Defects in microcontact-printed and solution-grown self-assembled monolayers

The structure of microcontact-printed self-assembled monolayers is signific ant for a number of technological applications as well as for a fundamental understanding of the self-assembly process. The structural differences bet ween printed and solution-deposited monolayers of alkanethiol on Au(111) ha ve been examined utilizing grazing incidence X-ray diffraction and atomic f orce microscopy. Although the local structures are found to be similar, the domain structure and therefore macroscopic packing of the molecules are fo und to vary. Surprisingly, printed decanethiol monolayers appear to be sign ificantly better ordered translationally than those formed by standard solu tion techniques.