Thin-film growth behavior of non-planar vanadium oxide phthalocyanine*

Abstract

The thin film properties of organic semiconductors are very important to the device performance. Herein, non-planar vanadyl phthalocyanine (VOPc) thin films grown on rigid substrates of indium tin oxide, silicon dioxide, and flexible substrate of kapton by organic molecular beam deposition under vacuum conditions are systematically studied via atomic force microscopy and x-ray diffraction. The results clearly reveal that the morphology and grain size are strongly dependent on the substrate temperature during the process of film deposition. Meanwhile, the VOPc films with the structure of phase I or phase II can be modulated via in situ annealing and post-annealing temperature. Furthermore, the crystalline structure and molecular orientation of vapor-deposited VOPc can be controlled using molecular template layer 3, 4, 9, 10-perylene-tetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA), the VOPc film of which exhibits the phase I structure. The deep understanding of growth mechanism of non-planar VOPc film provides valuable information for controlling structure-property relationship and accelerates the application in electronic and optoelectronic devices.

Metal phthalocyanines: thin-film formation, microstructure, and physical properties

“…32,33,120,121 The non-planar trivalent and tetravalent MPcs, such as AlClPc, TiOPc, PbPc, and vanadyl phthalocyanine (VOPc) have much larger rectangular plate-like features owing to their different pstacked packing structure. 119,[122][123][124][125][126] Additionally, these four MPc thin-lms have a greater surface roughness and lower surface area to volume ratio compared to the planar divalent MPc thin-lms. 119,[122][123][124][125] Unlike metal center, uorination of the outside ring (F x MPc, x ¼ 4, 8, 16) yields little effect on the morphology of MPc thin-lms as studied in peruorinated CuPc and ZnPc.…”

“…119,[122][123][124][125][126] Additionally, these four MPc thin-lms have a greater surface roughness and lower surface area to volume ratio compared to the planar divalent MPc thin-lms. 119,[122][123][124][125] Unlike metal center, uorination of the outside ring (F x MPc, x ¼ 4, 8, 16) yields little effect on the morphology of MPc thin-lms as studied in peruorinated CuPc and ZnPc. 9,[127][128][129] In general the addition of uoro molecules to the outside ring slightly alters grain size however, the packing structure and grain shape remain analogous to non-uorinated MPcs.…”

Orienting dilute thin films of non-planar spin-1/2 vanadyl–phthalocyanine complexes

“…Given the high structural complexity that can occur in phthalocyanine films 46 it is highly desirable to derive simple, yet important structural parameters from the present XLD data. Certainly, detailed information can be obtained from X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements, however, these are not possible or at least extremely time-consuming for few-nm thin films.…”

Improvement of Sensing Properties for Copper Phthalocyanine Sensors Based on Polymer Nanofibers Scaffolds

“…For the past few decades, organic field effect transistors (OFETs) based sensors have been broadly applied in such fields as gas sensors, , pressure sensors, , and artificial skin. , In order to get highly sensitive gas sensors based on OFETs, it is necessary to modify or improve organic semiconductor (OSC) layer by appropriate means. − Modifying the surface morphology or structure of OSC layer is the most significant and immediately forward way to strengthen the performance and shorten the response and recovery time. , Up to now, OFET-based sensors performance has been enhanced dramatically by using different sensitive materials and preparation methods, such as enabling metal-phthalocyanines (MPcs) as semiconductor functional materials, using bilayer dielectrics, producing ultrathin heterogeneous interface morphology, and employing heterogametic induction growth. − These above optimization measures usually selected compact and continuous sensing layers. These layers limited the selectivity and sensitivity of the sensors.…”

“…7−9 Modifying the surface morphology or structure of OSC layer is the most significant and immediately forward way to strengthen the performance and shorten the response and recovery time. 7,10 Up to now, OFET-based sensors performance has been enhanced dramatically by using different sensitive materials and preparation methods, such as enabling metal-phthalocyanines (MPcs) 2 as semiconductor functional materials, using bilayer dielectrics, 11 producing ultrathin heterogeneous interface morphology, 12 and employing heterogametic induction growth. 13−17 These above optimization measures usually selected compact and continuous sensing layers.…”