Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 January 2011
The morphology of nanocolumns grown by glancing angle deposition is studied for molecular materials forming amorphous and crystalline solids. Amorphous tris(8-hydroxyquinoline)aluminum nanocolumn arrays were obtained at sample rotation speeds varying from 0.3 rpm (revolutions per minute) to 30 rpm. For crystalline pentacene, an array of regular nanocolumns formed at a rotation speed of 3 rpm, while higher and lower rotation speeds led to a wide distribution of column heights and shapes. The incoming molecular flux and the molecular diffusion length on column surfaces, both dependent on rotation speed, were found to govern the resulting morphology of crystalline pentacene nanocolumns.