Process for producing metal thin films by ALD

A process for producing a noble metal thin film on a substrate comprising:

• placing a substrate in a reaction chamber;
• pulsing a vaporized noble metal precursor into the reaction chamber to form an adsorbed layer of the noble metal precursor on the substrate;
• removing excess vaporized noble metal precursor;
• converting the adsorbed noble metal precursor layer to a noble metal layer by contacting the substrate with a gas containing oxygen;
• removing excess oxygen-containing gas and any reaction by-products;
• and
• repeating until a thin film of the desired thickness is formed.

A process for producing a capacitor in an integrated circuit, comprising:

• depositing a first insulating layer on a silicon substrate having a doped region;
• forming a conductive material contacting the substrate through the insulating layer;
• depositing a barrier layer over an exposed surface of the conductive material;
• depositing a first electrode layer comprising a noble metal on the barrier layer by an atomic layer deposition process;
• depositing a second insulating layer on the first electrode layer;
• and
• depositing a second electrode layer comprising a noble metal on the second insulator by an atomic layer deposition process.

A method of producing an ultra-high density magnetic recording device comprising:

• forming a first ferromagnetic recording layer on a substrate;
• forming by an atomic layer deposition process a non-magnetic layer consisting essentially of a noble metal on the first ferromagnetic recording layer;
• and
• forming a second ferromagnetic recording layer on the non-magnetic layer.