University of Illinois

Shaista Babar

Gregory S Girolami

John Abelson

Navneet Kumar

Elham Mohimi

Provided herein are methods for selectively forming layers of metal films on one portion of a substrate while leaving adjacent portions of the substrate uncoated. The methods provide for selectively depositing metal films on a conductive surface, such as ruthenium oxide, disposed on or near an insulating portion of the substrate, such as a silicon dioxide (SiO) surface. The invention provides methods to simultaneously contact the substrate surface with both the precursor gas and the inhibitor agent leading to the selective formation of metal nuclei on the conductive portion of the substrate. In the methods described, nuclei are selectively formed by a disproportionation reaction occurring on the conductive portion of the substrate but not on the insulating portion of the substrate.

Use of an inhibitor molecule in chemical vapor deposition to afford deposition of copper on a metal substrate with no deposition on adjacent SIO2 substrate

The present invention provides methods for making structures, including nanosized and microsized thin film structures that exhibit a high degree of smoothness useful for applications in microelectronics. Deposition processing of the invention utilize smoothing agents capable of selectively adjusting the relative rates of processes involved in thin film formation and growth to access enhanced nucleation densities resulting in smooth thin film structures, including ultrathin (e.g., &#x3c;10 nm) smooth films.

Growing community of inventors

Hillsboro, OR, United States of America

Shaista Babar