Investigation into electronic interaction and work function tuning of phthalocyanine molecules and graphene interfaces

Abstract

Understanding the interfacial electronic structures of organic semiconductor phthalocyanines (MePc) and graphene is essential for their practical application in various fields. In this study, we investigated the electronic structure and the tuning of the work function of free metal phthalocyanine (Pc4), cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc), and copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) molecules deposited on a graphene monolayer using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS). We found that the functionalization of MePc molecules induces p-doping to the graphene substrate due to the charge transfer mechanism with the MePc molecule. XPS analysis shows that the electronic interaction at the interface between Pc molecules and graphene substrate mainly occurs through the pyrrole species. Comparatively, it was observed that the electronic coupling between graphene and CuPc is relatively stronger than that between CoPc and graphene. The electronic interaction of the CuPc/Gr sample principally occurs through the Cu²⁺ 3d states of CuPc, the molecule, and the graphene 2p π states. This electronic interaction increases the work function of the graphene substrate to 5.75 eV, 6.05 eV, and 6.12 eV after depositing the Pc4, CoPc, and CuPc molecules, respectively. These results show that the MePc/Gr samples investigated in this study can be considered promising candidates for applications requiring a high work function to increase hole injection efficiency.