Solution layer deposition: A technique for the growth of ultra-pure manganese oxides on silica at room temperature

International audienceWith the ever increasing miniaturization in microelectronic devices, new deposition techniques are required to form high-purity metal oxide layers. Herein, we report a liquid route to specifically produce thin and conformal amorphous manganese oxide layers on silicon substrate, which can be transformed into a manganese silicate layer. The undesired insertion of carbon into the functional layers is avoided through a solution metal–organic chemistry approach named Solution Layer Deposition (SLD). The growth of a pure manganese oxide film by SLD takes place through the decoordination of ligands from a metal–organic complex in mild conditions, and coordination of the resulting metal atoms on a silica surface. The mechanism of this chemical liquid route has been elucidated by solid-state 29Si MAS NMR, XPS, SIMS, and HRTEM