Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
Amorphous germanium nitride thin films are prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition from tetrakis(dimethylamido)germanium, Ge(NMe2)4, and an ammonia plasma at substrate temperatures as low as 190°C with growth rates >250 Å/min. N/Ge ratios in the films are 1.3 and the hydrogen contents are 13 atom %. The hydrogen is present primarily as N-H. The refractive indexes are close to the bulk value of 2.1, and the band gap, estimated from transmission spectra, is 4.8 eV.