In-situ study of multi-phase indium nanoparticle growth on/into CuPcF4 organic thin film in ultra-high vacuum conditions

Abstract We study the in-situ growth of a nanocomposite material consisting of a thin CuPcF4 film and multiphase/multidimensional indium nanoparticles, self-organizing on the surface and in the bulk, at various stages of thermal deposition of metal on an organic film under ultrahigh vacuum conditions. The analysis of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) images provided valuable information about the evolution of morphology, size, density, and distribution of indium nanoparticles upon indium deposition. These 2D/3D ultra-small nano-objects turned out to have not only body-centered tetragonal (bct) crystal structure, typical for bulk indium, but also unusual face-centered…