Lead oxide thin films were deposited on Ir/IrO2/SiO2/Si substrates by atomic layer deposition at 200 degrees C using lead bis(3-N,N-dimethyl-2-methyl-2-propanoxide) and H2O as the Pb precursor and oxidant, respectively. The growth rate was 0.036 nm/cycle up to a thickness of similar to 1 nm but decreased to 0.011 nm/cycle with further increases in thickness. Atomic force microscopy showed that the surface morphology changed slightly with film growth, but this variation cannot explain the large change in growth rate. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed a distinct difference in the chemical composition [O/(Pb+Ir) ratio] between the two thickness regions, which might be responsible for the large discrepancy in growth rate. (c) 2007 The Electrochemical Society.