Hongying Mao

Electronic and structural properties at the interface between iron-phthalocyanine and Cu(110)

Electronic structure and adsorption geometry of Iron-Phthalocyanine (FePc) adsorbed on Cu(110) were investigated by using ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) and first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The emission features α, β, γ, and δ originating from the FePc molecules in UPS spectra are located at 3.42, 5.04, 7.36, and 10.28 eV below Fermi level. The feature α is mostly deriving from Fe 3d orbital with some contributions from C 2p orbital. A considerable charge transfer from the Cu substrate to the Fe 3d orbital occurs upon the adsorption of FePc molecules. The angle-resolved UPS measurements indicate that FePc molecules adopt lying-down configurations with their molecular plane nearly parallel to the Cu(110) substrate at monolayer stage. In combination with the DFT calculations, the adsorption structure is determined to be that FePc molecule adsorbs on the top site of Cu(110) with an angle of 45° between the lobes of FePc and the [110] azimuth of the substrate.

Impact of MoO3 interlayer on the energy level alignment of pentacene-C60 heterostructure

Using in situ ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy, the electronic structure evolutions at the interface between pentacene and fullerene (C60), a classical organic donor-acceptor heterostructure in organic electronic devices, on indium-tin oxide (ITO) and MoO3 modified ITO substrates have been investigated. The insertion of a thin layer MoO3 has a significant impact on the interfacial energy level alignment of pentacene-C60 heterostructure. For the deposition of C60 on pentacene, the energy difference between the highest occupied molecular orbital of donor and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital of acceptor (HOMO(D)-LUMO(A)) offset of C60/pentacene heterostructure increased from 0.86 eV to 1.54 eV after the insertion of a thin layer MoO3 on ITO. In the inverted heterostructrure where pentacene was deposited on C60, the HOMO(D)-LUMO(A) offset of pentacene/C60 heterostructure increased from 1.32 to 2.20 eV after MoO3 modification on ITO. The significant difference of HOMO(D)-LUMO(A) offset shows the feasibility to optimize organic electronic device performance through interfacial engineering approaches, such as the insertion of a thin layer high work function MoO3 films.

The initial growth behavior of perylene on Cu(100).

Using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) together with density functional theory (DFT) the growth behavior of perylene on the Cu(100) substrate has been investigated. As revealed by STM images, perylene molecules prefer to adopt lying configuration with their molecular plane parallel to the substrate, and two symmetrically equivalent ordered domains were observed. DFT calculations show that perylene molecule prefers to adsorb on the top site of substrate Cu atoms with its long molecular axis aligning along the [011] or [01-1] azimuth of the substrate which is the most stable adsorption geometry according to its highest binding energy. Consequently, two adsorption structures of c(8×4) and c(8×6), each containing two perylene molecules per unit cell, are proposed based on our STM images. The growth mechanism for ordered perylene domains on Cu(100) can be attributed to the balance between weak adsorbate-adsorbate interaction and comparable adsorbate-substrate interaction.

Electronic and structural properties at the interface between CuPc and graphene

The electronic and structural properties at Copper phthalocyanine (CuPc)/graphene have been studied using ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy and first-principles density function theory calculation. The five emission features α, β, γ, δ, and e originating from the CuPc molecules locate at 1.48, 3.66, 4.98, 6.90, and 9.04 eV, respectively. These features shift in binding energy with the increasing CuPc coverage. The feature α is mostly deriving from Cu 3d orbital with some contributions from C 2p orbital. Further theoretical calculation indicates that the adsorption of CuPc on a top site is the most favorable configuration, and the separation between the adsorbate and graphene is about 3.47 A. According to the density of states before and after CuPc adsorption, the LUMO of CuPc is slightly occupied, while the Dirac point of graphene slightly shift towards higher energy, suggesting that a small amount of electron transfer from graphene to CuPc upon contact.

Study of the electronic structure at the interface between fluorene-1-carboxylic acid molecules and Cu(110)

The interface electronic properties of fluorene-1-carboxylic acid (FC-1) adsorbed on Cu(110) have been studied by ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy (UPS) and first-principles calculations. Both the molecular orbitals and the Cu valence band are significantly modified upon adsorption. FC-1 is chemically bonded to Cu(110) through charge donation and back donation involving the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) and the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) of the molecule. An observed reduction of the work function can be attributed to the adsorption induced charge redistribution, and the positive interface dipole.