Abstract

This work introduces photoactivated molecular layer deposition (pMLD) as a route to deposit organic nanoscale polymer films with molecular-level control. Surface-tethered acrylate polymers are obtained through a radical step-growth polymerization where a diene and a diiodo monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGM) and 1,3-diiodopropane (DIP), respectively, are sequentially dosed in the vapor-phase under pulsed UV irradiation. pMLD occurs with a constant growth rate of 3.7 angstrom/cycle, and both monomers display self-limiting saturation. Films deposited by pMLD exhibit excellent stability in organic solvents. Furthermore, annealing studies with in situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) reveals thermal stability up to 350 degrees C in vacuum. The mechanism behind pMLD of EGM and DIP is proposed based on detailed characterization of the polymer films by XPS and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, growth modeling, and comparison with control studies of pMLD involving monofunctional precursors. The coupling chemistry of pMLD presented herein provides future possibilities to create apolar linkages in the formation of nanoscale organic films.