In situ X-ray synchrotron study of organic semiconductor ultra-thin films growth

In this work we present an X-ray diffraction study of the early stages of growth of an organic semiconductor (sexithiophene, T-6) thin film prepared by high vacuum sublimation. Specular reflectometry and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction were used to monitor the formation of T-6 films on silicon o...

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Main Authors: Moulin, J., Dinelli, F., Massi, Massimiliano, Albonetti, C., Kshirsagar, R., Biscarini, F.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Elsevier 2006
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/11113
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author Moulin, J.
Dinelli, F.
Massi, Massimiliano
Albonetti, C.
Kshirsagar, R.
Biscarini, F.
author_facet Moulin, J.
Dinelli, F.
Massi, Massimiliano
Albonetti, C.
Kshirsagar, R.
Biscarini, F.
author_sort Moulin, J.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description In this work we present an X-ray diffraction study of the early stages of growth of an organic semiconductor (sexithiophene, T-6) thin film prepared by high vacuum sublimation. Specular reflectometry and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction were used to monitor the formation of T-6 films on silicon oxide. Our results show that T-6 grows as a crystalline layer from the beginning of the evaporation. The reflectometry analysis suggests that, in the range of rates and temperatures studied, the growth is never layer by layer but rather 3D in nature, In-plane GIXD has allowed us to observe for the first time a thin film phase of T-6 formed of molecules standing normal to the substrate and arranged in a compressed unit cell with respect to the bulk, i.e. the unit cell parameters b and c are relatively smaller. We have followed the dynamics of formation of this new phase and identified the threshold of appearance of the bulk phase, which occurs above approximate to 5-6 monolayers. These results are relevant to the problem of organic thin film transistors, for which we have previously demonstrated experimentally that only the first two monolayers of T-6 films are involved in the electrical transport. The layers above the second one do not effectively contribute to charge mobility, either because they are more "disordered" or because of a screening of the gate field.
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publishDate 2006
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-111132017-09-13T14:55:04Z In situ X-ray synchrotron study of organic semiconductor ultra-thin films growth Moulin, J. Dinelli, F. Massi, Massimiliano Albonetti, C. Kshirsagar, R. Biscarini, F. structure X-ray reflectivity thin films organic semiconductors In this work we present an X-ray diffraction study of the early stages of growth of an organic semiconductor (sexithiophene, T-6) thin film prepared by high vacuum sublimation. Specular reflectometry and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction were used to monitor the formation of T-6 films on silicon oxide. Our results show that T-6 grows as a crystalline layer from the beginning of the evaporation. The reflectometry analysis suggests that, in the range of rates and temperatures studied, the growth is never layer by layer but rather 3D in nature, In-plane GIXD has allowed us to observe for the first time a thin film phase of T-6 formed of molecules standing normal to the substrate and arranged in a compressed unit cell with respect to the bulk, i.e. the unit cell parameters b and c are relatively smaller. We have followed the dynamics of formation of this new phase and identified the threshold of appearance of the bulk phase, which occurs above approximate to 5-6 monolayers. These results are relevant to the problem of organic thin film transistors, for which we have previously demonstrated experimentally that only the first two monolayers of T-6 films are involved in the electrical transport. The layers above the second one do not effectively contribute to charge mobility, either because they are more "disordered" or because of a screening of the gate field. 2006 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/11113 10.1016/j.nimb.2005.12.008 Elsevier restricted
spellingShingle structure
X-ray reflectivity
thin films
organic semiconductors
Moulin, J.
Dinelli, F.
Massi, Massimiliano
Albonetti, C.
Kshirsagar, R.
Biscarini, F.
In situ X-ray synchrotron study of organic semiconductor ultra-thin films growth
title In situ X-ray synchrotron study of organic semiconductor ultra-thin films growth
title_full In situ X-ray synchrotron study of organic semiconductor ultra-thin films growth
title_fullStr In situ X-ray synchrotron study of organic semiconductor ultra-thin films growth
title_full_unstemmed In situ X-ray synchrotron study of organic semiconductor ultra-thin films growth
title_short In situ X-ray synchrotron study of organic semiconductor ultra-thin films growth
title_sort in situ x-ray synchrotron study of organic semiconductor ultra-thin films growth
topic structure
X-ray reflectivity
thin films
organic semiconductors
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/11113