Selective Hydration of Rutile TiO₂ as a Strategy for Site-Selective Atomic Layer Deposition

The feasibility of a site-selective hydration strategy that enables site-selective atomic layer deposition (ALD) is investigated among four rutile TiO₂ facets [(110), (100), (101) and (001)] and their most prevalent step edges. First-principles simulations of asymmetric slab models were utilized to create accurate representations of pristine terrace and step edge sites. The adsorption free energies for molecular and dissociative adsorption of H₂O were calculated to evaluate this strategy as a viable route to step edge selectivity. We predict that selective hydroxylation is possible on the 110 and 001 step edges and further computationally evaluate three metalorganic ALD precursors for their compatibility with the selective hydration strategy. Experimental evidence for delayed nucleation of ALD on rutile (001), (110), and (100) TiO₂ single crystals corroborates predictions of the dehydration of the surface and suggests the possibility of site-selective ALD.