Effect of film thickness on structural, electrical and optical properties of amorphous boron subphthalocyanine chloride thin film

Thermal evaporation was used to grow films of the compound boron subphthalocyanine chloride (B-subPcCl) on glass substrates. X-ray diffraction was utilized to investigate the structural nature of B-SubPcCl evaporated thin films. The investigation of the film's structure exhibits the amorphous structure of the present films. Atomic force microscopy was used to examine the surface topography and grain size. B-subPcCl films are constructed of spherical nanoparticles. The optical properties of these films were investigated in the wavelength range from 250 to 2500 nm. The evaluated optical band gap energy was observed to be decreased as the film thickness increased. The dispersion parameters for B-subPcCl films were calculated using the single oscillator model and they were noticed to increase with the increase of the film thickness. The χ(3) value of the greatest film thickness (300 nm) is approximately equal to 9.6 × 10−13 esu, which is typical for optoelectronic devices. •Thermal evaporation was used to grow films of B-subPcCl on glass substrates.•The investigation of the film's structure exhibits the amorphous structure.•The evaluated optical band gap energy was observed to be decreased as the film thickness increased.•The χ(3) value of B-subPcCl films equals to 9.6 × 10−13 esu, which is typical for optoelectronic devices.