The unoccupied electron states and the boundary potential barrier during deposition of ultrathin films of dimethyl-substituted thiophene–phenylene coolygomers of the type of CH3–phenylene–thiophene–thiophene–phenylene–CH3 (CH3–PTTP–CH3) on an oxidized silicon surface have been studied. The electronic characteristics have been measured in the energy range from 5 to 20 eV above the Fermi level using total current spectroscopy (TCS). The structure of the CH3–PTTP–CH3 film surfaces has been studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM), and the atomic compositions of the films have been studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The changes in the maximum intensities measured by the TCS method obtained from the deposited CH3–PTTP–CH3 film and from the substrate during increasing in the organic coating thickness to 6 nm is discussed. The formation of the boundary potential barrier in the n-Si/SiO2/CH3–PTTP–CH3 is accompanied by the decrease in the surface work function from 4.2 ± 0.1 to 4.0 ± 0.1 eV as the organic coating thickness increases to 3 nm. The ratio of atomic concentrations C: S in the CH3–PTTP–CH3 films well corresponds to the chemical formula of CH3–PTTP–CH3 molecules. The roughness of the CH3–PTTP–CH3 coating surface was not higher than 10 nm on the ~10 × 10 μm areas as the total CH3–PTTP–CH3-layer thickness was about 100 nm.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1029-1034
Number of pages6
JournalPhysics of the Solid State
Volume60
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 May 2018

    Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics

    Research areas

  • FIELD-EFFECT TRANSISTORS, THIOPHENE/PHENYLENE CO-OLIGOMERS, THIN-FILMS, TETRACARBOXYLIC DIANHYDRIDE, POLYCRYSTALLINE GOLD, SMALL HYSTERESIS, MOLECULAR FILMS, PERYLENE, DERIVATIVES, MOBILITY

ID: 27807086