We have proposed and demonstrated a novel thin film deposition technique by transferring the principles of atomic layer deposition (ALD), known with gaseous precursors, towards precursors dissolved in a liquid. The technique can also be considered as a generalization of already established methods such as the ‘layer by layer’ growth or the ‘successive ion layer adsorption and reaction’ (SILAR). 'Solution ALD' (sALD) shares the fundamental properties of standard ‘gas ALD’ (gALD), specially the self-limiting growth and the ability to coat conformally deep pores. It has been already shown that it is possible to transfer standard reactions from gALD to sALD such as TiO₂ deposition . However, sALD also offers novel opportunities such as overcoming the need for volatile and thermally robust precursors.

To illustrate this, we establish sALD procedures for depositing films of non oxides layers such as Pb-compound deposition, MOF, selenides and sulfides. Those examples highlight how ionic, polar, or high-molecular weight precursors that only exist in the condensed phase are now rendered amenable to being utilized in surface-controlled thin film formation by sALD for depositing materials that would otherwise be more difficult or more expensive to achieve by gALD or hazardous. The deposition was achieved on small (2 cm*1 cm) and large samples (up to 10 cm*10 cm). The ALD behavior has been shown. The influence of the deposition parameters on the morphology, the crystalline structure and the chemical composition has been investigated by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, grazing incidence x-ray diffraction and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Additionally, the nucleation is studied in function of chemical pretreatment to control the growth and allow selective deposition of SnS, SnSe and Sb₂Se₃.

This particular ALD process offer the growth of high quality and crystalline layers in middle conditions with the use of low cost and environmental friendly precursors.

Y. Wu, D. Döhler, M. Barr, E Oks,M. Wolf, L. Santinacci and J. Bachmann, Nano Lett. 2015, 15, 6379

J. Fichtner, Y. Wu, J. Hitzenberger, T. Drewello and J. Bachmann, ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 2017, 6, N171