Self-Built Equipment

• Subject Area: Physical Chemistry
• Term: Funded in 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 553120786

The planned facility for which this application is being submitted is a two-chamber UHV facility for the controlled production of highly ordered molecular thin films. In addition to the possibility of deposition, in-situ measurements with low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) and mass spectrometry (MS) will be possible. This is particularly important for the intended applications in organic electronics, where substrates often need to be further processed or tested immediately after preparation. Optoelectronics based on organic semiconductors is a strategic strength of the University of Cologne (UoC), and the applicant has led this effort for many years. With the launch of the DFG Research Training Group "Template-designed Organic Electronics" (TIDE), for which the applicant is the spokesperson, the UoC and its Faculty of Chemistry are now strengthening research in the field of optoelectronics with novel materials, building a bridge between chemistry and physics and between the UoC and its partner university in Bonn. In particular, the interest in organic electronics will be further expanded in the direction of nanoscale photonics and plasmonics. Prior to this application, the applicant has already extensively used HV and UHV-based evaporation systems for the production of organic thin films. As part of the ongoing TIDE program, we have modified our existing surface science facility to enable the fabrication of graphene nanoribbons (GNRs), 1D sections of the famous 2D material graphene. However, there are several experimental shortcomings (e.g. high risk of sample contamination, mandatory transportation of samples to another part of the building for further processing, to name only the most important ones) that limit the quality and reproducibility of the results. Nevertheless, we have achieved high-order GNR templates with a size of 1 cm2, which is very promising and a prerequisite for the success of TIDE as a whole (the proposed facility will be the "support platform B" as defined in the TIDE proposal). Unfortunately, the surface research facility is currently overbooked and there are competing interests in the use of this facility. With the significantly growing interest of TIDE partners to use GNR thin films as templates in their projects, a dedicated UHV facility is urgently needed (Support Platform of Focus Area B "Functional Templates").

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Doppelkammer UHV-Anlage zur kontrollierten Herstellung von hochgeordneten organischen Schichten
• Instrumentation Group: 8310 UHV-Anlagen zur Analytik
• Applicant Institution: Universität zu Köln
• Leader: Professor Dr. Klaus Meerholz