Controlling the Thermal Stability and Volatility of Organogold(I) Compounds for Vapor Deposition with Complementary Ligand Design

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) of gold is being studied by multiple research groups, but to date no process using non-energetic co-reactants has been demonstrated. In order to access milder co-reactants, precursors with higher thermal stability are required. We set out to uncover how structure and bonding affect the stability and volatility of a family of twelve organogold(I) compounds using a combination of techniques: X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and density functional theory (DFT). Small, unsubstituted phosphonium ylide ligands bind more strongly to Au(I) than their silyl-substituted analogues, but the u