Nanoscale Order and Structure in Organic Materials: Diindenoperylene on Gold as a Model System

• Published in: Crystal growth & design Vol. 11; no. 8; pp. 3629 - 3635
• Main Author: Casu, M. B
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington,DC American Chemical Society 03.08.2011
• Subjects: Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Exact sciences and technology; Materials science; Methods of crystal growth; physics of crystal growth; Physics; Theory and models of crystal growth; physics of crystal growth, crystal morphology and orientation; Atomic force microscopy; Roughness; Active layer; Polycrystals; Nanostructures; X-ray absorption; Perylene derivatives; Thin films; Intermolecular interaction; Nanometer scale; Monocrystals; Morphology; Photoemission; Growth mechanism
• ISSN: 1528-7483; 1528-7505
• DOI: 10.1021/cg200646h

Device performances in organic electronics are strongly influenced by the structure and morphology of the active layer. We investigated the thin film of diindenoperylene, a promising candidate for electronics, deposited on polycrystalline gold, and Au(100) and Au(111) single crystals using X-ray absorption and photoemission together with atomic force microscopy. The results show the influence of the substrate morphology, in this case via the roughness, on the structure of the obtained films. This affects the intermolecular interactions as evidenced by different details in X-ray absorption comparing the three cases. A further source of influence is the surface lattice geometry of the substrate that affects the shape of the islands. This behavior mimics very closely the behavior of atoms on metal growth, showing a general pattern in matter organization in the nanoscale regime.