title: Checkerboard self-patterning of an ionic liquid film on mercury.
abstract: Å-resolution studies of room temperature ionic liquid (RTIL) interfaces are scarce, in spite of their long-recognized importance for the science and many applications of RTILs. We present an Å-resolution x-ray study of a Langmuir film of an RTIL on mercury. At low (high) coverage [90 (50) Å2/molecule] a mono-(bi)layer of surface-parallel molecules is found. The molecules self-assemble in a lateral ionic checkerboard pattern, unlike the uniform-charge, alternate-ion layers of this RTIL at its bulk-solid interface. A 2D-smectic order is found, with molecules packed in parallel stripes, forming long-range order normal to, but none along, the stripes.
authors.affiliation: Physics Department & Institute of Nanotechnology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tamam
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Ocko
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Reichert
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Deutsch