Patent ID: 7208427

Claim:
A process for forming a nitride material on a substrate, including the steps of volatilizing a nitrogen-containing precursor to form a corresponding precursor vapor, and contacting the substrate with the precursor vapor under chemical vapor deposition conditions to deposit said nitride material, wherein said precursor comprises a compound of formula (I): (R 1 R 2 N) a−b MX b (I) wherein: M is selected from the group of Ta, Ti, W, Nb, Al and B; a is a number equal to the valence of M; 1≦b≦(a−1); R 1 and R 2 can be the same as or different from one another, and are each independently selected from the group of H, C 1 –C 4 alkyl, C 3 –C 6 cycloalkyl, and, when M is W, Nb, Al or B, R 0 3 Si, where each R 0 can be the same or different and each R 0 is independently selected from H and C 1 –C 4 alkyl; and X is selected from the group of chlorine, fluorine, bromine and iodine; but excluding compounds of the formula (Me 2 N) 4−b TiX b wherein b is from 1 to 2 inclusive.