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Lukas Mai, Felix Mitschker, Claudia Bock, Alessia Niesen, Engin Ciftyurek, Detlef Rogalla, Johannes Mickler, Matthias Erig, Zheshen Li, Peter Awakowicz, Klaus Schierbaum, Anjana Devi

• The identification of bis-3-(\(\it N,N\)-dimethylamino)propyl zinc ([Zn(DMP)\(_2\)], BDMPZ) as a safe and potential alternative to the highly pyrophoric diethyl zinc (DEZ) as atomic layer deposition (ALD) precursor for ZnO thin films is reported. Owing to the intramolecular stabilization, BDMPZ is a thermally stable, volatile, nonpyrophoric solid compound, however, it possesses a high reactivity due to the presence of Zn-C and Zn-N bonds in this complex. Employing this precursor, a new oxygen plasma enhanced (PE)ALD process in the deposition temperature range of 60 and 160 °C is developed. The resulting ZnO thin films are uniform, smooth, stoichiometric, and highly transparent. The deposition on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) at 60 °C results in dense and compact ZnO layers for a thickness as low as 7.5 nm with encouraging oxygen transmission rates (OTR) compared to the bare PET substrates. As a representative application of the ZnO layers, the gas sensing properties are investigated. A high response toward NO\(_2\) is observed without cross-sensitivities against NH\(_3\) and CO. Thus, the new PEALD process employing BDMPZ has the potential to be a safe substitute to the commonly used DEZ processes.