Thin-film deposition of organic-inorganic hybrid materials

Organic-inorganic hybrid films present special challenges and opportunities with respect to potential applications, as well as for the observation of interesting physical phenomena. Although the often disparate characteristics (e.g., solubility and thermal stability) of the two components provide a potential barrier toward forming workable and convenient film deposition strategies, recent results have demonstrated that not only is it possible to develop suitable techniques for these materials but relatively simple processes are often sufficient to yield high quality films. In the current review, some of these recent results on organic-inorganic hybrid films are discussed, with selected examples chosen from among the deposition of sol-gel materials, self-assembled hybrids, Langmuir-Blodgett films, and artificially layered materials. In addition to discussing film-deposition techniques, an effort will also be made, where appropriate, to indicate how the resulting films might be useful for applications such as organic-inorganic electronic or photonic devices.