Growth of Ordered Hexakis-dodecyl-hexabenzocoronene Layers from Solution: A SFM and ARUPS Study

Abstract

The layer growth of a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon moiety, hexakis-dodecyl-hexabenzocoronene (HBC-C12), from solution onto a conductive flat solid substrate has been studied. Scanning Force Microscopy (SFM), together with the analysis of the intensities of π-structures in spectra of Angle-Resolved Ultraviolet Photoelectron Spectroscopy (ARUPS) measurements, revealed that the HBC-C12 molecules can self-assemble as dry layers with the conjugated disklike molecules lying flat on the (0001) plane of highly oriented pyrolitic graphite (HOPG). By varying the rate of the molecular physisorption it was possible to orient these molecular architectures along preferential directions according to the symmetry of the substrate. Additionally, the film morphology is affected by the concentration of the solution. This indicates that the growth of these organic layers on HOPG is a kinetically governed process which, if carried out sufficiently slowly, leads to the growth of hetero-epitaxial crystallites.