Deposition of poly-p-phenylene thin films by synchrotron radiation ablation

Poly-p-phenylene (PPP) thin films were deposited on non-heated silicon (100) substrate by the synchrotron radiation (SR) ablation method using as-synthesized PPP powder as a source. The deposited thin films were characterized by Raman scattering spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The Raman spectra and the FT-IR spectra showed that the thin films consisted of PPP molecules which had comparatively long molecular chains equivalent to those for the as-synthesized powder. The XRD spectra showed that the thin films had comparatively high crystallinity without heating the substrate. Stick-like and assembled organization of the surface of the thin films was observed from the SEM micrographs. In situ quadrupole mass spectrometry (QMS) of the product generated during SR irradiation to PPP showed that most of the species generated after decomposition by SR irradiation to PPP is the monomer. The process of the deposition of the PPP thin films using the SR ablation method was discussed from the results.