LAUSR

We use the ability to control surface chemistry in chemical vapor deposition (CVD) to deposit boron–carbon films into pores with an aspect ratio of 60:1 without clogging the opening, and into lateral trenches with ratios of up to 2000:1. In contrast to many other surface-controlled CVD processes, operating at low temperatures (100–250 °C) and pressures (10–1000 Pa), we use trimethylboron at a higher temperature (700 °C) and pressure (5000 Pa), affording a surface-inhibited CVD process in hydrogen ambient. We show that the deposition rate is highly dependent on the partial pressure of hydrogen; decreasing proportionally to the logarithm of the partial pressure. The surface-controlled effect is not encountered in argon ambient. We propose that this is explained by a competitive adsorption of growth species and inhibiting dihydrogen or atomic hydrogen species following a Temkin isotherm.