Influence of fluorosubstitution on the structure of zinc phthalocyanine thin films

In this work, thin films of tetrafluorosubstituted zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPcF₄) were deposited by organic molecular beam deposition and studied to reveal the effects of F-substituents on the ZnPcF₄ single crystals and thin films structure. A combination of spectral ellipsometry, atomic force microscopy and diffraction techniques has been used to elucidate the structural features and molecular orientation of thin films of ZnPcF₄. Structural features of the films grown by co-evaporation of ZnPc and ZnPcF₄ (1:1) were also considered. Both ZnPcF₄ and ZnPc/ZnPcF₄ films have a preferred orientation along (001) plane with inclination angle of molecules relative to the substrate surface equal to 80° and the lower degree of crystallinity compared to the ZnPc film.