Deuteration of Pentacene Using Deuterium Gas and Heated Catalyst

To clarify the decomposition and polymerization mechanism of pentacene (C
22
H
14
) molecules in hot mesh deposition (HMD), D2 gas was used instead of H2 gas. The nanocarbon film deposited on a Ni film/quartz substrate by HMD using D2 gas was evaluated by a laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (LDI-MS). The signals due to various deuterated pentacene-based precursors were observed in the LDI-MS spectrum.