Organometallic deposition of ultrasmooth nanoscale Ni film

Deposition of nanoscale and smooth Ni film is challenging using wet chemistry. Herein, organometallic (OM) Ni precursor yields colloidal nanoparticles which self-assemble into thin metallic film with uniform thickness on large scale. More precisely, we report on the one-pot synthesis and self-assembly of a monolayer of amorphous Ni nanoparticles on areas as large as 10 μm², with a thickness as low as 10 nm and a roughness of 1.1 nm (RMS). Interestingly, the reactivity of different complexes, whether OM, namely Ni (η⁴-C₈H₁₂)₂ or metal-organic, namely Ni(acac)₂, orthogonally depends on whether the reaction is performed on a silicon wafer or in solution. Only the combination of phosphine and amine ligands with OM precursor effectively controls the homogeneity of the film on large scale, while phosphine ligands result in P doping of the amorphous Ni.