The crystallinity and surface morphology of zinc octaethylporphyrin thin films on an indium-tin-oxide substrate

The crystallinity and surface morphology of zinc octaethylporphyrin, Zn(OEP), thin films (20 nm thick) deposited on an indium-tin-oxide substrate have been investigated using x-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). XRD and SEM results show that the Zn(OEP) film formed at room temperature (RT) was amorphous and its surface morphology was smooth, whereas the film deposited at 473 K was crystalline and its surface morphology became rough compared to that formed at RT. On the other hand, when the Zn(OEP) film formed at RT was subsequently annealed at 473 K for 1 min, the film was crystallized as well as formed at 473 K but its surface morphology was maintained to be smooth. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.