A chemical and morphological study of fullerene derivatives Langmuir-Blodgett films

We present here a multi-technique investigation of C-60-based Langmuir-Blodgett films. C-60-(CH2)(2)-N-(CH2-CH2O)(3)-CH3 films were investigated with atomic force microscopy (AFM), static secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SSIMS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements. The aim was to test the ability of this fullerene-derivative to form a stable monolayer to be transferred to a solid substrate. In fact, AFM measurements revealed a clustering of molecules when a single dipping was done. The C-60-derivative could be detected by SSIMS as a whole and as separated fragments of C-60 and hydrophilic heads and, finally, XPS enabled to measure the film thickness and to chemically characterize the film surface. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.