NOVELTY - Forming a transition metal oxide thin film on a substrate in a reaction chamber comprises: providing a vapor phase pulse of a first metal organic reactant comprising a cycloheptatrienyl (CHT) ligand and a transition metal to the reaction chamber such that it forms no more than a monolayer on the substrate; removing excess first reactant from the reaction chamber; providing a vapor phase pulse of a second reactant comprising oxygen to the reaction chamber; and removing excess second reactant and any reaction byproducts from the reaction chamber.    USE - The oxide thin films are useful as dielectric oxides in transistors, flash devices, capacitors, integrated circuits, and other semiconductor applications. The transparent titanium oxide films are useful in flat panel displays, LEDs, and solar cells.    ADVANTAGE - The metal oxide thin films can be deposited at high temperatures.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - Forming a transition metal oxide thin film on a substrate in a reaction chamber by atomic layer deposition, comprises: providing a vapor phase pulse of a first metal organic reactant comprising a cycloheptatrienyl (CHT) ligand and a transition metal to the reaction chamber such that it forms no more than a monolayer on the substrate; removing excess first reactant from the reaction chamber; providing a vapor phase pulse of a second reactant comprising oxygen to the reaction chamber; and removing excess second reactant and any reaction byproducts from the reaction chamber, where the providing and removing steps are repeated until a thin metal oxide film of a desired thickness and composition is obtained, and the substrate temperature during the providing and removing steps is above 300 degrees C. INDEPENDENT CLAIMS are included for:    (1) method-II of forming a transition metal oxide thin film by atomic layer deposition on a substrate in a reaction chamber comprising (a) alternately and sequentially contacting the substrate with a vapor phase reactant pulse comprising a metal reactant and a vapor phase reactant pulse comprising an oxygen reactant, or (a1) alternately and sequentially contacting the substrate with a first vapor phase metal reactant pulse and a second vapor phase reactant pulse, where the alternate and sequential pulses are repeated until a thin film of a desired thickness and composition is obtained and the metal reactant comprises a transition metal and two ligands, one of which is a cycloheptatrienyl (CHT) ligand; and    (2) synthesizing a CHT metal reactant comprising a transition metal, comprising forming a reaction mixture by combining a transition metal reactant with ferric chloride, cycloheptatriene and tetrahydrofuran (THF) in a flask containing magnesium chips.    DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING(S) - The figure shows a flow chart of the atomic layer deposition process for depositing a Group IVB metal oxide using a CHT metal precursor.