Optical absorption spectrum of pentacene cation radicals measured by charge-modulation spectroscopy

Charge-modulation spectroscopy was applied to vacuum-sublimed films of pentacene in the metal–insulator–semiconductor configuration with Parylene-C or cross-linked polymer as insulator. The spectrum exhibited several peaks in the wavelength range of 300–800 nm. The signal in the visible was ascribed to the field-modulation effect of a neutral pentacene film, while the three broad peaks in the UV exhibited field and frequency dependences different from those in the visible and were ascribed to the optical absorption due to a monocation radical of pentacene. This assignment was supported by the calculation reported earlier on the basis of the time-dependent density functional theory.