title: Structure of a Langmuir film on a liquid metal surface.
abstract: The structure of organic monolayers on liquid surfaces depends sensitively on the details of the molecular interactions. The structure of a stearic acid film on a mercury surface was measured as a function of coverage with angstrom resolution. Unlike monolayers on water, the molecules were found here to undergo a transition from surface-parallel to surface-normal orientation with increasing coverage. At high coverage, two condensed hexatic phases of standing-up molecules were found. At low coverage, a two-dimensional (2D) gas phase and condensed single- and double-layered phases of flat-lying molecular dimers were revealed, exhibiting a 1D longitudinal positional order. This system should provide a broader tunability range for nanostructure construction than solid-supported self-assembled monolayers.
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 52900, Israel.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kraack
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Ocko
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Pershan
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sloutskin
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Deutsch