Magnetic induced vertical crystal growth of perylene cation radicals on ITO glass surface

Perylene-acetonitrile solution with tetra-n-butyl-ammonium perchlorate (TBAP) is a substance that tends to electro-crystallize and form particular needle-like structures. These perylene materials are studied extensively for their peculiar electrical and optical properties and for the interest in the fundamental phenomena occurring in the electro crystallization process. We introduce here a novel methodology to orient the needle-like crystals by means of electro crystallization in presence of a weak magnetic field. We report details on the technique we used and we present several exceptional SEM pictures of the aggregates growing vertically from the substrate by the effect of the magnetic field. The method introduce a new simple way to control the growth of these intriguing materials and the approach is potentially the basis for the fabrication of new miniaturized devices.