VACUUM-DEPOSITED COPPER PHTHALOCYANINE THIN-FILMS - STRUCTURE AND SURFACE-MORPHOLOGY

The surface morphology and the structure has been studied of vacuum de posited copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) thin films formed by vapour depos ition of CuPc on fixed substrates at room temperature. Scanning electr on microscopy revealed a grain surface morphology. Subsequent annealin g, increase in layer thickness and the angle and the rate of depositio n raised the average grain size. The electron diffraction pattern and optical transmission spectra showed an alpha polycrystalline structure . The most fine-grained 10 nm and homogeneous layers had thicknesses b elow 250 nm and a growth rate of 0.2-0.8 nm/s. The study was directed towards the potential application of the vacuum deposited CuPc layers in gas sensors. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.