Switching direction of laterally ordered monolayers induced by transfer instability.
Langmuir-Blodgett monolayers may show nanoscopic periodic patterns parallel and/or perpendicular to the transfer direction. The experimental findings are interpreted by a nonequilibrium model based on the stability of surfactant concentration and film thickness coupled fluctuations near the meniscus of a surfactant-covered receding thin film. In the high and low transfer speed limits, periodic fluctuations of the fluid subphase thickness, respectively perpendicular and parallel to the transfer, are selected. A qualitative phase diagram shows how transfer speed and film density manage the pattern shape.
Raudino
Antonio
A
Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Catania, V.le A. Doria 6-95125, Catania, Italy.
Pignataro
Bruno
B