Evidence of lateral surface structure changes in transferred multilayer systems by electron microscopy

Abstract

The substance-specific stability properties of transferred multilayer systems on germanium and quartz supports have been examined in the electron microscope. Typical micrographs with magnifications between 8 000 x and 40 000 x show that the surface structure of cadmium octadecanoate and octadecylammonium phosphate layer systems is dependent on the investigated parameters: type of substance, material of support, number of layers. Lateral structure rearrangement processes have been observed in the octadecanoate systems forming crystallites on both support materials and all layer numbers. Similar irreversible transformations did not occur in transferred octadecylamine layer systems. The influence of the support material on the surface structure is interpreted as interaction differences between the support and the polar group of the first layer.