MICROCRYSTALLINITY OF SOLID-STATE LANGMUIR-BLODGETT-FILMS OF SATURATED FATTY-ACIDS STUDIED BY SCANNING FORCE MICROSCOPY AND BREWSTER-ANGLE MICROSCOPY

Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) mono- and multilayer assemblies were generated from cadmium salts of different fatty acids. The topography of the mono- and multilayers was imaged by scanning force microscopy (SFM), and the optical properties were investigated with Brewster angle microscopy (BAM). Monolayers of cadmium myristate and cadmium palmitate collapsed at the air-water interface were transformed into bulk-phase structures on which molecular resolution was achievable. Optically anisotropic domain structures of bulk-phase multilayers were observed with the BAM. The microcrystalline arrangement was reflected in the bulk phase during transfer of the third monolayer onto mica. The results are discussed in terms of the epitaxial deposition of monolayers by the LB technique.