The deposition of Pd and Pt nanoparticles by atomic layer deposition (ALD) has been studied extensively in recent years for the synthesis of nanoparticles for catalysis. For these applications, it is essential to synthesize nanoparticles with well-defined sizes and a high density on large-surface-area supports. Although the potential of ALD for synthesizing active nanocatalysts for various chemical reactions has been demonstrated, insight into how to control the nanoparticle properties (i.e. size, composition) by choosing suitable processing conditions is lacking. Furthermore, there is little understanding of the reaction mechanisms during the nucleation stage of metal ALD. In this work, nanoparticles synthesized with four different ALD processes (two for Pd and two for Pt) were extensively studied by transmission electron spectroscopy. Using these datasets as a starting point, the growth characteristics and reaction mechanisms of Pd and Pt ALD relevant for the synthesis of nanoparticles are discussed. The results reveal that ALD allows for the preparation of particles with control of the particle size, although it is also shown that the particle size distribution is strongly dependent on the processing conditions. Moreover, this paper discusses the opportunities and limitations of the use of ALD in the synthesis of nanocatalysts.

Area-selective atomic layer deposition (ALD) is envisioned to play a key role in next-generation semiconductor processing and can also provide new opportunities in the field of catalysis. In this work, we developed an approach for the area-selective deposition of metal oxides on noble metals. Using O2 gas as co-reactant, area-selective ALD has been achieved by relying on the catalytic dissociation of the oxygen molecules on the noble metal surface, while no deposition takes place on inert surfaces that do not dissociate oxygen (i.e., SiO2, Al2O3, Au). The process is demonstrated for selective deposition of iron oxide and nickel oxide on platinum and iridium substrates. Characterization by in situ spectroscopic ellipsometry, transmission electron microscopy, scanning Auger electron spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirms a very high degree of selectivity, with a constant ALD growth rate on the catalytic metal substrates and no deposition on inert substrates, even after 300 ALD cycles. We demonstrate the area-selective ALD approach on planar and patterned substrates and use it to prepare Pt/Fe2O3 core/shell nanoparticles. Finally, the approach is proposed to be extendable beyond the materials presented here, specifically to other metal oxide ALD processes for which the precursor requires a strong oxidizing agent for growth.

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. Resist-free fabricated carbon nanotube field-effect transistors with high-quality atomic-layerdeposited platinum contacts.

published version features the final layout of the paper including the volume, issue and page numbers. Link to publication General rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.• Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal.If the publication is distributed under the terms of Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act, indicated by the "Taverne" license above, please follow below link for the End User

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is an ideal technique to deposit ultrathin, conformal, and continuous metal thin films. However, compared to the ALD of binary materials such as metal oxides and metal nitrides, the surface reaction mechanisms during metal ALD are not well understood. In this study, the authors have designed and implemented an in situ reflection-absorption infrared spectroscopy (IRAS) setup to study the surface reactions during the ALD of Cu on Al2O3 using Cu hexafluoroacetylacetonate [Cu(hfac)2] and a remote H2 plasma. Our infrared data show that complete ligand-exchange reactions occur at a substrate temperature of 80 °C in the absence of surface hydroxyl groups. Based on infrared data and previous studies, the authors propose that Cu(hfac)2 dissociatively chemisorbs on the Al2O3 surface, where the Al-O-Al bridge acts as the surface reactive site, leading to surface O-Cu-hfac and O-Al-hfac species. Surface saturation during the Cu(hfac)2 half-cycle occurs through blocking of the available chemisorption sites. In the next half-reaction cycle, H radicals from an H2 plasma completely remove these surface hfac ligands. Through this study, the authors have demonstrated the capability of in situ IRAS as a tool to study surface reactions during ALD of metals. While transmission and internal reflection infrared spectroscopy are limited to the first few ALD cycles, IRAS can be used to probe all stages of metal ALD starting from initial nucleation to the formation of a continuous film.

Abstract

Graphene is a two-dimensional material with very high intrinsic charge carrier mobilities. Graphene is therefore a promising candidate for post-silicon electronics. Two of the critical issues in unlocking the potential of graphene are the ability to deposit ultra-thin high-K dielectrics on grapene and fabricate low resistance contacts to graphene. Technologically, it is desirable to use atomic layer deposition (ALD) for this purpose. Since ALD is based on self-limiting surface reactions, ultrathin films can be deposited that make an intimate contact with the underlaying surface. The inert nature of graphene however has made ALD on graphene very challenging. Therefore, seed layers or functional groups need to be placed on the graphene to initiate ALD growth. The seed layers or functional groups can however have a detrimental effect on the properties of graphene. This presentation will give an overview of techniques that are being used in literature and in our own lab to stimulate ALD on graphene.