Process for depositing layers having high specific electrical conductivity

A process for depositing a metal-containing layer having a high specific electrical conductivity onto a substrate, said process comprising the steps of:

• decomposing an organometallic compound comprising a metal and at least one ligand in the presence of said substrate in a plasma-excited hydrogen-containing gas phase;
• measuring an optical emission spectrum of said plasma-excited gas phase, whereby a series of peaks assignable to fragments of ligands of said metal and peaks not assignable to fragments of ligands of said metal are obtained;
• comparing the energy density of a peak of said optical emission spectrum not assignable to a fragment of a ligand of said metal to a peak assignable to a fragment of a ligand of said metal to form a ratio, and
• regulating the energy density of the plasma such that the ratio of said peak not assigned to a fragment of a ligand of the metal to said peak assigned to a fragment of a ligand of the metal is at least as large as the corresponding ratio recorded during deposition of a metal layer having an electrical conductivity equal to at most 200% of the electrical resistivity of said metal in bulk;
• whereby an electrically conductive layer of said metal is deposited on said substrate.