Marc Dalen Ulrich

Interaction of metallophthalocyanines (MPc,M=Co,Ni) on Au(001): Ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy and low energy electron diffraction study

Thin films of metallophthalocyanine (MPc,M=Co,Ni) evaporated onto a “5×20” reconstructed Au(001) substrate at room temperature have been investigated by employing low energy electron diffraction (LEED) and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS). The LEED images from NiPc thin films show that the overlayers are highly ordered with a square unit cell of 12.8×12.8A2 aligned along the ⟨110⟩ and ⟨11¯0⟩ axes of the Au(001) substrate. For CoPc, the LEED pattern reveals the superposition of multiple rotationally equivalent domains of a 12.9×12.9A2 square lattice which are rotated by 16° with respect to each other. The contrast between NiPc and CoPc on Au(001) is further demonstrated in the interfacial electronic structure. UPS studies of the interfacial layers of NiPc deposited on the hexagonally reconstructed gold substrate indicate that NiPc physisorbs on the gold surface as evidenced by a uniform molecular orbital (MO) shift. The CoPc MO’s, on the other hand, indicates a charge transfer at the interface,...

Smooth MgO films grown on graphite and graphene by pulsed laser deposition

Pulsed laser deposition was used to grow thin (1–100 nm) magnesium oxide films directly on graphite and epitaxial graphene on SiC(0001). The authors observe very smooth (typical rms roughness of ∼0.4 nm) film morphologies that are nearly independent of film thickness and conformal to the substrate for films grown on room temperature substrates. Surface roughness is less than 1 nm for thicknesses up to 100 nm and is independent of oxygen background pressure during growth. X-ray diffraction shows no evidence of crystallinity for films grown on room temperature substrates but shows ⟨100⟩ texture for films grown on heated substrates that also have very rough surface morphologies. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy shows hydroxylation of films due to air exposure that can only be partially removed by annealing, indicating the presence of atomic defects in the films.