Abstract
The phthalocyanines, both metal-free and metal-substituted (Fig. 1), are well known as gas absorbers and useful as ambient vapour sensors1–5. The increase in conductivity which occurs on irradiating phthalocyanine films with light (the photovoltaic effect) is a relatively slow diffusion-controlled process6–9. We report here the modulation of electrical conductance by circularly, as opposed to linearly, polarized light of phthalocyanine films sublimed onto an interdigital electrode surface [metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) structure]. The influence of an adsorbed electron acceptor, the oxygen molecule, in creating the p-type semiconductor has been investigated. The underlying mechanism of the conductance change involves change of the Fermi level of the phthalocyanine electrode system by circularly polarized light acting as an effective magnetic field in an inverse Faraday effect.
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Barrett, T., Wohltjen, H. & Snow, A. Electrical conductivity in phthalocyanines modulated by circularly polarized light. Nature 301, 694–695 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/301694a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/301694a0
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