Thin films of asymmetrically substituted “ABAB-Type” indium phthalocyanine chloride: Preparation, structural characterization and optical properties

A synthetic route to the asymmetric octasubstituted metal-free phthalocyanines H2Pcs (3–8) has been developed. They contain a combination of 2(3),16(17)-Tetra(2-ethyl-1-hexyl) and 9(10),23(24)-tetra(n-hexyl) as substituent groups in the peripheral positions. Thin films of the target asymmetric substituted “ABAB-Type” indium phthalocyanine chloride complex InPcCl 9, have been also fabricated for the first time, with different thickness (105–350 nm) using thermal evaporation technique. The structural and optical properties of the films have been investigated. The material in powder form showed a polycrystalline nature with triclinic structure. Miller indices, hkl, values for each diffraction line in X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectrum were calculated. The as-deposited films exhibited also a crystalline nature with a preferred orientation of growth. The scanning electron microscope showed the nano-structure property of the deposited films. The optical properties of the films are studied by the spectrophotometric measurements of the transmittance, T and the reflectance, R determined at the normal incident of the light in the spectral range 200–2500 nm. The refractive and absorption indices of the films are calculated and are found to be independent of film thickness of 105–350 nm. Different dispersion and absorption parameters are determined for the films.