Preparation of Hybrid Devices Containing Nylon/M(II)Pc-TTF (M=Cu, Zn) Films with Potential Optical and Electrical Applications

Hybrid devices consisting of metallophthalocyanines, MPcs(M=Zn, Cu), doped with a Tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) derivativeand dispersed in nylon 11 have been prepared by using a thermalevaporation technique. The effects of thermal relaxation on thestructure and morphology of the samples were studied by FT-IRspectroscopy, SEM and X-ray diffraction. The thermalrelaxation in nylon 11 produced a crystalline arrangement in theα- and β-form MPc molecules. Changes in conductivity of thedevices suggest the formation of alternative paths for carrierconduction. It was found that the temperature-dependent electriccurrent in Zn devices showed a semiconductor behavior. Finally,the optical direct and indirect band gap of these hybrid deviceswas evaluated from optical absorption measurements. The bandgap values were found to decrease from 3.7 to 1.38 eV (for theZnPc device), and from 1.9 to 1.1 eV (for the CuPc device), withthe addition of TTF in the polymeric matrix.