Spectroscopy of Defects in Epitaxially Grown Para-sexiphenyl Nanostructures

We present a study of steady-state- and time-resolved photoluminescence of para-sexiphenyl (PSP) films on KCl grown by organic molecular beam epitaxy (OMBE). Using different OMBE growth conditions has enabled us to vary greatly the morphology of the PSP crystallites but keeping virtually untouched their chemical structure. By this comparative study we prove that the broad red-shifted emission band has a structure-related origin rather than being due to monomolecular oxidative defects. The relative intensity of the defect emission band observed in the delayed spectra was found to be drastically suppressed in the OMBE-grown films dominated by growth mounds composed of upright standing molecules as opposed to the films consisting of crystallites formed by molecules lying parallel to the substrate.