Deposition of Organic- Inorganic Hybrid Materials by Atomic Layer Deposition

Abstract

The atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique has proved to be very suitable for deposition of thin films of organic- inorganic hybrid type of materials. This class of materials combines the rigid structures and physical properties of inorganic materials with the flexibility and physicochemical properties of organic compounds. The ALD growth of these nanostructured hybrid films is enabled by the use of highly reactive inorganic precursors and particular organic building units that can bond to the inorganic component via functional groups such as alcohols, carboxylic acids, amines, etc. The ALD technique enables design of such materials, constructed from a variety of inorganic and organic building units, at a resolution of one monolayer. This represents a major step forward with respect to nanostructured hybrid materials. Compared to the growth rate of purely inorganic materials by ALD, the growth rates for hybrid materials are much larger, and deposition rates as high as 4.4 nm/cycle has been demonstrated, thus enabling rapid depositions.