Alkanethiolate self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) have been formed on zinc selenide through both adsorption from solution as well as micro-contact printing. Zinc selenide as a SAM-supporting substrate is of particular interest due to its transparency in the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum enabling interfacial interactions at the substrate surface to be studied through transmission IR spectroscopy. While SAM formation on the mechanically polished, optical quality surface has been demonstrated, these monolayers are less uniform than those adsorbed onto highly ordered metal substrates due to the comparatively inhomogeneous morphology of ZnSe, which has an rms roughness in the range of 38.03 ± 8.30 nm. To address this challenge, a significantly smoother ZnSe surface has be produced through physical vapor deposition (PVD). The PVD-generated zinc selenide exhibits the same IR transparency as the mechanically polished substrate, but with an rms roughness in the range of 2.730 ± 0.943 nm, which is an order of magnitude improvement in surface roughness. These deposited substrates support the formation of denser and more highly-ordered SAMs, as demonstrated through characterization of the substrate and monolayer by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, contact angle goniometry, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).

Characterization of alkanethiolate self-assembled monolayers on zinc selenide thin films

255th National Meeting (2018)

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