Deposition of matrix-free fullerene films with improved morphology by matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (MAPLE)

•Thin fullerene (C60) films were grown by matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (MAPLE).•All deposition were carried out at room temperature.•We have identified two significantly different ablation regimes in MAPLE as a function of laser fluence.•Chemical analysis of C60 films deposited at high fluence reveal traces of residual solvent.•The ablation mechanisms in MAPLE are discussed.

Thin films of C60 were deposited by matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (MAPLE) from a frozen target of anisole with 0.67 wt% C60. Above a fluence of 1.5 J/cm2 the C60 films are strongly non-uniform and are resulting from transfer of matrix-droplets containing fullerenes. At low fluence the fullerene molecules in the films are intact, the surface morphology is substantially improved and there are no measurable traces of the matrix molecules in the film. This may indicate a regime of dominant evaporation at low fluence which merges into the MAPLE regime of liquid ejection of the host matrix at higher fluence.

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