Selective thermal atomic layer deposition

A selective thermal atomic layer deposition (ALD) process, comprising:

• (g) loading a substrate comprising a dielectric material and metal having a native metal oxide surface into a reactor;
• (h) heating the substrate to a temperature less than, or equal to, 150° C.;
• (i) exposing the substrate to a passivation agent that preferentially adsorbs more onto the native metal oxide surface than the dielectric material, thereby forming a passivation layer on the native metal oxide surface;
• (j) exposing the substrate to a silicon precursor that preferentially adsorbs more onto the dielectric material than the passivation layer on the native metal oxide surface, thereby forming a chemi-adsorbed silicon-containing layer on the dielectric material;
• and
• (k) exposing the substrate to a non-plasma based oxidant that simultaneously (1) partially oxidizes the passivation layer on the native metal oxide surface, thereby forming a partially oxidized passivation layer on the native metal oxide surface, and (2) oxidizes the chemi-adsorbed silicon-containing layer on the dielectric material, thereby forming a silicon-containing dielectric film on the dielectric material;
• and
• repeating steps (i) through (k) until a thickness of the silicon-containing dielectric film formed on the dielectric material reaches the predetermined value;
• wherein the non-plasma based oxidant is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen peroxide, oxygen, and ozone.