Gonzalez Arellano, DL;
Bhamrah, J;
Yang, J;
Gilchrist, JB;
McComb, DW;
Ryan, MP;
Heutz, S;
(2017)
Room-Temperature Routes Toward the Creation of Zinc Oxide Films from Molecular Precursors.
ACS Omega
, 2
(1)
pp. 98-104.
10.1021/acsomega.6b00324.
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Abstract
The fabrication of “flexible” electronics on plastic substrates with low melting points requires the development of thin-film deposition techniques that operate at low temperatures. This is easily achieved with vacuum- or solution-processed molecular or polymeric semiconductors, but oxide materials remain a significant challenge. Here, we show that zinc oxide (ZnO) can be prepared using only room-temperature processes, with the molecular thin-film precursor zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc), followed by UV-light treatment in vacuum to elicit degradation of the organic components and transformation of the deposited film to the oxide material. The degradation mechanism was assessed by studying the influence of the atmosphere during the reaction: it was particularly sensitive to the oxygen pressure in the chamber and optimal degradation conditions were established as 3 mbar with 40% oxygen in nitrogen. The morphology of the film remained relatively unchanged during the reaction, but a detailed analysis of its composition using both scanning transmission electron microscopy and secondary ion mass spectrometry revealed that a 40 nm thick layer containing ZnO results from the 100 nm thick precursor after complete reaction. Our methodology represents a simple route for the fabrication of oxides and multilayer structures that can be easily integrated into current molecular thin-film growth setups, without the need for a high-temperature step.
Type: | Article |
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Title: | Room-Temperature Routes Toward the Creation of Zinc Oxide Films from Molecular Precursors |
Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
DOI: | 10.1021/acsomega.6b00324 |
Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.6b00324 |
Language: | English |
Additional information: | ACS AuthorChoice - This is an open access article published under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the author and source are cited. |
UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Physics and Astronomy |
URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1557886 |
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