(Invited) Surfactant Mediated Electrochemical Deposition: Principles and Extensions

Historically speaking, and to the present day, the commercial success of thin films has much to do with the ability of surfactants to yield smooth bright surfaces. The microelectronics industry has provided significant motivation for the development of a more fundamental understanding the role electrolyte additives in electrochemical deposition, one obvious example being the innovations related to superconformal growth for 3-D Cu interconnects. This talk will provide an overview of the combined use of electroanalytical and surface science techniques to gain insights into surfactant mediated growth processes. Going further still, the knowledge garnered from investigations, that were originally focused on understanding Cu electrodeposition for interconnects, have been, and continue to be, extended to other metals and chemical systems with important applications ranging from microsystems to batteries to electrocatalysis.