Reflective Silver Thin Film Electrodes from Commercial Silver(I) Triflate via Aerosol-Assisted Chemical Vapor Deposition

The growth of metallic silver films by aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition at atmospheric pressure for use as thin film electrodes or reflective layers in optoelectronic stacks has been studied using the self-metallization of silver(I) trifluoromethanesulfonate (silver(I) triflate, [Ag(SO3CF3)]) during chemical vapor deposition under nitrogen, air, and 5% H2/N2. The deposition behavior of the triflate from a methanolic solution was observed with respect to film thickness between 170 and 240 nm, while the dependence of electrical resistivity between ρ = 2.8 × 10° and 5.0 × 10–5 Ω cm on nanocrystallite diameter between 38 and 44 nm indicated a grain boundary-limited charge carrier propagation mechanism arising from insular film growth. Furthermore, increased nanocrystallite size reduced specular optical reflectance from 11 to 3%. The thermal stability of silver(I) triflate as compared with other silver precursors enabled deposition at elevated temperatures with maximum growth rates of 11 nm min–1, representing a manifold increase over many previously reported Ag thin film chemical vapor deposition processes on nonmetallic substrates. Nanocrystallite diameter was directly proportional to film thickness such that control over thickness enabled control over surface texture, electrical resistivity, and specular optical reflectivity.