Surface reactivity of alkylgold(I) complexes : substrate-selective chemical vapor deposition of gold from RAuP(CH3)3 (R = CH2CH3, CH3) at remarkably low temperatures

The reactivity of CH 3 CH 2 AuP(CH 3 ) 3 and CH 3 AuP(CH 3 ) 3 is investigated on silicon, chromium, copper, PMDA-ODA polyimide, and silicon dioxide surfaces at temperatures ranging from 25 to 400 o C in an ultrahigh-vacuum chamber. By exploitation of the advantages of kinetically controlled reaction conditions and atomically clean surfaces, high-purity gold films are deposited at temperatures as low as room temperature. The surface reaction generating elemental gold is subject to an unusual level of control. Excursions to only moderately higher temperature serve to tune the process from one which is completely selective for metal and semiconductor surfaces to one which provides blanket deposition