Review: This review provides a brief description of ALD and presents studies on the deposition of thin films of groups 4 and 5 metal oxides using ALD. A description of the general ALD properties of homoleptic precursors, in addition to a review of the thermal ALD of groups 4 and 5 metal oxides from heteroleptic precursors, is presented. Trends in the properties of heteroleptic ALD precursors based on the literature review and recent experimental data are discussed.

Full Paper: Atomic layer deposition of TiO₂ and ZrO₂ is performed using heteroleptic amido/guanidinate metal precursors, and ozone and water as oxygen sources. The results are compared to previous studies and the effect of the ligands on the precursor properties are discussed.

Full Paper: The ALD processes for three novel precursors for the ALD of Er₂O₃, namely Er(ⁿBuCp)₃, Er(ⁱPrCp)₃, and Er(MeCp)₂(ⁱPr-amd), are developed and the films are characterized. The first report of the conformal ALD growth of Er₂O₃ thin film on a high-aspect-ratio structure is also included.

Full Paper: Focused electron beam-induced deposition (FEBID) is used as a direct-write approach for the fabrication of Fe-based nanostructures on Si(100), starting from Fe(CO)₅. FEBID uses an electron beam to locally induce a CVD process. A systematic variation of FEBID parameters is performed to study their influence on the geometry and composition of the deposit. Based on the results, specific deposition conditions are suggested for nanomagnetic applications and the fabrication of large structures.

Full Paper: Focused electron beam-induced deposition is utilized to co-deposit gold and iron structures using dimethyl-gold(III)-trifluoroacetylacetonate and iron pentacarbonyl metal-organic precursors. The deposition rate and chemical composition of these direct-write Au-Fe nanoalloys can be controlled by varying the working pressures.

Thin films of Ca-doped LaPO₄ are produced using ALD with La(thd)₃, (CH₃)₃PO₄, H₂O, and O₃ as precursors. The films are studied using X-ray based techniques and TEM. The requirement of a mixed O₃/H₂O precursor for the growth of the phosphate is studied in detail using QCM.

The resistive switching of TiO_x/Al₂O₃ bilayers integrated in µ-crossbar devices is investigated for future ReRAM. The bilayer stack is realized in consecutive atomic layer depositions (ALD) at 300 °C. Amorphous Al₂O₃ films exhibit a dielectric permittivity of 8.0 and disruptive field strength of 7 MV cm⁻¹, whereas the oxygen-deficient TiO_x is semiconducting. The bipolar-type resistive switching characteristics of TiN/TiO_x/Al₂O₃/Pt cells show a strong dependence on both oxide layer thicknesses.

A thermodynamic analysis is performed to comment on the stability of vanadium oxide structures based on the calculated formation energies. The structure-related properties of the identified stable and metastable compounds are discussed, with an emphasis on the reported functional applications. Finally, the established gas-phase chemical deposition processes for the growth of vanadium oxide compounds are reviewed, referring to the type of precursors used.

Full Paper: ZrO₂ thin films are deposited by metal-organic (MO)CVD using the precursor (Zr(NMe₂)₂(guan)₂) as the Zr source, together with oxygen. Functional properties, including the optical, electrical, and mechanical properties, of the resulting ZrO₂ films are investigated.