title: Control of the initial growth in atomic layer deposition of Pt films by surface pretreatment.
abstract: The controllability of the nucleation behavior of Pt in atomic layer deposition (ALD) by surface pretreatments with H2O, H2S, and NH3 was investigated. The H2O pretreatment on SiO2 and TiO2 surfaces had little effect on the nucleation of Pt. The H2S pretreatment on the SiO2 and TiO2 surfaces significantly delayed the nucleation of Pt on them, while the NH3 pretreatment on the TiO2 surface led to fluent nucleation of Pt. In particular, a continuous Pt film was successfully formed even at an ultrathin thickness of approximately 2.2 nm by NH3 pretreatment. This work suggests that the pretreatment with H2S and NH3 is an efficient way to control the nucleation of Pt in ALD without the support of any reactive species, such as plasma or O3. Such a strategy enables the easy control of the size and distribution density of Pt nanoparticles for a wide range of applications.
authors.affiliation: Center for Electronic Materials, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul 136-791, Korea. KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul 136-701, Korea.
authors.forename: Jung Joon
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Pyeon
authors.forename: Cheol Jin
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Seung-Hyub
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Baek
authors.forename: Chong-Yun
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Jin-Sang
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Doo Seok
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.forename: Seong Keun
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Kim