Method for depositing nanolaminate thin films on sensitive surfaces

A method of forming a conductive nanolaminate structure on a substrate susceptible to halide attack within a reaction space by an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process, the nanolaminate structure comprising at least two adjacent thin film layers, including at least one metal compound layer, wherein each of the at least two adjacent thin film layers is in a different phase from directly adjacent ones of the at least two adjacent thin film layers, and wherein the atomic layer deposition process comprises providing alternating pulses of reactants in a plurality of deposition cycles, each cycle comprising:

• supplying a first reactant to chemisorb no more than about one monolayer of a halide species over a surface of the substrate,
• removing excess first reactant from the reaction space;
• and
• gettering halides from the monolayer prior to repeating the cycle,
• wherein the surface comprises copper.

A method of forming a conductive nanolaminate structure on a substrate susceptible to halide attack within a reaction space by an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process, the nanolaminate structure comprising at least two adjacent thin film layers, including at least one metal compound layer, wherein each of the at least two adjacent thin film layers is in a different phase from directly adjacent ones of the at least two adjacent thin film layers, and wherein the atomic layer deposition process comprises providing alternating pulses of reactants in a plurality of deposition cycles, each cycle comprising:

• supplying a first reactant to chemisorb no more than about one monolayer of a halide species over a surface of the substrate,
• removing excess first reactant from the reaction space;
• and
• gettering halides from the monolayer prior to repeating the cycle,
• wherein the surface is formed by a material less than 5 nm thick over copper.

A method of forming a conductive nanolaminate structure on a substrate susceptible to halide attack within a reaction space by an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process, the nanolaminate structure comprising at least two adjacent thin film layers, including at least one metal compound layer, wherein each of the at least two adjacent thin film layers is in a different phase from directly adjacent ones of the at least two adjacent thin film layers, and wherein the atomic layer deposition process comprises providing alternating pulses of reactants in a plurality of deposition cycles, each cycle comprising:

• supplying a first reactant to chemisorb no more than about one monolayer of a halide species over a surface of the substrate,
• removing excess first reactant from the reaction space;
• and
• gettering halides from the monolayer prior to repeating the cycle,
• wherein gettering comprises reducing by exposing the halide-terminated species to a boron compound.