FABRICATION OF FERROUS STEARATE MULTILAYER FILMS BY THE LANGMUIR-BLODGETT METHOD

Ferrous stearate multilayer films were successfully deposited by the Langmuir-Blodgett method. The difficulty in fabrication of these films is due to the hydrolysis of ferrous or ferric ions generated by oxidation of ferrous ions. We investigated the fabrication condition of the films; the concentrations of the ferrous ions and the pH values in the subphase were controlled. The fraction of stearates in the films was obtained from Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and structural studies were performed by X-ray diffraction in the low-angle region. We also investigated the magnetic properties of the multilayer films at 4.5 K. The magnetization curve behaved paramagnetically but the magnetic moment per atom was very small in comparison with that of one free ferrous ion. The result indicates a possibility of existence of both ferrous ions with high and low spin states.