Invited Paper EM+AM+NS+PS-MoA3
Probing Strategies for Selective Deposition that Exploit Competitive Interactions

Monday, October 22, 2018, 2:00 pm, Room 101A

Selective thin film processes, including atomic layer deposition, have the potential to enable next-generation manufacturing and patterning at the 5 nm node and beyond, with direct applications in the nanofabrication of functional layers such as gate dielectrics, metal contacts, and capping/barrier layers. Well-known for its ability to deposit atomically thin films with Å-scale precision along the growth direction and conformally over complex 3D substrates, atomic layer deposition (ALD) has emerged as a key nanomanufacturing process. In this regard, the range and scope of ALD-based applications and capabilities can be substantially extended by also controlling the in-plane growth—a timely and significant development that can be realized via area-selective deposition processes that depend on the chemical composition of the underlying surface. In this presentation we will review the approaches that have been taken to achieve area-selective ALD, and we shall highlight both the strengths and shortcomings of these approaches. We will also discuss our efforts to achieve selective deposition that exploit competitive interactions—these interactions can occur both on the surface(s) where the film is, or is not, being deposited, and in the gas phase. In our approach we couple well controlled experiments that involve in situ surface analysis using techniques such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and high level quantum chemistry calculations of specific and non-specific binding of molecules to target surfaces. We find that this combination of techniques is capable of shedding considerable light on deposition processes that are both potentially fast and leave no trace of their use in guiding thin film deposition to those areas where growth is desired.