Nanoscale films are integral to all modern electronics. To optimize device performance, researchers vary the film thickness by making batches of devices, which is time‐consuming and produces experimental artifacts. Thin films with nanoscale thickness gradients that are rapidly deposited in open air for combinatorial and high‐throughput (CHT) studies are presented. Atmospheric pressure spatial atomic layer deposition reactor heads are used to produce spatially varying chemical vapor deposition rates on the order of angstroms per second. ZnO and Al2O3 films are printed with nm‐scale thickness gradients in as little as 45 s and CHT analysis of a metal‐insulator‐metal diode and perovskite solar cell is performed. By testing 360 Pt/Al2O3/Al diodes with 18 different Al2O3 thicknesses on one wafer, a thicker insulator layer (≈7.0 nm) is identified for optimal diode performance than reported previously. Al2O3 thin film encapsulation is deposited by atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (AP‐CVD) on a perovskite solar cell stack for the first time and a convolutional neural network is developed to analyze the perovskite stability. The rapid nature of AP‐CVD enables thicker films to be deposited at a higher temperature than is practical with conventional methods. The CHT analysis shows enhanced stability for 70 nm encapsulation films.

Virucidal thin-film coatings have the potential to inactivate pathogens on surfaces, preventing or slowing their spread. Six potential nanoscale antiviral coatings, Cu, Cu2O, Ag, ZnO, zinc tin oxide (ZTO), and TiO2, are deposited on glass, and their ability to inactivate the HCoV-229E human coronavirus is assessed using two methods. In one method, droplets containing HCoV-229E are deposited on thin-film coatings and then collected after various stages of desiccation. In the second method, the thin-film coatings are soaked in the virus supernatant for 24 h. The Cu and Cu2O coatings demonstrate clear virucidal behavior, and it is shown that controlled delamination and dissolution of the coating can enhance the virucidal effect. Cu is found to produce a faster and stronger virucidal effect than Cu2O in the droplet tests (3 log reduction in the viral titer after 1 h of exposure), which is attributed, in part, to the differences in film adhesion that result in delamination of the Cu film from the glass and accelerated dissolution in the droplet. Despite Ag, ZnO, and TiO2 being frequently cited antimicrobial materials, exposure to the Ag, ZnO, ZTO, and TiO2 coatings results in no discernible change to the infectivity of the coronavirus under the conditions tested. Thin-film Cu coatings are also applied to the polypropylene fabrics of N95 respirators, and droplet tests are performed. The Cu fabric coating reduces the infectivity of the virus; it results in a 1 order-of-magnitude reduction in the viral titer within 15 min with a 2 order-of-magnitude reduction after 1 h.

Spatial atomic layer deposition retains the advantages of conventional atomic layer deposition: conformal, pinhole-free films and excellent control over thickness. Additionally, it allows higher deposition rates and is well-adapted to...

Highlights Chemical removal of anodic aluminium oxide templates can damage embedded structures. Anodic aluminium oxide templates were used to grow cuprous oxide nanorod arrays. Electrochemical removal technique prevented reduction of cuprous oxide nanorods. Reported procedure is useful in production of antimicrobial surfaces.