Ruthenium film growth has been studied in the temperature range 110-275 degrees C using tricarbonyl{eta(4)-cyclohexa-1,3-diene}ruthenium, ammonia, nitrous oxide, hydrogen, and pulsed chemical vapor deposition (CVD) conditions. Spectroscopic ellipsometry was used for thickness measurements. Below similar to 150 degrees C no ruthenium growth occurred on Si, SiO2, Al2O3 surfaces; at > 150 degrees C, the film growth was limited by the surface nucleation that caused formation of granular films. Implementation of sputtered subnanometer thick Pt-Pd alloy seed layers allowed us to obtain smooth ruthenium films with very small grains, providing a region of surface selective ruthenium film growth at 110-150 degrees C with deposition rates in the range of 0.03-0.2 nm/cycle. (C) 2008 The Electrochemical Society. [DOI: 10.1149/1.2987677] All rights reserved.