Optical and electrical properties of nanostructured heterojunction (Au|PdPc|ClAlPc|Al) and using as O2sensor

Abstract

Nanostructure thin films and sandwich devices of palladium phthalocyanine (PdPc) and chloro-aluminum-phthalocyanine (ClAlPc) were prepared by thermal evaporation technique. Optical and struc- tural properties of nanostructure thin films were investigated by XRD, SEM and optical absorption. The SEM images demonstrated PdPc (40–60 nm) and ClAlPc (30–50 nm) nanostructures. XRD pat- terns showed that thin films are in α-phase at room temperature. Also, optical bandgap energy of thin films was calculated by optical absorption spectra. Heterojunction (Au|PdPc|ClAlPc|Al) and single layer (Au|PdPc|Al and Au|ClAlPc|Al) devices were fabricated. Electrical measurements demonstrated the semi-conducting and photo-conducting behavior of thin films. After that, devices were exposed to different concentrations of O2 at 300 K and 350 K and conductivity of thin films was increased on exposure to O2 . Heterojunction devices were more sensitive than other thin films and had better response and reversibility in comparison with single layer devices at 350 K. Finally, 10% O2 was mixed with different percentages of relative humidity and all results showed that the conductivity of thin films is reduced on exposure to O2 mixed to humidity.