon content of said carbon-doped film ranges from about 10 atomic % to about 20 atomic %. 
     
     
         15 . A method in accordance with  claim 11 , wherein said film thickness ranges from about 20 Å to about 400 Å. 
     
     
         16 . A method in accordance with  claim 11 , wherein said measured work of adhesion ranges from 10 μJ/m 2  to about 0.5 μJ/m 2 . 
     
     
         17 . A method in accordance with  claim 11 , wherein said substrate defines at least one MEMS device. 
     
     
         18 . A method in accordance with  claim 17 , wherein said MEMS device is selected from the following: bio-MEMS device, microfluidic device, ink-jet head, thin film head, or optical device. 
     
     
         19 . A method in accordance with  claim 11 , wherein said substrate defines at least one of the following devices: a bio-MEMS device, a microfluidic device, an ink-jet head, a thin film head, or an optical device. 
     
     
         20 . A method of depositing a film providing a coefficient of friction less than about 0.4 on a substrate, said method comprising:
 depositing a carbon-doped metal oxide film by an atomic layer deposition technique, wherein said carbon-doped metal oxide film is deposited using at least an organo-metallic precursor, and wherein said substrate is at a temperature of 150° C. or lower during deposition of said metal oxide film;   wherein said metal is selected from the group consisting of aluminum, titanium, and combinations thereof;   wherein a carbon content of said carbon-doped metal oxide film ranges from about 10 atomic % to about 20 atomic %;   wherein the carbon-doping provides for a measured work of adhesion less than or equal to 10 μJ/m 2 .   
     
     
         21 . A method in accordance with  claim 20 , wherein a thickness of said film ranges from about 20 Å to about 100 Å. 
     
     
         22 . A method in accordance with  claim 20 , wherein the carbon-doping provides for a measured work of adhesion of less than 1 μJ/m 2 .