Selective nitride passivation using vapor-dosed aldehyde inhibitors for area-selective atomic layer deposition

[Display omitted] •Comparative evaluation of deposition selectivity with SAM and SMI was conducted.•Selective chemisorption of aldehyde was confirmed on TiN and SiN surfaces.•Blocking capability of aldehyde SAM and SMI was evaluated against Ru ALD.•Ru AS-ALD was successfully achieved on nitride/oxide-patterned substrate.•Higher deposition selectivity was achieved with SMI due to increased chemisorption. We present a methodology for achieving selective deposition of Ru films through surface modification via vapor-phase functionalization of aldehyde inhibitor molecules. We conduct a comparative evaluation of the blocking capability using vapor-dosing of two different types of aldehyde molecules: undecylaldehyde and benzaldehyde as aliphatic and aromatic ring inhibitors, respectively, on W, TiN, SiN, and SiO2 substrates. By adjusting the vapor-process conditions of both aldehydes, we confirm chemo-selective adsorption on nitride surfaces, resulting in significant growth retardation during subsequent Ru atomic layer deposition. Under optimized conditions for achieving nitride versus oxide selectivity, we successfully demonstrated area-selective atomic layer deposition (AS-ALD) of Ru films on patterned-TiN/SiO2 substrates.