Fragmentation of Nickel(II) and Cobalt(II) Bis(acetylacetonate) Complexes Induced by Slow (<10 eV) Electrons

Metal acetylacetonate complexes have high potentiality in nanoscale fabrication processes (e.g., focus electron beam-induced deposition) thanks to the versatile character and ease of preparation compounds. In this work, we study and compare the physics and the physicochemistry induced by the interaction of low-energy (<10 eV) electrons with nickel(II) and cobalt(II) bis(acetylacetonate) complexes. The slow particles decompose the molecules via dissociative electron attachment. The nickel(II) and cobalt(II) bis(acetylacetonate) anions and the acetylacetonate negative fragments are the most dominant detected species. The experimental data are completed with density functional theory calculations to provide information on the electronic states of the molecules and the energetics for fragmentation. Finally, it is found that the interaction of low-energy electrons resulting in the decomposition of organometallic complexes in the gas phase is more efficient with the nickel(II) than with the cobalt(II) bis(acetylacetonate) complex. These results are found to be in a relative agreement with the surface experiments.