Dopamine-Mediated Polymer Coating Facilitates Area-Selective Atomic Layer Deposition
Hellen Papananou, Reika Katsumata, Zachary Neary, Rubayn Goh, Xiangxi Meng, Ratchana Limary, Rachel A. Segalman
Abstract
Area-selective atomic layer deposition (ALD) has the potential to significantly improve current fabrication approaches by introducing a bottom-up process in which robust and conformal thin films are selectively deposited onto patterned substrates. This bottom-up approach requires selective areas of the substrates to be masked to inhibit deposition. Spontaneous self-assembly and organization of a mask, incorporating adhesion and other functions, are particularly attractive for this role as they do not require a separate patterning step. Here, we make use of the pH/light tunability of catechol adhesion to develop a catechol-functionalized polymer that exhibits tunable adhesion strengths on different materials based on their specific chemistry. Tunable selective deposition was shown between metal/metal oxide substrates by controlling the local pH. Moreover, by controlling the adhesion strength through UV light, the deposition of hafnium oxide (HfO2) during ALD was successfully inhibited.