Dl. Patrick et Tp. Beebe, SUBSTRATE DEFECTS AND VARIATIONS IN INTERFACIAL ORDERING OF MONOLAYERMOLECULAR FILMS ON GRAPHITE, Langmuir, 10(1), 1994, pp. 298-302
Scanning tunneling microscopy is used to investigate monolayer films o
f the liquid crystal 4'-octyl-4-biphenylcarbonitrile (8CB) deposited o
nto highly ordered pyrolytic graphite. These self-assembled films disp
lay a wide variety of structural forms, several of which are reported
here for the first time. Nanometer-resolution images provide insight i
nto the important molecule-molecule and molecule-substrate interaction
s determining film structure. The role of substrate defects in determi
ning interfacial order is discussed, and a growth mechanism is propose
d to account for the infrequent observation of certain monolayer film
structures reported here.