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Title: Real-Time Observation of Structural and Orientational Transitions during Growth of Organic Thin Films

Journal Article · · Physical Review Letters
; ;  [1];  [2]; ;  [3]
  1. Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QZ (United Kingdom)
  2. Institut fuer Angewandte Physik, Universitaet Tuebingen, 72076 Tuebingen (Germany)
  3. ESRF, 6 Rue Jules Horowitz, Boite Postale 220, 38043 Grenoble Cedex 9 (France)

We study kinetically controlled orientational and structural transitions of molecular thin films during growth in situ and in real time, using diindenoperylene (DIP) as an example. By time-resolved surface-sensitive x-ray scattering (out of plane and in plane), we follow the organic molecular beam deposition of DIP on silicon oxide, on stepped sapphire, and on rubrene as an organic model surface. We identify transitions for the few-monolayer (ML) regime, as well as for thick (several 10's of ML) films. We show that the differences in the interaction of DIP with the substrate change the thickness as well as temperature range of the transitions, which include (transient) strain, subtle changes of the orientation, as well as complete reorientation. These effects should be considered rather general features of the growth of organics, which, with its orientational degrees of freedom, is qualitatively different from growth of inorganics.

OSTI ID:
20777123
Journal Information:
Physical Review Letters, Vol. 96, Issue 12; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.125504; (c) 2006 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0031-9007
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English