Continuous ultrathin silver films deposited on SiO2 and SiNx using a self-assembled monolayer

In this letter, we study the deposition of ultrathin silver films on silicon oxide and nitride surfaces functionalized with self-assembled monolayers of (3-mercaptopropyl)-trimethoxysilane. First, we compare both solution and vapour-phase functionalization techniques and find the greatest improvement in electrical and optical properties using deposition from solution. Using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, we demonstrate that the formation of silver-sulfur covalent bonds is at the root of the improved wetting confirmed by ellipsometry, sheet resistance measurement, and atomic force microscopy. Second, we show that this technique can be extended to functionalize silicon nitride. Finally, we demonstrate a simple, but efficient, low-emissivity optical filter.