Behenic acid, Langmuir-Blodgett films

Hayden L M 1988 Local-field effects in Langmuir-Blodgett films of hemicyanine and behenic acid mixtures Phys. Rev. B 38 3718-21... 

Langmuir-Blodgett films are deposited onto glass microscope slides, onto which an aluminium back electrode has been evaporated. The pyroelectric LB films studied consist of alternate layers of two materials,which produce a superlattice with a net polarisation. Buffer layers of the fatty acid, behenic acid, are included,both before and after deposition of the active layers. This ensures that the active layers are free from any interactions with the aluminium back and top electrodes. The capping layers also provide protection during top electrode evaporation. 

Figure 9 Optical setup for external reflection infrared measurements of Langmuir-Blodgett monolayers on liquid water surfaces. The arrow indicates the shuttling direction of the Langmuir trough in order to switch between the sample (monolayer on water) and the reference (pure water) position. (Reprinted with permission from Flach CR, Gericke A, and Mendelsohn R (1997) Quantitative determination of molecular chain tilt angles in mono-layer films at the air/water interface infrared reflection/absorption spectroscopy of behenic acid methyl ester. Journal of Physical Chemistry S 101 58-65 American Chemical Society.)...

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