DEFECT STRUCTURES OF LANGMUIR-BLODGETT-FILMS INVESTIGATED BY SCANNING FORCE MICROSCOPY

We applied scanning force microscopy (SFM) to investigate the surface morphology of Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films, their intrinsic defect structures as well as film defects induced by the imaging process itself. Molecular resolution was routinely obtained on intact areas of Cd-arachidate multilayer films over areas of 20 x 20 nm2. On a larger scale, monomeric films show film terraces and pinhole defects. Furthermore, the time dependent growth of the pinhole-like structures as well as the influence of the polymerization process in diynoic multilayer films was directly observed.