To investigate the effects of precursor ligands, metallic ruthenium films were deposited by metallorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) from three different divalent precursors, bis(2,4-dimethylpentadienyl)ruthenium [Ru(DMPD)(2); bis-open ruthenocene type], (2,4-dimethylpentadienyl)(ethylcyclopentadienyl)ruthenium [Ru(DMPD)(EtCp); half-open ruthenocene type], and bis (ethylcyclopentadienyl) ruthenium [Ru(EtCp)(2); ruthenocene type]. Their activation energies and the deposition amounts at 400 degrees C were 1.27, 1.68, and 2.32 eV and 1.9, 2.3, and 0.22 mu mol/cm(2) h, respectively. The X-ray diffraction patterns indicated that the films prepared from Ru(DMPD)(2) were preferentially oriented to (001), whereas the films from Ru(EtCp)(2) and Ru(DMPD) (EtCp) showed random orientations. The resistivity of the films suggested that thinner films with lower resistivity could be deposited using Ru(DMPD)(2). (C) 2009 The Electrochemical Society. [DOI: 10.1149/1.3191715] All rights reserved.