The thermochromic phase-transition behavior of polydiacetylene (PDA) L
angmuir-Blodgett (LB) films in the blue form and the bluish-green one
was investigated from the viewpoint of the molecular lateral packings
evaluated by the electron diffraction (ED) analysis. The PDA blue and
bluish-green forms exhibit absorption peaks at the wavelengths 640 and
704 nm in the visible absorption spectrum, respectively At an elevate
d temperature, the PDA LB films in both forms were converted into the
red form with the absorption peak at the wavelength 540 nm. The chroma
tic phase transition of the PDA LB films was accompanied by the charac
teristic crystal phase transition in both cases. Further, the detailed
structural analyses based on the ED measurement, the Fourier transfor
m infrared external reflection spectrum, small-angle X-ray scattering,
and X-ray photoelectron spectrum measurements revealed that the diffe
rence in the chromatic phase of the PDA LB film could be explained by
the difference in the exciton energy level being strongly dependent on
both the crystal symmetry and the resonance backbone structure.