Epitaxy of
organic crystal films: Phenanthrene on potassium acid phthalate
Graswinckel WS (Graswinckel, W. Sander), van den Bruele FJ (van den
Bruele, Fieke J.), Van Enckevort WJP (van Enckevort, Willem J. P.),
Vlieg E (Vlieg, Elias)
Cryst. Growth & design 7, number 2 (2007) 243-249
Abstract:
The growth of epitaxial layers of phenanthrene from the vapor on
cleaved (010) potassium acid phthalate (KAP) single-crystal substrates
is reported. Using a growth cell designed for precise control of
supersaturation and substrate temperature, the deposition process was
followed in situ using optical microscopy. After epitaxial
three-dimensional (3D) nucleation at high supersaturation and
subsequent growing together of the nuclei at low supersaturation,
closed crystalline phenanthrene layers were obtained. The produced
crystal film was composed of four orientational domains, being two
pairs of enantiomorphs 180 degrees rotated with respect to each other.
The epitaxy is explained by a structural match at the KAP
(010)-phenanthrene (001) contact faces, which are both terminated by a
pseudo-hexagonal pattern of more or less perpendicular hexagonal
aromatic rings.