Copper and silver deposition onto solid substrate is commonly used to achieve a number of practical interfaces used in sensing, microelectronics, catalysis, etc. The atomic-level control over the formation of these interfaces is required for many of these applications. The chemistry of the deposition process, especially at the early stages, is largely determined by the available surface functionality or termination. Chemical interactions of several copper and silver deposition precursor molecules with functionalized silicon, silica, ZnO, and carbon (ordered pyrolytic graphite, HOPG) surface will be discussed targeting specifically the chemistry of adsorption and decomposition depending on the precursor ligands and oxidation states of the metal. This work will utilize microscopic and spectroscopic analytical techniques and supplement the experimental findings with the density functional theory calculations describing the reactivity of copper deposition precursors, including Cu(acac)2, Cu(hfac)2, and Cu(hfac)VTMS, and silver deposition precursor on trimethylphosphine(hexafluoroacetylacetonato)silver(I). The role of the chemistry in determining the structures (or thin films) deposited will be discussed.

Understanding surface reaction pathways and the role of chemical functionality in the initial stages of copper and silver deposition in CVD and ALD processes

254th National Meeting (2017)

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