Atomic layer deposition of ultrathin platinum films on tungsten atomic layer deposition adhesion layers: Application to high surface area substrates

Platinum (Pt) atomic layer deposition (ALD) usually yields Pt nanoparticles during initial film growth. In contrast, deposition of continuous and ultrathin Pt films is needed for many important applications, such as the oxygen reduction reaction in polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells. A continuous and high radius of curvature Pt film is more stable and has a higher area-specific activity than the Pt nanoparticles commonly used in PEM fuel cells. However, the Pt film must be ultrathin and have a large surface area to be cost effective. In this paper, a review of earlier Pt ALD studies on flat substrates is presented that demonstrates that tungsten, with a higher surface energy than platinum, can serve as an adhesion layer to achieve Pt ALD films that are continuous at ultrathin thicknesses of similar to 1.5 nm. This work utilized MeCpPtMe3 and H-2 plasma as the Pt ALD reactants. The deposition of continuous and ultrathin Pt ALD films using MeCpPtMe3 and H-2 plasma as the reactants is then studied on two high surface area substrate materials: TiO2 nanoparticles and 3M nanostructured thin film (NSTF). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed uniform and continuous Pt films with thicknesses of similar to 4 nm on the TiO2 nanoparticles. TEM with electron energy loss spectroscopy analysis revealed W ALD and Pt ALD films with thicknesses of similar to 3 nm that were continuous and conformal on the high aspect ratio NSTF substrates. These results demonstrate that cost effective use of Pt ALD on high surface area substrates is possible for PEM fuel cells. (C) 2014 American Vacuum Society.