Electronic structure and stability of fluorophore-nitroxide radicals from ultrahigh vacuum to air exposure.

Thin film processes of organic radicals remain widely unknown, although these materials may have a significant technological potential. In aiming at their use in applications, we explore the electronic structure of thin films of a nitronyl nitroxide radical attached to a fluorophore core. According to our findings, this molecule maintains its radical function and, consequently, its sensing capabilities in the thin films. The films are characterized by a high structural degree of the molecular arrangement, coupled to strong vacuum and air stability that make this fluorophore-nitroxide radical an extremely promising candidate for application in electronics. Our work also identifies a quantitative correlation between the results obtained by the simultaneous use of X-ray photoemission and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. This result can be used as a standard diagnostic tool in order to link the (in situ-measured) electronic structure with classical ex situ paramagnetic investigations.

Island shapes and aggregation steered by the geometry of the substrate lattice.

We find that island shapes and aggregation in diindenoperylene deposited on Au(100), Au(110), and Au(111) single crystals are steered by the anisotropy due to the lattice geometry of the substrate. This phenomenon may be exploited as a tool for molecular patterning of surfaces.