Coating strategies for atomic layer deposition

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is a vapor phase technique capable of producing a variety of materials. It consists of the alternation of separate self-limiting surface reactions, which enables accurate control of film thickness at the Angstrom level. ALD becomes a powerful tool for a lot of industrial and research applications. Coating strategies are the key for ALD; however, there are few systematic reviews concerning coating strategies for ALD. This review provides a detailed summary of state-of-the-art coating strategies in ALD, emphasizing the recent progress in the fabrication of novel nanostructures. The progress in coating strategies is reviewed in three parts: template-assisted preparation of low-dimensional nanomaterials and complex nanostructures; surface treatments, including the surface activation and the surface blocking ways; enhanced reactor, such as plasma and fluid bed reactor, and improved growth method such as the ABC-type model. In addition, we also discussed the challenges facing the coating method for ALD.