Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
5426057 | Surface Science | 2007 | 4 Pages |
Morphology of high-vacuum deposited rubrene thin films on the annealed (0Â 0Â 0Â 1) vicinal sapphire surfaces was studied by atomic force microscopy in non-contact mode. Atomic force microscopy images of rubrene thin films indicate that a regular array of steps on the sapphire surface acts as a template for the growth of the arrays of rubrene nanosize wires. To further demonstrate that morphological features of a substrate are crucial in determining the morphology of rubrene layers we have grown rubrene on the sapphire surfaces that were characterized by the terrace-and-step morphology with islands. We have found preferential nucleation of rubrene molecules at the intersection between a terrace and a step, as well as around the islands located on terraces.