Abstract
Physical vapor deposition (PVD) is extensively used for preparing functional organic thin films. Detailed studies of thin film formation during PVD process are therefore demanded for improving the performance of organic thin film devices. In this study, the deposition behavior of evaporated molecules was observed in real time using a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) and the time evolution curve for the initial stage of organic thin film formation on a quartz crystal substrate was compared to a theoretical curve using a rate equation based on a physisorption model. From the observation of deposition behavior using a QCM, it was demonstrated that the growth kinetics for organic thin films is dependent on the substrate temperature and the nature of substrate. Moreover, our proposed rate equation for the early stage of the film formation well reflected experimental results, and as a fitting parameter, the mean stay time on the substrate of deposited molecules was estimated from the fitting of the theoretical equation to the experimental results.
