Principal component analysis (PCA)-assisted time-of-flight secondary-ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS): a versatile method for the investigation of self-assembled monolayers and multilayers as precursors for the bottom-up approach of nanoscaled devices.
The production of high-quality self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) followed by layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly of macrocycles is essential for nanotechnology applications based on functional surface films. To help interpret the large amount of data generated by a standard ToF-SIMS measurement, principal component analysis (PCA) was used. For two examples, the advantages of a combination of ToF-SIMS and PCA for quality control and for the optimization of layer-by-layer self-assembly are shown. The first example investigates how different cleaning methods influence the quality of SAM template formation. The second example focuses on the LbL self-assembly of macrocycles and the corresponding stepwise surface modification.
BAM-Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und-prüfung, Unter den Eichen 44-46, 12203 Berlin, Germany.
Markus
M
Holzweber
Thomas
T
Heinrich
Valentin
V
Kunz
Sebastian
S
Richter
Christoph H-H
CH
Traulsen
Christoph A
CA
Schalley
Wolfgang E S
WE
Unger