Electronic properties of metal-organic and organic-organic interfaces studied by photoemission and photoabsorption spectroscopy

In this work systematic studies of the organic semiconductor CuPc have been presented. In general the investigation can be devided in three parts. In the first one we have studied the electronic structure of clean CuPc thin film. The next two parts are devoted to organic-organic and metal–organic interface formation, where one of the interface components is CuPc thin film. The main results of this thesis are: - The electronic structure of the pristine organic semiconductor CuPc (valence band and empty states) has been obtained by a combination of conventional and resonant photoemission, near-edge X-ray absorption, as well as by theoretical ab initio quantum-chemical calculations. A qualitative assignment of different VB structures has been given, or in other words the contributions of different atomic species as well as sites of the CuPc molecule to the electronic DOS has been established. In particular, it was shown, that the HOMO is mainly comprised of the spectral weights from the orbitals of carbon pyrolle atoms. Additional contributions to the HOMO stems from the benzene atoms. A combined experimental and theoretical study of the unoccupied electronic density of states of CuPc was presented. Our study allows identifying the contributions from different parts of the molecule to the unoccupied DOS and the measured spectra, which lays grounds for future studies of the evolution of the CuPc electronic states upon e.g. functionalization or doping. Application of similar studies to other organic semiconductors will also provide significant insight into their unoccupied electronic states. - The electronic properties of the organic heterointerfaces between fullerite and pristine copper phthalocyanine were studied. Both interfaces, CuPc/C60 and C60/CuPc, were found to be non-reactive with pronounced shifts of the vacuum level pointing to the formation of an interfacial dipole mainly at the CuPc side of the heterojunctions. The dipole values are close to the difference of the work functions of the two materials. Important interface parameters and hole-injection barriers were obtained. The sequence of deposition does not influence the electronic properties of the interfaces. - CuPc doped with potassium was studied by means of photoemission and photoabsorption spectroscopy. A detailed analysis of the core-level PE spectra allows one to propose possible lattice sites, which harbor the potassium ions. Contrasting to a few results reported in the literature, the films prepared in this thesis showed no finite electronic density of states at the Fermi level. - Two stages of the In/CuPc interface formation have been distinguished. The low-coverage stage is characterized by a strong diffusion of the In atoms into the organic film. Metal ions occupy sites close to the pyrolle nitrogen and strongly interact with molecules transferring negative charge to CuPc. Indium diffusion into the organic films saturates at a stoichiometry of In2CuPc. Subsequently, in the second stage the formation of a metallic indium film occurs on the top of the In2CuPc film. - Upon deposition on CuPc film Sn and Ag atoms do not diffuse into the organic film forming metallic clusters and/or thin metallic overlayer. Sharp metal-organic film interface is formed, in contrast to indium and potassium deposition. Presented experimental results also give evidence for absence of noticeable chemical reaction of Sn and Ag with CuPc thin film. - The systematic investigation of interface formation between CuPc thin film and various metals gives us the possibility to summarize all results with demonstrating similarities and differences for all systems studied

Hexakis(dimethylformamide)bis(hexaphenylcyclohexasiloxanehexaolato)hexacopper(II) Dimethylformamide Solvate

The sandwich-like title complex, hexakis(dimethylformamide)-1O,2O,3O,4O,5O,6O-bis[2,4,6,8,10,12-hexaphenylsiloxane-2,4,6,8,10,12-hexaolato(6-)-1:22O1,2:32O2,3:42O3,- 4:52O4,5:62O5,1:62O6]hexacopper(II) tetrakis(dimethylformamide) solvate, [Cu6(C3H7NO)6{(C6H5)6O12Si6}2].4C3H7NO, is comprised of two regular crown-shaped macrocyclic hexadentate organosiloxanolate ligands chelating a flat Cu6 hexagon, as in the ethanol-solvated analogue investigated previously. The title complex has a more distorted shape than the trigonal ethanol-solvated analogue, being slightly side-oblated, but still contains a large empty inner channel accessible by small molecules (the diameter of the free cross-section being about 2.5 Å). Each CuII ion has square-pyramidal coordination with four basal siloxanolate O atoms and an apical dimethylformamide (DMFA) molecule (coordinated through its carbonyl group). The average bond lengths are: Cu-O(Si) 1.964 (11) Å and Cu-O(DMFA) 2.215 (10) Å. The structure contains four additional DMFA molecules per complex unit, linked by weak C-HO hydrogen bonds. Unexpectedly, the C=O bond length is longer [1.248 (10) and 1.255 (9) Å] in the uncoordinated DMFA molecules than in the coordinated [1.214-1.227 (7) Å]

Controllable Synthesis of Few-Layer Graphene on β-SiC(001)

Few-layer graphene exhibits exceptional properties that are of interest for fundamental research and technological applications. Nanostructured graphene with self-aligned domain boundaries and ripples is one of very promising materials because the boundaries can reflect electrons in a wide range of energies and host spin-polarized electronic states. In this chapter, we discuss the ultra-high vacuum synthesis of few-layer graphene on the technologically relevant semiconducting β-SiC/Si(001) wafers. Recent experimental results demonstrate the possibility of controlling the preferential domain boundary direction and the number of graphene layers in the few-layer graphene synthesized on the β-SiC/Si(001) substrates. Both these goals can be achieved utilizing vicinal silicon wafers with small miscuts from the (001) plane. This development may lead to fabricating new tunable electronic nanostructures made from graphene on β-SiC, opening up opportunities for new applications

2D/3D Metallic Nano-objects Self-Organized in an Organic Molecular Thin Film

We present the fabrication and investigation of the properties of nanocomposite structures consisting of two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) metallic nano-objects self-organized on the surface and inside of organic molecular thin-film copper tetrafluorophthalocyanine (CuPcF4). Metallic atoms, deposited under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions onto the organic ultrathin film, diffuse along the surface and self-assemble into a system of 2D metallic overlayers. At the same time, the majority of the metal atoms diffuse into the organic matrix and self-organize into 3D nanoparticles (NPs) in a well-defined manner. The evolution of the morphology and electronic properties of such structures as a function of nominal metal content is studied under UHV conditions using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), and photoelectron spectroscopy (PES) techniques. Using HR-TEM, we have observed the periodicity of atomic planes of individual silver NPs. The steady formation of agglomerates from individual single nanocrystallites with intercrystallite boundaries is observed as well. PES reveals generally weak chemical interactions between silver and the organic matrix and n-doping of CuPcF4 at the initial stages of silver deposition, which is associated with charge transfer from the 2D wetting layer on the basis of core-level spectra shift analysis. Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society

A photochemical approach for a fast and self-limited covalent modification of surface supported graphene with photoactive dyes

Herein, we report a simple method for a covalent modification of surface supported graphene with photoactive dyes. Graphene was fabricated on cubic-SiC/Si(001) wafers due to their low cost and suitability for mass-production of continuous graphene fit for electronic applications on millimetre scale. Functionalisation of the graphene surface was carried out in solution via white light induced photochemical generation of phenazine radicals from phenazine diazonium salt. The resulting covalently bonded phenazine-graphene hybrid structure was characterised by scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy (STS), Raman spectroscopy and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. It was found that phenazine molecules form an overlayer, which exhibit a short range order with a rectangular unit cell on the graphene surface. DFT calculations based on STM results reveal that molecules are standing up in the overlayer with the maximum coverage of 0.25 molecules per graphene unit cell. Raman spectroscopy and STM results show that the growth is limited to one monolayer of standing molecules. STS reveals that the phenazine-graphene hybrid structure has a band gap of 0.8 eV

Large positive in-plane magnetoresistance induced by localized states at nanodomain boundaries in graphene

Graphene supports long spin lifetimes and long diffusion lengths at room temperature, making it highly promising for spintronics. However, making graphene magnetic remains a principal challenge despite the many proposed solutions. Among these, graphene with zig-zag edges and ripples are the most promising candidates, as zig-zag edges are predicted to host spin-polarized electronic states, and spin-orbit coupling can be induced by ripples. Here we investigate the magnetoresistance of graphene grown on technologically relevant SiC/Si(001) wafers, where inherent nanodomain boundaries sandwich zig-zag structures between adjacent ripples of large curvature. Localized states at the nanodomain boundaries result in an unprecedented positive in-plane magnetoresistance with a strong temperature dependence. Our work may offer a tantalizing way to add the spin degree of freedom to graphene

Electronic properties of metal-organic and organic-organic interfaces studied by photoemission and photoabsorption spectroscopy

In this work systematic studies of the organic semiconductor CuPc have been presented. In general the investigation can be devided in three parts. In the first one we have studied the electronic structure of clean CuPc thin film. The next two parts are devoted to organic-organic and metal–organic interface formation, where one of the interface components is CuPc thin film. The main results of this thesis are: - The electronic structure of the pristine organic semiconductor CuPc (valence band and empty states) has been obtained by a combination of conventional and resonant photoemission, near-edge X-ray absorption, as well as by theoretical ab initio quantum-chemical calculations. A qualitative assignment of different VB structures has been given, or in other words the contributions of different atomic species as well as sites of the CuPc molecule to the electronic DOS has been established. In particular, it was shown, that the HOMO is mainly comprised of the spectral weights from the orbitals of carbon pyrolle atoms. Additional contributions to the HOMO stems from the benzene atoms. A combined experimental and theoretical study of the unoccupied electronic density of states of CuPc was presented. Our study allows identifying the contributions from different parts of the molecule to the unoccupied DOS and the measured spectra, which lays grounds for future studies of the evolution of the CuPc electronic states upon e.g. functionalization or doping. Application of similar studies to other organic semiconductors will also provide significant insight into their unoccupied electronic states. - The electronic properties of the organic heterointerfaces between fullerite and pristine copper phthalocyanine were studied. Both interfaces, CuPc/C60 and C60/CuPc, were found to be non-reactive with pronounced shifts of the vacuum level pointing to the formation of an interfacial dipole mainly at the CuPc side of the heterojunctions. The dipole values are close to the difference of the work functions of the two materials. Important interface parameters and hole-injection barriers were obtained. The sequence of deposition does not influence the electronic properties of the interfaces. - CuPc doped with potassium was studied by means of photoemission and photoabsorption spectroscopy. A detailed analysis of the core-level PE spectra allows one to propose possible lattice sites, which harbor the potassium ions. Contrasting to a few results reported in the literature, the films prepared in this thesis showed no finite electronic density of states at the Fermi level. - Two stages of the In/CuPc interface formation have been distinguished. The low-coverage stage is characterized by a strong diffusion of the In atoms into the organic film. Metal ions occupy sites close to the pyrolle nitrogen and strongly interact with molecules transferring negative charge to CuPc. Indium diffusion into the organic films saturates at a stoichiometry of In2CuPc. Subsequently, in the second stage the formation of a metallic indium film occurs on the top of the In2CuPc film. - Upon deposition on CuPc film Sn and Ag atoms do not diffuse into the organic film forming metallic clusters and/or thin metallic overlayer. Sharp metal-organic film interface is formed, in contrast to indium and potassium deposition. Presented experimental results also give evidence for absence of noticeable chemical reaction of Sn and Ag with CuPc thin film. - The systematic investigation of interface formation between CuPc thin film and various metals gives us the possibility to summarize all results with demonstrating similarities and differences for all systems studied

Graphene on cubic-SiC

The outstanding properties of graphene make it a top candidate for replacing silicon in future electronic devices. However, for technological applications, graphene must be synthesized on the surface of wide-gap semiconductors. In this review, we focus on graphene synthesized on single-crystalline cubic-SiC thin films epitaxially grown on standard silicon wafers. These low-cost substrates are commercially available and fully compatible with existing silicon technologies. The results obtained in recent years demonstrate that few-layer graphene synthesized on cubic-SiC substrates possesses the atomic structure and electronic properties of quasi-free-standing graphene. However, according to data obtained by various techniques, few-layer graphene on cubic-SiC consists of nanodomains connected to one another through nanodomain boundaries. After optimization of the preparation procedures, such a nanostructured graphene overlayer can represent a very promising system for the development of new graphene-based electronic devices. In particular, recent works demonstrate that continuous few-layer graphene with self-aligned nanodomain boundaries can be synthesized on vicinal SiC(0 0 1) substrates. Electrical measurements show the opening of a transport gap in nanostructured trilayer graphene synthesized on SiC/2°-off Si(0 0 1) wafers. This development may lead to new tunable electronic nanostructures made from graphene on cubic-SiC, opening up opportunities for a wide range of applications