The precursors Zr (BH,), and Hf(BH,), were synthesized from ZrCI, and HfCI, respectively, and LiBH, according to published procedures [I91 and were identified by mass spectrometry. Deposition was carried out in a parallel-plate reactor in a horizontal arrangement as described previously [20]. This reactor is O-ring sealed and with a roots blower (Edwards E2M40, EH2S0) reaches a base pressure of x0.5 Pa with a leaking rate of 4.7 x lo-' Pals-'. The precursors were transferred to glass reservoirs under an Ar atmosphere. For the deposition experiments these reservoirs were kept at 0 "C. At this temperature the vapor pressure of the borohydrides is sufficiently high and no carrier gas is required. The working gases H, and Ar were added to the precursor vapor shortly before it entered the reactor. The gas flows were controlled by mass-flow regulating valves (MKS). The total &as flow was 90 sccm of pure H, or of the mixture 70/20 sccm H,/Ar. The working pressure was about 40 Pa. The plasma was sustained by a 13.56 MHz generator (EN1 Model ACG-3). The substrates (glass, Si (100) and polished steel HWS 1.2379) were placed at the lower electrode. Prior to the deposition they were cleaned (30 min) in an Ar/H, plasma of 100 W. The deposited films were characterized by weight, thickness (Tencor Instruments, Alpha step 200), electrical resistivity (four-point probe method) and Knoop hardness (Leitz Miniload 2). For determination of the metal content the samples were dissolved in HCI/HNO, and the absorption of the arsenazo I11 complex at 670 nm was measured [21]. The complete analysis of the films was carried out by EPMA (electron probe microanalysis). The difference in metal content between these two methods is =Sat.%. In addition, tribological measurements (scratch test, Rockwell indentation) were performed with selected samples. The film surfaces were studied by SEM (scanning electron microscopy).