A chemically selective process to achieve high-resolution area-selective atomic layer deposition (ALD) of Pt thin films on dielectrics (see figure) is introduced. By utilizing the intrinsically selective adsorption behavior of 1-octadecene, a monolayer resist is attached only to the hydride-terminated silicon regions of a patterned SiO2/Si substrate. Subsequently, a Pt thin film is selectively deposited only onto the oxide regions by ALD.