The organometallic compound of the present invention is a compound that has bonds between metal atoms and nitrogen atoms or bonds between semimetal atoms and nitrogen atoms, and the content of chlorine in the compound is 200 ppm or less and the content of water is 30 ppm or less. In addition, the general formula of this compound is represented by the following formula (1): M[(R.sup.1).sub.2N].sub.(n-s)(R.sup.2).sub.s (1) wherein, M represents a metal atom or semimetal atom, with the metal atom being Hf, Zr, Ta, Ti, Ce, Al, V, La, Nb or Ni, and the semimetal atom being Si, R.sup.1 represents a methyl group or ethyl group, R.sup.2 represents an ethyl group, n represents the valence of M, and s represents an integer of 0 to n-1.