Low-Temperature Atomic Layer Deposition of Cobalt Oxide as an Effective Catalyst for Photoelectrochemical Water-Splitting Devices

We have developed a low-temperature atomic layer deposition (ALD) process for depositing crystalline and phase pure spinel cobalt oxide (Co3O4) films at 120 °C using [Co­(tBu2DAD)2] and ozone as coreagent. X-ray diffraction, UV–vis spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and time-of-flight elastic recoil detection analysis were performed to characterize the structure and properties of the films. The as-deposited Co3O4 films are crystalline with a low amount of impurities (