Invited Paper SP+BI+NS+SS+TF-ThA1
Tailoring the Growth of Organic Thin Films via Chemical Reactions at the Molecular Scale

Thursday, October 22, 2015, 2:20 pm, Room 212A

Control of highly ordered organic molecular thin films with extended π systems is currently of intense interest for integrating molecules into modern electronics due to their tunable nature. Selection of molecules and substrates can lead to desired transport properties such as charge transfer, charge injection, exciton diffusion, etc., at the heterointerface, which is crucial to the development of organic and molecular electronics. However, achieving large-scale molecular ordering remains a significant challenge that requires a thorough understanding of the growth mechanism. I will discuss our recent discovery of the anisotropic crystalline step-flow growth of the prototypical metal phthalocyanine molecules on the deactivated Si(111)-B surface. I will then address the growth mechanism and show that the molecular ordering and molecular orientation can be effectively controlled through selective orbital coupling between the molecule and substrate. Finally, I will illustrate an abnormal temperature dependent growth evolution and discuss the associated mechanism.

This research is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science Early Career Research Program (DE-SC0006400) through the Office of Basic Energy Sciences.