Exploitation of Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) technique for the synthesis of inorganic nanostructured thin films

Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD), belonging to Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) techniques, is an attractive process for the manufacturing of nanostructured thin films, with thickness down to a fraction of a monolayer. It is a powerful and unique technique that has achieved a lot of interest: it allows the deposition of high quality thin films with atomic level control and high conformal coverage even on complex shaped surfaces [1]. The advantages of ALD method include low impurity content, pinhole-free deposition, and low processing temperature (LT-ALD), so permitting the employment of temperature-sensitive substrates [2]. The basics of the technique and an overview of its potentiality are here presented.