Properties of pentacene-based films prepared using a heated tungsten mesh

A heated tungsten (W) mesh, set between a pentacene source and a substrate in a vacuum chamber, was used to prepare a bulk-phase pentacene film and a pentacene-based organic semiconductor film. Since the pentacene molecules come into contact with the heated W mesh before reaching the substrate, their thermal energy is increased prior to deposition. As the mesh temperature was increased from 23 to 1200 °C, the intensity ratio of bulk to thin-film phases increased from 0 to 9.7. Above 1300 °C there is a notable decomposition reaction, the products of which were identified as dihydropentacene, p-distrylbenzene, and 2,2′-dimethyl-1,1′-binaphthalene. These decomposed precursors are expected to provide a potential source of large graphene sheets and graphene nanoribbons.